CAMEL ON THE ROAD 1982

Camel is a British progressive rock band that was formed in Guildford, Surrey. The band was born in 1971 when former The Brew members Andrew Latimer (guitar), Andy Ward (drums) and Doug Ferguson (bass) recruited Peter Bardens (keyboards). After an initial performance to fulfil a deal under the name On, they changed their name to Camel and held their first performance on December 4th at the Waltham Forest Technical College in London. Camel is considered one of the founders and one of the best and most influential bands of the progressive rock movement, in the 70's. They're one of the few pioneer progressive rock bands that are still in activity nowadays and that practically never ceased their activity. Camel had three phases, their golden era in the 70's, their phase in the 80's and their reborn phase in the 90's.

"On The Road 1982" is the fifth live album of Camel and was released in 1994. This is another official live bootleg from Camel. It was recorded during their 10th Anniversary Live Tour on 13th June 1982 at Congressgibau, in Den Haag, Holland. As Andrew Latimer says on the sleeve notes, this 10th Anniversary live show was recorded for broadcast by a Dutch radio station but unfortunately the original tape was lost. Although and fortunately, their sound engineer taped their live performance through the mixing desk. It brought to the day light that recording, doing a true remarkable job.

The line up of "On The Road 1982" is Andrew Latimer (vocals and guitar), Andy Dalby (guitar), Chris Rainbow (vocals, keyboards and 12 string guitar), Kit Watkins (keyboards), David Paton (vocals and bass guitar) and Stuart Tosh (backing vocals and drums).

"On The Road 1982" is a live album of Camel that has fourteen tracks. The first track "Sasquatch" was originally released on their ninth studio album "The Single Factor". The second track "Highways Of The Sun" was originally released on their fifth studio album "Rain Dances". The third track "Hymn To Her" was originally released on their seventh studio album "I Can See Your House From Here". The fourth track "Neon Magic" was also originally released on "I Can See Your House From Here". The fifth track "You Are The One" was also originally released on "The Single Factor". The sixth track "Drafted" was originally released on their eighth studio album "Nude". The seventh track "Lies" was also originally released on "Nude". The eighth track "Captured" was also originally released on "Nude". The ninth track "A Hearts Desire/End Peace" was also originally released on "The Single Factor". The tenth track "Heroes" was also originally released on "The Single Factor". The eleventh track "Who We Are" was also originally released on "I Can See Your House From Here". The twelfth track "Manic" was also originally released on "The Single Factor". The thirteenth track "Wait" was also originally released on "I Can See Your House From Here". The fourteenth and last track "Never Let Go" was originally released on their first eponymous debut studio album "Camel".

Many consider the early 80's to have been the darkest Camel's hour, in which I include myself. Yet, there are some good works of the band and this live show still proves that they had plenty to offer yet in the live arena. Perhaps the biggest reason for this official bootleg success is the phenomenal keyboard performance of Kit Watkins, known by many as the leader of Happy The Man in the late 70's. Most notable are his solos on "Captured", "Wait" and "Hymn To Her". With no less than four songs from "I Can See Your House From Here", fans of that album will be pleased to finally hear some of the best tracks represented here. Latimer is his usual self, always playing lead melody lines and embellishing them with his patented touch. This is why Camel diehard fans will want this release. But, they will also have to suffer through Rainbow's strained and nasally vocals. Bassist Paton and drummer Tosh perform adequately, but nothing noteworthy.

Conclusion: Again we are in presence of another official live bootleg from Camel. Camel is one of the bands with more live bootlegs. "Camel On The Road 1972", "Camel On The Road 1982", "On The Road 1981", "Camel 73 ? 75 Gods Of Light" and "The Paris Collection" are all live bootleg albums. But, what impresses me most is its quality. All have high quality for bootleg albums. "On The Road 1982" is generally considered the weakest live album of Camel. Still, "On The Road 1982" is a good live album, with a good sound quality and a very professional live performance. It has also an interesting and honest choice of songs from the repertoire of the band, for an album recorded in the 80's. I can see some similarities between "The Single Factor" and this live album. Both are considered the weakest albums released by the band, but both are, in my humble opinion, two good albums. Camel doesn't have weak albums. Even their albums released in the 80's are good. Unlike many other bands, their albums from the 80's are good or even better than many others released at the same time. Of course, the songs chosen for this live show aren't the best representatives of their musical career. Almost all the songs, nine, were taken from their two less good studio albums, "I Can See Your House From Here" and "The Single Factor". But, "On The Road 1982" has quality enough to be considered a good live album.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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