In 2013 – marking the return of Camel when many fans believed they’d heard the last of them – Prog asked five musicians of the moment to choose their favourite album by Andy Latimer’s band.
Mirage (1974) – John Mitchell, Lonely Robot, Frost*, Asia
“When I was but a snip of a lad there were only a few musicians that inspired me to pick up a guitar and have a go myself. Andy Latimer was one such person and Mirage was the album responsible.
I was heavily drawn to the singy front pickup sound that both Dave Gilmour and Latimer embraced, the main difference being that Latimer opted for a Gibson guitar, and Gilmour a Fender Strat.
Mirage was only the band’s second album but was technically a vast step forward from their debut, considering their age and ambition. I love it – particularly songs such as Freefall and The White Rider, not to mention the closing 12-minute opus Lady Fantasy, which shows the band at their most proggy and determined best.
From here I drew a line to Floyd and painted my room black! Who knows where I would be now if I’d never heard Mirage?”
The Snow Goose (1975) – Matt Stevens, The Fierce And The Dead
“Pastoral... that’s what people say about The Snow Goose. One guy reviewed my Ghost album and said he hated it because it was pastoral. Well, The Snow Goose is pastoral squared! None more pastoral!
It’s like early Crimson meets some weird 70s library music. It’s lovely and quintessentially English. The story it’s based on is heartbreaking and it really comes across in the music. I know how hard it is to make an interesting instrumental prog record, and The Snow Goose really works.
It really does feel like an imaginary soundtrack, with some lovely guitar from Andy Latimer – the thing that made Camel so unique. It makes you think of kids’ TV from the 70s for some reason. It’s full of autumnal melancholy and very odd. And La Princesse Perdue is a lovely ending.”
Moonmadness (1976) – Mikael Åkerfeldt, Opeth
“This, ladies and gentlemen, is one of the best records ever released. 1976 was, in my book, a rather weak year for prog; not so much here, of course.
Andy Latimer – who’s like royalty to me – has been mysteriously overlooked throughout the years. As I see it, he’s right up there with the absolute cream of rock guitar players. People familiar with Camel’s catalogue would only tip their hats in agreement.
Camel’s artillery of fantastic tracks in 1976 speaks for itself: Song Within A Song, Air Born, Lunar Sea (dat guitar solo!), Peter Bardens’ ethereal and beautiful Spirit Of The Water and Chord Change are all beyond top notch.
Even the weakest track, Another Night, is superb. In fact, that’s a good way to end this review: even the weakest song is a bloody masterpiece!”
Breathless (1978) – Eivind Johansen, Kosmoratic
“This album always brings me back to a time when my girlfriend and me rather unofficially spent a week together in my mother’s apartment in a stoned and blissful state of mind.
Listening to it now, I still sense the uplifting and joyous feeling, the joie de vivre that Camel’s music could bring. The breezy title track is progressive rock with a pop sensibility that is warm and with plenty of hooks – I guess that’s what they were aiming for.
Echoes has some great interplay between Peter Bardens’ synthesizers and Latimer’s guitars; it’s Camel at their free-flowing best. The Sleeper is another strong track with a fabulous keyboard intro; and I like the ballad Starlight Ride, with its classical touches in the instrumental sections.
Breathless is not always successful; sometimes it’s jazz-funk, or lightweight. But it’s from a time when everything was still possible.”
Stationary Traveller (1984) – Bruce Soord, The Pineapple Thief
“As a kid struggling to get to grips with the guitar, I had two heroes: Ian Bairnson and Andy Latimer. Andy is a wonderfully melodic player who can really make his guitar weep. And, of course, he’s also a great songwriter.
Stationary Traveller is a weird one, because it plays more like a Latimer solo album as opposed to the ‘classic’ line-up of the 70s. But as soon as you hear Andy’s guitar, you’ve got your Camel.
The album also features musicians from the session world who played in The Alan Parsons Project – David Paton, Mel Collins, Chris Rainbow and Haydn Bendall – and I think that all comes across sonically on this record. The production is really tight.
The opening track, Pressure Points, has a guitar lick that I blatantly stole for a solo on The Pineapple Thief’s album Variations On A Dream. There – I’ve said it!”
