NUDE

Nude is the Eigth studio album from symphonic prog rockers Camel. This is a new Camel album to me as I never got around to buy it when I purchased all the seventies albums from Camel in the mid- nineties. I was probably afraid of how it would sound like after listening to Breathless and I Can See your House From Here which I wasn´t very impressed about at the time ( I like them both much better today). On initial listen I was very disappointed and I really didn´t think I was going to like this album much but after listening to Nude many more times to get a fair impression I´m beginning to find the charm of the album.

Nude is a concept album and is about a japanese soldier who was stationed or accidently left on a small islands in the pacific ocean during world war II and lived in isolation for many years before being found Nude ( hence the title of the album) and returning to civilization. Most of the album is instrumental but there are lyrics to some of the songs.

Like every other Camel album you know from the get go that it´s Camel your listening to. The sound on Nude is very eighties influenced which is pretty obviuos as it was released in 1981. The first eighties Camel album. The music hasn´t really changed much. Nice melodic symphonic songs with lots of pleasant keyboards and beautiful guitar leads. The biggest difference here is the vocal lines which I think sounds a bit like some of the vocal lines on Pink Floyd´s The Wall. Songs like Drafted, Please Come Home and Lies are very close to the sound of Pink Floyd and so is the bluesy and melodic guitar solo in Lies. The opener City Life which also has vocals doesn´t sound like Pink Floyd though. It´s actually a very weak vocal performance in that song. It´s a shame because the song is pretty good.

There are some really great instrumental songs on Nude as well and songs like Docks, Beached and Captured ( with a brass section that leads my thoughts toward Canterbury) are excellent songs.

Unfortunately not all is well and I could have done without the Nude theme that also surfaces in Landscapes. It simply reminds me too much of New age meditative supermarket muzak. Changing Places isn´t my cup of tea either. It reminds me of some of the repetitive psychadelic jams that Porcupine Tree would later do. There are a few other small instrumental songs that doesn´t really rock my boat either throughout the album.

The musicianship is great even though the virtuoso performances of the past is more or less gone. Andy Ward´s drumming is much simpler and not as funky as his seventies performances but it suits the music, so I don´t mind much.

The production is as mentioned very much rooted in the eighties. I love most of the sounds on the album but I really dislike the electric piano sound that sometimes occur. To me it sounds like something you would hear in a modern church or in a Mariah Carey or Whitney Houston song.

Nude is a much better album than I thought it would be and even though this is not my favorite Camel album I still think it deserves 3 stars. 3 small stars but still 3 stars and not 2. Beware that this is an eighties album and it´s very obvious when you hear the album. Just don´t expect nice and warm seventies sounds. This ones a grower for sure so give it a few spins before you make your vote.