RAJAZ

A good album from Camel (Latimer), though nothing special and not nearly of the same high quality as the preceding studio albums, "Dust And Dreams" and "Harbour Of Tears". The music has become less and less "progressive" over the years, in terms of their structure, complexity and instrumentation. No (or very few) dramatic time changes, rhythm breaks or keyboard/mellotron/organ based sequences to break the pattern. Instead it's based more and more around Latimer's guitar, which together with the rest of the music has taken on more of a blues-oriented style. I´m of course speaking in relative terms here, so if you don't like blues, don't let the previous sentence scare you too much. There´s still plenty to smile about and the music is still good, as is the playing. But to call Camel a band these days is really not telling the truth. Sure there are four guys playing here, but only one pulling the strings and setting the direction in which to go. For better or worse, depending on which way you choose to look at it, Camel today is the sole property of Andrew Latimer. For me the best tracks on this one are "Three Wishes", "Lost And Found" and "Sahara".