LANDSCAPES

After Camel has released their first four studio albums, which belong to their golden era, "Camel" in 1973, "Mirage" in 1974, "The Snow Goose" in 1975 and "Moonmadness" in 1976 with the same line up Latimer, Bardens, Ferguson and Ward, the band had the first change. Their bassist Doug Ferguson left the group. After that, Richard Sinclair and Mel Collins joined the group and Camel released two more studio albums "Rain Dances" in 1977 and "Breathless" in 1978 with the same line up. Thereafter, Camel began to start unstable with constant changes inside their line up. By the time that Camel released "I Can See You House From Here", in 1979, rock changed drastically due to punk rock movement, which resulted in less press coverage for prog rock, as well as decreased record sales and less space to deal with record labels. Camel released three more studio albums "Nude" in 1981, "The Single Factor" in 1982 and "Stationary Traveller" in 1984 with constant changes inside their line up. The main of all was when their drummer Andy Ward was forced to leave the group due to health problems. In 1985 their record label Decca dropped Camel and Latimer wasn't able to find a new record label because he was in a legal battle with Camel's former manager Geoff Jukes. Camel entered into a long period of hibernation that lasted until the 90's. So, it was in this context that appears "Landscapes".

"Landscapes" is a compilation of Camel and was released in 1991. It has nineteen tracks. "Freefall" is from "Mirage". It's almost an instrumental track with nice moments. It's influenced by several styles, with an excellent melody. "Sanctuary" and "Fritha" are from "The Snow Goose". They're two very short tracks that can be seen as bridges to connect the title track. Both are calm, peaceful and beautiful with a similar structure. They work very well on that album. "Spirit Of The Water" and "Air Born" are from "Moonmadness". "Spirit Of The Water" is a short track, an atmospheric pretty ballad with a beautiful piano work complemented by a distant vocal singing. It adds a special feel to it. "Air Born" is one of their most memorable tracks. It's an excellent developed song. It begins with flute and piano, in a classic style, which suddenly explodes with all instruments and vocals. "First Light", "Sky Lines" and "Rain Dances" are from "Rain Dances". "First Light" is an inspired fantastic instrumental that represents a great opening for that album. "Sky Lines" is an instrumental with some great jazzy influences. It's a good number very well performed by all band's members. "Rain Dances" is a reprise of the opener track of that album. It's an excellent classic instrumental track. It represents a natural and a great close to that excellent work. "Echoes" is from "Breathless". It's a typical Camel's track and is one of the most progressive songs on that album. It has a great Latimer's guitar work. It's the best track on that album. "Your Love Is Stronger Than Mine" is from "I Can See Your House From Here". It's a melodic track with a pop style. It has some nice vocal harmonies in the wave of the commercial hits. It's a simple and good track with nothing special. "City Life", "Beached", "Landscapes", "Reflections" and "The Last Farewell" are from "Nude". "City Life" is a bit poppy but is well done. Mel Collins adds some nice sax work here. "Beached" is an instrumental track and is an excellent example of some glossy prog that sounds exciting and inspiring. "Landscapes" is a gorgeous and ethereal piece. A deep keyboard work surrounds the soothing flute melody like a warm halo giving to it a special taste. "Reflections" is a well executed piece that demonstrates how sublime subtlety can't only be heartwarming but highly admirable as prog. It has a beautiful synth sound very spacey. "The Last Farewell" is a melancholy piece that reprises an earlier theme on that album. It closes that album nicely. "Refugee", "Cloak And Dagger Man", "Stationary Traveller" and "Missing" are from "Stationary Traveller". "Refugee" is a solid track with a modern sound. The final result is a well balanced track. "Cloak And Dagger Man" sounds in the new wave pop style with a fast and frenetic rhythm. It was written in a commercial style that reminds me some other bands of those times. "Stationary Traveller" is an instrumental with the typical Camel's sound. This is the best track on that album where we can see Latimer at his best. It represents one of the highest moments on that album. "Missing" is a very beautiful track with satisfactory melodic changes. It's in the neo-prog vein.

Conclusion: As I wrote before, "Landscapes" appears in a huge musical hiatus of the band. Camel wasn't productive for more than six years, since they released "Stationary Traveller" and the DVD "Pressure Points", in 1984. So, this was probably the main reason why Latimer released "Landscapes". I hesitated to rate this compilation with 3 or 4 stars. It seems to be a very good compilation and very representative of the band's history because it has songs from all their studio albums, at the time, with the exception of their eponymous debut album "Camel" released in 1973. Besides, Camel doesn't have bad albums and even their weakest studio albums "I Can See Your House From Here" and "The Single Factor" aren't really bad. Still, "Landscapes" is a collection of Camel's short and more commercial songs. The final result is a good compilation very accessible to the beginners with Camel. So, I decided to rate it only with 3 stars.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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