Sunday, June 17, 2018

Camel - 1975-12-18 - Reading, UK - PRRP-051 - "The Last Flight"

Camel
December 18, 1975
Reading Town Hall, Reading, UK
PRRP-051 - "The Last Flight"

Remastered audience recording (PRRP-051), very good quality
Available in both Lossless (FLAC) and Mp3 (320 kbps) versions

Moving on with my featured Progressive Rock bands, next up is Camel. Camel plays a form of progressive rock that incorporates many influences, from jazz, classical, Baroque, blues, and electronic music. Their sound has been favorably compared with bands such as Genesis and King Crimson, however, their style tends to be calmer, more atmospheric and melodic than most other progressive bands. Although they never quite achieved more than a dedicated cult following, most progressive fans now consider their first four albums to be essential prog listening and among the classics of the era. Camel was formed in 1971 in the Guildford, Surrey region of England, featuring Andy Latimer (guitar), Andy Ward (drums), Doug Ferguson (bass), and Pete Bardens (keyboards). Their debut LP, Camel (1973), however, garnered little attention, and they were dropped by MCA. Switching over to Deram, their 2nd album, Mirage (1974), garnered much critical acclaim, but still only limited sales and recognition, although it was initially more appreciated in the U.S. than England (it now is listed among the Top 25 Progressive Rock Albums of all-time, according to rankings by Rolling Stone Magazine). Their next album, an orchestrated all-instrumental concept album, The Snow Goose (1975), was the breakthrough album that brought them somewhat wider attention and success. They followed that with Moonmadness (1976), also acclaimed, but which was their last album to feature their original lineup, as bassist Doug Ferguson left and was replaced with ex-Caravan bassist Richard Sinclair, and Mel Collins (ex-King Crimson, Kokomo) was added on saxophone. The first album to feature this new line-up was Rain Dances (1977) which introduced a somewhat different sound and overall style to their music. After another album (Breathless-1978), keyboardist Bardens also left, but the band continued through the early 80's before breaking up, but then re-forming in the '90's and continuing on from there. However, most agree that those first 4 albums were by far the best of the band. Here is a show from 1975, which features the full Snow Goose show bookended by a few songs from earlier albums, for a wonderful show. This is the PRRP (Progressive Rock Remasters Project) remaster and has very good sound. This was also billed as the very last performance of the full Snow Goose show (Thus titled "The Last Flight").


Tracklist:
01 The White Rider
02 Supertwister
03 Introduction to the Snow Goose
04 The Great Marsh
05 Rhayader
06 Rhayader Goes to Town
07 Sanctuary
08 Fritha
09 The Snow Goose
10 Migration
11 Rhayader Alone
12 Flight of the Snow Goose
13 Preparation
14 Dunkirk
15 Epitaph
16 Fritha Alone
17 La Princesse Purdue
18 The Great Marsh (reprise)
19 Homage to the God of Light
20 Lady Fantasy

Pete Bardens - keyboards
Doug Ferguson - bass
Andy Latimer - guitars, flute & vocals
Andy Ward - drums, percussion

FLAC - Camel_1975-12-18_Reading_PRRP051_FLAC.rar

mp3 - Camel_1975-12-18_Reading_PRRP051_mp3.rar

1 comment: