RAIN DANCES

Expectations for this album must have been very high back in the day. The band had established themselves as major players in the prog scene, having released a string of four excellent albums, gathered a strong fan base and attracted critical acclaim. Another factor that comes in play was that this album marked the first in an upcoming series of changes in personnel, Doug Ferguson having decided to leave the band due to musical differences, mainly with drum maestro Andy Ward, who wanted the band to take a jazzier approach. Ferguson was replaced by the Caravan bassist/singer Richard Sinclair. Also, this would be the first of two albums on which wind instrument player extraordinaire Mel Collins (previously in King Crimson, among others) would appear. A match made in heaven, a good band made even better, or so everyone thought. For even though Rain Dances is an excellent album, it would mark the beginning of a low point in Camel's career.

The album opens with one of my favorite Camel instrumentals, First Light. A superb song, very well written, with amazing melodies from Collins on sax and Latimer on guitar. Barden's keyboard parts are very atmospheric, reminiscent of Pink Floyd and during the middle section, for some reason, also reminiscent of Kraftwerk. Ward's drumming is tasteful as ever, precise, filled with subtleties and original.

Metrognome is a great song. First song on which Sinclair would sing, as Latimer would do back vocal parts beautifully interwoven with Sinclair's line. But the song gets really interesting in it's second part (just like Song Within a Song from Moonmadness). A great instrumental moment showcasing an amazing melodical interplay between Latimer and Collins and an equally glorious bass part in the second half of this instrumental moment. With these two songs, Sinclair's selection as a replacement for Ferguson is justified. And then some. Not only does his bass playing style suits Camel very well, his voice brings even more to the band, as vocals have always been the weakest link up to that point in Camel's career.

Then comes a beautiful ballad, Tell Me. A hauntingly melancholic drumless song on which Bardens shines, particularly for the atmospheres he created. Reminds me a bit of what Gary Wright and Spooky Tooth were up to at some points.

Three out of three is great, but Highways of the Sun is, bluntly put, bad. Uninspired, repetitive, boring. Would have fitted well on the follow-up Breathless, with all the other below par songs found on it.

But there is still hope, for Uneven Song is another great number. Sounds a bit like a cross between Supertramp and Camel, especially the keyboard work. A wonderfully constructed song brilliantly executed with a beautiful instrumental ending.

And back down we go. One of these days, I'll get an early Night, though very well played, has a porn-jazz flavor to ; you might want to pop in the CD to get your girlfriend aroused (that bass line has something to do with it, I swear).

Elke is a hypnotic number I really love. Brian Eno collaborated on that one, so you can imagine it has an atmosphere all it's own. The keyboards are the highlight here.

To close the album, we get two instrumentals, of which Skylines is the first. A very jazzy number with an incredible bass line throughout as well as good playing from everybody else. Rain Dance sis a short instrumental that uses a theme from the opening song First Light exploited differently. It ends the album on a good note, and even with the few weak tracks on this album, it makes you want to play it all over again.

So Rain Dances is an excellent album, but the time of masterpieces in Camel's domain was now behind them (except for Nude) and way, way ahead of the mat the same time. Four stars for this one.