RAIN DANCES

This was this first album by Camel I ever owned (and still the only vinyl LP by them in my collection), and the first I heard. The relative lightness of the album put them out of my radar for years, until a friend introduced me to some of their other albums.

Inconsistent is the best way to describe the record. The first two songs are quite nice. First Light and Metrognome are an excellent start to the album. But then there is the much too light Tell Me and the much too pop sounding Highways Of The Sun

Unevensong is more loke what I want from the band. Interesting rhythms abound in this track. One Of These Days I'll Get An Early Night is actually a cool jam, with a Mel Collons horn arrangement similar to some of his work with 801. Elke has a very Eno influenced sound, as it should. Skylines, a fusion piece, is much more complex than it's delicate tone lets on, Mostly due to Andrew latimer's fine bass work. And Rain Dances has an almost Tangerine Dream feel to it.

All in all, I like this a lot more now than I did when I bought it. 3.5 stars, rounded up.

And does anyone else here have the LP on the "Janus" label? The logo in color on the record label looks good, but on the white logo on the cover and inner sleeve, you can hardly see the "J", giving it a different meaning.