Camel - Pressure Points - Live In Concert

I "discovered" Camel in the early 1980's. This CD is a good example of early rock and progressive music of the 80's and comes from a 1984 concert from the tour to support "Stationary Traveler" album. It is 46 minutes long. The sound quality of the album is very good but not perfect. Audience noise is kept to a minimum and almost not existent during the playing. This CD was originally available only in Europe and then went out of print. It has been reissued and should be available now in the US.

Guitarist Andy Latimer leads a six-piece band (notably featuring ex-Kayak keyboardist Ton Scherpenzeel) at the Hammersmith Odeon. The band on this album is mostly the same as Stationary Traveler, including Chris Rainbow, who made Camel sound like the Alan Parsons Project. It also includes appearances by Pete Bardens (the original keyboard player) and Jimmy Hastings (who has played on other Camel records and with many other Canteburry bands).

The complete 7-minute instrumental "Pressure Points" is the highlight of this album. The best tracks are all instrumental: "Captured", "Sasquatch" (played with energy and at a manic pace) and the "Snow Goose" pairing of "Rhayader" and "Rhayader Goes to Town", the last of which includes guest appearances by former Camel members Pete Bardens (the original keyboard player) on keyboards and Mel Collins on saxophone. I think that it is not fair for the band to include "excerpts" from long compositions like the last ones. What you get is the main theme being over played compared to the rest of the work, and that can just get annoying.

Of the songs with vocals, the moody "West Berlin" is very good; ballad "Fingertips" also comes off well, and includes a Collins solo. "Drafted", "Lies", and "Wait" are good songs, though "Lies" sounds better here than on the "Nude" album.

Unless you are a Camel fan, don't feel bad if you can't track down this out-of-print 1984 live album. For great live Camel, start with "A Live Record", and then get "On The Road 1970". If you have to get something from the eighties, then get "On the Road 1982" which is equivalent with this.