RAJAZ

To quote Rob LaDuca, Rajaz is "A form of poetry chanted in time with the camel's hooves on long desert voyages". So a band named CAMEL is making music about the rhythm of the camel, seems like a logical thing doesn't it ? And this really is the key to appreciating and understanding this record. Listening to it with desert travel in mind. Just imagine travelling in the desert in a caravan, there are no sights to see, and the heat is unbearible, your whole focus is on arriving at your destination. And to survive the journey you chant to the rhythm of the camels. I know i'm going on a lot about this but I felt a lot of the songs were like this in places, tough going, yet that is the brilliance of this record. And if you look at this record this way as a whole, then the final act, at the end of "Lawrence" is arriving at the destination.You can feel the joy, the relief, that is felt through the guitar solo that rivals "Ice" as one of the most emotional and amazing solos that Andy Latimer has done.

The first song is an instrumental called "Three Wishes", it features the same melody throughout, taken up first by the keyboard while the guitar pierces the soundscape.The guitar then takes up the melody.The pastoral passages remind me of "Dust And Dreams". "Lost And Found" is a mellow tune with cello. "The Final Encore" has an Arabic feel to the guitar and keyboard intro, actually the rhythm to follow sounds like what it might be like riding on a camel. "Rajaz" begins slowly with acoustic guitar and cello that picks up in pace part way through. "Shout" is an ok , mellow tune.

"Straight To My Heart" is a personal look at Andy's childhood, a cool song that ends with some excellent guitar. "Sahara" features some nice gentle guitar that increases in intensity. This whole album filled with many guitar moments, none greater than on "Lawrence" (of Arabia) that is rather melancholic to begin with, then the guitar simply builds to an emotional conclusion. This is another mature release that won't necessarily appeal to you right away, but is certainly worth taking the long journey for, until you realize the journey is as good as the destination.

I originally gave this 4 stars but felt I was talking myself into that rating as I honestly didn't like this enough to offer up the 4 stars. Here I am close to 4 years later and not feeling any better about this album. Nineties CAMEL reminds me somewhat of PINK FLOYD minus Roger Waters.They both have that Adult Contempoary sound to them. I much prefer the earlier albums of both of these bands.