Camel Album: “On the Road 1972”

This CD was originally released in 1992 and only sold at Camel concerts. It was recorded live in 1972 before Camel put out a studio album. The first Camel album came out in 1973 and Mirage (which contains Lady Fantasy) came out in 1974. It is 42 minutes long. The sound quality is very good, especially considering that it is from 1972 and from a group that was unkown at the time.

The first three tracks are similiar to the versions that would later appear on the studio albums. But, I like them a little better, because they seem to have a little more raw energy and spontinaety.

The last track is a 16 minute version of God of Light, which was an early Camel concert standard. There is a 20 minute version of this on one of the Greasy Truckers album. (Greasy Truckers was a series of progressive rock concerts. There are several different Greasy Truckers albums, featuring different artists). The version from On the Road is tighter than the rambling version on Greasy Truckers.

This album deserves about 4 and a half stars. The first three tracks are great, but not different enough from the studio version to make this a must have. The God of Light track makes this a must have, since it isn't available anywhere else (Greasy Truckers only came out on LP and isn't available on CD). It is on a par with A Live Album, and much better than Never Let Go.

The early seventies was a very creative time in rock. It was standard for groups to experiment with songs in concert before recording them in the studio. That way, a group could play around with a song for a year, perefecting them before they were permantly committed to vinyl. That is why there were so many stunning and classic albums in the seventies. Pink Floyd did it with Dark Side of the Moon (called Eclipsed in concert), Wish You Were Here and Animals. Santana did it with a number of songs.

Camel stayed together for about 5 years, before slowing breaking apart due to the famous creative differences. Guitarist Andy Latimer kept the Camel name going and moved from England to the Bay Area. He softened the sound and mixed it with new age jazz. Some of the newer stuff is downright boring.

Peter Bardens went solo, but continued to play more in the style of the original Camel. He even formed a band called Mirage and toured playing mostly classic Camel songs. He also joined up with members of Caravan, they went on a tour playing Camel and Caravan songs. An album was released from the tour, but it is now out of print. Bardens also got spirtitual and released an album (More Than You Know) with sneaky Christian undertones. Many of Bardens solo albums are extremely good. Unfortunately, he died last year.

On the Road 1972 was recorded live before the band even had any albums out. This live disc really shows Camel at their most raw and aggressive. Two songs from Mirage appear here, "White Rider" and "Lady Fantasy", but I can tell these two are from '72 because Peter Bardens was using a VCS-3 while the studio versions from Mirage used a Minimoog (his VCS-3 was gone by the time Mirage came out). It also has a great version of "Six Ate" that would appear on their debut. The disc then closes with a totally killer jam called "God of Light" which is obviously Peter Bardens time to shine. I have a few complaints about this disc. One: the vocals often sound too much like Mick Jagger (which is a little odd, given the vocals never sounded like that on any of their studio albums) and Two: The CD could use a much better cover than this. Of course, given this recording dates before they recorded any albums, the sound quality and production is not the most professional. But I just love this disc because it shows the band just starting and you can tell how much these guys were enjoying themselves and all the fun and excitement they were generating that night. So if you like the more rocking side of Mirage, get this CD.

i never can figure out why Camel never gained the popularity like other prog bands of the 70s. their music has endured as the band has through the tests of time. the majority of their releases are quite excellent, both the early material and newer releases. an excellent prog band heavy on organ and guitar, think of them as a harder version of moody blues. recorded in '72 this is a solid performance of 4 songs: Lady Fantasy, Six Ate, White Rider and God of Light Revisited. all songs are beautifully performed and rock. total running time of the cd is 44 minutes. this is a great line up as Peter Bardens is still with them at this time. his keyboarding is excellent. the whole band (doug ferguson, peter bardens, andy ward and andrew latimer)play a tight set. it's hard to say where to start in the Camel discography as there are so many good cds. for early material this is a great live recording. check out some of their live material on youtube also.

Well the right rate is 3 stars 1/2, as better things had to come (regarding for example of some fantastic lives like "Live Record", "Never let go" and "Coming of Age"), nevertheless you find here an important version of "God of light", performed by the unforgettable Peter Bardens and an aggressive "Lady Fantasy" too, a great classic one!! Of course "White rider" is the mini-suite They have chosen from "Mirage", but I should have appreciated the presence of the other classics from that album, much more ... nevermind, because the last gem is alone worth buying!! The sound production is very good,if you consider the year of its issue,1972 ... besides the track "Six ate", from their debut album, is faithful to the original and quite progressive too, as they chose this one in the place of the other classic "Never let go" .. Anyway, if you are a Camel fan,you have to check this live !!

This is a great early look at this band. The versions of White Rider (aka Nimrodel) and Lady Fantasy are essentially the same as the studio versions finally released 2 years later, though with less diversity in the instrumentation (keys are mostly all Hammond). Six Ate is faithful to the original. As for God of Light, well, I have to admit the very long jam with the cheesy bass ostinato got a bit boring for me, but if that's your cup of tea, then you'll probably dig it.