DUST AND DREAMS

This was Camel's first studio album since Stationary Traveller (1984). Again they concentrate on the instrumental side with a couple of vocal tracks included, and probably the closest comparison in Camel discography up to that point was Nude (1982), which also was a concept album in the Snow Goose manner. Nude may have more variety and it is easier to get to know closely, but it was perhaps more uneven as well. Dust And Dreams is very rewarding Camel album - full of soaring guitar and the melodic style that Camel is so well known of - but it's not music you can immediately memorize after the first listenings. Maybe the main reason for being harder to "learn" is that it consists of 16 tracks in 48 minutes, none of them bad but in the end quite samey. Also the narrative level is not very visible. I mean, it's easier to enjoy as music only: it would only disturb the concentration, trying to follow which one of the short tracks is playing at the moment, since even the titles reveal quite a little. Thank God the flow is quite unbroken, with this many tracks.

The literary inspiration was John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, a famous novel about a poor American family heading to California in hope for a better life. (A shame to say it's not among the dozen or so books by Steinbeck that I've read. Does this album make me more willing to read it? Maybe a little bit, but more like a reminder of the book's existence than as a musical interpretation of it.)

Collaborating with Andy Latimer are e.g. keyboarist Ton Scherpenzeel (Kayak), familiar from Stationary Traveller, and the long-time Camel bassist Colin Bass, with David Paton & Mae McKenna sharing the scarce vocal duties with Andy himself. A recommendable album for all Camel fans.