Welcome to the second day of ranking every Camel song! We're still in the section of the list where i'm not incredibly keen on the songs, but soon we'll be getting into the more personally favorable stuff! Lets go:

107: End of the Line (Dust and Dreams)

I haven't heard too many other Camel fans opinion on this track, but it's somewhat of a live staple for the band in recent years. I've just never liked it, not even the live version of the album off "Never Let Go" which i'll talk about more in the future (Long story short: I think it blows the studio version out of the water). There's a lot of guitar playing, but very little of it is actually memorable and in turn the song just kind of drags on for me. I know it's somewhat of a centerpiece of the album, but its generally a skip for me.

106: Neon Magic (I Can See Your House From Here)

This one is kinda a bouncy pop rock tune. It's got a decent instrumental in the middle but I think the vocal performance is pretty weak and honestly like some other tracks on the album, it just doesn't satisfy what I want to hear from Camel. At least it reprises the main melody from Rhayader towards the end. If i'm in the right mood this can be a fun song, but it's a bit of a far cry from even the highlights on its own album.

105: Manic (The Single Factor)

Just somewhat of a forgettable song and I think that can be attributed to lack of a memorable hook or melody throughout the song. There's a sort of soft and whimsical interlude a little over halfway through that's a nice little change of pace, but it's not enough to save the track for me.

104: Sheet Rain/Whispers/Little River and Little Rose (Dust and Dreams)

My issue with this is less the music than it is the context. It really felt like we were building momentum with the previous 3 tracks on the album and in turn, these tracks just feel like an intermission to the album. These are all very mellow and somewhat pretty, I actually quite like Sheet Rain but as a whole these three tracks just don't have anything all that great going for them.

103: Heroes (The Single Factor)

I actually think the instrumental on this song is kinda nice but the vocals and main hook sort of lack for me. There's nothing terrible I can say about this one, but similarly to manic, it's just kinda plain.

102: After Words (Stationary Traveller)

A short, alright instrumental that serves its purpose of kinda painting a dreary and hopeless feeling atmosphere that is somewhat of a constant on its respective album. I got nothing overly negative to say about it but it just sorta comes and goes without leaving too much of an impression.

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The List So Far:

(Best)

After Words

Heroes

Sheet Rain/Whispers/Little Rivers and Little Rose

Manic

Neon Magic

The End of the Line

Hearts Desire/End Peace

Rain Dances

Rainbows End

The Homecoming

Your Love is Stranger Than Mine

Remote Romance

(Worst)

Welcome to the third day of ranking every single Camel song worst to best. This probably the last day of the kinda "meh" songs for me, after these songs I think things start getting progressively and quickly better. Anyways:

101: Todays Goodbye (The Single Factor)

An alright tune from The Single Factor with some nice harmonies going for it as well as a decent hook. Doesn't quite knock my socks off or leave much of an impression however.

100: Fingertips (Stationary Traveller)

I find this to be a bit of an Adult Contemporary dud that sort of overstays its welcome. I can enjoy it if i'm in the right mood but its never a highlight for me. Mel Collins guests here but I think his saxophone playing just gives it more of a kinda wimpy Adult Contemporary feel.

99: Eye of the Storm (I Can See Your House From Here)

A really sort of average Camel instrumental that never really has any sort of payoff. It just kinda does its thing and fizzles out without much of cling onto. I don't have too much else to say about it, nothing inherently bad about this track, but its subpar when they got instrumentals like First Light and the Sleeper not far removed from this album.

98: Pressure Points (Stationary Traveller)

A nice little opener to the album with piercing guitars and a steady synth rhythm. It's more here on the low end because its pretty short and simply serves its purpose as opening the album. However, the live version off the album "Pressure Points" extends this instrumental out to 7 minutes and it's definitely my preferred version. It has some awesome fretless bass and generally more breathing room.

97: Please Come Home (Nude)

A very short track meant to sort of advance the concept of the "Nude." It really doesn't work as a standalone track in turn, but in the context of the album it's a nice little emotional song in between two more in a similar ethereal and kinda atmospheric vein.

96: Camelogue (The Single Factor)

A pretty decent track with a memorable hook that sticks with me as well as some nice guitar playing. It doesn't perhaps blow me away, but it ends up leaning more towards the best of the Single Factor.

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The List So Far:

(Best)

Camelogue

Please Come Home

Pressure Points

Eye of the Storm

Fingertips

Todays Goodbye

After Words

Heroes

Sheet Rain/Whispers/Little Rivers and Little Rose

Manic

Neon Magic

The End of the Line

Hearts Desire/End Peace

Rain Dances

Rainbows End

The Homecoming

Your Love is Stranger Than Mine

Remote Romance

(Worst)

Here we are on Day 4, quickly getting into the songs I tend to favor!

95: Selva (The Single Factor)

This is a pretty nice, pleasant soft and spacey instrumental, I don't have too much to add on top of that.

94: Who We Are (I Can See Your House From Here)

I know this song has its fans but i've always had some very mixed opinions on it. I think the intro is really good and always gets the head bobbing with a nice punchy bass and upbeat playing from the rest of the band. However, once we get into the verse and chorus it just takes a very sappy turn with cheesy lyrics, kinda lame adult contemporary orchestration and a really corny hook. I can see it as a guilty pleasure song, but it just doesn't have enough grit for me.

93: Reflections (Nude)

This is a somewhat short subtle and ambient instrumental with a guitar melody similar to the main melody from the verse of "You Make Me Smile" off breathless. Overall its pretty pleasent but it only really works in the context of the album.

92: Pomp and Circumstance (Nude)

This is similar to reflections where its a very meditative and delicate piece with some really nice synths and flute playing. It's very short though and once again is more of an album song ending with the sound of gun shots which is Nude fulfilling his military obligations from the island he's stranded on.

91: Highways of the Sun (Rain Dances)

This song is kinda clearly an attempt at a hit and it sort of misses the mark a bit in that department. It's very steady and can get a little stale quickly but I like the striking electric piano during the pre-chorus. Peter Bardens saves the day with his really cool synth soundscape in the middle accompanied by some pretty groovy drumming. The hook is catchy enough, but unfortunately this song isn't a highlight from it's respective album.

90: Mother Road/Needles (Dust and Dreams)

This is another live staple for the band and its in the live environment where I feel like it gets dragged out to its full potential, with that said, I don't think its the most essential Camel track. The verse and hook are decent enough, but this song reaches a pretty satisfying peak when the main guitar melody really kicks in around the 2:24 mark. I think it could use a little more power and intensity on the studio version but in general I really like this section of the song along with the vocals that accompany it. Needles is an alright mellow instrumental, not the most memorable thing on the album but it's pleasant to listen to.

89: The Hour Candle (Harbour of Tears)

I'm a big fan of Harbour of Tears, but I feel like there's something kinda missing from this song and I can't put my finger on it. It does a very fine job of painting a picture of someone staring out at the ocean from the shore, but I can't help but feel that songs like Ice and Stationary Traveler just do this type of song better. I think there could've been some kind of better lead up into the solo, coming straight out of Coming of Age into this track isn't the most satisfying conclusion for me. Overall though, its a pretty nice song. I will say though, the 20 minutes of Ocean Sounds at the end is total overkill, but I won't count that against it.

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The List So Far:

(Best)

The Hour Candle

Mother Road/Needles

Highways of the Sun

Pomp and Circumstance

Reflections

Who We Are

Selva

Camelogue

Please Come Home

Pressure Points

Eye of the Storm

Fingertips

Todays Goodbye

After Words

Heroes

Sheet Rain/Whispers/Little Rivers and Little Rose

Manic

Neon Magic

The End of the Line

Hearts Desire/End Peace

Rain Dances

Rainbows End

The Homecoming

Your Love is Stranger Than Mine

Remote Romance

(Worst)

Here's our next batch of Camel songs for the ranking!

88: Down On The Farm (Breathless)

Well here it is, to many Camel fans its "that song," so where do I stand on it? I actually quite like it, its very upbeat, goofy and fun. I like the somewhat subtle flute playing during the chorus and throughout. The actual verse and vocal performance is very nice and catchy. I think the intro motif that is repeated throughout might be a bit too in-your-face, but I think this song is good and fits the vibe of Breathless.

87: Rose of Sharon/Milk and Honey (Dust and Dreams)

This song is conflicting for me, if I was ranking the version off "Never let Go," it would likely be in my top 20, its that good. Matter of fact, the song here is still very good but the female vocals just really miss the mark on the studio cut. Nothing against female vocals, but her voice and the effect put on it just don't sound good to my ears. When Latimer and Colin Bass sing this song together its magic. I love when it kicks into that spacey middle section bringing us into the "Oh Rose You'll Never Know..." part. It's very emotional, but the explosive guitar solo towards the end steals the show. However, this is a rare case in the Camel discography where the vocals really bother me and hinder my enjoyment of a song. Milk N' Honey is another very mellow, spacey inoffensive filler track on Dust and Dreams.

86: One Of These Days I'll Get an Early Night (Rain Dances)

I really did not like this song for the longest time. Coming off of the first 4 albums when I heard that jazz-funk groove open the song I remember asking myself what band I was listening to. However, it's sorta revealed itself to be a bit of a slowburn and one with a good amount of replay value for me. It's Camels attempt at a Jazz Fusion song, yes, this is what they kicked Doug Ferguson out for. With a steady and constant rhythm throughout, the stage is set for Peter Bardens, Andy Latimer and Mel Collins to trade off solos and play off of each other. Peter Bardens has some very nice electric piano playing that sometimes feels a tad bit long winded. Mel Collins and Andy Latimer come in next and Latimer has a really nice and impressive guitar solo closing out the track with a backwards tape loop effect. Overall, I quite enjoy this track and it gets better with time and familiarity. I find it to be a very strange song in the Camel canon and it was very jarring to me at first.

85: West Berlin (Stationary Traveler)

This track is very dark and moody. It packs a pretty memorable chorus with some nice instrumentation to back it up. In the middle there's a pretty cool delay guitar section which comes again and expands in the final minute of the track. There's nothing particularly earth shattering about this track, but all in all its a good, memorable song.

84: Missing (Stationary Traveler)

Very interesting song here, its one of those classic Camel instrumental jam tracks, but done with the instrumentation and production value seen throughout Stationary Traveler. The whole song is in 7 with a keyboard groove kinda reminiscent of the song Lost and Found off of Rajaz. Andy Latimer absolutely tears it up on guitar. After a somewhat brief 80s keyboard solo Andy Latimer hops back in going even more ham on his guitar while the instruments around him progressively build up the soundscape accompanying him. The 80s piano comes back in and the track slowly fades out. It's a pretty strong instrumental, perhaps not the most dynamic or explosive of its sort, but its among the more exciting and fast paced parts of Stationary Traveller.

83: End of the Day (Harbour of Tears)

This a very soft, low-key and somber track with acoustic guitar playing and Latimer vocals as well as a nice main melody in the middle. This leads us into soft melodic flute playing which seamlessly flows into a guitar solo that interestingly works as a continuation of the flute solo. Overall this track is pretty short and works as a nice softer contrast to the following track "Coming Of Age."

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The List So Far:

(Best)

End of the Day

Missing

West Berlin

One Of These Days I’ll Get an Early Night

Rose of Sharon/Milk and Honey

Down on the Farm

The Hour Candle

Mother Road/Needles

Highways of the Sun

Pomp and Circumstance

Reflections

Who We Are

Selva

Camelogue

Please Come Home

Pressure Points

Eye of the Storm

Fingertips

Todays Goodbye

After Words

Heroes

Sheet Rain/Whispers/Little Rivers and Little Rose

Manic

Neon Magic

The End of the Line

Hearts Desire/End Peace

Rain Dances

Rainbows End

The Homecoming

Your Love is Stranger Than Mine

Remote Romance

(Worst)

Here we are on day 6 with another set of 6 tracks! Thank you to everybody who has been throwing in their two cents on these tracks and the rankings!

82: Lies (Nude)

A pretty decent track, its got a nice guitar solo and some heavy hitting organ work in the middle. Overall it doesn't blow my socks off but its an alright track for the latter half of Nude.

81: Wait (I Can See Your House From Here)

Pretty good track, the opening always makes me feel like i'm booting up Super Smash Brothers. The song has a really smooth and fast paced flow from section to section. The verse almost kinda sounds like something Dire Straits would do, I can't say the verse or chorus are my favorites, but the jam it kicks into at 2:04 is sick and unfortunately ends up being one of the only times Kit Watkins is allowed to let loose on the album. He is originally from US prog band Happy the Man and his keyboard work on their first two albums is not only incredibly impressive, but it's just dripping in creativity and originality. Now back to the song, I really enjoy the melodic guitar stretches towards the end which expand on the intro riff. All in all, one of the highlights from its respective album.

80: You Make Me Smile (Breathless)

A little on the cheesy side, with perhaps a hint of disco, but I shamelessly really enjoy this track. It's got a pretty neat synth and drum groove. Corny lyrics aside, you're never gonna catch me NOT singing along to the chorus. Bardens works some of his synth magic later in the song with some really tasty tones and all in all, while it's not the most challenging or dense Camel song, it's a very pleasant and upbeat song on a very pleasant and upbeat album.

79: Dust Bowl/Go West/Dusted Out (Dust and Dreams)

I really like this opening suite and specifically "Go West" as I see it as the centerpiece of this set of songs. To start off. Dust Bowl kicks things off with a kinda derelict vibe with some really nice instrumentation. It's the intimate and minimalist Go West that really sticks with me with soft and subtle instrumentation, vocals as well as a nice hook with clear lyrics throughout that properly introduce the concept. I will once again plug the "Never Let Go" version of this track as it stretches most the tracks to their full potential. Dusted Out is a more heavy hitting spin on the first two tracks introducing some of the albums main motifs in a less developed and more subtle way. Dust and Dreams (Studio) is probably in my bottom 3 Camel albums, but it really does a fine job with its conceptual elements and reoccurring musical motifs throughout.

78: No Easy Answers (The Single Factor)

I had always heard that The Single Factor was the bottom of the barrel for Camel. When I first put it on I went in with low expectations but this track came on and it kinda caught me off guard because I really enjoyed it. Is it a pop song? Yes, but so what? It's catchy and well written. Don't let reviews or general consensus skew your perception on an album before hearing it yourself. Because lots of times it comes down to the first few people who put their opinions out there ultimately determining the end game general opinion on albums. I know many of the tracks here rank low, but I think it's always a nice listen. Right out the gate this track kicks off with some really catchy vocal lines. I love the "La La La" section with clapping and some really clean acoustic guitars accompanying it. The ending of this track is great as well with some nice synths and a really uplifting guitar solo. Just a really well written and performed pop song.

77: Cloak and Dagger Man (Stationary Traveler)

Another track that was very jarring to me at first but it gets better with every listen for me. It has a very frantic feel with lead vocals from Chris Rainbow. It's hard to explain what it is I like about this track but I just find the all the vocal lines and delivery to be extremely catchy. Towards the end there's these piercing synths that are just fired at you like a machine gun and I think it's just awesome. There's no turning baaaaaacccckkkkk!

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The List So Far:

(Best)

Cloak and Dagger Man

No Easy Answers

Dust Bowl/Go West/Dusted Out

You Make Me Smile

Wait

Lies

End of the Day

Missing

West Berlin

One Of These Days I’ll Get an Early Night

Rose of Sharon/Milk and Honey

Down on the Farm

The Hour Candle

Mother Road/Needles

Highways of the Sun

Pomp and Circumstance

Reflections

Who We Are

Selva

Camelogue

Please Come Home

Pressure Points

Eye of the Storm

Fingertips

Todays Goodbye

After Words

Heroes

Sheet Rain/Whispers/Little Rivers and Little Rose

Manic

Neon Magic

The End of the Line

Hearts Desire/End Peace

Rain Dances

Rainbows End

The Homecoming

Your Love is Stranger Than Mine

Remote Romance

(Worst)

Hello and welcome to the 7th installment in ranking every Camel song! I really look forward to writing this up every morning. Sorry this one is coming a bit late today, had work early and probably will again tomorrow.

76: Landscapes (Nude)

Another softer flute and synth led piece, this one book ending side one of Nude. It comes and works as a nice contrast to the opening intense and proggy suite of Drafted/Docks/Beached and generally is just a very pretty song. A quality I like about Nude is that it has this breathing room and is alright with stripping down without overstaying its welcome.

75: City Life/Nude (Nude)

The opening track to Nude is a very pleasant pop tune. I love how it instantly opens with the main "Nude" motif that we hear repeated throughout the album. Listening back now, it really is a bit of a sign of whats to come with strong writing and musical similarities with much of the Single Factor and even Stationary Traveler. With that said, I think its one of their stronger songs in that vein with a very upbeat and bright vibe throughout the catchy and kinda bouncy verse and chorus. All the instrumentation sounds very pristine as well, notably the synths and bass with some subtle acoustic guitars. Mel Collins comes back with a very bright 80s sounding saxophone solo and the same can be said for the guitar solo towards the end. Very nice tune and a good opening to the album.

74: Summer Lightning (Breathless)

Perhaps a bit of a controversial placement here as I know to many fans this is a favorite. In fact, I once ran into a guy at the gym wearing a porcupine tree shirt and we talked about prog for a while and he told me this song was one of his top 10 songs by any artist. We probably all had the same reaction when we first heard this song: "Wait? What?!? Disco?!?!?" Not much initially stuck with me with this track but with repeated listens, I finally kinda understood it. However, while I do like this song i'm just not as high on it as other people are. I actually think the song has a pretty cool opening before it really kicks into disco mode with its "keep on dancing" and "summer nights" backing vocals. I still dig it though. Whats interesting about this song is that both Bardens and Latimer have these very developed solos that you really wouldn't expect. Bardens comes in with some synth magic part-way through. He was really good at making every one of his solos unique whether hes using vastly different tones or just new and varying techniques. After Bardens neat solo ends we get an actually really cool little interlude which properly drops us is right into a sweet Andy Latimer solo that ends up building for 3 minutes. He just lets loose while the other instruments make subtle changes over the course of these minutes to help build him up and we end up this just soaring emotive solo. While this isn't topping my chart, it's songs like these that really make me appreciate that mid career Camel and Breathless as a whole. Some see this album as the band commercializing, or starting to, but I see it as the band progressing. Not many of the songs on the album are really all that straight forward, mostly all of them are full of unexpected and unconventional turns with top notch instrumentation and arguably a greater sense of personality.

73: Refugee (Stationary Traveler)

Even though this song is a bit more straightforward I think it's pretty great and nails exactly what its going for. There's no big chorus yet the track remains very satisfying through subtle instrumental changes. The guitar work throughout is very sharp and the vocal performance is really nice and memorable. It has a steady keyboard rhythm sort of thing going on throughout which swiftly changes to a major key when the chorus rolls around and its little details and strong songwriting components like this which make me really enjoy this track as well as many others off stationary traveler.

72: Generations/Eyes Of Ireland (Harbour of Tears)

This was actually the first track I really got into on this album. For a while I really wasn't much a fan of Harbour outside of this and Coming of Age, but I found it to be a slowburn and a grower. Generations is just a short one minute kinda mellow precursor to the folky and simple yet effective Eyes of Ireland. I actually think from a lyrical standpoint Harbour is one of their best and most interesting, this song included. It nails the "poor irish family" vibe pretty well and eclipses with a very flowing electric guitar solo 2/3rds in. It's not going to melt your brain, but its a strong and unique song from the band.

71: Elke (Rain Dances)

So with this track we have a contribution from Brian Eno, i'm curious how that came to fruition. The song has a really nice texture and simply sounds like it's from another planet. It's very soft and somewhat ambient and it feels like the kind of music you hear waking up in dimly lit cave if that makes any sense, think Breath of the Wild. It's like the music often breaths and sends chills with a life of its own with these kinda indescribable sounds and soft flute playing. There's not much else in the Camel canon all that comparable besides Tell Me and maybe Starlight Ride. With all that said, it's not something I think of when I think top shelf Camel, but every time I play Rain Dances it always takes me aback quite a bit with its beauty.

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The List So Far:

(Best)

Elke

Generations/Eyes of Ireland

Refugee

Summer Lightning

City Life/Nude

Landscapes

Cloak and Dagger Man

No Easy Answers

Dust Bowl/Go West/Dusted Out

You Make Me Smile

Wait

Lies

End of the Day

Missing

West Berlin

One Of These Days I’ll Get an Early Night

Rose of Sharon/Milk and Honey

Down on the Farm

The Hour Candle

Mother Road/Needles

Highways of the Sun

Pomp and Circumstance

Reflections

Who We Are

Selva

Camelogue

Please Come Home

Pressure Points

Eye of the Storm

Fingertips

Todays Goodbye

After Words

Heroes

Sheet Rain/Whispers/Little Rivers and Little Rose

Manic

Neon Magic

The End of the Line

Hearts Desire/End Peace

Rain Dances

Rainbows End

The Homecoming

Your Love is Stranger Than Mine

Remote Romance

(Worst)

Welcome back! I'm starting this in the morning but this is likely going up in the evening once again. I had some lukewarm reactions to my Summer Lightning placement last time, which is fair. I don't think any of these should be too controversial :)

70: The Millers Tale (A Nod and a Wink)

I think this track works best when played after Foxhill as I kind of see it as a bit of a shorter cool down from that track. It opens with a really nice soft acoustic passage that echoes the nostalgic feel seen throughout the album. It flows into a somewhat menacing sounding section with some heavier strings and xylophones and I think it sounds really cool and pretty Rajaz-Esque. It ends on a very touching note musically with an instrumental passage that kind of sounds sad yet hopeful. I think its another one of those tracks that speaks through the music and allows you to determine your own interpretation of it.

69: Irish Air/Irish Air (Instrumental Reprise)/Harbour of Tears (Harbour of Tears)

I think this is just a great opening to the album, Irish Air opens with acapella and somewhat folky female irish vocals which seamlessly transition into the instrumental reprise which opens with with the same melody now played on the flute. After that its repeated on the guitar and man, the tone is absolutely towering. Following that, this short little song develops into something really big with its celtic influenced sound and marching rhythm. This instrumental once again seamlessly flows into the title track with its steady three chord sequence and this really kicks the story off. Every time I hear "I, am one of seven brothers" I get kinda amped up. Latimer delivers a really nice vocal performance and after a bit Colin Bass comes in and they both sing different vocal lines and melodies at the same time. I love when they do this, Colin Bass has a great voice and here on this album Latimer wrote some really strong and subtly complex vocal arrangements. I love the last 20 seconds as the music kinda speaks and narrates the story. I interpret it as the family watching their mainland grow distant as they sail away on the ship for a new life....

68: Simple Pleasures (A Nod and a Wink)

This track is a flowing deserty journey with some nice percussion and electric piano. It's on the mellow side, not necessarily as in slow and plodding but moreso in its low-key yet very detailed soundscape throughout. It probably wouldn't sound all that out of place on Rajaz, similar vibe. Throughout the first few minutes Latimer kinda teases you with his guitar playing on top of the vocals. While I don't think its their strongest song from a lyrical standpoint, it's got a very memorable chorus which after its second repeat it drops us in and things pick up a little bit with the main drums and organ joining in while Andys guitar playing comes in a little bit more in the forefront with an extended solo that slowly builds and builds until its clear that the guitar is the star of the show. We end with another chorus now with the full band playing with lead vocals and explosive guitar playing dueling. After this the song fizzles out which I think works well for a mellow and more subdued track like this, in fact, to me its kinda like the music equivalent of watching someone walk away becoming just a dot in the distance. This track comes in and does it's thing, its not their most intense or bombastic track but that's by design, pretty solid!

67:Tell Me (Rain Dances)

This track has been a big grower for me as for a while I saw it as somewhat of a underwhelming filler track on Rain Dances. However, over time as Rain Dances grew on me I started really paying attention to this track. The instrumentation and texture is actually really impressive and it somewhat reminds me of Elke off the same album. First off, the fretless bass is just ear candy, but its Peter Bardens and his keyboard work on this track that really continue to shock me. Take a listen to this track and just focus on his layers of instrumentation, also notice how the instruments all play with such feel while playing off of each other. The flute and vocals join in at different points with a similar spacey feel. About half way through the tasty synths and subtle woodwinds play together in unison seamlessly leading the vocals back in. I feel like this is the music you hear when you die. While it's not the creme of the crop on its album or in the Camel discography, I think this track stands as a very unique, soft and beautiful piece of music. For me the tracks on Rain Dances are either some of their best material, or they're just good, and that will be reflected in the gap between this and the next track from this album.

66: Hopeless Anger/Whispers in the Rain (Dust and Dreams)

This track is probably Dust and Dreams heaviest moment as well as one of its best. I starts with some winding and heavier guitar playing and at the 1:19 mark it kicks into a really nice guitar melody. I do wish the drums had more punch throughout this album especially on a track like this which would really benefit from it. A darker organ takes over accompanied with other tones collectively changing the tone to a brighter and happier sound indicating that some sweet big crescendo is coming.... and it is! The main theme from Mother Road is reprised up a key and it's done in such blissful and headbanging fashion. It's a really nice payoff with its celebratory sound, the following section features these galloping pianos that evolve into a twisting arrangement with all the instruments kinda doing their own interesting thing. Whispers in the Rain isn't quite the best closing track, I like what they do with it off the Live version on Never Let Go and I feel like the studio version is kinda missing the drums and explosive guitars. It ends up being somewhat of a inoffensive yet forgettable track. Hopeless Anger is what gets it here on the list.

65: Starlight Ride (Breathless)

This track is a really nice earthy and ethereal song opening with these electric pianos kinda raining on you with some nice flute playing. Andy Latimer has a pretty strong vocal performance on this one, I think on this track it's all about the subtleties. The slide guitar, the synths sitting in the backround, the guitar providing another little melody on top of the electric piano and vocals during the verse. The little jam at 1:27 is seriously impressive and well written as Latimer and Bardens play off of each other creating something that actually sounds very symphonic which is only amplified by what I assume to be Mel Collins flute playing coming in on top of it. This track isn't by any means heavy, but it builds and adds layers of vocals during the next repeat of the verse. I've always enjoyed this track quite a bit, the title rings true, this in fact sounds like a Starlight Ride.

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The List So Far:

(Best)

Starlight Ride

Hopeless Anger/Whispers in the Rain

Tell Me

Simple Pleasures

70Irish Air/Irish Air (Reprise)/Harbour of Tears

The Miller's Tale

Elke

Generations/Eyes of Ireland

Refugee

Summer Lightning

City Life/Nude

Landscapes

Cloak and Dagger Man

No Easy Answers

Dust Bowl/Go West/Dusted Out

You Make Me Smile

Wait

Lies

End of the Day

Missing

West Berlin

One Of These Days I’ll Get an Early Night

Rose of Sharon/Milk and Honey

Down on the Farm

The Hour Candle

Mother Road/Needles

Highways of the Sun

Pomp and Circumstance

Reflections

Who We Are

Selva

Camelogue

Please Come Home

Pressure Points

Eye of the Storm

Fingertips

Todays Goodbye

After Words

Heroes

Sheet Rain/Whispers/Little Rivers and Little Rose

Manic

Neon Magic

The End of the Line

Hearts Desire/End Peace

Rain Dances

Rainbows End

The Homecoming

Your Love is Stranger Than Mine

Remote Romance

(Worst)

Welcome back to the next installment of ranking every single Camel song! We are quickily closing in on the top 50, I got a few takes today...

64: Docks (Nude)

This is actually a pretty unique track and a genuinely progressive song that I find hard to compare to anything else in their discography. It opens with this kinda stomping and marching bass and drum groove with these slide guitars rushing past you. The song continues to build power which is finally released around the 2:05 mark into this really blissful synth passage which to me is the peak of the song. The main groove kicks back in with some subtly nasty guitar. The final 15 seconds of the track has the music just kinda melting around you as it gets ready to kick into "Beached." I feel like this song could have been developed just a tad bit more, but what they lay down here is really cool.

63: Vopos (Stationary Traveler)

This song has an awesome synth/piano groove that kicks in about a minute in after some a neat synth intro. I actually don't have all that much to say about this track relative to its placement here but I just think its a strong song. I like when the drums come in and the main piano/synth riff gets a little bigger and more electronic sounding. The vocal melodies throughout are super solid but the section it kicks into at 3:20 when it strips down to just Piano, Ambient Synths and Vocals ("Can it be a nightmare?") is great. They do a fine job dragging this section out just long enough so when the whole band kicks back in it hits pretty effectively. One of my favorites off Stationary Traveler.

62: You Are The One (The Single Factor)

Welp, we now only have on remaining track off The Single Factor, but this track deservedly stands on the podium along with No Easy Answer and the other which will appear on the list in a little bit. The opening kinda gives me Alan Parson Project vibes. This is similar to Vopos where it's not the type of Camel song that is going to blow my mind, but it's just a very well written, catchy and more simple Camel track. The vocal melodies opening the track are on point and the organ that's quickily joined by a synth during the pre-chorus is sweet. The chorus is really big and catchy and when the second verse comes around afterwards they do a nice job of building on the first by adding these catchy synth lines and punchy bass parts. All in all, its surely one of my favorites from The Single Factor (which I don't think is a bad album) and it's one of their best tracks in this vein.

61: For Today (A Nod and a Wink)

Aaaaaand this is where I get crucified. This is a favorite of many, and I know one particular user in the discord and subreddit who considers this their favorite Camel song, and that's all good with me. However, I like this track, but it doesn't move me all that much. The track opens with these pianos that kind of remind me of some of the Hymnals you might hear in a church, an acoustic guitar along with Latimer vocals take the wheel and this part is pretty enjoyable and the lyrics are pretty memorable. A couple minute in it drops into a sort of Pink Floyd-esque guitar solo that by this point in the discography I find a little too standard. After this there's a shorter synth solo and the tone sounds nearly identical to that of the one used on "Ice," which is an interesting choice. My favorite part of the song is actually the somewhat darker organs played right before the big ending crescendo section. They do a really nice job of setting up that big drop into the closing minutes of the track. In all honesty though, I enjoy this part but it's just a tad underwhelming for me. Maybe its because every time I hear it  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VGYUdmdl2I" rel="nofollow - I picture Mr Bean singing Hallelujah (1:42 timestamp) . I think this track ends on a nice note in the final minute with some reflective sounding instrumentation and the train we hear at the beginning of the album slowly fading away. I know this placement might be disappointing to some folks but I need to be honest with myself. Good song, just not one of my favorites.

60: Captured (Nude)

One of the more faster paced and intense moments off the latter half of Nude. Highly recommend the live version off Pressure Points which I think eclipses the studio cut. It's got those kind of Camel-signature fast paced drums going pretty steady throughout but I like the spin put on the accompanying instruments using these descending synths and faster paced saxophones that kind of set the stage. I love the picked acoustic guitar parts and the section at 1:08 with the downward arpeggios played on the synths. A little past the mid-point the spirit of Peter Bardens is channeled with a sweet synth (damn i'm saying that word a lot this time around!) section leading into what i'm 99% sure is the Guitar and Saxophone playing an awesome line in unison. For a shorter track there's actually quite a bit jammed into it.

59: Long Goodbyes (Stationary Traveler)

Another potentially controversial placement, but I truly like this song a lot and it kinda pains me to put it here as well. I think my sole complaint here are the vocals, I'm not huge on the voice of Chris Rainbow on this track as I find it a little bit lifeless and devoid of emotion which a song like this really needs. From an instrumental standpoint though, absolutely fantastic track. We open with this faster paced picked acoustic guitar with some soft flute playing alongside it, plus the ear candy fretless bass playing is back once again. I love the chorus here, very catchy and the instrumentation makes up a bit where I think the vocals lack. Even though the transitions between the verses and chorus's aren't the smoothest, it doesn't bother really bother me. While all this is nice, Andy Latimer rips such a fantastic and incredible guitar solo in the final 60-90 seconds ending the song and album on a high peak. Melodic, emotional, and I can imagine this was somewhat of a satisfying and comforting note to end on for those fans of Camel who were in limbo until 1991 likely assuming the band was over.

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The List So Far:

(Best)

Long Goodbyes

Captured

For Today

You Are The One

Vopos

Docks

Starlight Ride

Hopeless Anger/Whispers in the Rain

Tell Me

Simple Pleasures

70Irish Air/Irish Air (Reprise)/Harbour of Tears

The Miller's Tale

Elke

Generations/Eyes of Ireland

Refugee

Summer Lightning

City Life/Nude

Landscapes

Cloak and Dagger Man

No Easy Answers

Dust Bowl/Go West/Dusted Out

You Make Me Smile

Wait

Lies

End of the Day

Missing

West Berlin

One Of These Days I’ll Get an Early Night

Rose of Sharon/Milk and Honey

Down on the Farm

The Hour Candle

Mother Road/Needles

Highways of the Sun

Pomp and Circumstance

Reflections

Who We Are

Selva

Camelogue

Please Come Home

Pressure Points

Eye of the Storm

Fingertips

Todays Goodbye

After Words

Heroes

Sheet Rain/Whispers/Little Rivers and Little Rose

Manic

Neon Magic

The End of the Line

Hearts Desire/End Peace

Rain Dances

Rainbows End

The Homecoming

Your Love is Stranger Than Mine

Remote Romance

(Worst)

Welcome back to ranking the Camel songs, I survived the crucifixion from yesterday and i'm back with another set of songs! We're closing in on the top 50 which gets pretty insane, especially once we hit the top 40.

58: Sasquatch (The Single Factor)

Well, with this placement the Single Factor is now all completely ranked. After this is all over i'm going to assign each song some points based on its placement and see how the albums would rank for me based on where it is on the list, cross country style. This track is a joyfully bouncy and proggy instrumental that takes you through several varying and interesting instrumental passages with nice melodic guitar playing throughout. This song is well developed and layered with a somewhat metallic sounding acoustic guitar providing the backbone throughout. There's some nice synth work in the middle and the instruments all do a very nice job of playing off of each other really creating the impression of a band playing together, even though you could argue that really wasn't the case. Always gets me hyped up, my favorite track of the Single Factor. Farewell Single Factor! You're not as bad as everyone says.

57: Changing Places (Nude)

This might be a "what is this song doing this high on the list?" moment, but I love the feel and atmosphere of this track. It properly feels like a surviving on an island montage song with its tribal drums and melodic though at times subtly eclectic flute playing. Throughout the song there's this quiet ambient sound sitting in the background that I can't really describe all that well, but it reminds me of just the regular noises you might hear walking through the woods during the daytime. I actually don't have much more to add here but very pleasant song.

56: Cobh/Send Home The Slates (Harbour of Tears)

This was a very strange track to me the first time I heard it with a guest Irish vocalist (David Paton who appears on The Single Factor and Stationary Traveler) and some very different instrumentals choices for Camel, but it's proven to grow into a song I really enjoy on all fronts. As a side note, the coming of age version with the Irish vocals, Latimer and Bass all singing together sounds great and its panned really well. I think both the studio and live version of this particular album are just about equals, can't go wrong with either. The track opens with these darker string tones with David Patons vocals coming in shortly after. I really like his voice, this combo with the lyrics give off this blue collar vibe. Andy Latimer takes over on vocals in a low-key fashion along with the instrumentation following suit properly leading into the full band joining in. Latimer begins to rip this amazing and extremely developed guitar solo while the rest of the instruments play around what he plays. It peaks at 2:31 as it kicks into melodic overdrive before kicking back into the verse properly closing the song. This track is strange but very creative, especially in the context of of when it came out in 1996 when not many other artists were experimenting in this vein or even making these kinds of conceptual albums. Awesome track.

55: Running From Paradise (Harbour of Tears)

This is an brilliantly dynamic track with vibes ranging from epic and grand to celebratory to reflective. The song opens with this big symphonic crescendo settling down into some familiar and comfy flute playing and some electric slide guitar. The pace changes a big as a more upbeat piano arrangement takes over with a very beautiful synth as well as more flute building things up. With more subtleties coming in on top of the aforementioned instrumentation, this short section quickily climbs and climbs and is released with a blissful and lively payoff. I adore this middle celebratory section and how it eases off and seamlessly fizzles down into this emotional, nostalgic and hopeful sounding final minute closing the song.

54: Aristillus (Moonmadness)

Well, the thought of a Moonmadness track being outside of the top 50 makes me gawk a bit, but then I remember Aristillus. This track is great, because it means i'm about to hear Moonmadness! However, I do think it has some merit of its own. I love the kind of marching synth rhythm and the multitude of layers that properly set the scene and vibe. Some of the tones used are super tasty and sort of indicate and hint at what you're gonna hear throughout the album. You have a bit of incomprehensible Andy Ward chatter going on in the background, I assume the instrumental is the Moon part and that jabber is the Madness. Overall, this is a really well arranged song with lots of face melting synths and it gives you a second to breath, because all the following tracks are just gonna knock the wind out of you for 30-something minutes straight anyways.

53: Storm Clouds/Cotton Camps/Broken Banks (Dust and Dreams)

I had around 3 other songs planned in between this and my number 55, but after revisiting them, all 3 of them actually moved up the list. In fact, I was about halfway through a write up of a particular song off the debut and while re-listening I realized I had forgot just how good it was. So you might see that one in a couple days. Anyways, that brings us to the final remaining track off Dust and Dreams. These are technically 3 songs on the track-listing but they all flow into one another in my mind creating the peak of the album. Storm Clouds opens with this cool and detailed menacing intro, it feels as if the dust is settling around you. These piercing atonal guitars come in towards the middle of the track. Of the more mellow and ambient songs on Dust and Dreams this one is probably the most interesting to me. Cotton Camps erupts into a fast paced classic Camel feeling track with an awesome and memorable guitar melody kicking in around the 0:56 mark backed by a tasty bass line. The final minute has more fierce guitar playing eventually flowing straight into the 35 second Broken Banks. The short run time is unfortunate, because to me this is the pinnacle of the album. Maintaining the same fast rhythm from Cotton Camp now playing in seven, Andy Latimer shreds into this ungodly cinema show-esque melodic guitar line. While it flows nicely into Sheet Rain, I wish there maybe another minute to Broken Banks, cause it's amazing. On this little suite here we get a quick glimpse of the intensity that I think much of this album really could use, but i'll take what I can get. Farewell Dust and Dreams! I'll never let go.... of the live version of this album :)

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The List So Far:

(Best)

Storm Clouds/Cotton Camp/Broken Banks

Aristillus

Running From Paradise

Cobh/Send Home the Slates

Changing Places

Sasquatch

Long Goodbyes

Captured

For Today

You Are The One

Vopos

Docks

Starlight Ride

Hopeless Anger/Whispers in the Rain

Tell Me

Simple Pleasures

70Irish Air/Irish Air (Reprise)/Harbour of Tears

The Miller's Tale

Elke

Generations/Eyes of Ireland

Refugee

Summer Lightning

City Life/Nude

Landscapes

Cloak and Dagger Man

No Easy Answers

Dust Bowl/Go West/Dusted Out

You Make Me Smile

Wait

Lies

End of the Day

Missing

West Berlin

One Of These Days I’ll Get an Early Night

Rose of Sharon/Milk and Honey

Down on the Farm

The Hour Candle

Mother Road/Needles

Highways of the Sun

Pomp and Circumstance

Reflections

Who We Are

Selva

Camelogue

Please Come Home

Pressure Points

Eye of the Storm

Fingertips

Todays Goodbye

After Words

Heroes

Sheet Rain/Whispers/Little Rivers and Little Rose

Manic

Neon Magic

The End of the Line

Hearts Desire/End Peace

Rain Dances

Rainbows End

The Homecoming

Your Love is Stranger Than Mine

Remote Romance

(Worst)

Let us continue this passion project into the top 50! Sorry about the super late post, work and stuff.

52: The Last Farewell I: Birthday Cake II: Nudes Return (Nude)

The rewarding climax to Nude. The music starts with this peaceful feeling instrumental, around the 30 second mark there's a slight curious shift in the music which I interpret as Nude seeing the birthday cake and being a bit taken aback at the little surprise party thrown for him for his 50th birthday (which is what the song is about, according to Wikipedia). This little section briefly builds and kicks into this beautiful conclusive melodic play-out with that ever so tasty fretless bass as well as these ethereal keys completing the soundscape. What's really interesting in this song is how you hear these little tid-bits and glimpses of themes heard throughout the album as Nude reflects on his past. It's a very uplifting and satisfying conclusion to the album for me.

51: Foxhill (A Nod and a Wink)

This is easily the most tongue-in-cheek and whimsical Camel song. The vocals are purposely kinda cartoonish and while I think there are some bumps along the way, this track has lots to come back to as well as a very nice conclusion. It immediately kicks off into this bouncy introduction with the vocals coming in telling a story about a boy trying to catch a talking fox? I think? While a track like this in theory could easily be a total swing and a miss, it still packs a lot of memorable instrumentation and strong melodies. At 1:35 it kicks into this almost beatles-esque section with a steady piano chord playing and some familiar vocal harmonies. However, after this part the music shifts a bit and a pretty cool organ takes over which kicks off a really nice jam with a decent Latimer solo soon after followed by a short keyboard solo. There's a brief transition where Dennis Clements squeezes in some pretty well developed drum parts working around Latimers building guitar. At 4:08 it hops into a soaring melodic upbeat trade off between the guitars and keys eventually climaxing when they play they another fantastic melody now in unison. Dennis Clements gets the spotlight once more with another drum solo which satisfyingly leads right back into the main verse. "Now we're back on the hill!" always brings a smile to my face. Now after this second verse, things settle down and sweep into another great melodic guitar passage, I think the drumming could be a bit more developed here. It's after this where it transitions back into that recurring acoustic/flute motif seen throughout A Nod and a Wink now with a slightly different spin on it. The final two minutes of this song are just so good. At 8:09 it bursts into this awesome folky jam in seven eventually settling down into a conclusive end to the track with a soft and touching finale led by emotional vocals and piano. Foxhill is a little goofy, but for my money, it gets there.

50: Shout (Rajaz)

Rajaz has its first introduction here on the list with it's 5th track kicking off the top 50! Shout is a very flowing and subtle acoustic song with a relaxed and meditative vibe. This isn't the most grand or bombastic Camel song, but there's a great feel to the track and it does a very fine job of quietly growing and adding small details for the entire runtime. The chorus is very pretty and the lyrics and vocal melodies are very memorable. I love how at 3:50 it effortlessly drifts into this beautiful ending instrumental play-out. Love this track.

49: Arubaluba (Camel)

Camels self titled debut is also making its debut today! This a very strong piece with scorching intensity and just flat out cool grooves. The track immediately kicks into this sweet head bobbing passage with Peter Bardens distorted organ taking the stage front and center. For the first minute or so the instruments get subtly louder and grow in the mix with Latimers guitars slowly creeping in until it fizzles down to silence. With a quick change of pace they transition into the main riff of the song which is very unique and creative and i'm still wrapping my head around how it works. If my counting is correct it alternates between 4, 5 and 6 (4-4-6-4-4-6-4-4-4-5). It kicks into this absolutely filthy section with sweet riffing from Latimer and Bardens, it's here where the head bobbing turns to headbanging. As the song progresses the band just takes you through a jammy showcase of fiery instrumentation and interplay. At 3:22 it kicks into another awesome groove that kinda reminds me of Freefall off of Mirage, but instead here we got these distorted organs playing out some more nasty parts slowly building and building until you're just hit with a wall of explosive Camel sound. They move back into the main riff but not to be outdone, they manage to squeeze in one more awesome play-out in the last 30 seconds. This song is awesome, it's really just the band going from one amazing riff to the next for six and a half minutes.

48: Squigely Fair (A Nod and a Wink)

Squigely Fair is another super solid somewhat whimsical and lively instrumental that actually gets pretty intense at times. In a somewhat far fetched way, the intro riff reminds me of Chord Change in the way it's a little unconventional yet still melodic and memorable. In this introduction the rest of the band set the stage for Latimer to be front and center as he lays down these sweet guitar lines even having multiple harmonizing guitars going at once. The intro releases into this more sleek yet still similarly paced flute led passage that builds and develops (don't worry, I didn't miss the fretless bass in the back :D) into this powerful moment at 2:31 enhanced by a pretty sweet xylophone part accompanying it. Andy Latimer goes on an absolute flute rampage following this ultimately evolving this jam into a darker and more menacing sound. It hits a peak and settles back down leading into some short Colin Bass vocals simulating a fair or carnival ticket stand vendor. I love how the music comes out of this contrasting bright and whimsical passage with a very serious kinda folky and brooding sound. The final minute of this song is beautiful with these soaring synths, fretless bass playing, and xylophone subtleties ending the song on a pondering and reflective note, which feels like a big overarching theme to this album.

47: Under The Moon/Watching the Bobbins (Harbour of Tears)

Under The Moon is exactly what you would think a minute long Camel track called "Under the Moon" would sound like. Soaring guitars paint a ravishing picture of someone sitting out at a waterfront on a cool night under.... well, you know. Now into Watching the Bobbins, I find this track very charming as well as extremely unique in the Camel discography. The track opens with a somewhat bluesy feel which is quickily interjected by Latimers unmistakable guitar bringing in a great melody on top of this. The verse and chorus are catchy, but its the lyrics that I really need to commend here, i'd even argue that they're some of the strongest Camel lyrics period due to their distinct imagery and creative choice of words. Throughout this song and Harbour of Tears you can really pick up on small instrumental details with every repeated listen, this song stands out in that sense. The first few minutes stay pretty constant eventually breaking into a nice guitar solo with some cowbell because why not? It's at 4:07 when this song just elevates to great heights as these electronic drums kick in. The regular drums and bass throw in some brief soloing around this steady electronic rhythm but when Latimer throws his hat in the ring my jaw hits the floor every time. He plays these chilling long sustained notes as the music builds around him. Each time you think he's finished he just keeps on rising and teleporting you to another dimension. I could listen to that ending play-out all day, I was a little sad that it was a bit altered on the Coming of Age live version, but I like what they add to it as a trade-off.

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The List So Far:

(Best)

Under the Moon/Watching the Bobbins

Squigely Fair

Arubaluba

50Shout

Fox Hill

The Last Farewell (Birthday Cake/Nudes Return)

Storm Clouds/Cotton Camp/Broken Banks

Aristillus

Running From Paradise

Cobh/Send Home the Slates

Changing Places

Sasquatch

Long Goodbyes

Captured

For Today

You Are The One

Vopos

Docks

Starlight Ride

Hopeless Anger/Whispers in the Rain

Tell Me

Simple Pleasures

70Irish Air/Irish Air (Reprise)/Harbour of Tears

The Miller's Tale

Elke

Generations/Eyes of Ireland

Refugee

Summer Lightning

City Life/Nude

Landscapes

Cloak and Dagger Man

No Easy Answers

Dust Bowl/Go West/Dusted Out

You Make Me Smile

Wait

Lies

End of the Day

Missing

West Berlin

One Of These Days I’ll Get an Early Night

Rose of Sharon/Milk and Honey

Down on the Farm

The Hour Candle

Mother Road/Needles

Highways of the Sun

Pomp and Circumstance

Reflections

Who We Are

Selva

Camelogue

Please Come Home

Pressure Points

Eye of the Storm

Fingertips

Todays Goodbye

After Words

Heroes

Sheet Rain/Whispers/Little Rivers and Little Rose

Manic

Neon Magic

The End of the Line

Hearts Desire/End Peace

Rain Dances

Rainbows End

The Homecoming

Your Love is Stranger Than Mine

Remote Romance

(Worst)

I'm back from a 3 day break! From this point forward i'm going to be switching to 4 songs a day as the write-ups are getting longer and more time consuming. Perhaps i'll build some suspense in the process, let us continue!

46: Curiosity (Camel)

The second track to appear on this list off the debut album was more of a grower for me. It has a soft jazzy and low-key opening with an organ eventually charging you right into the main and very groovy riff. It kicks into the verse with a very interesting vocal melody as well as these awesome subtle piano lines, I like when Camel (scarcely) uses the regular acoustic piano. The chorus has these awesome hard hitting distorted vocals properly exemplified by the other instruments kicking it into overdrive alongside them. Call me crazy, but this chorus wouldn't sound out of place in a King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard song. A little melodic guitar break acts as a bridge between the first two verses eventually leading into a brief somewhat psychedelic interlude with reverberating vocals and organs. At 2:23 we kick into a sweet instrumental break with more piano playing up and down the keys like clockwork along with some fat distorted organ sitting behind it. The jam evolves into something reminiscent of Santana with some organ soloing and a sweet jazz guitar solo from Latimer. After this extended jam it ties all together with a 3rd verse bringing back those echoing vocals in the final stretch. I used to rank this along the bottom of the album with another song coming up briefly, but over time I've really come to appreciate both of them quite a bit. This track covers a lot of ground in 6 minutes and its not a track that necessarily grabs you with a big melody, payoff or crescendo but I really get into it with its feel, general sound and layers.

45: Beached (Nude)

Coming straight out of Docks, Beached comes straight out the gate swinging with a very driving rhythm section and impending buildup in the instrumentation. The guitar plays this dark thunderous melodic riff before the synth takes over on lead. This synth part has always blown my mind, not just the actual notes its playing but also the somewhat earthy tone of it as well as the very subtle interplay with the guitar. Straight out of that the guitar plays another similar feeling riff while the rhythm shifts into a stomping groove. A brief kinda parade-horn interlude acts as a quick break before returning into the action with these fast palm muted guitars alternating between that and explosive guitar breaks backed by some very memorable drum lines. This song is really just a great melodic safari with lots to cling on to while condensed into a very short period of time. At 2:14 we're treated to a soaring and celebratory guitar riff before we come full circle back into the main riff from introduction which now is extended into a nice jam where all the instruments breath and let loose. This song and Nude in general was always a sigh of relief for me. I think it's clear by many of the placements on this list that I Can See Your House From Here is not one of my favorite Camel albums, (but keep in mind it still has songs yet to be mentioned ;)) however with Nude I think they stuck a smoother landing and Latimer and the gang successfully kinda briefly broke the identity crisis I feel they were in the midst of. For a 70s prog band in 1981, releasing very progressive songs like this and even a full concept album is pretty bold in my opinion.

44: Spirit of the Water (Moonmadness)

Clocking in at just over 2 minutes, Spirit of the Water drifts you out of side one of Moonmadness. It's a very tranquil and ethereal song with soft and subdued acoustic piano providing the blueprint. It is, to my knowledge, the only Camel song to use recorders which provide the main melody of the song. The verse is very minimal with only the aforementioned piano on top of Peter Bardes vocals which have some sort of watery effect placed on them. There isn't much movement throughout the song by design, it mostly stays the same until the ending where the piano properly and calmly closes out this brief visit to a mystical river. This is always an album song for me, its important in reaffirming the mood and atmosphere of Moonmadness with its very restful quality.

43: Slow Yourself Down (Camel)

Coming next on the list is the first Camel song, and a very good introduction to the band at that. I saw this up next on my list and I though: "Whaaaat?!?! This can't be this low!" I scanned the rest of the list and this is just where it falls for me. Though it made me realize that this really isn't a bad placement, its well into the upper half of the list. So for the song, the intro once again kinda reminds me of early Santana with a very jazz rock feel. The song immediately introduces you to the very distinct organ tone heard throughout this album as it is the first thing you hear in the song and its all over the opening verse. It smoothly flows right into the chorus. What I really like about this hook is that the vocals more or less keep the same sort of woozy energy and tone from the verse while it's the instruments that build and pack the punch around the vocals. Coming out of the chorus the organ teases you with this darker riff before kicking back into the verse/chorus. Straight out of the second chorus it wastes no time immediately bursting into a striding rhythmic buildup before very briefly stripping down into a groovy bass riff, every time I hear that percussion quickly come in behind it I get pumped up. What follows is simply a fiery and intense classic Camel jam that just hits you with a fuzzy wall of sound. Uncontrollable headbanging aside, at 3:32 losing no momentum we see the first instance of Camel doing the unison guitar/vocal melody thing you see on other tracks like Migration off the Snow Goose. This eruptive and developed jam play-out properly closes out the song. Simply an awesome Camel song. It doesn't quite reach the highest peaks for me, but its an exciting opening to the debut and discography.

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The List So Far

(Best)

Slow Yourself Down

Spirit of the Water

Beached

Curiosity

Under the Moon/Watching the Bobbins

Squigely Fair

Arubaluba

Shout

Fox Hill

The Last Farewell (Birthday Cake/Nudes Return)

Storm Clouds/Cotton Camp/Broken Banks

Aristillus

Running From Paradise

Cobh/Send Home the Slates

Changing Places

Sasquatch

Long Goodbyes

Captured

For Today

You Are The One

Vopos

Docks

Starlight Ride

Hopeless Anger/Whispers in the Rain

Tell Me

Simple Pleasures

Irish Air/Irish Air (Reprise)/Harbour of Tears

The Miller's Tale

Elke

Generations/Eyes of Ireland

Refugee

Summer Lightning

City Life/Nude

Landscapes

Cloak and Dagger Man

No Easy Answers

Dust Bowl/Go West/Dusted Out

You Make Me Smile

Wait

Lies

End of the Day

Missing

West Berlin

One Of These Days I’ll Get an Early Night

Rose of Sharon/Milk and Honey

Down on the Farm

The Hour Candle

Mother Road/Needles

Highways of the Sun

Pomp and Circumstance

Reflections

Who We Are

Selva

Camelogue

Please Come Home

Pressure Points

Eye of the Storm

Fingertips

Todays Goodbye

After Words

Heroes

Sheet Rain/Whispers/Little Rivers and Little Rose

Manic

Neon Magic

The End of the Line

Hearts Desire/End Peace

Rain Dances

Rainbows End

The Homecoming

Your Love is Stranger Than Mine

Remote Romance

(Worst)

Today we have an exciting batch of songs to talk about. Four that are all quite different from each other as well. Yesterday I listed it as day 6.... it's unclear whether or not I have brain in my head sometimes.

42: Friendship/Migration/Rhayader Alone (The Snow Goose)

Camels instrumental masterpiece The Snow Goose has arrived on the list today with a little mini-suite of three tracks. Starting with the shorter Friendship, we have a very interesting mainly orchestrated track here on the album. The beginning always makes me think i'm watching Monty Python with its kinda whimsical galloping sound. I love the sections with Bardens and his electric piano backed by the somewhat chilling orchestration. I don't have too much to add about this track other than its a nice little playful precursor to Migration which is what i'd consider the centerpiece of these three songs. We quickily hear a drum roll build us up as we kick into a fast paced groove in 7/4 backed by a kinda groovy staccato electric piano. This is a quality I really like about this album, there's a nice contrast between the more soft low-key songs and the more intense accelerating tracks in turn making these kinds of tracks more exciting and gratifying pay-offs. We have some wordless vocals front and center playing simultaneously with the lead guitar laying down memorable lines start to finish. About mid-way through Peter Bardens starts playing this compelling part on top of it and i'm not quite sure what it is exactly he's playing, it's almost reminiscent of an acoustic guitar. The song strips down into Rhayader Alone, which closes side one reprising the opening melody to Rhayader now played in a more melancholy and minimalist fashion on the electric piano. The song is very soft and sorrowful with just Latimer and Bardens contributing. It's another instance where the next track "Flight of The Snow Goose" hits harder because of the contrast in moods. That song acts as a glimmer of light and hope in a point in the story that implies are protagonist is at low, but we'll talk about that more another time....

41: A Wing and a Prayer (Breathless)

I shamelessly love this song, i'd even put it higher depending on the day. Along with the rest of Breathless, its just so blissfully joyful and cheery opening with this kinda funky electric piano and very fast picked 12 string guitar. I really like how this album sounds, all the instruments are crystal clear and it just sounds so full of life and punchy. Peter Bardens sings lead with catchy vocal lines all around accompanied by some subtle slide guitar easing us into a nice, breezy pre-chorus. The actual chorus is brilliant to me, we have these dueling vocal lines and each one is catchy and melodic on its own. However, actually listen to what the lyrics are saying and how they contradict each other. One voice is clearing singing from a very optimistic and perhaps romanticized point of view fitting right with the music, while the other is a singing with a very downbeat pessimistic outlook on love. All this while Andy Latimer goes to town on his 12-string guitar. The two voices join in unison to sing the title of the song to close out the chorus (they also sneakily hide a measure of 7 before kicking into this part). As a side note, the electric piano part is very well developed on top of all of this. Coming out of the chorus we get a small Mel Collins led instrumental break where he actually plays a few different parts on his various woodwinds. Coming out of that we kick back into that lovely chorus now a little higher in the register, likely up a key now. This chorus is extended and ends up fading out the song. This isn't a flashy or intense Camel song, but it's just so catchy and well written that it just has to find a place more towards the upper echelon of the list.

40: Supertwister (Mirage)

The first song from Mirage to make its appearance on this list is the wonderful Supertwister clocking in a 3 minutes and 23 seconds. Smokey flute playing commences the track with a very head-bobbing groove, Latimer is the star of this track, but it isn't on the guitar this time around. This transient section of the song has some intricate electric piano helping to really fill the soundscape. After a mere 13 seconds the band starts opening cash registers from all sides, well, there's some awesome percussion going on! This is on top of this very nasty organ/bass riff soon joined by faster paced and somewhat folky flute playing from Latimer. This track is distinctive in its arrangement, it does a lot in its short run-time and takes plenty of turns while always feeling seamless. You have electric piano throwing in a riff as well as the bass and organ trading off parts very lightly descending us into a mellow and warm flutey passage at 1:17. The amount of feel in the playing of every member is glorious with a great attention to dynamics. Bardens electric piano plays around the flute in waves to greater emphasize what Latimer is playing. It's so amazing, this passage is played out just long enough before kicking right back into that more intense folky section properly closing out the song. They were so happy with the end product they cracked open a cold one and presumably called it a day!

39: Mystic Queen (Camel)

I initially had this track quite a bit lower on the list, I started a write-up for it several days ago only to revisit it realizing I actually like it a lot more than I thought. It moved up quite a bit, and a similar thing just happened to another track that was supposed to be in this spot here at 39. So with that said, i'm going to pick up where I left off. This is a very hypnotic softer track with a really cool and mellow groove to it. It's led by acoustic guitar which opens the track up with a somewhat brooding picked guitar riff (sounds like A minor my ears). Bardens backs this up with some softer organ while the rhythm section plays off the vocals. Over the course of the verse, the organ slowly moves more towards the front of the mix eventually taking the lead with a sweet melody. Not to be outdone, Latimer adds his own melodic and kinda explosive playing on top of it. I love how this song flows and almost has that sort of steady "riding a Camel" meter and feel to it. At 1:39 this very menacing organ buildup begins climbing eventually reaching a crescendo that is properly released in to a more subtly hopeful sounding instrumental passage. I adore this part of the song, the chord progression is sweet and all the instruments take advantage of this little break and play with quite a bit of breathing room. Latimer starts playing this sweet guitar melody that just builds and builds along with the other instruments turning into an all around fiery delivery. It reaches its peak with a darker organ riff that brings you back into the opening riff and verse. The final 45 seconds or so are very atmospheric and hmmmmm.... :thinking: mystic. The organ is quietly playing an alteration of main chord progression while the guitar plays these soft volume swells with a few acoustic strums towards the end. Just an awesome softer and moody Camel song.

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The List So Far

(Best)

Mystic Queen

Supertwister

Wing and a Prayer

Friendship/Migration/Rhayader Alone

Slow Yourself Down

Spirit of the Water

Beached

Curiosity

Under the Moon/Watching the Bobbins

Squigely Fair

Arubaluba

Shout

Fox Hill

The Last Farewell (Birthday Cake/Nudes Return)

Storm Clouds/Cotton Camp/Broken Banks

Aristillus

Running From Paradise

Cobh/Send Home the Slates

Changing Places

Sasquatch

Long Goodbyes

Captured

For Today

You Are The One

Vopos

Docks

Starlight Ride

Hopeless Anger/Whispers in the Rain

Tell Me

Simple Pleasures

Irish Air/Irish Air (Reprise)/Harbour of Tears

The Miller's Tale

Elke

Generations/Eyes of Ireland

Refugee

Summer Lightning

City Life/Nude

Landscapes

Cloak and Dagger Man

No Easy Answers

Dust Bowl/Go West/Dusted Out

You Make Me Smile

Wait

Lies

End of the Day

Missing

West Berlin

One Of These Days I’ll Get an Early Night

Rose of Sharon/Milk and Honey

Down on the Farm

The Hour Candle

Mother Road/Needles

Highways of the Sun

Pomp and Circumstance

Reflections

Who We Are

Selva

Camelogue

Please Come Home

Pressure Points

Eye of the Storm

Fingertips

Todays Goodbye

After Words

Heroes

Sheet Rain/Whispers/Little Rivers and Little Rose

Manic

Neon Magic

The End of the Line

Hearts Desire/End Peace

Rain Dances

Rainbows End

The Homecoming

Your Love is Stranger Than Mine

Remote Romance

(Worst)

Welcome back! Today we have 4 more excellent songs and I got plenty to say about each of them.

38: Six Ate (Camel)

Six Ate is an awesome instrumental jam track with an abundance of sweet grooves, riffs and twists and turns. The song immediately kicks into a punchy 6/8 (what are the odds?!) groove with light guitar playing and a somewhat percussive organ. There's a brief break where Bardens plays a nice descending organ melody before kicking back into that intro passage again. Throughout the song, every member is able to trade-off very interesting and well developed parts. At 1:28 the band slows themselves down into a more mellow and spacey section before back into that distinct 6/8 groove with this filthy guitar tone now playing that descending organ melody from before. My favorite part of the song is the headbanging rhythm it enters at 2:10 with this distorted and droning synth playing a little back and forth with the organ. It's just so damn cool. This is one of the only songs off the debut that uses synth (I believe there is some on Arubaluba? That siren sound towards the beginning?) and there's some more subtitles during this section including what kind of sounds like an alien saucer effect. The band keeps playing with Latimer and Bardens trading off little riffs and melodies often times even coming together finally tying it all back together concluding with that opening section again. This is a track that always gets me excited and has me following every single note they play. This is a song I could only ever imagine being on the debut album because it just has that sound and tone to it that is so unique to its respective album.

37: Drafted (Nude)

Today Nude says his last farewell with in my opinion, its greatest peak coming in towards the front-end of side 1. For starters, Drafted is easily a top 3 Camel vocal performance for me. Colin Bass absolutely hits it out of the park here with a very soft and emotional delivery. I'd say the two best Camel vocalists are Sinclair and Bass, but I think Bass is a slightly better fit, arguably. Soft piano opens up the song accompanied by some subtle cello. The verse begins with just piano, vocals and fretless bass which really adds a great texture to this song. This somewhat minimalist part of the song is just beautiful, after a little bit of this an ethereal wave of synth and guitar rises into the soundscape with the guitar playing a softer version of the main melody of the song (why wasn't this melody reprised later in the album!?!?!?). Quickly, the guitar turns to a sharper solo tone while the drums kick in and Latimer delivers as always. The second verse comes in now with the full band playing and it does a very fine job of setting up the absolutely transcending closing play-out as it strips down to just vocals, synth and bass for a brief moment. "Taking a life, for a life, to be free," Latimer ascends into this ungodly guitar melody and I just get chills every time. Every note the rest of the band plays properly aids in making that guitar hit just a little bit harder. A great song, as is the suite of songs it kicks off.

36: Separation (Camel)

I've always felt this track is very underrated, it's always been one of my favorite songs from the debut. It opens with this awesome heavy riff kicking right into a very driving and epic verse with these quick descending guitar breaks between each line. After the second verse it comes into a little guitar solo interlude with Andy Ward playing off of it on the drums. This is a very memorable drum track in general with good fills and grooves throughout. This section hits a peak and the bass and lead guitar softly drift us into the softer and very memorable chorus toting strong lyrics and a really cool chord progression. It repeats the verse once more before leading right into one of the most badass outros in Camels catalog. The guitar plays these fast descending triads while a super distorted organ plays this menacing build-up around it. The drums properly aid in this buildup, what I find really unique about this is that I feel like the organ and guitar parts are kinda flip-flopped from what you would conventionally expect each to play. Think something like the intro to Rhayader goes to town where the keyboard is playing that background part while the guitar plays lead, here it's the opposite of that. The buildup is released such an absolutely hype and nasty payoff with the drums going totally ham on top of the aforementioned playing of Latimer and Bardens. The first time I heard this ending it totally blew me away, to this day it still catches me off guard with just how awesome it is.

35: Straight to my Heart (Rajaz)

This is another track I feel is somewhat underrated, but to be fair it was a bit of a grower for me. The track opens with this very dusty and kinda bluesy acoustic guitar playing, when the vocals come in I almost get some light Dire Straits vibes from it. This song really fits the general vibe of Rajaz with its middle eastern feel. Soft melodic electric guitar lines play on top of the acoustic guitar soon followed by reflective and emotive vocals from Latimer. At 1:19 the whole band joins in creating a really awesome ominous arrangement. Latimer plays another great memorable melody with that beautiful Rajaz guitar tone. Throughout the second verse there's subtle melodic guitar playing and piano underneath the vocals closing with the line "takes my breath away," which I like to think is a subtle nod to Breathless, perhaps a bit of a stretch though. Following that it comes into the chorus which leads into a quality little soft instrumental section which offers a bit of time to breath before it strips down to a cool steady bass and acoustic guitar riff. I love this part as Andy throws in some restrained bluesy soloing on top of it. This section slowly builds and rises for just the right amount of time until absolutely erupting into an explosive climatic guitar solo that just hits you like a brick. It's so incredible and the keys really aid in the grand-scale feel of it. After reaching a very high peak, it settles back down into that cool ominous piano and acoustic guitar passage now without drums. This acts as a nice cool down to close out the song. I love this song, it indeed takes my breath away.

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The List So Far

(Best)

Straight to my Heart

Separation

Drafted

Six Ate

Mystic Queen

Supertwister

Wing and a Prayer

Friendship/Migration/Rhayader Alone

Slow Yourself Down

Spirit of the Water

Beached

Curiosity

Under the Moon/Watching the Bobbins

Squigely Fair

Arubaluba

Shout

Fox Hill

The Last Farewell (Birthday Cake/Nudes Return)

Storm Clouds/Cotton Camp/Broken Banks

Aristillus

Running From Paradise

Cobh/Send Home the Slates

Changing Places

Sasquatch

Long Goodbyes

Captured

For Today

You Are The One

Vopos

Docks

Starlight Ride

Hopeless Anger/Whispers in the Rain

Tell Me

Simple Pleasures

Irish Air/Irish Air (Reprise)/Harbour of Tears

The Miller's Tale

Elke

Generations/Eyes of Ireland

Refugee

Summer Lightning

City Life/Nude

Landscapes

Cloak and Dagger Man

No Easy Answers

Dust Bowl/Go West/Dusted Out

You Make Me Smile

Wait

Lies

End of the Day

Missing

West Berlin

One Of These Days I’ll Get an Early Night

Rose of Sharon/Milk and Honey

Down on the Farm

The Hour Candle

Mother Road/Needles

Highways of the Sun

Pomp and Circumstance

Reflections

Who We Are

Selva

Camelogue

Please Come Home

Pressure Points

Eye of the Storm

Fingertips

Todays Goodbye

After Words

Heroes

Sheet Rain/Whispers/Little Rivers and Little Rose

Manic

Neon Magic

The End of the Line

Hearts Desire/End Peace

Rain Dances

Rainbows End

The Homecoming

Your Love is Stranger Than Mine

Remote Romance

(Worst)

I am back from a bit of a hiatus in which I was endlessly busy. 10-12 hour school days on top of 24 hour work weeks really just left me with pretty much no time to continue this project. However, since I got some free time right now, I'm gonna do my best to get the next few entries out semi-consistently. Lets pick up where we left off...

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34: Never Let Go (Camel)

Never Let Go is to many people, a landmark song for Camel. It's even a bit of a trademark title for the band spawning a live album with the same name (a very good one at that!). This track is very epic and proggy opening with a cool acoustic guitar passage that features one of the rare cases of Camel using the mellotron, which proves to be all over this track. It fizzles out before the full band kicks into the main verse/groove and I don't know what it is, but there's something so satisfying about the sound of the full band just turning it on like a light switch. The vocals come in accompanied by this very driving rhythm section, light organ playing and these melting electric guitar lines. This song packs a real memorable verse and hook, I love how it comes out of the first chorus with a sweet 12th fret guitar harmonic before very smoothly dropping into the second verse. For my money, it's the jam at 2:23 that really defines this song. It comes straight out of the second chorus with these sharp and steady guitar strums while the organ teases you in the background. We have this mellotron flute playing come in on top of a very solid rhythm section before switching back to the string mellotron tone which is used as a very earthy and pretty lead instrument briefly. The ending playout and guitar solo of this song gives me chills with soaring mellotrons and vocals creating a very full sound. A great track and one that is deservedly held to high esteem.

33: Ice (I Can See Your House From Here)

And already I'm sure many people wish I never started this list back up again with this placement. While this song may come in towards the tip top of your personal lists, keep in mind that this is still well into the upper echelon of my ranking here. Ice is a very unique instrumental piece of music and it really opened the door to a new style of extended and very emotive guitar solo based tracks that the band would continue to explore on following albums. It opens with very subtle instrumentation with Kit Watkins piano and Andy Latimers more clean guitar working together to introduce the main theme. After about a minute and a half the drums come in sweeping us into a very smooth and floating 6/4 groove with some very free-flowing electric piano details all over the place. Latimer comes in with what has now become a very signature sharp tone as the rest of the band plays around him. Kit Watkins gets a solo and as usual uses some of those unmistakable Kit Watkins tones you hear all over his works with Happy the Man and on the song Wait. The amount of "feel" in this song is in the stratosphere, and the music really comes to life because of just how in tune everybody is with each other. The keyboard solo gives a slight hint of what's about to come, ultimately building up some slight tension before Latimer explosively begins one of his most epic solos ever kicking it off with the theme from the introduction, this time in a much more upscale and grand fashion with every member working hard to set the stage for Latimer to unleash everything he's got. I love how this solo ends fading away (likely into the heavens) as this very strange and earthy keyboard tone fills the void before this very melancholic acoustic and clean guitar duet begins closing the track on a very interesting and sorrowful note. I think this is a great piece of music, unfortunately it comes in on my least favorite Camel album and I think in turn, I don't reach for this song as often as the songs ranked above this on the list. Which is a shame, because every time I do revisit the studio version I'm always amazed and I always pick up on new details.

32: The Final Encore (Rajaz)

This isn't a track that I see mentioned very often, but I think it's awesome and very dynamic. Right out the gate the intro to this song is absolutely stomping with these very menacing guitar and choir lines, it's almost a bit psychedelic actually. This song is like a ghostly tour through the desert with tons of different sounds and passages throughout. Coming out of the intro, you hear these sharp strings briefly play through a very symphonic sounding arrangement before Latimer drops this amazing and somewhat quirky middle eastern sounding motif with one of the fattest guitar tones I've ever heard. The echoing voice of Latimer comes in opening with the line "After Words, and Long Goodbyes" of course referencing Stationary Traveller. I usually don't jive with self referential stuff in music, but this is such a cool nod to the past without being too crude about it. I also gotta say, there is something very brooding about how Latimer sounds on this track, his voice sounds like it's thundering down from the clouds. Instruments are seamlessly layered on top of one another as the song progresses featuring some unique middle eastern percussion choices throughout. At 4:04 the main chorus melody from the following track "Rajaz" is beautifully introduced and looking at the bigger picture, this gives the album a great sense of cohesion. It comes back around into that main groove now with Latimer soloing on top of it. In the last two minutes we get a beautiful payoff with highly orchestrated instrumentation reminiscent of lots of the material on Harbour of Tears. The general tone of the track flips into a more bright and hopeful feel, I always think of this song as the first several minutes being the desert at night, while these final two minutes are like the sunrise and start of a new day. I'll use the word quirky again to describe this section, some of the tones used sound a little bit dated. Mostly the weird percussive shaker tone they use, but if you ask me some of those cheaper sounding tones are just part of the Camel Productions era charm. In the last minute Latimer drops one more nasty head-bobbing guitar solo before the keys close out the track. I'm not sure where most people would rank this song, but I love it. It's a very interesting and unconventional piece of music and it's songs like these that give me a high level of respect for Rajaz, rather than ride a nostalgia wave, Camel continued to try something new with every single album well into the 90s and 2000s.

31: Skylines (Rain Dances)

Skylines is a great, bouncy instrumental on the latter half of Rain Dances with sweet dueling synth and guitar leads from Bardens and Latimer respectively. It has a pretty steady and fast paced bass line fading the track in and it remains mostly constant throughout the track. Throughout this track there's fantastic melodies on all fronts starting off with the guitar. The motif it kicks into at 1:00 is just pure ectasy with some really nice electric piano and saxophone subtleties from Bardens and Collins. Keeping the high energy, Bardens takes over with a glorious synth solo boasting a fantastic and unique tone as usual. There's a lot of really neat and playful instrumental shifts accompanying this section as well. His extended solo leads right back into that sweet aforementioned guitar motif/chorus before Bardens and Latimer come together to trade off some soling to close out the track. Though this song is a little shorter and maybe not as dense as some of the previous entries on this list, I think it's a great song that comes and does it's thing really well. It's always one of my favorite parts of Rain Dances.

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The List So Far:

(Best)

Skylines

The Final Encore

Ice

Never Let Go

Straight to my Heart

Separation

Drafted

Six Ate

Mystic Queen

Supertwister

Wing and a Prayer

Friendship/Migration/Rhayader Alone

Slow Yourself Down

Spirit of the Water

Beached

Curiosity

Under the Moon/Watching the Bobbins

Squigely Fair

Arubaluba

Shout

Fox Hill

The Last Farewell (Birthday Cake/Nudes Return)

Storm Clouds/Cotton Camp/Broken Banks

Aristillus

Running From Paradise

Cobh/Send Home the Slates

Changing Places

Sasquatch

Long Goodbyes

Captured

For Today

You Are The One

Vopos

Docks

Starlight Ride

Hopeless Anger/Whispers in the Rain

Tell Me

Simple Pleasures

Irish Air/Irish Air (Reprise)/Harbour of Tears

The Miller's Tale

Elke

Generations/Eyes of Ireland

Refugee

Summer Lightning

City Life/Nude

Landscapes

Cloak and Dagger Man

No Easy Answers

Dust Bowl/Go West/Dusted Out

You Make Me Smile

Wait

Lies

End of the Day

Missing

West Berlin

One Of These Days I’ll Get an Early Night

Rose of Sharon/Milk and Honey

Down on the Farm

The Hour Candle

Mother Road/Needles

Highways of the Sun

Pomp and Circumstance

Reflections

Who We Are

Selva

Camelogue

Please Come Home

Pressure Points

Eye of the Storm

Fingertips

Todays Goodbye

After Words

Heroes

Sheet Rain/Whispers/Little Rivers and Little Rose

Manic

Neon Magic

The End of the Line

Hearts Desire/End Peace

Rain Dances

Rainbows End

The Homecoming

Your Love is Stranger Than Mine

Remote Romance

(Worst)

Finally, a free hour! Lets crank out a few songs....

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30: Flight of the Snow Goose/Preparation (The Snow Goose)

Flight of the Snow Goose provides this very hopeful and upbeat introduction to side two of The Snow Goose coming right off the heels of the sorrowful Rhayader Alone. The Snow Goose always makes me think of  https://imgflip.com/memetemplate/172014438/Luigi-DJ-Crying-Meme" rel="nofollow - this meme , we'll have this fast paced and optimistic instrumental followed immediately by something very soft, textured and melodic, but it's this contrast between the two that makes The Snow Goose such a gratifying album. There's a brief fade in as Peter Bardens keys slowly rush towards you before Latimer takes the lead providing a great and somewhat nostalgic sounding melody. At 1:33 Peter Bardens takes over on the synth and man, those tones are fat! They really cut deep. Doug Ferguson is also lowkey going ham in this section of the song. The track leads right into Preparation which is a very interesting track with an acoustic guitar setting the stage with a pretty steady 5/8 motif overlaid with some very pretty woodwinds. This nearly indescribable synth/electronic spin on the acoustic motif seamlessly fades in and it lays a very atmospheric groundwork while a multitude of ear-candy sound effects and wordless female vocals play around it. This passage is super hypnotic and mesmerizing.

29: Dunkirk/Epitaph (The Snow Goose)

In hindsight, I probably should have just included these two with Flight of the Snow Goose/Preparation. But changing it now would mess up the numbers so we'll just settle with this. So coming straight out of Preparation a thumping bass and kick drum fade in not long before Peter Bardens organ joins the fun. I love the little fills the band does properly keeping this buildup interesting (0:24 for an example). Soon, Latimer joins the buildup first teasing with some light volume swells before providing another counter melody on top of everyone else. There's horns and electric piano subtleties going on while Andy Ward starts to give it a little more of a marching feel. Soon, you realize that the buildup is reaching a tipping point sounding very full and grand before dropping into an absolutely killer closing jam. Andy Ward is drumming away, the rhythm he uses on this song is one that I can only ever associate with Camel (Separations ending is the first case of him using it I believe), even though he didn't invent it by any means (You can even find it on Return of the Giant Hogweed). Now on top of this, Andy Latimers guitar is screeching away while Bardens plays this very epic sounding chord progression on the Organ. Ward squeezes in some hype and hard hitting drum fills (are those gated drums in 1975?!?!) while the band is able to turn it on and off like a light switch. Towards the end of the song, the band collectively squeezes in these sick arpeggiated fills offering a little variation in this playout. This track leads into Epitaph which works as a great bookend of this 4-track suite properly tying it all together. It reprises that aforementioned hypnotic sound-effect-laden passage from preparation. In the background of this there's what I think is either electric piano or organ providing a very lowkey but nevertheless great undertow to this song.

28: Stationary Traveller (Stationary Traveller)

This song is a bit of a fan favorite and for good reason, this is a lovely and very magical instrumental. It opens with some soft but lively sounding piano, nylon string guitar and synth sitting in the background. I don't know what it is, but I adore the electric piano sound that comes in soon after the little introduction. It's dripping with atmosphere. Coming in top of this is a very earthy sounding flute accompanied by lovely synthesized textures. As great as this is, it's really the closing guitar solo that lifts me off my feet. It's just so emotional and uplifting, my friend stumbled upon the live version of this track on YouTube and he was telling me just how blown away he was by it. I this glorious extended guitar solo lasts for just the perfect amount of time, it doesn't overstay its welcome and Latimer makes every note count. The song ends and properly fizzles out. This is such a fantastic and unique piece of music that for my money, eclipses Ice. Stationary Traveler is an album that over the course of making this ranking, has really grown on me. I think if I redid the list some of the songs would likely come in a bit higher.

27: The Sleeper (Breathless)

I love this track and I'd go as far as to call it underrated. I can't say I can really think of another song like this. I find that the intro to this track falls a little under the radar to some, but I love the quirky atmosphere the band creates for a brief time. I'd love to see a whole album in this Camel Jazz Fusiony style that they lightly touched on with some cuts off Rain Dances. The main riff kicks in and it's just so darn groovy, the rhythm section sounds particularly punchy and bouncy on this track. Bardens, as per usual, delivers some fresh and new synth tones while sitting in the pilot seat here. If someone asked me what Mel Collins best contribution to Camel is I'm pointing to this song. Because around the 3 minute mark he really comes into the forefront and it's his playing that sets this track apart in my mind and distinguishes it from some of the other Camel songs of similar length. While he's laying down some sweet lines, Andy Ward and Richard Sinclair continue to slap you with these crunchy and complex rhythms. Around the 4 minute mark Mel really starts to let loose while the rest of the band comfortably set the stage for him. Now in the latter half of the song, Andy Latimer channels the same explosiveness you can find on Lunar Sea for one fiery jazzy guitar solo. The band ties it all back together and ends this song on a lightly frantic note. Listening back as I do this write up, this really is a great tune and one that I just never tire of.

26: Coming of Age (Harbour of Tears)

Coming of Age is the climax of Harbour of Tears and it does a fine job being the excellent payoff that the album needs. Latimer showcases one great memorable melody after another for 7 minutes and change. Opening with a very driving and sophisticated sounding passage, things get going very quickily. Latimer uses a lot of very interesting playing techniques and doesn't shy away from stepping into the background at moments which works as a strength. The little section at 1:35 is a good example of this, he strums away while this very creative drum and organ thing goes on. Following this, it really delves into an explosive territory with this brief but very menacing build up before it takes off into orbit. Now moving at a faster pace, Latimer lays down this beautiful celebratory guitar melody that I just live for. Following this glorious playout, it kicks into a bit of a almost playful sounding jam with layers of synths and other keys followed by a very airy delay guitar passage. The absolute peak of the song comes with the closing playout which is just nasty, it's really one of the heaviest moments in Camels discography with a stomping synth providing the backbone for Latimer to lay down a filthy headbanging riff. I love the arpeggiated keys that come in around halfway through, it's something I find myself drawing a lot of influence from in some of my own music that i've written. I have to note 6:29, that brief little keyboard passage has always been so damn cool to me. This is a great cut, Harbour is another album that's grown a lot on me over the course of making this ranking but I'd still comfortably say this is the pinnacle of the album.

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The List So Far

(Best)

Coming of Age

The Sleeper

Stationary Traveller

Dunkirk/Epitaph

Flight of the Snow Goose/Preparation

Skylines

The Final Encore

Ice

Never Let Go

Straight to my Heart

Separation

Drafted

Six Ate

Mystic Queen

Supertwister

Wing and a Prayer

Friendship/Migration/Rhayader Alone

Slow Yourself Down

Spirit of the Water

Beached

Curiosity

Under the Moon/Watching the Bobbins

Squigely Fair

Arubaluba

Shout

Fox Hill

The Last Farewell (Birthday Cake/Nudes Return)

Storm Clouds/Cotton Camp/Broken Banks

Aristillus

Running From Paradise

Cobh/Send Home the Slates

Changing Places

Sasquatch

Long Goodbyes

Captured

For Today

You Are The One

Vopos

Docks

Starlight Ride

Hopeless Anger/Whispers in the Rain

Tell Me

Simple Pleasures

Irish Air/Irish Air (Reprise)/Harbour of Tears

The Miller's Tale

Elke

Generations/Eyes of Ireland

Refugee

Summer Lightning

City Life/Nude

Landscapes

Cloak and Dagger Man

No Easy Answers

Dust Bowl/Go West/Dusted Out

You Make Me Smile

Wait

Lies

End of the Day

Missing

West Berlin

One Of These Days I’ll Get an Early Night

Rose of Sharon/Milk and Honey

Down on the Farm

The Hour Candle

Mother Road/Needles

Highways of the Sun

Pomp and Circumstance

Reflections

Who We Are

Selva

Camelogue

Please Come Home

Pressure Points

Eye of the Storm

Fingertips

Todays Goodbye

After Words

Heroes

Sheet Rain/Whispers/Little Rivers and Little Rose

Manic

Neon Magic

The End of the Line

Hearts Desire/End Peace

Rain Dances

Rainbows End

The Homecoming

Your Love is Stranger Than Mine

Remote Romance

(Worst)