CAMEL

Camel's debut album and still one of my personal favorites. One of the most underrated album in progressive rock history.. The rythm of each song is highly catchy with such an amazing feel to it.The keyboards are mostly floating and rythmic organ full of effects, and some mellotron, piano and VCS3 parts. The bass is quite present and rather complex. There are tons of sophisticated drums. The lead vocals are very good, as always. A big step for Camel as we see in next album Mirage.

1. Slow Yourself Down - 5/5

2. Mystic Queen - is a superb ballad whose soft-spoken vocals contributes a lot. The acoustic intro is beautiful and so is the later crescendo until the pace slows down again. 5/5

3. Six Ate - 4,5/5

4. Separation - 4/5

5. Never Let Go - Lovely acoustic intro once again and superb playing by everyone. It's weird because these song is so beautiful and soothing and yet so dark and haunting at the same time. 5/5

6. Curiosity - 4,5/5

7. Arubaluda - The album closes with this fine heavy meltdown with some Peter Bardens' fantastic Organ improvisations. Great! 4,5/5

Final Note : Although "Camel" might not be as focused as later efforts like "Mirage" or "Moonmadness", but every song has something different to offer. I would definetly recommend this.

5+5+4,5+5+5+4,5+4+4,5 = 32,5

32,5:7 = 4,64

Essential: A masterpiece of progressive music.

Curiosity: Dave Williams, the album's producer, urged the band to find a real singer. The idea was finally dropped after the band auditioned a singer who started dancing on stage while the other were gigging through instrumental improvisations.