THE ANSWER [AKA: VINTAGE '69]

Forget CAMEL. They still don't exist and Peter Bardens is actually influenced by his friends Fleetwood Mac and maybe the psychedelic movement of the end '60s. While Peter Bardens was releasing this album the other three future bandmates were working for Philip Goodhand-Tait on an album that has some similarities but it's surely lighter than this.

This album has six tracks that are quite different one to each other:

"The Answer" has an organ sequence of chords that may remind to Doors' "Light My Fire" but slower. There's not a real relationship between the two songs. It's a bluesy song but I disagree with those who say that it's "only" blues. It's not less prog than many of its contemporaries. It's just heavy influenced by the late psychedelia.

"Don't Goof with a Spookie" is a slow blues, instead. When the blues is so slow and with all this Hammond Organ it sounds very psychedelic. Also the singing is quite weird. I think that this song can make the pair with some songs of Arzachel (same period).

"I Can't Remember" has funky influences. The way the band sings makes me think to the OSIBISA of Sunshine Day !! However it's not a bad song if you're not looking for things like Supper's Ready. It's mainly a skillful Organ performance over a funky-blues base that could have been played at Woodstock or at the UFO club.

The Side B is opened by the "commercial" track. Of course I disagree about this definition. It's not more commercial than some similar Caravan's songs. The flute makes it sound like Caravan while the guitar has a calypso mood and the choir is very hippy. Not a masterpiece but an intriguing song.

"Let's Get It On" is a standard blues-rock track like Wishbone Ash's Jail Bait. Effectively if it wasn't on the album nobody would have felt its absence.

Finally "Hommage To The Gods Of Light". This is the longest, more progressive and closer to Camel track of the album. There must be a reason why this has been performed live by Camel, too. The main theme seems to have inspired the soundtrack of Tomb Raider II. Regardless this curiosity, the track has some eastern-arabic mood that we'll find later on Mirage, while the rhythm is funky and convulse. This is really a hint of the times to come. A prequel of Camel and a great track.

This highlight is not enough to rate the album 4 stars, also because of the previous track, but I think it's a very good album that I suggest to fans of psychedelic blues. If you have enjoyed Arzachel or the early Wishbone Ash (up to Pilgrimage) you'll surely enjoy this, too.

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