- Messages
- 2,321
- Reaction score
- 427
- Points
- 83
Rain Dances did little for Camel’s commercial appeal, and continued the band down a path of alienation of their early fan-base.
Beginning the disc with a pair of instrumental tracks isn’t the best way to help a band receive more air-play; though these songs are probably the most reminiscent of Camel’s past, they don’t do much in terms of kicking off the record. The songs are fun to listen to and littered with little bits of trademark Camel, but the lack of cohesion between them makes for a scattered listen. This trend continues with the third track, similarly instrumentally rooted, with minimal vocals added. By this point, however, the meandering tendencies of Rain Dances start to grow a little frustrating. The record does have a handful of good songs – hear Highways of the Sun and Uneven Song. These are probably the most reminiscent of the band’s early work, as well as crafting themselves with radio-playability. It’s a shame that the lack of focus on the rest of Rain Dances clouds the disc’s potential. Songs like Elke and Skylines throw off any bid at accessibility, while the disc’s title-track is a decent throwback, but a little too short to come off as memorable. The closer feels a little bit like a rip-off, taking the form of a single-version of Highways of the Sun. While the band tried to capitalise off the tracks hooks, the revamped version comes up stale in comparison to the original.
Camel’s attempt at a commercial record unfortunately fall pretty flat with Rain Dances, continuing a string of albums that seem to lie short of the output of Camel and Mirage. The wandering ways of the album make for a confusing feel for radio-play, leaving front-man Andrew Latimer’s motives a little unclear. There are definitely good tracks here, but the album yields nothing special enough to leave a lasting impression on the listener. Considering the band’s past and future output, a few hiccups in their discography is forgivable, and Rain Dances can undoubtedly still find praise amongst Camel’s fan-base.
Tracklist for Rain Dances:
1. First Light
2. Metrognome
3. Tell Me
4. Highways Of The Sun
5. Unevensong
6. One Of These Days I'll Get An Early Night
7. Elke
8. Skylines
9. Rain Dances
Beginning the disc with a pair of instrumental tracks isn’t the best way to help a band receive more air-play; though these songs are probably the most reminiscent of Camel’s past, they don’t do much in terms of kicking off the record. The songs are fun to listen to and littered with little bits of trademark Camel, but the lack of cohesion between them makes for a scattered listen. This trend continues with the third track, similarly instrumentally rooted, with minimal vocals added. By this point, however, the meandering tendencies of Rain Dances start to grow a little frustrating. The record does have a handful of good songs – hear Highways of the Sun and Uneven Song. These are probably the most reminiscent of the band’s early work, as well as crafting themselves with radio-playability. It’s a shame that the lack of focus on the rest of Rain Dances clouds the disc’s potential. Songs like Elke and Skylines throw off any bid at accessibility, while the disc’s title-track is a decent throwback, but a little too short to come off as memorable. The closer feels a little bit like a rip-off, taking the form of a single-version of Highways of the Sun. While the band tried to capitalise off the tracks hooks, the revamped version comes up stale in comparison to the original.
Camel’s attempt at a commercial record unfortunately fall pretty flat with Rain Dances, continuing a string of albums that seem to lie short of the output of Camel and Mirage. The wandering ways of the album make for a confusing feel for radio-play, leaving front-man Andrew Latimer’s motives a little unclear. There are definitely good tracks here, but the album yields nothing special enough to leave a lasting impression on the listener. Considering the band’s past and future output, a few hiccups in their discography is forgivable, and Rain Dances can undoubtedly still find praise amongst Camel’s fan-base.
Tracklist for Rain Dances:
1. First Light
2. Metrognome
3. Tell Me
4. Highways Of The Sun
5. Unevensong
6. One Of These Days I'll Get An Early Night
7. Elke
8. Skylines
9. Rain Dances