BREATHLESS

The downward trend continues here. Camel really starts to bring the pop out out here, as evidenced by the rather weak title track which opens the album. The main riff of the song isn't bad at first, but by the end of the song you are left quite bored and almost angry at these guys for making you sit (or stand, or run in place, or whatever you do when you listen to music) through that. But then! They quickly redeem themselves with "Echoes," a track that harkens back to the band's former musical glory. I'll admit, this is a solid song, and it was worth letting the first song finish so I could get to it, but disappointment peaks it's head out from around the corner and then comes over to hang out for the rest of the album.

For being a predominantly poppy record, Breathless isn't awful, but pop songs were never the forte of the 70's symphonic bands. The pop songs here are far better than those on their next record, but other than that, there isn't anything positive to say about this album. In hindsight, "Echoes," while being the highlight of this album and "The Sleeper" also standing out as a decent instrumental, really don't have anything on the good tracks from Rain Dances. Oh well.