CAMEL: RAIN DANCES (1977)
1) First Light; 2) Metrognome;
3) Tell Me; 4) Highways Of The Sun; 5) Unevensong; 6) One Of These Early Days
I'll Get An Early Night; 7) Elke; 8) Skylines; 9) Rain Dances.
At this point, members of the Progressive Club
usually begin having reservations about Camel's alleged loyalty. Not only does
this period initiate the break-up of the original band, as Doug Ferguson is
replaced on bass by Richard Sinclair (formerly of Caravan) and ex-King
Crimsonian Mel Collins is added on sax, but it also initiates the drift towards
a more commercial sound, as experienced, first and foremost, on the lead single
ʻHighways Of The Sunʼ — with its straightforward rhythmic punch, anthemic
catchy vocal, and joyful-optimistic atmosphere. Actually, there is little to
distinguish the song from contemporary arena-ready soft-rock; it could have
been produced by anybody from Chicago to Styx, and it sure as hell did not need
to be produced by Camel, a band to which sunny optimism comes as naturally as
reggae comes to AC/DC.
However, outside of the radio-oriented single
(which did not seriously chart anyway), Rain
Dances is actually not that much of a sellout. More accurately, it is a
somewhat blander, limper companion to the atmospheric soundscapes of Moonmadness, with a similar mix of
symph-prog, pop, jazz-fusion, and ambience, only more flaccid hooks and an even
stronger promise to never erupt from the cozy comfy background. Not even Brian
Eno, when invited to contribute on the most ambient of the tracks, ʻElkeʼ, can
do much to break the quiet, uninvolving pleasantness: he may have been
concocting mindblowing sonic panoramas for Bowie at the same time, but for
Latimer, he just dishes out a standard synth canvas that merely serves as
support for Andy's lazy, pretty, unmemorable flute solo. Did they really need Brian for that one? Gee, I
hope he at least got underpaid for this hackjob.
I think the only track here that consistently
gets respect from «serious» fans is ʻUnevensongʼ, because it, like, shifts keys
and gears several times from beginning to end. But it sounds too fragile and
fluffy for me to like it because of its energy, and too unfocused in any of its
sections to like it because of its beauty or melodicity. Too much sunshine and
not enough rain — too much tenderness that is not properly supported by
outstanding hooks, and the dynamics is wasted, too, because the tricky time
signature section in the middle, which the syncopated bass and the grumbly
synthesizers would probably want to present as a disturbing counterpoint, is
not played with enough feeling. In fact, very little on the album is played with enough feeling — you
almost get the impression that the entire band was suffering from a severe
vitamin deficit at the time.
The entire band shares credits on ʻOne Of These
Early Daysʼ, a funky fusion track, almost bordering on disco in spots — with a
series of keyboard, sax, and guitar solos that should qualify as «easy
listening» (Latimer goes for a Santana kind of sound... but why?). Again, it is
the kind of music that would be perfect as the theme for a mid-Seventies TV
talk show, but it is pretty hard to acknowledge it as an actual work of art...
and since pretty much the same goes for everything else here, I would like to
just cut the review short and say that, of all Camel albums in the 1970s, this
one is arguably the least essential — although the Progressive Club predictably
rates it higher than Breathless, I
profoundly disagree, because I by far
prefer this band abandoning all progressive ambitions and going all-out pop
than hanging in between, loosening and softening the complexity and energy of
their music, but still refusing to make it catchy. Therefore, feel free to just
skip Puddle Dances as a misguided
transitional album, and see them reinvent themselves with a vengeance on
whatever followed.
I like to visit the album here and there. Rich's voice is always nice where it appears, as is Mel's sax. There's nothing really nasty, although Highways is a wee boring. The opening and closing tracks, along with Early night are my favorates, with decent solos--the guitar ones are pure Andy. Uneven Song makes it, but I would agree it misses the mark; this is especially true in comparison with the live version. Fortuitusly re-releases of Rain Dances comes with live bonus tracks; and the result is the live Uneven Song becomes the finest track on the whole damn album. Richard does all the singing, which is a good move; you get Mel's sax doubling the melody, which for some reason he does not do in the studio (maybe he'd yet to join the band?); the guitar sounds swell; and Pete's spooky synth runs are really fleshed out. Funny how a complex song like that can really shine on stage like that
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