DUST AND DREAMS

After disappearing for the second half of the dismal 1980s, Camel reappeared with this album, inspired by that book most of us in the United States had to read in school, John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath". And while I don't think the music captues the the imagery of the book, as a prog album, this is one of Camel's finest.

The first half comes closest to what Andrew Latimer and the band seemed to be attempting to accomplish. It it a series of brooding rock pieces (mostly sounding like that bastion of Americana, Dire Straits), symphonic themed interludes, and just a but of that old Camel light prog fusion. It all is well written and performed, but had the album continued in the same way, it would not be as great as it actually turned out.

Beginning with Storm Clouds, we are suddenly treated to a suite of short pieces, climaxing in the wonderful Hopeless Anger, that rank with some of the best of Camel's music to date. The orchestral synth arrangements are lush and sweeping, the fusion based tracks are complex and sometimes energetic, the indiviual tracks blend seamlessly. I find I cannot stop repeated listenings of this haf of the album.

Welcome back, Camel.