They were a lot better when they weren't singing to be honest. Also, they were probably the ugliest prog band ever, uglier even than Barclay James Harvest or The Enid.
― Matt #2, Saturday, 20 June 2009 13:57 (fourteen years ago) link
I'm torn between voting for Snow Goose and Moonmadness. Never really liked the later stuff
― pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname), Saturday, 20 June 2009 14:03 (fourteen years ago) link
"Moonmadness". Their best albums were "Mirage" through "Rain Dances", with "Nude" from 1981 and often forgotten contender.
― Geir Hongro, Saturday, 20 June 2009 17:13 (fourteen years ago) link
They were not very good when they went in a pop-orientated direction
― pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname), Saturday, 20 June 2009 17:14 (fourteen years ago) link
uglier even than Barclay James Harvest or The Enid
Whoooaa let's not go nuts
― Smoking a Progfag (Noodle Vague), Saturday, 20 June 2009 17:26 (fourteen years ago) link
haha barclay james harvest is another band i've almost bought a zillion times....i finally got be bop deluxe but i didn't like them as much as i thought i would, but i don't think i got one of the "right albums" /zappa
― attack! attack! "stick stickly" youtube video 2:48 nvr frgt (M@tt He1ges0n), Saturday, 20 June 2009 17:30 (fourteen years ago) link
Not too bad IMO, because they never abandonded their prog sides completely. But the prog albums are better.
― Geir Hongro, Saturday, 20 June 2009 17:31 (fourteen years ago) link
They went to close to AOR later on which is a horrible crime.
― pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname), Saturday, 20 June 2009 18:17 (fourteen years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aezncdri9Y
― pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname), Saturday, 20 June 2009 20:37 (fourteen years ago) link
and the proper original versionhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aezncdri9Y
― pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname), Saturday, 20 June 2009 20:39 (fourteen years ago) link
i mean this is the proper original version by the proper line uphttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEu1cele7BI
― pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname), Saturday, 20 June 2009 20:40 (fourteen years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ey_XxPZWAQE
― pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname), Saturday, 20 June 2009 20:41 (fourteen years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_k5xCkkQAEY
wheres bimble?
― pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname), Saturday, 20 June 2009 22:37 (fourteen years ago) link
bimble listen to camel
― pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname), Sunday, 21 June 2009 01:01 (fourteen years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eLqQKEzFaM
― pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname), Sunday, 21 June 2009 20:29 (fourteen years ago) link
Bible first needs to finish investigating 70s Genesis. Then, Camel may be a good find afterwards.
― Geir Hongro, Sunday, 21 June 2009 22:47 (fourteen years ago) link
Oh Bimble knows 70s Genesis very well I'm sure, he's obsessed with Peter Gabriel.
― pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname), Sunday, 21 June 2009 23:02 (fourteen years ago) link
I would never say that Camel is better than Genesis, but I certainly like them better.
I've had Mirage and Moonmadness for years; recently picked up the rest of the above list, save for the self titled (is it great?).
At this moment, I'm going to vote Snow Goose.
― Nate Carson, Sunday, 21 June 2009 23:12 (fourteen years ago) link
I cant remember much about the self-titled, been years since I heard it.
― pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname), Sunday, 21 June 2009 23:44 (fourteen years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
― System, Monday, 29 June 2009 23:01 (fourteen years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Tuesday, 30 June 2009 23:01 (fourteen years ago) link
runaway winner!
― pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname), Wednesday, 1 July 2009 00:35 (fourteen years ago) link
Only on ILX am I ever in a majority of anything.
― Nate Carson, Wednesday, 1 July 2009 06:02 (fourteen years ago) link
why did i not disocver this band before? i feel like i'm hearing a little bit of each of their proggy contemporaries, to nice effect... a little soft machine... a little crimson... a little roxy music and eno.... although it mostly reminds me is that sounds i identify with particular bands are really held in common by a whole subgenre.
"unevensong" off of "rain dances" is quite pretty.
what bands should i listen to next, folks?
― I dunno. (amateurist), Wednesday, 7 January 2015 02:56 (nine years ago) link
the stop-start opening of "unevensong" dates it immediately, in a very genesis sort of way. but it moves into some very lyrical territory pretty quickly.
― I dunno. (amateurist), Wednesday, 7 January 2015 02:57 (nine years ago) link
I love Snowgoose and Moon Madness, and I'm sure I have Mirage sitting in a pile waiting.
Love how the frontman makes all these orgasm faces as he plays guitar, he does that more than anyone else I've seen.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Wednesday, 7 January 2015 16:23 (nine years ago) link
Would have voted for Mirage.
― You’re being too simplistic and you’re insulting my poor heart (Turrican), Wednesday, 7 January 2015 16:37 (nine years ago) link
snow goose is so awesome. IIRC david bedford is arranging the orchestra on there? (He did arrangements for Kevin Ayers as well).
― a drug by the name of WORLD WITHOUT END (Jon Lewis), Wednesday, 7 January 2015 16:47 (nine years ago) link
Anyone heard the new version of Snowgoose?
Are these new versions of classic albums a trend? Is Tangerine Dream the only other band doing it.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Wednesday, 7 January 2015 18:51 (nine years ago) link
why did they do it? is it b/c they don't like the royalty rate on the old stuff a la def leppard?
― I dunno. (amateurist), Wednesday, 7 January 2015 23:25 (nine years ago) link
the debut rules
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMZsRNjhVnk
― reggie (qualmsley), Saturday, 28 May 2016 02:30 (seven years ago) link
how they get away with that logo, let alone the cover of mirage? promotional tie ins?
― lute bro (brimstead), Saturday, 28 May 2016 02:37 (seven years ago) link
it was kinda like zeppelin and howlin' wolf iirc
― reggie (qualmsley), Saturday, 28 May 2016 02:45 (seven years ago) link
i always used to joke about this bad; having been big into the other contemporaries for some reason everything about their records put me off, even though I never listened to them. i didn't even realize until just now that Mel Collins was in this bad for a good part of the 70's as well as a number of Caravan people.
― akm, Saturday, 28 May 2016 03:04 (seven years ago) link
start with the snow goose
― clouds, Saturday, 28 May 2016 15:27 (seven years ago) link
Snow goose rules
― scarcity festival (Jon not Jon), Saturday, 28 May 2016 16:21 (seven years ago) link
The first two tracks on Rain Dances are amazing, but on the whole it's a slight step down from the previous records. Breathless is mostly terrible aside from 'Echoes' - after that, meh.
― Turrican, Sunday, 29 May 2016 17:42 (seven years ago) link
damn never heard this band before listened to The Snow Goose because of this thread, hot damn what a great album
afraid to hear this band with vocals now haha
― rockpalast '82 (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 31 May 2016 14:02 (seven years ago) link
Parts of Breathless sound like a hybrid of prog and yacht rock.
― earlnash, Tuesday, 31 May 2016 20:28 (seven years ago) link
the snow goose is def one of my top 10 most listened to albums of 2016
it's so good
― blonde redheads have more fun (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 7 November 2016 20:49 (seven years ago) link
I prefer the live version from A Live Record to the studio version.
― Working night & day, I tried to stay awake... (Turrican), Monday, 7 November 2016 21:01 (seven years ago) link
don't want to be a hater but camel always sounded to me like a more boring version of pink floyd. :(
― xiphoid beetlebum (rushomancy), Monday, 7 November 2016 21:07 (seven years ago) link
at least this album doesn't really have much in common musically with pink floyd IMO
(i have not heard other camel jawns)
― blonde redheads have more fun (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 7 November 2016 21:14 (seven years ago) link
Mirage rocks in a way that Pink Floyd very rarely ever did.
― Working night & day, I tried to stay awake... (Turrican), Monday, 7 November 2016 21:17 (seven years ago) link
this reminds me of a proggier, instrumental wishbone ash
#ProgHotTakes
― blonde redheads have more fun (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 7 November 2016 21:24 (seven years ago) link
I think they're kinda like Nektar too. Mirage is one of a handful of prog albums I sold, then missed so much I rebought.
― Their all losers and I like associating with loser (Dan Peterson), Monday, 7 November 2016 21:51 (seven years ago) link
have not really checked out Nektar, they weirdly played a show at Famous Dave's BBQ a couple years ago I sadly missed
― blonde redheads have more fun (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 7 November 2016 22:04 (seven years ago) link
i used to own journey to the centre of the eye. i remember i used to listen to countenance a lot
but i remember there were a lot of cheesy tracks on there
i definitely prefer snow goose
― F♯ A♯ (∞), Monday, 7 November 2016 22:15 (seven years ago) link
M@tt, I wanted to go to that Nektar show at Famous Dave's too, and should have; their guitarist/lead vocalist passed away in July of this year. Start with "Remember The Future" imo if you're diving in. Sorry to derail Camel thread with Nektar stuff!
― Their all losers and I like associating with loser (Dan Peterson), Monday, 7 November 2016 22:39 (seven years ago) link
I like The Snow Goose way more than any of the other Camel I've heard. It's really special. It's kind of a collaboration with composer/orchestrator David Bedford btw, who also did cool stuff with Kevin Ayers and a couple crazy prog albums of his own.
― his eye is on despair-o (Jon not Jon), Tuesday, 8 November 2016 01:12 (seven years ago) link
I wish I could say that I preferred The Snow Goose over Mirage, Moonmadness or even the first LP, but I don't.
― Working night & day, I tried to stay awake... (Turrican), Tuesday, 8 November 2016 10:13 (seven years ago) link
are these guys the evolution of sopwith camel or are those 2 separate rock concerns?
― blonde redheads have more fun (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 8 November 2016 15:00 (seven years ago) link
Totally different.
― Their all losers and I like associating with loser (Dan Peterson), Tuesday, 8 November 2016 16:31 (seven years ago) link
LOL
are they related to sopwith camel or are they totally different things?― the relatively famous Cambridge psychologist Sug-Ban Cohen (M@tt He1ges0n), Saturday, June 20, 2009 8:45 AM (seven years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― the relatively famous Cambridge psychologist Sug-Ban Cohen (M@tt He1ges0n), Saturday, June 20, 2009 8:45 AM (seven years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Totally different! This clip gives a good idea of what they sounded like:― Matt #2, Saturday, June 20, 2009 8:55 AM (seven years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― Matt #2, Saturday, June 20, 2009 8:55 AM (seven years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― Their all losers and I like associating with loser (Dan Peterson), Tuesday, 8 November 2016 19:10 (seven years ago) link
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51gVZI-JvBL.jpg
― The Doug Walters of Crime (Tom D.), Tuesday, 8 November 2016 19:46 (seven years ago) link
... my cousin used to have this album but I don't remember anything about it.
― The Doug Walters of Crime (Tom D.), Tuesday, 8 November 2016 19:47 (seven years ago) link
it's really good!
― brimstead, Tuesday, 8 November 2016 20:52 (seven years ago) link
i've been looking for songs like 'starlight ride' on breathless - corny prog ballads that come off as sincere rather than theatrical/showy
― ciderpress, Tuesday, 8 November 2016 22:27 (seven years ago) link
A little disappointed by Mirage. Half of it really good and other half didn't grab me.
Was one of the other guys brothers with Latimer? In some pictures they look identical.
Matt #2 - saying they are the ugliest prog band? Harsh but also not true, one of the guys was pretty good looking.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Friday, 15 June 2018 18:26 (five years ago) link
Yeah sorry about that, the award actually goes to The Enid.
― Category: Animist Rock (Matt #2), Friday, 15 June 2018 23:03 (five years ago) link
When I saw The Enid several years ago, there was a couple of young members that Godfrey was complimenting for their looks.
This is similar to the lineup I saw (I think the opera vocalist is missing)https://www.last.fm/music/The+Enid/+images/76028985de7e4840bbd4cd9e800e9df1
Now it's just three young guys!https://www.theenid.co.uk/bio
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Friday, 15 June 2018 23:25 (five years ago) link
mirage got robbed. "freefall" is their best opening jam
― reggie (qualmsley), Sunday, 9 September 2018 20:04 (five years ago) link
anyone happen to have mp3s of Mirage and the first album they can shoot me today? at work and annoyed to find these aren't on any streaming services yet.
― akm, Monday, 6 May 2019 20:05 (four years ago) link
Listening to Breathless and looking at my CD player in surprise (anyone else ever do this?) at how much parts of it sound like 90s british rock.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Saturday, 18 September 2021 18:15 (two years ago) link
Title track is so good
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Wednesday, 22 September 2021 18:02 (two years ago) link
Such a great album. "Song Within A Song" is as good as prog gets
― J. Sam, Wednesday, 22 September 2021 18:28 (two years ago) link
Re Breathless: I'm not opposed to the idea of yacht-prog per se (I even enjoyed the Richard Wright solo album), but something about the laid-back sound of this record was just flaccid to me. Also, having liked Richard Sinclair's songs and singing on Caravan records, I was disappointed by his contributions to this. He was still a more solid singer than Latimer, though.
― Halfway there but for you, Wednesday, 22 September 2021 18:40 (two years ago) link
i like 'starlight ride' as far as sappy prog ballads go. nice sound
― ciderpress, Wednesday, 22 September 2021 19:09 (two years ago) link
Finding the first half of the album stronger so far. Final track is really nice though.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Wednesday, 22 September 2021 19:44 (two years ago) link
Just realized I mixed up Breathless with Moonmadness in my head when I posted re: "Song Within a Song." Breathless is great too, super underrated with a smooth, uplifting vibe throughout. Yacht-prog is spot-on. "Echoes" still brings the heat though
― J. Sam, Wednesday, 22 September 2021 19:56 (two years ago) link
Just played Breathless for the first time yesterday, I dig really like "Echoes", which is definitely yacht-prog but even that didn't prepare me for the disco-prog of "Summer Lightning". Which still won me over with the killer guitar solo.
― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, 21 October 2021 14:35 (two years ago) link
Title track is still my favorite, proto-shoegazey
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Thursday, 21 October 2021 17:27 (two years ago) link
Maybe I need to give that one a closer listen, I was about ready to hit eject until "Echoes" kicked in.
― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, 21 October 2021 17:30 (two years ago) link
Someone could write a thesis on whether Camel's "Down on the Farm" influenced Spinal Tap's "Sex Farm", as both are tributes to the erotic possibilities inherent in agricultural labour.
― Halfway there but for you, Thursday, 21 October 2021 23:02 (two years ago) link
I mostly thought of Blur's "In The Country" but Camel's song is more about farm work than anything
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Friday, 22 October 2021 18:55 (two years ago) link
4 really good tracks and the rest okay.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Thursday, 4 November 2021 18:45 (two years ago) link
Whole lotta Camel here -
https://superdeluxeedition.com/news/camel-air-born-the-mca-decca-years-1973-1984/
― MaresNest, Tuesday, 10 October 2023 13:47 (six months ago) link
no standalone Mirage reissue? that one still goes for a decent price and every time my local shop gets it in it apparently sells within a day
― frogbs, Tuesday, 10 October 2023 13:51 (six months ago) link
Don't mind a bit of Camel but I'm not entirely sure I need 32 discs of them
― kiwi side-eye specialist (Matt #2), Tuesday, 10 October 2023 14:01 (six months ago) link
What's crazy is that it isn't much more expensive than Dylan's 4-disc Budokan thing. Box set pricing is really weird right now.
― Maxmillion D. Boosted (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Tuesday, 10 October 2023 14:15 (six months ago) link