Search - Camel :: Pressure Points: Live in Concert (Mlps)

Not a necessity unless you're a Camel fanatic

woburnmusicfan | Woburn, MA United States | 03/21/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Unless you're a hardcore Camel fan, don't feel bad if you can't track down this out-of-print 1984 live album. It's okay, but far from a necessity. Guitarist Andy Latimer leads a six-piece band (notably featuring ex-Kayak keyboardist Ton Scherpenzeel) at the Hammersmith Odeon. The best tracks are all instrumentals: "Captured", "Sasquatch", and the "Snow Goose" pairing of "Rhyader" and "Rhyader Goes to Town", the last of which includes guest appearances by former Camel members Pete Bardens on keyboards and Mel Collins on sax. Of the songs with vocals, the moody "West Berlin" is the best; ballad "Fingertips" also comes off well, and includes a Collins solo. "Pressure Points" is a non-descript 7-minute instrumental that's too unfocused to work as the centerpiece of a live album. "Drafted", "Lies", and "Wait" are mediocre songs, though "Lies" sounds better here than on the "Nude" album. The sound quality of the album is good, though due to the song selection, the intensity is only intermittent.(1=poor 2=mediocre 3=pretty good 4=very good 5=phenomenal)"

Excellent

Ramin Servatyari | Vancouver, British Columbia Canada | 04/03/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If I could I give it 6 stars. After 20 years I still enjoy this concert. I have watched it for hundred times. One of the best concerts I have ever seen."

Poor song selection

kireviewer | Sunnyvale, Ca United States | 06/14/2007

(2 out of 5 stars)

"GUEST APPEARANCES FROM PETE BARDENS AND JIMMY HASTINGS



This is from a 1984 concert from the tour to support Stationary Traveler. It is 46 minutes long. The sound quality is very good but not perfect. I like that is has a live, booming feel to it. Audience noise is kept to a minimum and almost not existant 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.



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 Bardins (the original keyboard player) and Jimmy Hastings (who has played on other Camel records and with many other Canteburry bands).



At only 46 minutes, you that this CD does not represent the complete Camel concert. They almost always played two hours. So, why were these particular songs chosen for the CD? I have no idea, and they are not a very good choice.



Most of the songs come from 1979 through 1984, not Camel's best artistic period. Many are straight forward songs in a Alan Parsons sort of vain. Many are not very interesting.



The performance of these songs is not that great and not too much different than the studio versions. They all do have some great Andrew Lattimer guitar snippets, but they are not long enough for him to really open up. In many of the places, the back up musicians are not very good. There are some very lame keyboard solos.



Jimmy Hastings and Pete Bardens do add some great moments, but they are not many. With 4 keyboard players in the group, Bardens is rarely heard.



There are some moments on this CD. The instrumental, Sasquatch is played with energy and at a manic pace. Pressure Points has some good sections (although is does wander aimlessly as some point out). The two tracks from Snow Goose are also good througout. But, I do hate "excerpts" from long compositons like this. What you get is the main theme being over played compared to the rest of the work, and that can just get annoying.



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 much better than this."