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Best of Camel

Paulo Andre | Portugal | 08/01/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As I write this review, I'm not exactly a Camel expert knowing almost nothing about the middle of their career. Judging by reviews of albums of that era, though, it seems I'm not missing much.



Camel's self-titled debut is, however, one of my very favorite albums and quite possibly Camel's strongest album as well. There's virtually no filler on this one and their energy is at its peak.



And in fact, this is not prog in the same way early Genesis is prog, to cite a reference in the genre. Camel from this age is quite a bit more rythmic and rocking. This doesn't happen in later albums, particularly towards the end of their career, when everything getts much more mellow, yet beautiful.



"Slow Yourself Down" sets the pace for the entire record, an upbeat track sang by Andy Latimer in his quite original tone. But it's "Never Let Go" (which has an even better rendition on "A Live Record") - my favorite Camel track - and "Arubaluba" that steal the record for me. "Six Ate" has this great grooving bass line as the backbone of the entire track while "Mystic Queen" is the most mellow track yet doesn't disappoint, being beautifully sung by bassist Doug Ferguson and featuring Bardens intensely exquisite keyboards. And everywhere Andy Ward's drumming is perfect for the mood.



I find Camel to be an essential band in the genre, and as I find this to be their best effort, this record is also essential, even if you're probably better served with next year's "Mirage" for a more progressive output."

Very good unknown gem

Nuno Leal Da Silva | Lisboa, Portugal | 09/13/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Camel debut is lovely. A bit different than their other albus (more prog), this one has a prog-rock feel but much more cool, with hints of funk and groove, this remembers me Brian Auger Oblivion Express or the german Embryo (look for their Disconform remastred series). There is here very good chill-out material. The musicians are equally superb."

Hail to the camel!

Humberto Mejia | Perth, Australia | 04/18/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Luis Mejia (son) - The debuting Camel album may work extremely good just in the case of music purists and people devoted to the band searching for their origins and the core of their music, but all in all, the album fails to achieve a concrete musical style. Its music is plain, covered to the top with an awkwardly insipid improvisational style (which many may affirm this is because of it's jazzy textures but this is argueably), and a very muted, underachieving prog style which neither blends to complexity neither to an accessible side of their music. Within its songs, the album is painfully filled with uninspired rock performances, but still some reach eventually into an original style, as for customized rock songs like "Slow Yourself Down", "Six Ate" and "Curiosity", the others work tighter, "Mystic Queen" has a delicate acoustic harmony, "Separation" might be the most recognizeable piece in the album, this is classic Camel, and "Arubaluba" has a cohersive improvisation, but this doesn't excuse the uneven songwriting. As for the classic "Never Let Go", this piece is severely dissapointing in all senses in this studio piece, but if you want to hear a real Never Let Go, listen to the live version in A Live Record, this was the awesome piece I fell in love with. The vocals were yet to develop, and the songwriting had to be fixed, but luckily, a vast majority of these problems are fixed in the following Mirage, in conclusion, the album will only work for reaching to the core of their improvisational style."