| Track: | Rating: | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Breathless | | | | ||
| 2. Echoes | | | | | |
| 3. Wing And A Prayer | | | | ||
| 4. Down On The Farm | | | | | |
| 5. Starlight Ride | | | | ||
| 6. Summer Lightning | | | | | |
| 7. You Make Me Smile | | | | ||
| 8. The Sleeper | | | | | |
| 9. Rainbow's End | | | |||
Like many other progressive bands, Camel went through a period of artistic decline in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Breathless, as such, appears as a transitional point in this process.
Before going any further, I should note that I am not an expert on Camel's mid-period history. I do not own Rain Dances (1977) or I Can See Your House From Here (1979), the albums which precede and follow Breathless in the band's catalogue. For this reason, I am unable to speculate as to whether or not the album was the first stage in the band's decline, or whether it continued a process that was already set in motion.
I know enough about Camel, however, to realize that there was a clear process of decline from the peaks of their early work (eg. "Freefall", on Mirage) to the nadirs of their tragic end (eg. "Cloak And Dagger Man", on Stationary Traveler). If Breathless wasn't the first stage in this transition, it was nevertheless a part. The album contains some strongly progressive moments (which are generally pretty good) and some strongly poppish moments (which, even measured by pop standards, are generally pretty bad). It would not be unfair for me to speculate that this album is, in effect, a meeting point of their two stylistic approaches -- and a fair image of the band's decline-in-progress.
To be fair, Breathless doesn't stand out as a terribly poor work when compared to the 1978 releases by the more famous progressive artists: better than Love Beach, Tormato and Giant For A Day, the album also rates about evenly with And Then There Were Three. There is clearly enough good material here to satisfy serious progressive fans, and at its best (ie. the first half of "Echoes") the album compares well against the band's best output. Despite all of this, however, it's hard not to see the album as a step in the wrong direction.
The album begins with the title track, one of the better pop tracks on the release. The song's value is essentially carried by its lead guitar hook (does "Alan Parsons meets Johnny Marr" sound frightening to you?), with some assistance from Mel Collins. The lyrical "bridge" section is decent enough as well; ultimately, though, this isn't that notable of a song.
"Echoes", on the other hand, begins in an extremely impressive manner, with Bardens and Latimer performing impressive leads over a 6/4 rhythm (Sinclair gets in a few decent lines as well). A somewhat surprising vocal section appears after the first 4-5 minutes -- while its fairly good as well, it's a small step down in quality from the instrumental section. This could have been a bit better, but still qualifies as the best track on the album.
"Wing And A Prayer" is another inoffensive pop number, with decent arrangements and good vocal harmonies (not to mention a nice saxophone bit in the middle section) -- as with "Breathless", though, it doesn't really lend itself to extensive consideration.
This is followed by a rather curious number entitled "Down On The Farm". Beginning with an absurd (and obviously parodic) heavy, stadium- progressive introduction, the track soon lurches into an equally absurd (and quite deadpan) folk-prog narrative of the joys of rural life. The manner in which Richard Sinclair (I assume) pulls off the vocals is fairly impressive, and Collins, as always, adds something to the value of the piece ... perhaps I'd be willing to give the track a higher rating if a few of the bawdy jokes and sound-effects were eliminated. This track is like nothing else on the album, and perhaps nothing else in the band's career.
"Starlight Ride" is a brief, fairly forgettable space-oriented track, with fairly conventional sound effects (and a few half-decent guitar fills). This track isn't really substantial enough to take full notice of.
"Summer Lightning" is another odd number. After a fairly good poppish introduction, the band makes use of (good heavens!) a disco beat as a means of driving home a lyrical joke. The beat (which, again, seems fairly parodic) continues through the rest of the track, which soon evolves into an instrumental section over which Latimer spins an impressive guitar solo. If nothing else, this band deserves credit for appropriately popular music in a more ironic manner than most other progressive acts ...
Like "Echoes", "You Make Me Smile" begins in 6/4; however, the similarities don't go much further than this. The impressive vocal harmonies aside, this track simply sounds like debased pop -- certainly less than what the band was capable of.
"The Sleeper" is another highlight of the album, a progressive track which features a decent work from all of the musicians involved (not to mention quite a few interesting time shifts, noticeable even to the casual listener). Latimer and Bardens once again take the lion's share of the melodic leads, as would be expected (though Collins's saxophone part is pretty good too). On an uneven release, this track showcases the band at a point fairly close to the peak of their skills.
Unfortunately, "The Sleeper" isn't the last track on the album. That honour rather goes to "Rainbow's End", a dreary pop ballad that stands as the greatest failure on the release (mitigated only by Mel Collins's flute overlays). The Gibb-esque vocals are particularly regrettable. As a harbinger of troubles to come, this track seems especially ominous in retrospect.
Those curious in Camel would be advised to start with Mirage or The Snow Goose.
(review originally posted to alt.music.yes on 10 Feb 1999)