STATIONARY TRAVELLER

"Feeling freer now than I've ever been"

By the time this album was released, Camel were very much Andy Latimer's band. They (he) attempted to answer the perennial criticism of previous albums (other than "Snowgoose"!) that their vocals were their Achilles heel by getting Chris Rainbow (who here remembers "Glasgow Boy"?) to take lead vocals on a couple of the tracks. The result is an excellent album by any standards. Once again, we have one of Camel's striking opening themes, with a brief but dramatic lead guitar piece instantly grabbing the listeners attention and setting the mood for the rest of album.

Latimer uses his position as de facto leader to showcase his guitar prowess, particularly on the beautifully crafted title track and the stunning closer "Long goodbyes". The latter track is a real classic prog ballad, with a soaring guitar solo to finish. As a whole, the album is generally lighter than the early albums of Camel, leaning more towards Art Rock and even at times AOR. The wartime concept contributes to the continuity and completeness of the album, with tracks such as "Refugee" and "West Berlin" reflecting the generally slightly depressed atmosphere.

A video. "Pressure points" which includes most of the tracks and mixes live footage with atmospheric war years scenes was made around the same time. It was recently re-released in DVD format.

I like the CAMEL of the eighties: they knew how to cope with the new technology. They did not fall into bland albums. This record has some accordion, fretless bass and saxophones, which give a serious romantic mood to the whole. More mature people could even like this record. The lead vocals are excellent. The guitar sound is varied and good. There are some instrumental keyboards that are really interesting.

Stronger in many ways than it's predecessor the Single Factor, there are some fine tunes on this album like West Berlin, Vapors and the title track. Latimer still prolific in the production room. It's is an interesting observation that even when certain works of Camel were critically unnappealing compared to the 70's classics like Moonmadness, they still plugged out pretty damn fine music at regular intervals. Granted albums were shorter then before CD format but nowadays you may be lucky every four years to get new albums form artists of similar traditions.Recommended to all Camel fans but not essential.

One of the most underrated albums of the eighties. By 1984 Andy Latimer is the only member of the original line up. The line up on ST includes Kayak's Ton Scherpenzeel on keyboards and David Paton from TAPP on bass on most of the tracks. This version of Camel sounds slightly different than the band of the seventies. Since the release of Nude the songs are mainly built on the splendid guitar melodies of Latimer. The cover art of this album takes you back to Berlin at the time when the wall was built. Stationary traveller may be a concept album but its concept isn't dominating the music. You can easily listen to the fine songs separatly without digging deep into the lyrics, although the lyrics explain why there isn't an uplifting mood. Not all is sad, "Berlin" and "Long goodbyes" reveal some optimism. Albums that were released during the eighties al have a similar production and this album is no exception. Big drum sounds, electronic drums, repetitive keyboard sounds and rhythmic bass lines are typical for the eighties. "Stationary traveller" is a fine album, not a masterpiece of progressive rock like "Mirage" or "Moonmadness" but still a very decent, enjoyable progressive pop album, one of the better efforts of the band. Songs like "West Berlin", "Fingertips" and "Refugee" may seem rather cold at the first spin but after a while you'll notice a lot of hidden emotion. One of the reasons for this are the vocals of Latimer who's singing abilities has matured a lot when compared to earlier efforts. Fortunately there are some dazzling instrumentals as well like "Pressure points", "Stationary traveller" and "Missing". Though it would take another 8 years (!) to release an album, these instrumentals are similar to the instrumentals on Dust and dreams. Amazing how a song like "Vopos" is able to create an atmosphere of military thread. "Cloak and dagger man" shows the band in a pretty heavy mood with a big symphonic sound and a splendid keyboard solo from Scherpenzeel. Throughout the album the influence of Scherpenzeel is noticeable as he puts some colour to the music. He even wrote one little instrumental which fits in perfectly. The vocals of Chris Rainbow on "Long goodbyes" makes a comparison with The Alan Parsons Project inevitable. This nostalgic song is perfect for closing the album but there's not one song on this album which isn't a good one. The only negative remark I would make is that this album's quite short in length. In the late eighties, I been searching for a cd copy of this album for years. Listening to the album I still know why I kept on searching.

I'm not the one who's gonna bash the 80's. Especially not the early years. Too much good stuff in my head and heart from this period. And some bands actually did well in the 80's: Rush, Asia, Pink Floyd, Talk Talk and Supertramp. All of those where actually art rock, but Camel and Rush kinda stepped aside of them. They kept a constant sound and gave everything they could on a lot of records. And I'm actually surprised when I listen to Stationary Traveller. I really feared an "Hall and Oates" sound, but only Refugee and Cloak and Dagger Man feels a bit corny.

Some keyboard parts of Vopos are really cool and demonstrates a will to please the ears, but staying apart of the herd. That's my Camel. A more relaxed Camel but with heavy and effecient beats. Some keyboard lines are almost 'dance floor' crafted like in Cloak and Dagger. Also, the mood is appropriate for night driving or just listening with very little lighting in the room such with Missing or Fingertips.

I cannot recommend this to people under 28-30 years old. The kids would totally laugh at your face at the 'plastic' keyboard sound or the big guitar licks. Having a fondness for 80's rock will help put things in perspective. But I rank this little bomb in the same leagues as Rush's Grace Under Pressure.

A good record, even closer to very good. But do not start here for understanding Camel.

Underrated, yes. But listen before buying.

This album is very good. It has some "mechanical" sounds, because they maybe programmed some keyboards and drum machines. These things were done in a lot of albums from the eighties. It doesn`t matter, because the quality of the songs is very good. Ton Scherpenzeel is a very good keyboard player, playing in this album some "modern keyboard sounds from the 80s". The lyrics are about people from the divided Berlin in the Cold War Era (written by Susan Hoover). Maybe this makes this album sound dated now. But for me the most interesting thing in this album is the music. My favourite songs from this album are: "Refugee", "Vopos", "Stationary Traveller" and "Long Goodbyes". "Pressure Points", "West Berlin" and "Fingertips" were included in better versions in the "Pressure Points-Camel Live in Concert" album which also was released in 1984. The song "Pressure Points" from that live album is longer than the version included in this "Stationary Traveller"album. This "Stationary Traveller" album was recently re- issued by Camel Productions (see their official website), and it includes a long studio version of "Pressure Points" (included at the end of the CD), plus a song which was rejected by Decca Records and was not included in the original version of this album from 1984.

Stationary Traveller is a decent synth-pop album made by (the sole-surviving founder member) Andy Latimer and released under the Camel moniker. Latimer's lead guitar-playing and vocals aside, it bares little resemblance to the music played by the once great quartet of Latimer, keyboardist Peter Bardens, bassist Doug Ferguson and drummer Andy Ward.

This album was made in 1984 and you can really tell. Songs like Refugee, Vopos, West Berlin and Cloak And Dagger Man (perhaps the rockiest moment on the album, but also one of my least favourite) sound like the work of The Romantics (remember Talking In Your Sleep?), OMD, Ultravox or any synth-pop band of that ilk. While Latimer is actually a stronger songwriter than almost any member of the 80s pop brigade (and I suspect I actually would have enjoyed this album a lot had I heard it 20 years ago) the moments that will appeal to prog fans are few and far between. That's despite a guest list that includes Kayak keyboardist Tom Scherpenzeel, multi-reed maestro Mel Collins and Alan Parsons Project bassist David Paton.

The last song Long Goodbyes is the song that reminds me most of the old Camel (and I'm talking Breathless-era Camel here) although that's probably just because of the lovely organic sounding intro featuring Latimer on flute, as well as the vintage guitar solo that rounds the song off. Fingertips is another decent piece that starts off sounding organic and has a nice saxophone solo from Collins. It's also helped by Latimer's pleasing, yet mournful melody. The title track has a nice acoustic guitar intro, and a flute (probably a synth flute, actually) solo over an ominious yet enticing synth bass vamp, before Latimer takes over the last half of the sound with some fiery guitar work. West Berlin has some nice fluttering synth work on its outro.

But let's be honest ... I had to look hard to find all the good creative music on this album, whereas Camel's best work leaves me gasping. This certainly isn't a prog-rock album, and come to think of it, it's barely a Camel album. ... 20% on the MPV scale

The mid-80's could be considered a low point or a high point in music, depending mainly on the band; while some classic groups lost their way with pop aspirations, many embraced new sounds and styles. CAMEL rode an interesting middle course- the band's sound is more obviously modern, but not quite as laughably 'of the age' as so many 80's releases. Latimer & company had never been the most experimental of the classic proggers, tending rather to use whatever musical elements were current to craft accesible songs with intriguing depth and texture. Ultimately, like any good album from the period, whether you can appreciate "Stationary Traveller" depends heavily on whether you can stomach the mechanical minimalism of the rhythms and the glossy plastic production touches.

"Pressure Points" establishes the album's contrasting elements immediately: a pulsing synth rhythm and digital synth pads cushion a slick and searing guitar lead. Gilmour fans should have little trouble appreciating Latimer's tone and approach, but a harsher critic might observe that the track does little more than establish a theme and then provide a brief occasion to showcase Latimer's skills.

"Refugee" is full of classic 80's pop sounds, somewhere between ALAN PARSONS PROJECT and BILLY JOEL's less retro moments during the period. It's catchy, and reasonably intelligent, but it fails to light my fire in any single respect. "Vopos" delves deeper into the synth-pop textures, and almost suggests "Black Celebration"/ "Music for the Masses" era DEPECHE MODE (with the addition of some bluesy guitar, of course). Undoubtedly, Latimer's guitar is really the star of the album. Liquid-smooth overdrive with just a hint of soulful rasp, the solos sing much more effectively than any of the vocal tracks. He's rarely been as aggressive as on "Cloak and Dagger Man"...though it doesn't redeem an ultimately lackluster song.

The title track is the kind of moody instrumental that nobody does quite like CAMEL. The synths are understated, the drums much more natural, the changes are romantic and melodramatic in the best possible way, and the guitar comes in crying just as you need it. After this highlight it's back to the album's formula with "West Berlin", which is a mixed-bag of soaring chorus and plodding verse, all framed by completely typical 80's tones. "Fingertips" is a mellow, decent song- enjoyable for the Mel Collins cameo but not especially outstanding in any other area. The missing background song for a reflective Miami Vice montage? Then there's "Missing", which could appear on the soundtrack of any 80s blockbuster (though it has more interesting movements than most Jan Hammer or Harold Faltermeyer compositions). And "After Words" approaches heartbreaking, with the sad piano and accordion-like backing, but there's just not enough of a song there. And it's mixed so low that it almost disappears if you listen to the album at low volumes.

"Long Goodbyes" is a sentimental climax to the disc. I imagine those GENESIS fans who felt "Follow You Follow Me" was too sentimental or otherwise out-of-place will feel much the same with this track, but to me it's more like "Afterglow"; it has a genuine and heartfelt quality and sonically stands the test of time much better than most of the tracks. The verse and chorus seem a little mismatched, but the narrative brings them together.

CAMEL fans get what they want: undemanding and comfortable music with an interesting narrative foundation and a few moments of real musical bliss. For non-fans, all I can say is that "Stationary Traveller" won't be the disc that changes your mind- unless your tastes run to ALAN PARSONS PROJECT's "Ammonia Avenue" and post-Waters PINK FLOYD. "Stationary Traveller" is generally well-done but not particularly inspired, enjoyable but not very memorable.

Does this work represent the end of a Golden era? Well for me it's a temporary turning point of their career, regarding of the middle eighties, in which their AOR sound characterized their return on stage.after all the songs are melodic, sometimes a bit dramatic in the simple melodic lines (listen to "West Berlin") and also enriched - in a few circumstances- by a number of interesting instrumental tracks (such as "Sasquatch" for instance). Ok the songs are a bit light and the arrangement more immediate in comparison to the old times; nevertheless They were obliged (as often happens) to chose the way of a few radio-friendly songs, in the place of the most complex progressive episodes. However the same strategy was partially chosen within "Nude", a concept album which yet was quite complex, except on the lightest moments: so at the end the old fans could remain disappointed at the moment of the issue of "A Stationary.", but after a few years, since 1991, Camel came back to the old atmospheres (think of "Dust and Dreams" and some years later "Harbour of Tears"), which attracted the prog fans once again. It's a short turning point of their career in the direction of the melodic pop rock, but it could be worth checking out at least anyway, as it's different from the previous works. interesting AOR work, sometimes too much light (also in the arrangements), but never mind!

Lets get it straight - I am one of those who believes that Camel were, by a small but clear margin, the best prog band ever, bar none. However, their late 70s/early 80s output was variable in quality to say the least and this album is no exception. However, it is not a turkey on the scale of Invisible Touch or Big Generator.

By this time, Latimer was the sole remaining member of the original line up and had things mostly his own way. He was able to recruit a fine bunch of musicians to back him and the album is played to a very high standard. The vocals, so often a Camel Achilles heel, are superbly dealt with by Chris Rainbow (actually Scot Chris Harley, later to engineer Celt rockers Runrig so successfully). David Paton (ex Pilot and Alan Parsons Project) Ton Scherpenzeel (Kayak) Mel Collins (ex everybody worth listening to) and Paul Burgess (ex 10cc) make up a band with no weak links.

The weak link is, however, the material. The album is a concept about life in the former Eastern bloc and some songs are relevant to the concept at the expense of quality. Despite some fine keyboard work, Refugee, Vopos, Cloak and Dagger Man are not really up to the usual Camel standard and the instrumental tracks, whilst all good and showing Latimer's guitar virtuosity to good effect, don't ignite. Long Goodbyes and West Berlin are undoubtedly first class with a wonderful guitar solo at the end of Long Goodbyes to close the album, but the real gem is Fingertips. Ironically, it's not a guitar based track but is a beautiful slow song containing some sublime sax work, excellent fretless bass playing and is sung beautifully - one of my favourite Camel tracks. Susan Hoover's lyrics are thought provoking throughout.

Overall, it's no Snow Goose - the style is more 80s and more commercial - but it is well worth buying. A good 3* album.

This is Camel's tenth studio album. It is the second one that is truly a solo project by Andy Lattimer. It is 42 minutes long concept album which is not bad at all. Musically this album resembles its predecessor "The Single Factor" whereby some music critics mentioned that the kind of these two albums Parsonizing the Camel music, i.e: the music of Camel had now refashioned into the kind of The Alan Parsons Project. In their effort to make the music popier under the banner of "Single Factor", "Stationary Traveller" seems like showing the band resolve the obstacles they got before through the relatively concise songs with long, atmospheric instrumental passages. The lyrics were written by Susan Hoover is about political and other issues related with the divided Berlin.

This album sounds just like an The Alan Parsons Project album. It has the same style, taste, structure, and quality. With Chris Rainbow on vocals on "Cloak and Dagger" which became my favorite (I almost not aware that this is Camel!) and it sounds like The Alan Parsons Project's "Eye In The Sky". All tracks featured are not bad at all unless the impression of being an APP album. And like all Camel albums, there are some stunning guitar segments from Andy Lattimer. This is like a solo effort from Andy Lattimer. He plays most of the instruments on the album with Mel Collins does add in some nice sax parts. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

1.9/5.0 This is a pretty decent synth-pop album, but is this Camel anymore, wth only Latimer left and a sound so far away from prog music?! I would say that this is the beginning of a third step in Camel's history: the first era, with great prog songs and imaginative music ended with Moonmadness; the second one, with more pop music but still some great prog epics, ended right before that album. And now, well, this is pop music and it's not what you want to listen to if you are a prog fan. You should get this album only if you are a collector or a fan. 1.9/5.0

I was introduced to this album by the television screening of the "Pressure Points" video - I'd never seen a band present an entire album as a video before, and the whole package had Neo-Prog all over it.

For this is an evolved Camel - pared back and stripped down, but, thanks to the ever- present constant of Andy Latimer's magical guitar tones, still Camel.

There was much to dislike about "the '80's sound", but a few bands managed to produce great synth-washed sounds - Gary Numan's Tubeway Army, Cabaret Voltaire, Visage and John Foxx to name a few.

The sound of "Stationary Traveller" is not as stark as those synth-based bands - and, being Camel, far more melodically oriented rather than avante-garde like Cabaret Voltaire. It may have the glossy sheen of an AOR rock album along the lines of Dire Straits, and it may be lacking in the experimental department, but something about it still says Prog Rock to me.

I really hate to award it anything less than 5 stars, as it had a real impact on me the first time I heard it - but, since emotional impact is an important factor of Neo-Prog, and this album was released at the right time, I'm going to say that this is an Excellent addition to any prog music collection - but have to admit that it's not really an essential pick.

Even if it's not mind-blowing prog, the emotional intensity is mind-blowing, and any fan of Neo-Prog - and closet AOR listeners too - should invest in this album, which pays bonus dividends on every listen. I'd also recommend the "Pressure Points" video to anyone who can handle 1980's hairstyles - particularly as it mixes in parts of "Snow Goose" with this album.

The album opens with "Pressure Points", which gives a clear indication of the rather minimalist approach that is to follow. A pulsating low synth gives way to percussion stabs that sound like something out of Dire Straits "Private Investigations" (released 2 years later). Latimer immediately pounces on the opportunity to give a crash course in how to wring maximum emotion out of a single note - a wondrous feat that he is simply THE master of. This is wrought into a fine, strong, thread of melody, backed by synth, with sliding modulations. Gaffer tape for the neck hairs, please!

Pressure Points feeds into Refugee which is a great rock song with no outstanding Prog features - and yet somehow has Prog written all over it. The keyboard backing is like a kind of low Roger Hodgson electric piano "bounce", the bass obviously has a low B- string, and feels fat and solid, and Latimer's subtle rhythm picking and Mark Knopfler soundalike vocals make for a satisfying mix that sounds as if it ought to be on Rock Radio on the hour every hour.

Things pick up on the Prog front with the sinister entry to Vopos, which has one of my favourite 80's sounding build-ups of all time. The fretless bass absolutely snarls, and the menacing lyrics bring the nightmare to life. This is a showcase example of how "less is more" can be a profound Progressive feature, as the song slowly builds over time, then drops back expertly around 3:30.

A wondrously toned guitar solo carries the piece into Cloak and Dagger Man, an urgently charged rock song with tremulous synths and magnificent but subtle guitar work from Latimer. A firey guitar solo is followed by an equally charged keyboard solo using a particularly edgy sound. Guitar and keyboard finally team up for a sensuous ending.

The instrumental title track is the standout- as well as the centerpiece, and even closer to "Private Investigations" than "Pressure Points". The guitar melodies, as we come to expect from Latimer, are spine-tinglingly beautiful in themselves as well as in tone - and then we are treated to some wooden flute playing giving a nice "Incantation" touch. The whole is an ambient treat that drops into rock ballad territory around 3:30, and works material found later in "Long Goodbyes" with "Comfortably Numb" and "Hotel California" flavours.

"West Berlin" has flavours of "The Wall", with that big snappy '80's snare sound that I'm really not keen on, but fine textures otherwise, with very careful Alan Parsons standard attention to detail in the production. It's a reasonable enough song, with a good, if derivative instrumental passage around 2:30 that returns around 3:45, but otherwise the second lowest point on the album, showing how "less is more" can turn into "not enough" if you're not careful.

"Fingertips" is another ballad, with that softly flanged and farty-sounding fretless bass that you either love or hate. The lyrics are poignant, but I find the presentation until Mel Collins wonderful sax solo to be rather syrupy. This is the real low point for me.

Fortunately it picks up with the instrumental "Missing", which is surprisingly uptempo for Camel, and reminds me a lot of Twelfth Night on their "Live at the Target" album (1979). This is more firmly in Prog territory, with satisfying changes - although in reality these are from one jam riff to another. Latimer's solo around 2:10 is especially cool, displaying a good mixture of speedy and balladic melodies. There are also touches in here that put me in mind of Ed Wynne (Ozric Tentacles) style compositions with the slightly odd reggae feel. All good stuff!

"After Words" is really a mellophonium driven intro to the epic ballad "Long Goodbyes", another song of soul-stirring beauty and magnificence - and a fitting end to one of the best Prog Rock albums of the 1980s (and there weren't many, let's be honest!). A Hackett-style entry feeds into some flute playing that is remarkably Gabriel in feel. But that chorus is simply epic - and my repetition of the word should serve to underscore just how huge this is. A little REO Speedwagon, maybe, but hey - I like some REO Speedwagon ;o)

A really, really, good album. But it'll never make it into the Prog top 100.

Andy Latimer is here the only one from the original line-up, and the music is more synthetic and Alan Parsons Project -like, but nevertheless this album is pretty good, its highlights among my personal favourites - maybe helped by the fact that it was among the first CAMEL's for me. Andy's guitar and flute have a wonderful companion in the clear, atmospheric keyboards of Ton Scherpenzeel (KAYAK) who also co-wrote the album.

It is a product of its time, but one of the better albums from the first half of the 80's (like Certif1ed, I associate it with Love Over Gold by DIRE STRAITS). There are two annoying songs, 'Vopos' and 'Cloak & Dagger Man', in which CAMEL's spirit gets totally lost in the harsh commercial approach. Maybe none of the songs is *very* special individually ('Long Goodbyes' is gorgeous but just a little oversentimental) but I like the album as a coherent, well produced whole. Not that I really get the concept - divided Berlin? - from the lyrics. CAMEL has always made its statements better thru the music itself, emotionally rather than rationally, and this album makes no exception.

Both LP sides have two instrumentals, all top class. 'Pressure Points' has a soaring electric guitar over a heavy synth beat, really powerful opener. The title track starts delicately with a Pan flute and develops into the same guitar heroism - perhaps a bit too self- poignant and calculated. Dramatic 'Missing' and moody 'After Words' give the lead role to Scherpenzeel and really grab the listener's emotions. Were the whole album in that (instrumental) style, it would be a true CAMEL classic and a rare beauty of its time.

As if The loss of Ward was not sufficient, Camel (now a Latimer project) entered a period of legal problems that had plagued the band for years. Former manager Geoff Jukes had filed a lawsuit against the band claiming past commissions from Camel's earlier days. Having literally abandoned the band in 1978 at the point of Bardens' departure and upon the eve of a world tour, Jukes' lawsuit would ultimately prove futile. The legal battle began to heat up by 1983. Latimer battled the suit alone despite all members being named and it would take five stressful years at great expense, both spiritually and financially, before settlement in Camel's favour. In this year of change, Latimer fought hard but Camel was worth the battle.

In those difficult times, I guess that it was not easy to concentrate on music. This is another concept album from Camel. Well, I should say from Latimer. He almost does everything here. There are some good tracks on this album : but too few to make this effort memorable.

The opener is quite good : Latimer makes his guitar cry (or shout?). This track will take its full dimension while played live. A bit too short to my taste here. The problem with this album is that too many tracks are just average ("Refugee", "Vopos", "Cloak and Dagger Man", "West Berlin", "Missing", "After Words").

The beautiful title track is brilliant. Fantastic guitar with lots of feelings : Latimer produced another "Ice" oriented track. The first real highlight. Just too short (again).

"Fingertips" is a pleasant song : melancholic, with a great Mel on sax. A very nice melody as well. In one word : Camel like I have always liked. It has the mood of the album "Rajaz" already.

"Long Goodbyes" is a good poppy song and a decent closing number. This inspired melody should hold everything a Camel fan is waiting for : subtle and melodious vocals (a bit mellowish and naïve), and a very good guitar solo at the end.

Five out of ten, but I can hardly rate it as a three star piece. So, I will downgrade it to two.

The 1980s were generally not much celebrated decade amongst the prog rock community (if you are not a neo-prog lover) with good reasons - many prog giants produced their worst in this period! It's enough to mention GENESIS ("Abacab"), YES ("90125"), JETHRO TULL ("Under Wraps") or PINK FLOYD ("The Final Cut") in order to comprehend the size of musical downfall they fell into.

CAMEL, although never in the "big league", also fell into the trap. And in their case it was called "The Single Factor". Worse than that they could hardly get, so Latimer (until now the only remaining original member) decided try something new. Well, nothing really new could you expect from the band who was largely recycling and repeating the sound of the first four CARAVAN-influenced albums, never bothering to break into the unknown, but one always hope...

Alas, the post-New Wave and synth-pop took their tolls and it is more than evident when listening to "Stationery Traveller". For some reason, Latimer and CAMEL continued to make "conceptual" albums and I fail to understand the point. As mostly instrumental band, CAMEL at this point could not offer any fresh and interesting ideas so as to hold a listener's attention. This album is overall a sort of "themed" collection of mediocre-to-awful techno-pop songs, occasionally interrupted with listenable instrumentals. Latimer is very capable guitarist, no doubt, but his playing is often burdened with mannerism and predictability.

The best moments on this album (which in no way I would recommend to any decent compilation of CAMEL) are two instrumentals, the opening "Pressure Points" and "Missing", and the highly untypical song called "Vopos". The latter is a remarkable dark techno pop that would nicely fit on a DEPECHE MODE or ULTRAVOX album and it contains even hints of what the celebrated ex Yugoslavian champions of alternative/post-punk/neo-psych rock EKATARINA VELIKA would make in the mid 1980s. Yes, you understood me right - the best track on "Stationery Traveller" is a synth-pop with techno drum machines, silky keyboards and synthetic bass! Enough?

Personal rating: 1,5/5 PA rating: 2/5

If "Nude" was Camel redoing "Snow Goose" for the 1980s, then "Stationary Traveller" was the "Moonmadness" for this decade. Even the opener, "Pressure Points" packs a similar punch to "Aristillus". Of course, times have changed, and the shorter songs of "Single Factor" have returned here, so that in fact the authentic similarities to classic era Camel are few. Yet this is as far removed from "Single Factor" as you can imagine, being a dark brooding affair at the crossroads of prog and new wave, with almost nothing that sounds overtly commercial.

The loose concept surrounding the Berlin wall and the iron curtain of the time is held tightly together by the subtle changes between and within tracks; this is an album where the sequencing of material was carefully thought out and impeccably ordained. Moreover, all the material is of uniformly high quality. While the instrumentals are special highlights, in particular the emotive title tune that features Latimer on pan flute and on stellar solo, the vocals are strong and diverse. Chris Rainbow and Dave Paton lend their talents to the Camel sound without overruling it, as was sometimes the case on "Single Factor". "Cloak and Dagger Man" is a genuine rocker and "Vopos" has a nightmarish quality that should appeal to those who like their prog at its most sinister. "West Berlin" and "Fingertips" represent the best of latter day Camel - strong melodies, a variety of well arranged breaks with sax, double bass, and synthesizers, and, in the case of "Fingertips", unabashed sensuality.

This album received a decent amount of play in its day, and "Long Goodbyes" was a highly regarded closer, again a real high point for Camel thanks to excellent songwriting, vocals and a closing lead guitar section that rung out this phase of the band in style. No more studio albums would appear for almost 7 years, and in the pre-internet age, this was an eternity. I know I am in the minority, but far from alone, in saying that "Stationary Traveller" is probably Camel's most fully realized project. Even though I wouldn't recommend it first to prog fans, for anyone who appreciates the efforts, risks, and rewards involved in moving out of a stationary orbit, this one, this band, is a winner, hands down.

Can camels tell stories? Yes, with music!

Andy Latimer clearly has a thing for albums with a storyline told through music. First, The Snow Goose in the 70's, then Nude in the early 80's and now Stationary Traveller. And, of course, later on, in the 90's, there would be a further two story-based concept albums in the brilliant Dust And Dreams and Harbour Of Tears albums. That is five such albums throughout Camel's history!

In my view these story-based Camel albums are all very good, culminating in the excellent Celtic-flavoured Harbour Of Tears. This leaves Stationary Traveller somewhere in the middle both chronologically and in terms of greatness. It is not quite as good as Nude, but it is an album that has grown on me a lot since I first heard it.

All these story-based albums (perhaps with the exception of The Snow Goose of which I don't really know what it is about) are based on rather sad stories and events, and this is, of course, reflected in the music. Stationary Traveller is no exception; this is a rather melancholic and almost depressive affair. I will let you discover the concept for yourself.

Compared to Camel's previous, non-conceptual albums like Raindances, Breathless, I Can See You House From Here and The Single Factor, Stationary Traveller certainly is an improvement and a return to form. I would say that together with Nude, Stationary Traveller is the best Camel album of the 80's. However, as I said above, Dust And Dreams from the early 90's would be the true return to the form of their glory days of the first half of the 70's.

Like on Nude and some other Camel albums, the instrumental material on Stationary Traveller is the best. The opener Pressure Points, the title track and Missing are three great instrumentals with dazzling guitar work and lovely flutes. The first of these instrumentals was considerably extended and improved for the live performance on the tour in support of this album. And the extended version is available on the live album called just that - Pressure Points. This very good live album was recorded during this tour and was released shortly after.

The vocal material, partly handled by Chris Rainbow and partly by Andy himself, is good but a bit on the Pop side of things for my taste. Particularly Refugee, Cloak And Dagger Man and Long Goodbyes bring this album down a bit, in my opinion. However, the vocal material on this album is mostly not quite the kind of cheerful and light-weight Pop that is present on some songs from Raindances, I Can See Your House From Here and The Single Factor. It is, at least partly, a more melancholic and "serious" Pop Rock material that we find here. Chris Rainbow's vocals fit the material well, but I think that Andy should have handled all the vocals himself. That would have given this album a bit more Camel identity. As it stands, you could easily believe that you were listening to (a very good album by) The Alan Parsons Project!

Overall, this is a very emotional album just like Dust And Dreams and Harbour Of Tears would be. In that sense Stationary Traveller is forward-looking. But it is also backward-looking in a different sense. This is, after all, from the mid 80's with all what that involves in terms of sound and production. It was also the last Camel album for several years. Not until the 90's when Andy started his own label and found new creative freedom would Camel once again be an active band.

It is interesting to note that the best Camel-eras are those of the first four albums (the self-titled debut, Mirage, The Snow Goose and Moonmadness) as well as that of the most recent four albums (Dust And Dreams, Harbour Of Tears, Rajaz and A Nod And A Wink). What they did in between was of varying quality, but you can definitely find some gems from these in-between-years and Stationary Traveller is definitely one of them! Nude being the other worthy of special note.

Recommended for sure, but not quite excellent all the way

Stationary Traveller tends to be an overlooked album in the Camel catalogue, and it's not hard to see why - at this point, the band was essentially Andy Latimer and a team of trusty sidekicks, and without the keyboard contributions of Peter Bardens (or indeed the Canterbury-flavoured bass work of Richard Sinclair), many people felt that the band was missing something crucial at this point in its history. Certainly, until recent remasters have teased out the better aspects of the recording, early CD versions had a rather thin and uninspiring sound.

Aside from the vocal contributions of Chris Rainbow and some excellent sax work from Mel Collins on Fingertips, Latimer's backing band are largely here to provide a backdrop for Latimer's work on guitar, flute, and synthesiser. (in particular, Paul Burgess's work on drums seems a little lacking in vigour, although the 80's production values don't help there).

Initially, I didn't enjoy this album, having first heard it after enjoying the likes of Mirage, The Snow Goose, and Moonmadness. But having digested Breathless and Rain Dances, I'd become more accepting of the idea of Camel performing shorter, more commercially-oriented tunes, and now Stationary Traveller seems like a logical descendant of those albums, combined with some cool, crisp influences from 80s New Wave (though not as much as some reviews of this album imply - this is still Andy Latimer and Camel, not Gary Numan and the Tubeway Army!).

In particular, Andy's guitar work on this album is a real treat, as always, and the later tracks - including the title track with its ethereal flute work, the gentle Fingertips, and the closing Long Goodbyes - show elements of Camel's earlier work, and indeed the title track wouldn't be completely out of place gracing one of the groups '70s albums. I get the impression that the coldness of many of the earlier tracks was entirely intentional - after all, with the songs I mention the lineup prove that they *can* sound like the Camel of former days, they just chose not to for some parts of the album.

It's important to remember that this is a concept album about the difficulties faced by East German refugees trying to escape into West Berlin, and I believe that the music is intended to reflect this. The colder, harsher, more emotionless tracks are intended to represent the East - economically deprived, politically oppressed, with free speech and free consciences strictly curtailed. The more warm and organic numbers, conversely, are associated with the West, and come to the fore in the latter part of the album as the protagonist manages to escape from beyond the Wall; their bittersweet tone is a reminder that the refugees have had to abandon plenty of friends and loved ones in order to gain their own freedom, and that the injustice of the situation continues (as of the recording of the album).

So, with that in mind, it's easy to see why many Camel fans found the album off-putting, especially since the more cold and less Camel-like tracks tended to be at the start - no better way to make a bad impression on someone looking for another Snow Goose or Nude!

Ultimately, the album is enough of a departure from the usual Camel fare that I think it is worth exploring, but at the same time for many fans it simply won't resonate. Sad to say, the combination of New Wave and Old Prog doesn't quite work here, which is a shame: a decent fusion of Gary Numan-esque synth rock and virtuoso prog musicianship would be a fascinating experiment to try. At the same time, I feel that the merits of Andy's musicianship (as well as that of some of his guest musicians) manages to save the album and turn it into a rather unique entry in the mid-1980s prog world.

"Stationary Traveller" is the 10th full-length studio album by UK progressive rock act Camel. The album was released through Decca Records in August 1984. The only original member of Camel left on "Stationary Traveller" is Andy Latimer (guitar, Flute, vocals). Drummer Andy Ward suffered severe alcohol and drug-related problems and had to leave the band before the recording of the album. Paul Burgess has replaced him in the lineup.

The music on "Stationary Traveller" is very much in the eighties synth pop/rock style with AOR type vocals/harmonies/choirs. Very easily accessible and almost completely lacking any form of edge or innovation. This is generally very soft and not especially challenging. The musicianship on the album and especially the really great guitar solos by Andy Latimer or on a high level but the tracks are generally not up to par with their earlier material. As on most Camel albums "Stationary Traveller" features both instrumental tracks and tracks featuring vocals. Chris Rainbow is a pretty generic sounding vocalist without much distinct sounding character to his delivery, so the instrumental tracks are definitely the most interesting on the album. "Stationary Traveller" is a concept album centered around the stories of East German refugees attempting to cross the Berlin Wall into West Berlin. As such an interesting concept, that could have worked well with more insteresing music to accompany the concept.

Upon conclusion "Stationary Traveller" is to my ears, along with "The Single Factor (1982)", probably the weakest album in Camel´s discography. Their transition from organic and analogue sounding seventies progressive rock act to more mainstream/AOR tinged and synth heavy eighties rock band really isn´t that successful to my ears and a 2.5 star (50%) rating is warranted.

Finally! 8 years and 6 albums after Moonmadness, Latimer strips Camel of its symphonic ambitions and brings us a set smashing songs, rich in melody, sound and mood. Prog? Definitely not. Great song writing? Absolutely. If you thought Lies to be the best track from Nude then you should adore this album.

The opening Waltz is a short waltz that sets the mood for Camel's most gloomy album in their entire career. Refugee is an excellent sample of the concise song writing with focus on lyrical content that Camel has opted for here. Next on is the high point, Vopos finds Camel doing a dark and almost new wave interpretation of their sound. My favorite Camel moment next to The White Rider and Air Born.

Cloak & Dagger Man is the main reason why this album hasn't got 5 stars from me. In the days of vinyl albums, this AOR moment spoiled the album for me. Luckily we have 'next' buttons and remote controls now!

The title track is a shortened take on a song like Ice, a lyrical guitar solo that Latimer and Gilmour had a patent right on back in the days. With West Berlin and Fingertips Latimer adds two more examples of poignant song writing to his canon. These songs have been with me ever since I heard the Pressure Points live album when I was 13 and I still love them as much as back then. In fact they serve as landmark songs setting the boundary for seemingly simple but effective song writing.

Missing and After Words are ok but rather forgettable instrumentals. Long Goodbyes is not as bad as Cloak & Dagger Man but it comes close with its sentimental chorus. Sometimes I like it though, depends a bit of my mood. Whatever way I feel about it, the reissue will rinse any sour taste left by it by closing the album with an extended version of the astounding instrumental Pressure Points, just the way Latimer had wanted the album to end originally.

Unfortunately, this album wasn't the start of something beautiful but turned out to be Camel's last album to capture my interest for ages. There's no guarantee you will love it if you liked Camel's vintage years but if you're not an 80's-basher you might give it a try.

It took me a long while to listen to this album, since it came after a disaster called The Single Factor. But I´ve decided to give Camel another shot since their 90´s output was good enough to restore my faith in the band (or should I say faith in Andrew Latimer, the sole original member and owner of the whole project since 1982). 1981´s Nude was a fairly nice surprise and Stationary Traveller was not bad at all either, although, again, it is quite different from most of what Camel was doing in the 70´s.

If you like good pop/new wave/techno stuff, you´ll love this album from start to finish. The songwriting here is everything that The Single Factor collection lacks: good melodies, good hooks, interesting lyrics. Vapors for exemple is a very dark and powerful track that would fit nice on any of the best Depeche Mode LPs. The rocking Cloak And dagger (with APP´s Chris Rainbow on vocals) would make a strong Alan Parsons Project tune. And so it goes: Fingerprints and West Berlin are also very good.

On the other hand, if you´re looking for prog stuff, then you´ll find at least 3 fine instrumentals like the excellent title track (the CD´s best, IMO), Pressure Points and, in a lesser extent, Missing. The ending solo of The Long Goodbye is also very good, but I found the tune itself a bit too mellow (again the shadow of the Alan Parsons Project is quite obvious).

Stationary Traveller would be Camel´s final studio album for the rest of the 80´s. Latimer would be fighting a bitter legal battle against the band´s former manager( which, fortunatly, he won) and could not concentrate enough into his music. But eventually he came back with a string of very good albums in the next decade. But this album hinted some of the fine stuff that would appear in future releases. My rating? this is definitly a good album, charming, but a bit uncharacteristic. Unlike some of CAmel´s late 70´s/early 80´s output. Stationary Traveller has no bad tracks. Even if the majority is more pop than prog, they are still very good songs. Maybe not enough to make it essential, but still above average. 3,5 stars.

This would be CAMEL's 10th studio album followed by the longest break of their careers as it would be 7 years before "Dust And Dreams" would be released. It's weird looking at the lineup here and seeing that the only original member left is Andy Latimer. In the liner notes he thanks among others "Mel (one-take) Collins, Alan Parsons (for nosh), and Kate Bush for the fairlight". This is a concept album written by Andy's partner Susan Hoover.

"In The Arms Of Waltzing Frauleins" is a short depressing track with reserved vocals, piano and synths. "Refugee" is more upbeat with Latimer on vocals. A catchy tune. "Vopos" has this melancholic intro. Latimer comes in vocally before 1 1/2 minutes. A good rhythm to this one. Guitar before 4 minutes. I like the synths. "Cloak And Dagger Man" is very 80's sounding with guest vocalist Chris Rainbow singing. A catchy tune with lots of synths and guitar.

"Stationary Traveller" is the first of three instrumentals. Some pan-pipe (say what ?) in this one, and I like the guitar 3 minutes in as the drums join in to create a full sound. "West Berlin" is another 80's sounding tune with the vocals and drums standing out. "Fingertips" is a relaxed tune with fretless bass, a beat and vocals standing out. Sax from Collins after 2 minutes. "Missing" is uptempo with lots of keyboards. A guitar solo after 2 minutes. "After Words" is piano and synths throughout. "Long Goodbyes" features synths and flute early. Bass joins in then vocals. It kicks in after a minute. Contrasts continue. Nice guitar 4 minutes in.

For me this is barely a 3 star album, probably 2 stars in reality.

Recently I had the opportunity to discuss about Stationary Traveller in more than one PA forum, and I've also seen that some of the people I've discussed with has written a review of this album so it's time for me to write my review.

First of all this is an excellent album under all the possible points of view. It's in my personal top 50 list and I really loved it at the first spin.

This could be considered the first Andy Latimer's solo work, as also Andy Ward had to resign during the recording of the previous "Single Factor". The lineup sees Ton Scherpenzeel (Kayak) at keyboards, Chris Rainbow (Alan Parsons Project) at the vocals other than the usual Mel Collins at sax.

This is the third Camel's concept album after "The snow goose" (quite unusual for an instrumental album being considered a concept) and Nude. It's about the Berlin Wall and it's the story of a person who decides to leave everything he has on the East to try to escape to the West, as many people did in the real world, some losing their lives since when the "door was closed" until the fall of the wall.

"Pressure point" is an introductive instrumental written for Andy's guitar. The live version on the omonimous live album is longer and features a long section of fretless bass. Nothing special.

with "Refugee" we are already in the masterpiece. The bad is that with this album Andy tried to renew the Camel's sound and make it more conformant with the standards ot the early 80s, so electronic drums and fairlight are almost everywhere in the album. The good is that this change in the sound is counter-balanced by Andy's musical skill, so at the end this is not disturbing. The guitar on the solo sounds a bit "Dire Straits", but it's well inserted in the song's structure and it's exactly how it has to sound here.

"Vopos" opens with about one minute of Fairlight and starts effectively when the electronic drum gave the rhythm. the lyrics are highly dramatic: the Vopos are around "As if a dream has come to life". One of the best songs of the album.

"Cloak And the Dagger Man" is another electronic song. I have the impression that the sequence of the songs on the album is the same on which they have been written.This songs clsoes a sort of trilogy with the previous two so now the story plot is clear.

Now we are at the last track of the first sife of the vinyl. the title track is an instrumental on which Andy's guitar can freely express. I remember the first listening made me think to Hotel California, but it hasn't anything to do with that song apart some similarities in the main sequence of chords. The guitar solo is probably one of the best ever played by Andy.

The B side of the vinyl starts with "West Berlin" I don't know if a single has been released from this album, but if one, this song would have been perfect for the A sdie. I think it can represent the whole album.

"Fingertips" is a love song, probably the most commercial, but is a great love song which features a fantastic sax solo over a fretless bass. The same year George Michael had a big success with Careless Whisper. I don't want to compare the two songs but the two sax solos have similar purposes. I think the singer is Andy himself, as the live version sung by Chris Rainbow is not as good as the studio one.

"Missing" and "After Words" are two instrumentals, still based on electronic drumming, Fairlight and the great Andy's guitar. They lead into the closure of the story.

"Long goodbyes" is what its title says: "Long goodbyes make me so sad, forgive my leaving now...." Another love song with a nice guitar solo at the end.

This album doesn't feature epic tracks: the longest is less than 6 minutes, but is not just a collection of songs. It's deeply into the 80s, also because of the concept. The fall of the wall closed that decade and after this album began the lawsuite which temporarily stopped Camel's activity. Without the attempt to sound mainstream it would have been an absolute masterpiece, now it sounds a bit dated.

4.5 stars

Camel is a band that pretty much every Progger know. Especially their prime time during the 70's. The 80's, for pretty much all Progressive Rock, is another kind of affair.

Stationary Traveller (1984) is their 10th album in 11 years of career, nothing bad I would say.

The album itself isn't that bad, is actually good. If you're able to completely separate this album from their 70's and albums like Mirage (1974).

But one thing bothers me a lot, the vocals. They are dead, not a single drop of emotion on it, in none of all the ten tracks. And that pretty much kills the overall sound in Stationary Traveller (1984).

Stationery Traveller: an album that manages to capture the awe inspiring experience of walking through aisles of reams of blank paper, envelopes, pencils and paper clips.

The album begins with Pressure Points, a slightly Pink Floyd-ish but all to short instrumental piece. With a nice Andrew Latimer guitar solo, this track is the only one on the album that I can bear listening to repeatedly.

The rest is a pile of eighties synth-pop, that most closely reminds me of Roger Hodgson's post Supertamp work. You know. Fairly well crafted, but immediately forgettable pop songs.

If there was more than a faint hint of prog here (and no, slightly weird eighties synth sounds don't qualify), I might have rated this better. But no. This is what was wrong with 80's music.

Review Nº 155

'Stationary Traveller' is the tenth studio album of Camel and was released in 1984. Like many of Camel's studio albums, this is another conceptual album. This time is about the Cold War and the story is centred on the trials of East German refugees attempting to cross the famous and shameful Berlin Wall who divided the city between East and West. I'm perfectly convinced this was a matter very nostalgic for Latimer that made him to release this album. The nostalgia is present all over the album, and the cover itself invokes a very desolate, desperate and despondent post war Germany, a solitary young woman amidst the aging architecture of a city scarred by the war and its numerous effects.

By this time, and as happened with their previous studio album 'The Single Factor', Camel was essentially an Andrew Latimer's band. The line up of this album is Andrew Latimer (lead vocals, electric, acoustic and 12 string guitars, bass, piano, flute and drum synthesizer), Ton Scherpenzeel (organ, grand piano, Prophet synthesizer, Yamaha CS80, Juno 60, Korg, PPg and accordion), Chris Rainbow (lead vocals), David Paton (backing vocals, bass and fretless bass), Paul Burgess (drums), Mel Collins (saxophone) and Haydn Bendall (Fairlight synthesizer and PPg synthesizer).

'Stationary Traveller' has ten tracks. The first track 'Pressure Points' written by Latimer is an instrumental short song that introduces us into the album and also establishes immediately the atmosphere of what will be the music on the album. This is a very beautiful way to open the album. The second track 'Refugee' written by Latimer and Susan Hoover is a good and melodious rock song. It's a very solid track with a modern sound with electronic drums but where the presence of Latimer's guitar is constant. So, the final result is a very well balanced track. The third track 'Vopos' written by Latimer and Hoover is a very good and interesting song. It's a very dark song where the lyrics are highly dramatic but very melodious too. This is, in my humble opinion, a song in the new wave style that sounds modern and where the electronic drumming gives the rhythm. The fourth track 'Cloak And Dagger Man' written by Latimer and Hoover is another electronic song that sounds in the new wave pop style with a very fast and frenetic rhythm. This is a song written in a more commercial style that reminds us so many other bands of those times. The fifth track 'Stationary Traveller' is the title track and was written by Latimer. This is another instrumental song that represents the return to the typical sound of Camel. Here we have the guitar sound that reminds me the sound of Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits, the beautiful sound of pan pipes and the typical and unique Latimer's sound, probably featuring one of the best guitar solos performed by him. Until now, this is the best song on the album where we can see Latimer at his best. This is without any doubt one of the high moments of this album too. The sixth track 'West Berlin' written by Latimer and Hoover is a very interesting song with a nice rhythm and also with good musical passages. This is another song clearly influenced by the new wave style, with fine textures and also very well produced. I think we can feel here the presence of Alan Parsons' hand. The seventh track 'Fingertips' written by Latimer and Hoover is a very beautiful, melodic and cool ballad. This is a love song, one of the most commercial songs of the album, and despite has the return of the nice sound of the saxophone of Collins, doesn't represent one of highest points of the album. The eighth track 'Missing' written by Latimer is another instrumental song based on electronic drumming. This is a very beautiful song with very satisfactory melodic changes that remains in our ears. I think this is a song more in the neo-prog vein. The ninth track 'After Words' written by Scherpenzeel is again an instrumental song, very short, and is a kind of an introduction to the last song on the album. This is one of the nice moments of the album, only performed by piano and accordion. The tenth and last track 'Long Goodbyes' written by Latimer and Hoover is a very epic and mellow ballad, probably too much mellow, but it's, in anyway, a very nice way to ending this curious and interesting musical work, from the 80's.

Conclusion: Like our colleague greenback, I also like Camel's sound of the 80's and I also agree with him when he says that Camel knew how to cope and introduce the new technology into their music. Probably only Camel and Genesis, of the greatest progressive bands of the 70's, were capable of doing that. 'Stationary Traveller' is an album with a very modern sound, for those times, clearly influenced by pop and new wave music with a touch of the traditional Camel's sound. So, this is a nice album of the 80's with some very good songs. 'Stationary Traveller' is undoubtedly their best second studio album from the 80's, after 'Nude'. 'Stationary Traveller' is also their last studio work of the 80's and we may say that Camel passed with certain elegance, by those terrible years for the progressive rock music. But fortunately, great things would happen in the following years, for Camel and for the progressive rock music in general. Their four next studio albums are all great and represent the returning of Camel to their classic musical roots.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)