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Camel is an English progressive rock band formed in 1971 and are an important part of the Canterbury scene.
They were originally known as The Brew, which consisted of guitarist Andrew Latimer, bassist Doug Ferguson, and drummer Andy Ward. They then hired keyboardist Peter Bardens and changed their name to Camel. They released four albums together as the original four. Andy Ward was pushing the band towards a more jazzier direction, which caused Ferguson to leave and was replaced by Mel Collins, an ex-Caravan member. After their sixth album Breathless Peter Bardens left the band. After the release of two more albums, original drummer Andy Ward left the band, leaving only Latimer. Camel eventually fell into the same hole that many progressive rock bands found themselves in, by struggling to retain their roots while trying to appeal to the pop and mainstream audiences. In 1981, Camel disappeared from the scene until about a decade later when Latimer formed his own record producing company Camel Productions. They eventually returned to their prog-rock roots in Rajaz. In 2002, Peter Bardens died of lung cancer and their latest album, A Nod and a Wink is dedicated to him.
They are often considered one of the most underrated bands in the progressive rock genre. More people started to check them out when Mikael Åkerfeldt of Opeth cited them as a major influence.
- Camel
- Mirage
- Music Inspired By the Snow Goose
- Moonmadness
- Rain Dances
- Breathless
- I Can See Your House From Here
- Nude
- The Single Factor
- Stationary Traveller
- Dust and Dream
- Harbour of Tears
- Rajaz
- A Nod and a Wink
- Concept Album: Quite a few
- Music Inspired by the Snow Goose, a completely instrumental album about the book The Snow Goose
- Nude, the story of Hiroto Nooda, a popular story in Japanese culture
- Stationary Traveller, an album about German refugees attempts to cross the Berlin Wall
- Dust and Dreams, which is based off the book The Grapes of Wrath
- Harbour of Tears, a story of Irish immigrants and their trip to America
- Contemptible Cover: Debatable, but many disliked the cover art of I Can See Your House From Here which depicts a crucified astronaut in space looking down to the earth
- Crowning Music of Awesome: Never Let Go, Lady Fantasy, Echoes, and the entire Snow Goose album.
- "Ice."
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: The cover for the album Mirage looks 'very similar to Camel cigarette cartons.
- Epic Rocking: This is expected because they are prog-rock, but their most well known is the thirteen minute epic, Lady Fantasy
- I Am the Band: Andrew Latimer, also Face of the Band
- Don't forget Colin Bass, who's been the band's bassist and vocalist since 1979 and an part of the creative force of the band.
- Meaningful Name: The Single Factor refers to Andrew Latimer being the only remaining band member at the time.