CAMEL 73 - 75 GODS OF LIGHT

"Camel 73-75 Gods Of Light" is the eighth live album of Camel and despite being recorded between 1973 and 1975 it was only released in 2000. We can see some similarities between this album and their third live album "Camel On The Road 1972". Despite "Camel On The Road 1972" being recorded in 1972 and released in 1992 and "Camel 73-75 Gods Of Light" being recorded between 1973 and 1975, both live albums are bootlegs and three of the live versions are based on the same original songs of the band. However, they're different versions taken from different performances of the band.

While "Camel On The Road 1972" has only four tracks, "Camel 73-75 Gods Of Light" can be divided into three parts because it has three sorts of live performances. The first part is an illegal bootleg titled "Famous Rock Dreams". It was produced in Italy and was directly ripped off two vinyl record albums. The first album was titled "Greasy Truckers, Live At Dingwalls Dance Hall", but the title of the second vinyl recording remains a mystery. The second part is a recording taken directly from BBC Broadcast, in 1974. The third and last part was taken from BBC Radio One In Concert, in 1975.

As on "Camel On The Road 1972", the line up is the same and corresponds to the best and most important on the band's life and which is in general considered the golden era of Camel's long career. So, the line up is Andrew Latimer (vocals and guitar), Peter Bardens (vocals and keyboards), Doug Ferguson (vocals and bass) and Andy Ward (drums).

"Camel 73-75 Gods Of Light" has five tracks. The first track "God Of Light Revisited" was originally written by Peter Bardens and was never released on any studio album of the band, despite being regularly performed in many of their live shows, during the first musical period of Camel. This song was originally released on the debut studio album of Peter Bardens, "The Answer". The song is very experimental and aggressive and that was probably the main reason why it was never performed on any studio album of the band. The second track "White Rider" was written by Andrew Latimer and was originally released on their second studio album "Mirage". The third track "Lady Fantasy" was written by Camel and was also released on "Mirage". The fourth track "Arrubaluba" was also written by Bardens and was originally released on their eponymous debut studio album "Camel". The fifth track "Excerpts From The Snow Goose", as the name indicates, are excerpts taken from the original suite on their third studio album "The Snow Goose".

Unlike "Camel On The Road 1972" which is a very short live album, a kind of a live EP, "Camel 73-75 Gods Of Light" is an album with the normal length of time, with about 70 minutes long. The three tracks that are part of the illegal bootleg, "God Of Light Revisited", "White Rider" and "Lady Fantasy" are new versions of the same songs that appeared on "Camel On The Road 1972". "Lady Fantasy" and "White Rider" are two fantastic songs which have contributed to "Mirage" being one of the best studio albums of the band, but in particular on this live album they're better performed live than on "Camel On The Road 1972". "God Of Light Revisited" is an instrumental song more psychedelic and experimental that goes very well when performed live. However, if I consider the live versions of "Lady Fantasy" and "White Rider" better, the live version of "God Of Light Revisited" is even much better. This live version is absolutely brilliant, the best version I know of this song. "Arubaluba" is the song which replaced "Six Ate" on this live album. This was a better choice because this is a much better song and its live performance is absolutely wild and fantastic. Finally we have the highest point of this album, the performance of the live excerpts of "The Snow Goose". This live performance is completely unique, fantastic, brilliant and unforgettable. This is a shorter version of the original suite, more energetic. Completely without an orchestra, this version rocks a lot more than the original and gives the concept work a special, harder note. So, we can say this is an entirely new version with the same quality level of other versions.

Conclusion: From the seemingly endless Camel archives, Latimer repeatedly brings to us some very interesting live recordings to the light of the day. As a continuation of the series of the official Camel's bootlegs, this one fortunately differs from the majority of the usual bootlegs in terms of sound quality. The early recordings from this phase of Camel show a much rougher, more untamed, but also a very playful side of the band. So, it isn't really strange that "Camel 73- 75 Gods Of Light" be a fantastic live album of Camel and an absolutely indispensable live document of the band. What amazes me most is why it took so long to see the light of the day. The sound quality of the album is amazing for a bootleg album of 1973 and so my congratulations to this re-mastered edition. This is truly a live masterpiece of Camel and one of the best live albums released in the 70's, for my taste. Despite what happens with Camel, like happens with King Crimson, where most of the bootlegs legalized are intended more for the hardest fans of the band, given the quality offered, it's an album that can be recommended without hesitation to fans of the melodic rock of the early 70's.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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