HARBOUR OF TEARS

There is a Celtic flavor to the album, for obvious reasons, which I think is done very well. We get excellent guitar playing from Latimer and finally get to hear his flute playing a more prominent role. Not quite like in the old days, but it's nice to hear again none the less. The Pink Floyd ambiance and somewhat somber mood remains from the last album, but the writing is far more interesting with more lyrics and vocal numbers. Of these the best are the introductory female vocals, Watching The Bobbins, and Eyes Of Ireland. Still, there is plenty of instrumental space, and loads of fine guitar work from Latimer. The standout track for me of the whole album is Coming Of Age, probably the most "prog" track Camel had done in years. The final instrumental is nice as well, if more subdued, but like most here I didn't really see the point of 15 minutes of sea sounds (about 2 or 3 would have been sufficient to make the point, along with the reprise of the female vocals singing Irish Air). Aside from that, there is not much I fault this album for, except perhaps a certain "coldness" in the production that was not there in the early days of Camel. But perhaps that can be attributed to the time it was recorded?

Overall, a 3.5 star album. I will round up to 4 though, as I think this was (along with Dust and Dreams) part of a gradual build up in quality for Camel that had plummeted back in the early 80's.

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