Just thought of something else - they weren't shy about finding a great riff and playing it to death.  Some regard that as a weakness but I like it

I think they're musically amazing. 

Not that I don't like Camel, I do, I just don't love them.

I disagree. I like the first three albums, particularly The Snow Goose but nothing after Moonmadness has really grabbed me. I mean I don't dislike it, I just don't feel a need to listen to it.

Is that a good enough reason?

there is no such thing as "best discography of any band". It's all subjective. 

You can say they have a lot of great albums, that would make sense. 

You also sound a bit aggressive. 

yogev wrote: thats it? Camel gonna Replace pink floyd popularity?

Nope.

I'm not sure that there should be a "reason" for anything, since (at times) these could be illusory and slightly subconscious and not something that any of us could successfully word for someone else.

I got into it, because the cover of the import was far out ... and I bought it, and was seriously surprised by it, and it became one of the great pieces of music that Guy Guden used in many of his shows, including Space Pirate Radio. The music was very intelligent and neat and well done, and later Guy even shared the space with Pete Bardens, who said "mighty glad to be here". I will state, just like Guy would ... that we were also MIGHTY GLAD THAT CAMEL WAS HERE!

The more important part of this is that we are not considering the time that this happened. We're talking 1974, at a time when FM radio (in Southern California) was still FREE and OPEN to a lot of music because none of the stations were owned by a vicious top ten conglomerate ... and the wide open choices of music were far out and allowed a lot of music to be heard, that otherwise would be COMPLETELY IGNORED, which was what happened 10 years later or so, when by that time all the FM stations had been bought by the Corporate Raiders, and turned them all into "classic" stations that we still listen to in the background when we are in the loo!

As such, the band getting some appreciation today would amount to a thread on PA, and 5 responses, most of them not sure what to say about it, because no one was really saying anything valuable and with it. 

Then, it was not about your comment or mine. It was about the beauty of the music, and how it was presented, and I have never forgotten that ... and enjoyed the band for many years, while folks that had never heard anything else spent their time trashing NUDE and other albums they did not understand ...

PS: (Famous Quote) "... people have stood and cheered, something they did not understand!" (Syd Barrett and it was featured in many bootlegs and PF shows in the early days!) ... 

PS2: Now do you really think that there is a reason for everything, or is it just a stoned mind that did not give cahoots about anything? Answer ... not for me!

In prog circles King Crimson are probably top dog followed closely by PG era Genesis and Yes. After that there's a lot of bands up there near the top with Camel being one of them. Until recently I wouldn't say they were more popular than GG but I think at some point in the recent past they have surpassed them. PF are the most popular band that is considered prog but not necessarily the biggest in prog circles. 

They create some of the most beautiful atmospheres and instrumental passages. Very Floydian in that regard.

Moonmadness and Mirage are two of the greatest examples of symphonic prog around. I think they weren't super consistent, but with those two albums they had a very high peak. 

They're not the biggest but they're in the top tier with the others you mentioned.

Hi,

And THAT IS, perhaps, the best and worst issue in this whole forum ... that too many players look for "the best" or "the biggest", and they do not learn, or pick up the ability to enjoy music on their own ... it always has to be based on someone else's thoughts or ideas, or worse ... lousy comments!

Again, the main difference between now and almost 50 years ago? No lousy comments about the music and you figured out on your own, if you liked it or not, and the fact that there was so much of it around, helped you find material that was better than the pop oriented charts.

I doubt that today's audience and fans, can get their ears and noses around this thought ... certainly not visible in these posts when all someone is asking for is best or biggest.

IN PROGRESSIVE MUSIC, THERE SHOULD NOT BE A "big" OR "best" ... AS THE MUSIC SHOULD BE THE FOCUS. 

Not sure why so many folks that come here can not get their ears around that ... the sheer number of bands mentioned should be a great example of how much great music is out there, and (these days) the "big" and the "better" are not beyond second tier quality of music in its repetition and lack of artistic abs!