Camel Dust And Dreams

Dust And Dreams is a Camel album, released in 1991. It's inspired by John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. Camel are an English progressive rock band formed in 1971. An important figure in the Canterbury scene, the group has been releasing studio and live recordings steadily, with considerable success, since their formation. After a seven year hiatus, Latimer revived the Camel name, releasing a new album, Dust and Dreams, in 1991. Part of it had actually been recorded as early as 1988, before Latimer's departure to the US, and featured all members of the previous incarnation, i.e. Bass, Burgess, Scherpenzeel, alongside a number of additional musicians. The album was largely instrumental and inspired by John Steinbeck's classic novel The Grapes of Wrath. It was released under Latimer's own label Camel Productions and, whilst according to some it was a triumphant return to their progressive roots, to others it was a disappointingly middle-of-the-road effort.

English progressive rock group formed in 1971 with an original lineup of Andrew Latimer (guitar, flute, vocals), Peter Bardens (keyboards, synths, vocals), Doug Ferguson (bass, vocals) and Andy Ward (2) (drums. percussion). This lineup recorded the first four studio albums including their most commercially successful album, The Snow Goose, an entirely instrumental record released in 1975. It peaked at number 22 on the UK charts and is certified silver…

Progressive rock bands like Camel have to be creative in their touring schedules, often traveling to Europe in order to find a substantial concentration of fans in a single place. So it was that Camel arrived with their 20th anniversary tour at Enschede, Holland. After their tenth anniversary tour (which found them promoting The Single Factor), few would have predicted a 20th, but the release of Dust and Dreams in 1991 suggested the band had found a second creative wind (or at least tapped into the original breeze last felt on Nude). Never Let Go confirms the point that Camel has plenty of life left in it. Spread out across two discs (the untangling of which is like disassembling a child's toy, a problem common to two-disc sets), this live show features two distinct sets.

Strap yourself in for another dire journey with Camel. This time it's the Irish immigration to America, a fitting travel companion for Dust and Dreams or Nude. The Celtic overtones are largely dispensed with by the second track, and what emerges is a finely conceived concept album filled with rich, saturated arrangements and guitar leads that cut through the surrounding music like a beacon. More so than Dust and Dreams, Harbour of Tears feels like it was intended for the stage…

Having held their ground during the tornado of punk, Surrey prog-rock stalwarts Camel began the 80s in style with Nude: an ambitious concept LP based on the true story of Japanese soldier Hiroo Onoda, who believed World War II was still ongoing when he was rescued from a remote Philippine island in 1974. It would not be the last time Camel tackled political and emotional turmoil in the 80s, as 1984’s Stationary Traveller would go on to show.