Week 3, Camel "Breathless"

Sorry, this is going to be long.

This past summer, I read the excellent love letter to Prog Rock "The Show That Never Ends" by David Weigel. Weigel is clearly a libertarian of some degree so he is sort of the perfect figure to write this book. It is full of excellent history, first hand interviews, and well researched snippets. It is also probably 100 pages too short based on some editor who didn't get why we needed all those extra notes, words, and irrelevant tangents. Two things struck me while reading the book. 1) Prog must be the whitest, malest of all (pop) musical forms. 2) The best part of reading this book was firing up Youtube and trying to listen to the songs he was writing about and then realizing, because this is prog, that you are already at the end of the chapter and you still are only a 1/16th of the way into the song.

As a result, there were plenty of artists mentioned in the book that I never really listened to. Prog actually was never my scene. It could have been. I was a white, nerdy teen from some money with an intellectual bent and from a conservative upbringing . Thankfully, Todd Rundgren's Utopia was as prog as I got before I discovered alternative and punk. But, this 50 for 50 trip being what it is, I decided I had to have a little prog in my journey. I considered Genesis' The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway but it is long and I am lazy and so I randomly decided to search for Camel on iTunes. Breathless was from 1978 and had a funky looking album cover. Let's go for that.

Camel
Breathless
1978

Oh my friends and dear readers, I was not disappointed.

But let's start at the beginning. I am afraid this will be a track by track review:

1) Breathless: From the opening notes, I am concerned. This song is clearly in 4/4. And it appears to be structured pretty much as a generic pop song. (But that bass line though.) Have I been misled in my belief that Camel is prog? I will reserve judgement but this is a pretty standard song in a standard format with standard lyrics...but wait, is that an oboe?!? Okay, look, we have some pretty pedestrian music with some really "moon/june/spoon" type lyrics but there is an oboe! Still, is this really what I was looking for?
2) Echoes: Oh, never mind. There is the stuff. You could make me take 10 music theory courses and give me ten years and I would still have no idea what the time signatures of this song are (might have counted a 3/4 or 6/8 in there.) Yes, this is what I came for. 7:20 of instrumental noodling. Or not! 4 minutes in and we get lyrics. And they are the most 70s prog lyrics ever:
"Out of the mist, rising
10,000 Navajo braves, shining
Like golden eagles in flight, climbing
high on the plain"
Does anyone know why music of this time had such a fascination with Native cultures of the new world?
3) Wing a Prayer: If I told you this was the theme song to a sitcom pilot about a guy fed up with his office life so he travels to the Rockies to find himself but instead he inexplicably discovers a birdwoman (think The Kid's in The Hall Chicken Lady but sexier) that he falls in love with and brings back to his modest home in suburban Scranton and the wacky, fish out of water hi-jinks that ensue, you would absolutely believe me and at least one of you would claim to have remembered seeing it. Also that was a massive run on sentence but this is prog so it is allowed.
4) Down on the Farm: It can't get better, can it? Why yes it can! Imagine that Justin Hayward had to take an unexpected and immediate leave from the Moody Blues and Ian Dury was called to fill in. And they still needed a song for the current album. And Ian had spent the last six months convalescing on his Aunt's farm in the country. And somebody decided that sound effects were needed too. Welcome to Down on the Farm. Seriously, just listen. The only decade that this song could ever have ended up on a published album is the 70s and it is GLORIOUS!
5) Starlight Ride: I actually don't have much to say about this track other than to acknowledge that it was most likely the closing track on Side A and was probably just a bit of filler that they needed to make the side complete and mellow everyone out. It's another straight pop song and fine for what it is. But shout out to that concerto-esque ending!
6) Summer Lightning: After the rather banal ending of side A it would be easy to suspect that Camel had expended all their best stuff already and Side B would be whatever was left. Summer Lightning almost instantly proves this to be a massive mistake in judgement. It is 1978, after all, and what better way to embrace the times than to release a disco prog song! Honestly, this is just so brilliant, and cringe worthy and amazing that I can't even begin to do it justice. If you cannot do some serious disco moves (rare video of me attempting them) while listening to this than you are a better human being than I.
7) You Make Me Smile: Another pop love song! I do feel alittel deceived. But it is a fine song if unremarkable. I do enjoy the sincere, understatement of the message.
8) The Sleeper: Whew. The prog instrumental we have been waiting for. This could seamlessly appear on any number of jazz albums from that era and you would be none the wiser. It's also quite good and I am sneaking it into my Jazz Party playlist.
9) Rainbow's End: And here we reach our conclusion and IT IS A SONG ABOUT REACHING THE RAINBOW'S END!!! Perfection. Bask in the falsetto and feel the yacht breezes of a more wistful time.

It may appear from this review that I have major disdain for this album but that is so not true! Camel is clearly filled with extremely talented musicians and the playing is top rate. The solos alone are worth the price of entry. Did they need a better songwriter/lyricist to improve things? Probably. But I will not fault them for this. I'm old enough that I now appreciate earnestness just as much as clever wit. Not every work of art has to be deep and challenging. Keep searching for that rainbow's end, guys.