BREATHLESS

One thing this album has is variety! There are a lot of different styles and each song is different from the next. There are poppier songs on here too but there's something catchy about them and it's somehow hard to compare the style to anyone else. I must say that not all pop is bad and there's a nice bit of songwriting going on. I feel that some other proggers were jolly unfair to call it a poor album. It isn't perfect either but it's best to keep an open mind to something different whilst listening to "Breathless".

It all starts off gently with the title track which is especially melodic in the middle part. "Echoes" is an eye-opener and one of Camel's finest proggier compositions. "Wing and Prayer" (with a pleasant intelude) and "You Make me Smile" are also real charmers for me.

I wasn't sure about "Down On the Farm" at first but now I find it rather quirky and amusing. It sounds a lot like a kids song until he sings a line about sneaking off into the woods with a barmaid! "Starlight Ride" is a very relaxing, beautiful track and one of my favourites. I was never that keen on the disco sound of "Summer Lightening" which was typical of the late 70's, but it's not at all bad. What about the guitar solo towards the end? Great stuff. Things turn jazzier with "The Sleeper" and "Rainbow's End" provides a nice, subtle ending.

Overall, this is quite a good album. One might find it uplifing as I did. It was actually one of the first Camel albums I heard, but maybe it's not the best to start with. It's charming, interesting and enjoyable at regular intervals.

3.5 stars.

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