PETER BARDENS

"Welcome To The Zone" is a very good song, the only thing reminding to Camel is Pete's voice that's highly recognisable. I don't want to say that's a masterpiece, but it flows very well, some background sounds give richness to the arrangement. The only bad thing is the faded out final. I will never stop saying how I hate closing a song in that way.

"She Takes Me There" sounds very 80s and reminds to Speed Of Light, but close your eyes and think to bands like Japan. Can you imagine Sylvian or even Bowie singing this song? I'm not saying that it would have been a hit, only that's a good song.

With "Making Waves" we continue this electronic journey. Who likes the Tangerine Dream stuff of the 80s can like this as well. I hear echoes of Jarre, too.

Now the highlight. "Spirit of the Water" is probably the best lyric ever written by Bardens and the celestial voice of his daughter Tallulah makes me wishing to listen to her singing the whole Moonmadness or even Lady Fantasy. Unfortunately her debut album produced by Mick Fleetwood is just pop, good pop maybe, but only this. The arrangement can appear strange, it's totally electronic where the original version was almost acoustic. But it's like releasing it on Stationary Traveller instead of on Moonmadness.

"Hopi Prayer" is about the prophecies of this "Pueblo" speaking of the end of the forth world and the beginning of the fifth. The Hopi have recognized 8 of the 9 signs before the catastrophe (the coming of a blue star that will destroy the current world). The song has percussions that should remind to the native americans. If written by Jon Anderson it would have been a newage anthem...well, I like this song.

"No Jazz" is totally different. It's a funky track in the style of the Bardens just after leaving Camel. It partially sounds like an action/police movie of the 80s, a sort of Starsky and Hutch soundtrack.

"Take Back Your Power" is another funky, more funky than the previous, so much funky that's good. I don't like the background voices. Totally instrumental it would have been better. A pity.

"High" closes the album with a melodic song, tendentially pop. Not too bad but very few progressive. To be honest I like it. This song gives me a sense of joy, like some newage can do. And it's strange if you think that's the last song recorded by Peter Bardens before dying of lung cancer.

I see this song as a way to remember him with a smile. So long Peter, join the spirit of the water.

It doesn't open too badly. "China Blue" is maybe trivial in the chords, but has a mood very similar to "More Than This" of Roxy Music, so I quite like it..

"Puerto Rico" features some guitar, but it's not Latimer as he just sings some background vocals on one track only. It's really a guest appearance. This song is on the chords and the atmosphere of Speed Of Light.

The title track starts with a sax that's probably synthetic as no saxophonist is credited on the album. Here Pete sings and his voice gives the song a touch of Camel. With a little help from Latimer this could have been a great song. With this arrangement it's just quite good.

"Gunblasters" is a track on which Pete has put too many things in too few time. It appears to be not exploited enough. Another missing opportunity which finishes to be just a sort of reminder of the 80s. I can still hear echoes of Camel, specially when there are no orchestral accents.

"On The Air Tonight" is a poppy melodic song but listening to it carefully it's still possible hearing echoes of the Rain Dances/Breathless era.

"You Got It" is a track that I don't understand. The guitar is not bad but is a song "full of nothing".

"A Brave New World" has a more promising intro. Keyboards in a Tangerine Dream style even with a clue of Alan Parsons Project. The guitar sounds very nice and the drumming is not invasive, like the opener of "Seen One Earth", but more intriguing from a musical point of view. After a couple of minutes it turns into a sort of pop-rock instrumental. The sounds are of the "Zee - Identity" kind. It's a pity that there are not many tracks of this kind. Not that this is a masterpiece, but it's one of the best things.

"On A Roll" is brit-pop 30 years too late, with an attempt to add Caribbean rhythms. Skip it. And this is the track with Latimer singing backing vocals !!!

"The Last Waltz" it's a2 minutes filler, but is surely better than the previous track.

Then we have other two tracks below the 2 minutes. It's like he has put the incomplete compositions at the end, and I think that the classic flavor of "Scarletti" would have been better served if the title was the correct composer surname that's "Scarlatti" (In Italian "Bright Red")

Those fillers may be the reason why somebody has decided to add a couple of bonus tracks.

"The Yuki Dance" is very nice with a funky flavor. It sounds incredibly 80s, again like "Zee", but it's good.

"Bump And Grind" doesn't have anything to do with Bardens, so that I suspect that he may not be the author. It's a sort of 80's pop-metal, listenable but outplaced even though the keyboard work is technically good.

Not totally bad, but I can't suggest a non-fan to buy it.

It's a sweet and melodic album, surely better than his previous efforts. A bit too easy listening for my tastes but surely not bad. Without considering the latin "Coco Loco" that's close more to the pre-Camel albums than to the 80s, it makes me think to Alan Parsons. This is very strange because Peter left Camel when they started playing like Alan Parsons clones (with some of former Alan Parsons members) at the end of the 70s.

Regardless this curiosity this album can be considered the rebirth of an artist that was unable to make impressive music after leaving his former band, even if he's a very skilled keyboardist and has demonstrated to be an excellent composer during his work with Camel.

The best thing of this album are these which are more distant from the electronic newage of the 80s, so other than Coco Loco I think a highlight is the title track with its calipso/caribbean rhythm and the following "This Could Be Heaven" that even if clearly reminding to This could be Paradise from Speed of Light (a follow-up effectively) appears fresh and has something of the old good Camel times.

The closer "Rain Talk" is unexpectedly Floydian and creates an atmosphere very in line with its title. A whole album of this kind would have been a masterpiece.

I'm happy to rate it 3 stars after having been a bit harsh with the previous three albums. It should be 3.5, really because it's more than good but only in the second half.

I don't dislike the newage, and effectively we can consider this album as borderline with what we call progressive electronic, but it lacks the hypnotic qualities of Tangerine Dream or the warm mediterranean flavor of Vangelis. Each track is good enough but I see no feelings inside it. Apart the opener, the title track and few moments here and there it leaves me completely cold.

This is often the limit of this kind of relaxing newage music: if there's not a big composing effort it results repetitive and boring.

Water Colors is a good album to be listened on a sofa in a night club or as soundtrack to a sequence of images (as it was effectively intended for), but in my opinion it doesn't match the requirements to be considered a progressive album.

I don't disagree with the 3 stars rating that this album currently has. It's not absolutely bad and is absolutely non-essential, however it's not much better than its two predecessors that I have rated as collector items, so I'm sorry for decreasing the current 3.00 rating of this album of an artist that I love, but to be honest this is good only for fans and newagers. I consider it as a follow-up to Seen One Earth and Speed of Light also because some ideas from those two albums seem to have been reused here.

"Westward Ho!" is just a newage instrumental with very few or nothing of Camel. Not bad if considered as a chillout newage song, but it's not what one should expect from one of the two composers of the Camel's golden age.

"This Could Be Paradise" Is a kind of follow-up to Seen One Earth. Same kind of sounds, similar chords as "The Stargate" and a mood quite close to Breathless. It's listenable, but unnecessary as the previous song.

"Black Elk" could have been a better song with a real drummer instead of the electronic drums. Also the fairlight sound was starting to be outdated in 1988. I can imagine the chorus with Latimer's classical guitar replacing the fairlight, Andy Ward replacing a drone and Latimer's voice. It could have been a great song. With this arrangement it's just a quite poor late 80s electronic chillout.

"Aftertought" even if extremely melodic is a piano instrumental which reminds to better times. It can be considered another newage thing, but it's the first good moment of the album.

"Gold" is another electronic newage song but with a bit of guitar inside. It sounds like an attempt to be the commercial one, but it wasn't a hit single. Again it's not totally bad, but it sounds like another revisitation of "The Stargate".

"Speed Of Light", the title track, is one of the best songs of the album. Nothing exceptional also this time, but it's a good song not as cold as the previous ones, and very reminding of late 70s Camel. If the title track let's us hope in something good, "Whisper In The Wind" destroys all the hopes. Was he trying to sound like Blondie or Wang Chung? My suggestion is: skip this track.

"Heartland" is just another newage instrumental based on a trivial sequence of chords and a quite good piano.

"Columbine" closes the album. It's not a bad song even if there's not much prog inside. A sort of Alan Parson's love song. It looks like the one on which Bardens has put more effort in the songwriting. I have to admit that I personally like this song but honestly I can't recommend it to others.

There was no need for a "Gold" reprise in the last minute of the album.

If you consider it a newage album it's not totally bad, but if you are looking for Camel please forget it.

A collector's item which can't be of any interest for non-camel or non-bardens fans. Even if I like it for some strange reasons, I'm sorry but it's between 1 and 2 stars

Is "Julia" just a commercial song? Not more than things like the ambarassing "Neon Magic" or "Remote Romance". This song is typical of the late 70s period of Camel with a touch of Caravan. Surely not a masterpiece but not so bad as many people thinks.

"Doing The Crab" is in the jazzy vein of his solo debuts. The same kind of things that can be found in Caravan albums like "Blind Dog". Far from being a masterpiece also this, but surely better than songs like "Are You Ready Eddie?" which ELP released more or less in that period.

"Slipstream" could have been a Camel song from "Rain Dances" or from "A Live Record". Again I don't see anything bad here. What is missed is Andy Latimer, that not easy to replace, but this track has a lot of good fusion inside. If you liked "Liggin' At Louis" this is a sort of follow-up.

"Raining All Over The World" is a melodic song. Also this has a strong Camel flavor (don't take it literally, please).

"Jinxed", opened by drums and followed by jazzy keyboard with an unusual signature is the kind of track which has convinced Doug Ferguson to leave Camel. Listen to this and you'll understand what of the early Camel came from Bardens. I like this track a lot.

"After Dark" has one of the few guitar solos, as Latimer is in general replaced by the excellent sax of Mel Collins throughout the whole album. There are hints of what Pete will do later but it's still very close to the late 70s Camel.

"Slow Motion" is not bad. Again a melodic song with the sounds of Breathless.

"Tune For Des" is a short filler like Aritisllus on Moonmadness.

Finally the title track: not a great one, to be honest, but if added to Moonmadness it wouldn't be a scandal. Listen to Bellaphon, a Japanese Camel's clone. This is exactly what you can find on their two albums.

In few words, this is as good as Breathless that's not my favorite Camel's album but not the worst for sure.

3 stars plus a strong recommendation for who loves the jazzy period of Camel.

The album is opened by a short piano ragtime. It's not unusual: Caravan have placed "Tollington Park Rag" at the end of their second album, but also Rick Wakeman and Keith Emerson put some ragtime interludes in their albums. So "North End Road" is not a bad ragtime.

Organ based with a touch of R&B specially in the background vocals and strongly smelling of flower power, "Write My Name in The Dust" is an excellent song and the most successful single ever released by Bardens as solo artist.

"Down So Long" is unusually hard for Peter Bardens. It's a blues-rock song with a bit of psychedelia mainly in the long organ solo. There's much of Fleetwood Mac in this song.

After the acid rock something more British: "Sweet Honey Wine" is son of its times, or a bit earlier. I hear the influence of Moody Blues.

"Tear Down The Wall" may have inspired Roger Waters' The Trial...I'm joking. This is a funky-rock song in a Motown style. Not properly my pot. Barely listenable. The repeated chorus is quite boring. However when it changes pitch I hear a symptom of Camel. The organ solo is fine, but it's exactly what you can hear in a police movie of the early 70s.

"Simple Song" with whistle and acoustic guitar is between the Beatles of Her Majesty and the early Caravan. two funny minutes.

"My House" is opened by a Procol Harum's style organ, and also the guitar solo which follows reminds to that great British band with a touch of psychedelia more.

"Feeling High" is a sort of acid rock very flower power, something good for the soundtrack of Hair.

"Blueser", a slow chillout blues base with grotesque vocals closes the album.

I don't know if we can call it prog, effectively Bardens is in the prog-related section, but the album is not too bad. It's only that it doesn't follow a direction. It's like Bardens has tried to compose different kinds of songs to catch a bigger audience, or it's just reflecting that fact that he was in the middle of a musical transition. As a result, this is far from the heights reached with Camel, but still a good and absolutely non-essential album.

Forget CAMEL. They still don't exist and Peter Bardens is actually influenced by his friends Fleetwood Mac and maybe the psychedelic movement of the end '60s. While Peter Bardens was releasing this album the other three future bandmates were working for Philip Goodhand-Tait on an album that has some similarities but it's surely lighter than this.

This album has six tracks that are quite different one to each other:

"The Answer" has an organ sequence of chords that may remind to Doors' "Light My Fire" but slower. There's not a real relationship between the two songs. It's a bluesy song but I disagree with those who say that it's "only" blues. It's not less prog than many of its contemporaries. It's just heavy influenced by the late psychedelia.

"Don't Goof with a Spookie" is a slow blues, instead. When the blues is so slow and with all this Hammond Organ it sounds very psychedelic. Also the singing is quite weird. I think that this song can make the pair with some songs of Arzachel (same period).

"I Can't Remember" has funky influences. The way the band sings makes me think to the OSIBISA of Sunshine Day !! However it's not a bad song if you're not looking for things like Supper's Ready. It's mainly a skillful Organ performance over a funky-blues base that could have been played at Woodstock or at the UFO club.

The Side B is opened by the "commercial" track. Of course I disagree about this definition. It's not more commercial than some similar Caravan's songs. The flute makes it sound like Caravan while the guitar has a calypso mood and the choir is very hippy. Not a masterpiece but an intriguing song.

"Let's Get It On" is a standard blues-rock track like Wishbone Ash's Jail Bait. Effectively if it wasn't on the album nobody would have felt its absence.

Finally "Hommage To The Gods Of Light". This is the longest, more progressive and closer to Camel track of the album. There must be a reason why this has been performed live by Camel, too. The main theme seems to have inspired the soundtrack of Tomb Raider II. Regardless this curiosity, the track has some eastern-arabic mood that we'll find later on Mirage, while the rhythm is funky and convulse. This is really a hint of the times to come. A prequel of Camel and a great track.

This highlight is not enough to rate the album 4 stars, also because of the previous track, but I think it's a very good album that I suggest to fans of psychedelic blues. If you have enjoyed Arzachel or the early Wishbone Ash (up to Pilgrimage) you'll surely enjoy this, too.

As I pointed out in my review of his previous solo album Seen One Earth, Peter Bardens' musical career is very diverse. From the Psychedelic Blues Rock of his two pre-Camel solo albums to the brilliant Symphonic Prog with Camel and then the slick Pop of Heart To Heart and after that the Progressive Electronic oriented Seen One Earth. What would come next?

Well, even if there was only one year separating 1988's Speed Of Light from its predecessor, this is not Seen One Earth part II. What we have here is more similar to the Pop of Heart To Heart, but also strongly New-Age-like; New-Age Pop, maybe? While Seen One Earth was a darker and more atmospheric affair, Speed Of Light is more light-hearted and bright. Again unlike Seen One Earth, several of the tracks here have vocals. But the melodies are not memorable at all. While Seen One Earth reminded me of Vangelis' works, Speed Of Light reminds me of Tony Banks solo albums (his worst ones!).

The Prog quotient here is simply zero. Still, it is a well-produced album and actually not among Bardens' worst albums! It is not as embarrassingly bad like some of Bardens' other releases, just dull and uninspired. This is a poor release, at least judged as a Prog or Prog related one. Very few Prog fans will find this worth their while and more than a few will certainly cringe at some of these tunes.