THE COLLECTION

"The Collection" is a compilation album of Camel and was released in 1985. It was released in LP and CD formats with different versions. The LP version was released with twenty tracks and the CD version was released with less four tracks. The four tracks are "Nimrodel/The Procession/White Rider", "Earthrise", "Song Within A Song" and "First Light". In this case, the version that I'm going to review here on Progarchives is the LP version with the twenty tracks.

"Freefall", "Supertwister", "Nimrodel/The Procession/White Rider" and "Earthrise" are all tracks from "Mirage" of 1974. "Freefall" is almost an instrumental track with an excellent melodic line. It's influenced by diverse styles of music. "Supertwister" is a nice and peaceful track. It's a great instrumental track, partially dominated by a great flute work, proving that Latimer is a great flute player too. "Nimrodel/The Procession/The White Rider" is one of the two multi-part epic tracks on that album. It's one of the best tracks on that album with its time changes and soundscapes that carries the theme to a great symphonic climax. "Earthrise" is a nice instrumental track with a frenetic middle section with Latimer's guitar and Bardens' keyboards. It's probably one of the best and finest instrumentals by them. "Rhayader", "Rhayader Goes To Town", "Migration", "Rhayader Alone", "La Princesse Perdue" and "The Great March" are all tracks from "The Snow Goose" of 1975. "Rhayader" is a track with a powerful melody combining flute, guitar and organ. It has a memorable flute melody supported by an organ solo. "Rhayader Goes To Town" brings the music into a faster tempo, with great combination of guitar and organ with energetic beats. It has an extended guitar solo too. "Migration" brings the music into an upbeat style. It's an uplifting track full of spirit, and the scatting melodies are very nice and catchy, really. "Rhayader Alone" is a quite and mellow track where the guitar plays gently. It's a dark and magical track that can tell us that someone is really alone. "La Princesse Perdue" is one of the highlights on that album and makes a beautiful ending with "The Great Marsh" reprise. It practically sums the amazing music all over that album. "The Great March" is a punchy and nice tune played with the flute. It opens and concludes the album with an exploration of nature sounds. "Aristillus", "Spirit Of The Water", "Lunar Sea" and "Song Within A Song" are all tracks from "Moonmadness" of 1976. "Aristillus" is an instrumental atmospheric track, very melodic, which is dominated by the keyboards. It's an excellent showcase for that entire album. "Spirit Of The Water" has a beautiful piano work complemented by a distant vocal singing. It's an atmospheric ballad, very pretty, and built around piano and synthesizer with Bardens' distant voice adding a special feel to it. "Lunar Sea" is another instrumental, and is one of the best tracks on that album. It's a song with great individual and collective performances. "Song Within A Song" is a calm, beautiful, and melancholic track that contrasts with the deepest voice of Ferguson. It's an excellent track with nice and relaxing guitar and flute works. "Rain Dances", "Highways Of The Sun" and "First Light" are three tracks from "Rain Dances" of 1977. "Rain Dances" is a reprise of "First Light". It's an excellent instrumental track, very classic. It represents a natural and a great ending to that excellent album. "Highways Of The Sun" is a track with some commercial mood and with some pop characteristics, but with a final touch of Camel's sound. It's an example how to make a good pop song by a prog band. "First Light" is an inspired instrumental piece that represents a great opening to that album. It was the first time we could listen a sax on a Camel's album. "Drafted" and "Captured" are both tracks from "Nude" of 1981. "Drafted" is a track with great melodies and guitar themes in the classic Camel's style. It proved, beyond any doubt, the band was back at their best and pure roots on that album. "Captured" is a powerful, rhythmical and very captivating instrumental track that perfectly reflects the most mundane tastes so fashionable in the 80's. "Sasquatch" is a track from "The Single Factor" of 1982. This is perhaps the brightest track on that album. It's an interesting instrumental track. The main characteristic of it is that this is the only track on that album that features the presence of their former keyboardist, Peter Bardens.

Conclusion: "The Collection" is, in my humble opinion, a good compilation of Camel. Almost all of its tracks belong to some of their best studio albums. It has four tracks from "Mirage" which is considered as one of their best studio albums from the 70's. It has six tracks from "The Snow Goose" which is also considered another of their best studio albums from the 70's. And it has four tracks from "Moonmadness" which is an album considered as one of their three best studio albums from the 70's, with "Mirage" and "The Snow Goose". But, unfortunately, it has no tracks from their eponymous debut studio album "Camel". It has three tracks from "Rain Dances", which is an excellent album and the last great studio album released by them in the 70's. It has two tracks from "Nude". "Nude" is surely their best studio album released in the 80's. It has one track from "The single Factor". Despite "The Single Factor" be probably Camel's weakest studio album, "Sasquatch" is a very good track and doesn't spoil the overall good quality of "The Collection".

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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