Camel - Camel (1973)

Camel is a pretty known band in the prog sphere, and I wouldn't really say they're underrated. Their 1974 LP "Mirage" is a certified prog classic, and stuff like "Snow Goose" or "Moonmadness" is often discussed and mentioned. But their debut seems to be elusive and forgotten, just like their (or just Latimer's) later works...

Nevertheless, this self titled debut is one of my favorite albums ever. I think I've seen somebody even mention it on the internet only once, if at all. It's such a shame, since I believe it to be among the most pleasant to listen to prog albums. It's not excessive by any means but it's still complex enough to bear the label of prog. So it's like the best of both worlds!

At their earlier years, the band's sound was much different that on their later releases. It's less classic-proggy and more jazzy/fusion-y. A role of "frontman" was held by Peter, who also played on pretty much every damn second second of this record... Seriously, his organs are just all over the place on this album. The songs are written almost exclusively around keyboard arrangements, which isn't my cup of tea tbh, but it still sounds unique enough to be interesting and fun. It gets kinda wacky at times, but this is a Camel record we're talking about so it could've not been different...

When you think of the band Camel, what comes to your mind first? I bet it's either Andy's or Peter's playing. The band isn't particullary known for their rhytm section. Maybe that's why "Slow Yourself Down" off this record is definitely my favourite here and easily makes my top 5 Camel songs. Doug's extremely groovy bassline here is CRAZY GOOD. A couple of minutes (and song sections later...) Andy casualy delivers one of his most satisfying guitar lines and plays this crazy solo with a whammy bar that just slaps sooo hard. At certain times the song just feels like a rocket shooting into space. At the others, it transforms into the groovy, down to earth jazz rock track. It really shows all the young energy and potential the band had at the time.

"Mystic Queen" is the band's cute take on the cozy prog ballad trope. Think KC's "Moonchild" or some Caravan track. The song is exactly what it needs to be - it's mysterious, neat and well composed. It certainly is someone's favourite here. I like it too, but over the years I've grown to just enjoy the other songs a whole lot more than that one. It features some not so obvious harmonic choices that certainly add its mystique. The next track is where the fun begins. It's called "Six Ate" and it's a first instrumental here. It took me a while to get that it's called like that because it begins with a 6/8 time signature... After some time tho it changes to 4/4 and it stays that way for majority of the song's runtime. Anyway the track is awesome! It's just very cool and rocking. I like the jazzyness and the quirky, bubbly sound effects that play during the "main" section. Again, the bassline here is what drives the song, which is pretty unique for this band. The song goes through many different moods and there's a lot going on here, but it's all so coherent and subtle, that it's simply f un to listen to.

After that, we have "Separation" - a song that I'm not that much keen on. It's fine but the vibe throughout it is somehow kinda weird? I dunno, the track's lyrics and music both sound bittersweet in a way that is somewhat creepy for me... Then there's also that creepy organ section that doubles down on that. The song ends with this fast drum beat during which Latimer delivers some shredding - it's probably my favourite part of the song. Andy Ward is a very talented drummer!

"Never Let Go" is a song with a surprisingly significant legacy. Both Steven Wilson (from Porcupine Tree) and Mikael Åkerfeldt (from Opeth) interpolated it in some way into their songs. This is how "Stars Die" and "Benighted" were born... It's very nice to see this song, and by extension, this album, being appreciated by one of the most influential and substantial personas in the world of modern "prog" music. The song itself is pretty standard - it's just another semi-acoustic, cozy ballad, but it's crafted in a very meticulous way and admitedly is very catchy! The solo is fantastic too - it's another one that can be put among Andy's best. The lyrics deserve a mention too, because they unfortunately haven't aged a year after over a half a century worth of time...

After a ballad we go back to jazz with "Curiosity" which I always forgot about. Not that it's a bad song, it really isn't! I like it's airy atmosphere and overall lightness. The song feels like it's jumping around and gliding mid-air. Last but not least, there's a second instrumental track - "Arubaluba", which I always absolutely adored. For some reason it sounds really eerie and mysterious for me, even tho the song feels pretty neutral in it's tone. It has creative synth usage, nice organ melodies, driving bass and of course that exceptionally vibrant and energetic guitar bursts that power the song up and make it go sooo hard. When the main riff stars, the song just explodes with raw power! Near the end, thanks to Peter's organs, some darkness emerges but it's quickly resolved, giving the sense of satisfaction.

The album's just awesome. It's main flaws are that the mix is too damn crappy (the vocals feel just unaudible and buried), tho that appears to have been fixed in recent 2023 remix, and it's elusiveness... The album's really hard to find in the record stores. It's of course probably because of it's more of a cult status. But that's also why I enjoy it so much. The elusiveness is what drags me towards it. I like the mysterious cover, I like the instrumental, cryptic tracks and I like the overall sound they were playing with at the time. I'm not very fond of much of keyboard-centered music, but in conjunction with this rhytm section and extraordinarily brilliant guitar skills of Andy Latimer, this music is just something else.