NUDE

A surprisingly good efford from this band in their worst period (the early 80´s). A concept album done in 1981? Well, that was quite bold for the time. The story behind the concept is very interesting and it is well explained on Easy Livin´s inspired review. Although Nude was not really a return to form, it is way better than both Camel´s previous (the bad I Can See Your House From here) and this CD follow up (the hideous The Single Factor).

Nude starts with City Life, a commercial, but decent, pop song that is quite misleading. The remainder of the record is better, although also not very characterisc: in fact, there is a lot of instrumental tracks here that can only be labeled as new age music (Landscapes, Reflections, among others). Andre Latimer uses a lot of flute on them, an instrument he left aside in latter years. On the other side there are some very strong progressive tunes (Docks, Beached) and even some fusion stuff (Captured). There are also very good songs with lyrics like Drafted and the powerful bluesy Lie. The final instrumental Nude´s Return reminds me of the ´old´ Camel by the time of the great The Snow Goose. Unfortunatly, it is too short.

In all I liked this CD. I don´t feel It is not very well balanced musically but I have to say it does include some of their best 80´s stuff. It is a little different and maybe too new age-ish for my taste., but still quite good anyway (specially for that specific time period). And, as a concept albu,, it works. Final rating: something between 3 and 3,5 stars.