WRITE MY NAME IN THE DUST

This anthology set gathers together Peter Bardens' first two (pre-Camel) solo albums The Answer (1970) and Peter Bardens (1971) in their respective entirety, plus some tracks from various bands Bardens played in during the 60's, three Camel numbers, and a few tracks from Bardens final solo album The Art Of Levitation (2002). As such Write My Name In The Dust works horribly badly as a retrospective as there is a very heavy focus on the very old--before Bardens became relevant--and the very new--long after he seized being relevant, overlooking almost everything of what came in between!

The primary reason for buying this two CD set is to get hold of those two full early solo albums for a reasonable price. Since I have reviewed those two albums separately, I will focus on the rest of what's here in this review.

The first disc opens with a set of tunes that Bardens recorded in the 60's with The Cheynes, Peter B's Looners, Shotgun Express, and The Village. The Zombies and Manfred Mann might perhaps be used as reference points here in terms of the style, but the quality of most of these songs is far below those acts. If you are looking for anything (proto-)progressive here, you are going to be disappointed.

The most important period in Bardens career is certainly his time with Camel. There are three Camel recordings here: a live recording of Arubaluba (originally from Camel's self-titled 1973 debut), Supertwister (from 1974's Mirage album), and a single edit of Flight Of The Snow Goose (1975). In addition there is a 2002 version of Spirit Of The Water (originally from 1976's Moonmadness) re-recorded for The Art Of Levitation--Bardens final solo album, released the same year he passed away. Like most of his solo albums, this was far away from Prog and more towards New Age.

Overall, a rather weird compilation this, and far from essential

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