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What do you guys think of Camel's albums in the 80ies. Haven't listen to The Single Factor, but I was very surprised by Stationnary Traveller and Nude which are both great concept album with great instrumentals and good songs overall. I feel like they are misjudge because they are compared to Classic Camel albums which were masterpiece, but for a 70ies Prog band still doing Prog stuff in the 80ies it was very well made.
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Nude is one of their best albums, and Stationary Traveller is great too. The Single Factor is basically an Alan Parsons Project album, so anyone who likes them but disparages it is being a bit hypocritical in my opinion. Love it a lot too, just not very prog
I really need to listen to a Single Factor. I did pretty much all the discography except I Can See Your House From Here and Single Factor. The 90s stuff is consider much closer to classic Camel and I loved it for the mood they bring and the songwriting is always great to me, seems like the 79-84 albums are the most divisive. But since I really like Nude and Stationary Traveller, I think I'll try the other two.
I love everything that they have done. Just as you said there’s no need to compare it to their classic albums. They are all just very nice in my opinion.
Nude has a pretty strong first side and ending but the middle is pretty eh to be honest
Single factor I haven’t heard in forever so i can’t comment honestly.
Stationary Traveller is one of my favorite camel albums though. I love it a ton.
Also, not 80s but I’ll say that Breathless is quite underrated too.
I actually really like Breathless. It’s different from their earlier stuff, which I also adore. I get why fans of the classic albums hate it, but to me, I really enjoy the mood of Breathless. There are places where it reminds me of an Alan Parsons Project album a bit.
Stationary Traveller sweeps🔥
Nude I like
Eightyies and Seventyies.
Most prog bands took a nose dive in the 80s (...not 80ies 😜)
Camel too
Different bands took different kind of nosedive.
Genesis and Yes were hit real bad.
Which makes King Crimson all the more awesome!
Stationary Traveller the song is really nice. The album is a little clunky to me. Nude is alright but the sonics seem off. And I barely remember The Single Factor but it had this uncanny valley quality where it felt almost like Camel but had something off or cheap or inauthentic about it. They were experimenting, trying new sounds, attempting to adapt to new trends. There’s nothing as strong in the 80s as what they had on the first few albums but I also think a lot of the 80s stuff is better than Breathless and I Can See Your House From Up There.
After Self-Titled, TSG, Mirage, and Moodmadness it becomes slim pickings. Still some excellent tracks (Ice, Stationary Traveller) but the way they try to change their sound and adapt, even in the late 70s and especially the 80s seem clunky and off, almost goofy to me.