PETER BARDENS
Prog Related • United Kingdom
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Peter BARDENS - June 19, 1944 (London, UK) - January 22, 2002
Pete was one of the founding members of the British progressive rock group CAMEL, playing keyboards, often the Mellotron and synthesizer, and wrote the majority of the songs while he was there (usually along with guitarist Andrew Latimer).
In 1965 he was the keyboard player with Them. Between 1966 and 1967 he was with the Shotgun Express, a group featuring Rod Stewart, Peter Green and Mick Fleetwood. His band Pete B's Looners (or the Pete B's) also included Green and Fleetwood.
He left Camel in 1978 after the "Breathless" album, and had a solo career that led him into Prog Related electronica. In 1984 he was a member of Keats and later formed MIRAGE (Previous CAMEL and CARAVAN member contributions). MIRAGE originally were going to be called CARAMEL, thankfully Peter Bardens thought better of it. During the late 80s and early 90s, he released a number of solo electronic albums including the moderately successful "Seen On Earth" in 1986. His first single from that album, "In Dreams", enjoyed heavy airplay on FM rock stations in the USA and Australia. In 1988 he followed this with "Speed of Light", on which his long time friend Mick Fleetwood guest featured on several tracks on drums. "Whisper in the Wind" and "Gold" were released as singles in the U.S.
Bardens died from lung cancer in Malibu, California at the age of 57. Peter Bardens will be best known for his contribution as the keyboard player with Camel up until Breathless, he did however guest on the Single Factor album in the early 80's. Highlights of his creativity and skills would have to be on "Music Inspired By The Snow Goose", "Mirage", and "Moonmadness".
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PETER BARDENS discography
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PETER BARDENS top albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)
3.24 | 59 ratings
The Answer [Aka: Vintage '69] 1970 |
2.50 | 26 ratings
Peter Bardens [Aka: Write My Name In The Dust] 1971 |
2.40 | 26 ratings
Heart To Heart 1979 |
2.77 | 30 ratings
Seen One Earth 1987 |
2.36 | 26 ratings
Speed Of Light 1988 |
2.91 | 25 ratings
Water Colors 1991 |
2.78 | 21 ratings
Further Than You Know 1993 |
2.63 | 19 ratings
Big Sky 1994 |
2.74 | 20 ratings
The Art Of Levitation 2002 |
PETER BARDENS Live Albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)
PETER BARDENS Videos (DVD, Blu-ray, VHS etc)
PETER BARDENS Boxset & Compilations (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)
2.38 | 10 ratings
Write My Name In The Dust 2002 |
PETER BARDENS Official Singles, EPs, Fan Club & Promo (CD, EP/LP, MC, Digital Media Download)
5.00 | 1 ratings
In Dreams (High Velocity Mix) 1988 |
2.00 | 1 ratings
Whispers In The Wind 1988 |
5.00 | 1 ratings
A Higher Ground 1991 |
PETER BARDENS Reviews
Showing last 10 reviews only
Peter Bardens Prog Related
Review by
b_olariu
Prog Reviewer
His forth album from 1988 named Speed of light is one of those forgotten albums from his career. This time around he has a new age symphonic pop prog album in his sleeve, fans of Camel are gone crazy, in a bad way, but time are changing late 80s has nothing to do with mid to late 70s.
Kind cool release for my taste, 2-3 pieces are more then ok, like opening track Westward Ho, an enjoyble new age prog tune, nothing ground breaking but ok, another good song is the title track, all pieces has that plastic feel of the late 80s, electronic drums and pop new age atmosphere.
Overall to me is ok in places, and because I like him as musician I will round the vote to 3 stars, forgotten album and for good reason.
Peter Bardens Prog Related
Review by Psychedelic Paul
The album opens with the title track, and if you like laid-back Psychedelic Soul, then this song will be "The Answer" to your prayers. The cheerful and vibrant opening keyboard chords conjure up a tantalasing image of an English country garden on a warm summer's day, which seems fitting, as Peter Bardens is pictured on the cover sitting on a throne in a veritable Garden of Eden, surrounded by a bevy of beauties. This is a song to savour as you drink in the drops of sunlight, bathed in the golden glow emanating from the scintillating psychedelic guitar. It's mellow and groovy slice of sweetly seductive psychedelia coated in a honey-rich texture of sound, that's guaranteed to permeate the very Soul. If you're in the mood to embark on a wild and soulful psychedelic trip without the aid of any psychedelic substances, then this song is "The Answer". The intriguingly- titled "Don't Goof with the Spook" is up next. This song is no Mellow Yellow. This is a Purple Haze of acid-drenched guitar reverb. This psychedelic freak-out is very reminiscent of Jimi Hendrix with Peter Bardens vocals sounding so laid-back here that he's almost horizontal. This heavy dose of psychedelia is sure to delight fans of the late-1960's American west coast acid guitar sound. Even The Doors in their wildest moments never sounded quite as psychedelic as this. The musicians somehow manage to replicate the genuine sound of American Psychedelic Rock perfectly whilst still remaining firmly rooted in England. I can't remember the last time I heard an album of British psychedelia as good as this and "I Can't Remember" is the title of the next song. We're moving to the blue end of the psychedelic spectrum for this Blues Rock number, although it's positively aglow with some ultra-violet sparkling rays of sunshine, in the form of an extended psychedelic jam from the dynamic duo of Peter Bardens and Peter Green, battling it out in unison to see who's the greatest caped crusader of them all in the hallowed halls of Rock & Roll.
Side Two opens with "I Don't Want To Go Home", a light and airy song featuring a flirtatious flute and with some gorgeous soulful backing vocals from Linda Lewis (best-known for the song "Rock-a-Doodle-Doo). It's a playful and pleasurable melody carried along on a sea of flower-power love and peace that's best-listened to on a warm sunshiny day when all of the brightly-coloured flowers in the psychedelic garden are in full bloom. It's back to basics for "Let's Get It On", a straightforward Blues-Rock number with Linda Lewis providing some mellifluous and soulful harmonising on backing vocals. And now we come to the BIG number to close out the album, the 13- minute-long "Homage to the God of Light". This is an out-and-out rocker going full speed ahead and it's easily the proggiest of all the songs on the album, giving a hint of the dynamic keyboard virtuosity to come from Peter Bardens when he made his presence loudly felt with Camel's debut album in 1973. This storming, pounding and percussive powerhouse of a song is the thunderous highlight of the album, containing all of the sparkling power and dynamic energy of an electricity generating sub-station. This rousing and rollicking, keyboard-driven number pounds along at a relentless pace in a sonic high-decibel assault on the eardrums with all the unstoppable power of a runaway express train thundering down the tracks.
This outstanding album of British Psychedelic Rock has a liberal sprinkling of Soul in the form of soulful backing vocals from Linda Lewis and Steve Ellis (of Love Affair). It might not be very proggy - apart from the last track - but if you like your music "painted" in wild psychedelic rainbow colours, then this superb album might just be "The Answer" to your psychedelic flower-power dreams. This is an album that's as bright and vibrant as an aurora borealis (or an aurora australis if you come from a land down under).
Peter Bardens Prog Related
Review by
Progfan97402
Prog Reviewer
Peter Bardens Prog Related
Review by
Progfan97402
Prog Reviewer
I also realized he released two albums prior to Camel, The Answer and self-entitled album (the self-entitled was known in the States as Write My Name in the Dust). I finally got me an early solo album, The Answer, that I found at a flea market in Eugene, Oregon. I couldn't believe I would find a copy there, but there you go! The American copy features a totally different cover from that of the British pressing. It had more of a '60s psychedelic look with Peter Bardens' face on the cover, while the UK version is just a photo of him with a bunch of ladies. What may throw off a lot of progheads with this album is they expect it to be just like Camel, but what they really get is a more eclectic selection of psychedelic, blues, and crossover prog. Listening to Camel, it's hard to believe he was part of the British blues boom, having been a member of Shotgun Express that also featured Peter Green and Mick Fleetwood. He was also in Them with Van Morrison (explaining his appearance on the latter's Wavelength album just as he was ready to leave Camel), so prior to Camel, he really didn't have prog credentials. Anyways, The Answer starts with the title track and probably the most proggy thing on the album. Not symphonic, but clearly crossover prog here, having a rather nice piano and organ theme, and some nice vocals to go with it. The next two songs tends more towards the blues, where "I Can't Remember". I knew "Homage to the God of Light" from a version done by Camel on a CD called On the Road 1972, which shows how Camel performed this one live in their early days (also demonstrates how material for Mirage had been with the band even before their debut ever appeared). This original features vocals and really goes off the wall with extended guitar and organ jams. It frequently goes into Santana mode, but Carlos Santana's guitar playing would be more restrained than Andy Gee's. Andy Gee, by the way, is a real guitarist, a German-born guitarist, and not Peter Green in disguise as sometimes believed (Green probably did appear on the album, but uncredited). To me, this album really blew me away, but I seriously doubt the prog purist would have lots to enjoy, but it to me, the music reviews are on the quality, not how much or not prog it is. Great stuff, as far as I'm concerned.
Peter Bardens Prog Related
Review by
b_olariu
Prog Reviewer
Peter Bardens Prog Related
Review by
kenethlevine
Special Collaborator Prog-Folk Team
The first few and last few tracks are so utterly dispensable with their incessant synthetic rhythms, halfhearted mumbled vocals, and repetition utterly lacking in development. I keep hoping for him to do something to spare the utter ignominy, even to the point of re-listening in the hope that something missed first time around will distinguish itself, but I can only conclude charitably that the proverbial spirit and flesh were not in concert. But I allude to a firmer midsection. The two tracks sung by daughter Tallulah do not by any means salvage this effort, but they do usher in a level of competency that is paid forward to the instrumental "No Jazz". I think I even hear guitars though none are credited.
An understandable level of leniency can inflate the market value of pseudo-posthumous releases of this sort, but I feel it would do a disservice to the man's legacy to apply buoyancy to "The Art of Levitation". At the same time, I want to acknowledge that PETE BARDENS was a major talent who found a groove in his solo career outside of progressive rock, and that those interested should begin their exploration elsewhere. Rest in peace, gentle soul.
Peter Bardens Prog Related
Review by
kenethlevine
Special Collaborator Prog-Folk Team
The album's modest highlights occur mostly near the end, with "After Dark" benefiting from minimal but effective accompaniment by Gus Isadore and a very likable rhythm. By far the best vocal track is "Slow Motion", which is a bit prescient of later solo work, while "Raining Over the World" is a decent return to the style of "Starlight Ride". The album closes rather brilliantly with the title cut, an upbeat synthesized number with more of a sense of mystery and suspense than anything else here. Its oddly simple yet captivating melody gives the disk a better send off than it might deserve.
For big fans of late 1970s CAMEL or PETE BARDENS, "Heart to Heart" may be worth having, with the provisos noted above. For the rest, I might instead recommend the fun 1980s TV drama of the same name (different spelling) instead!
Peter Bardens Prog Related
Review by
SouthSideoftheSky
Special Collaborator Symphonic Team
This anthology set gathers together Peter Bardens' first two (pre-Camel) solo albums The Answer (1970) and Peter Bardens (1971) in their respective entirety, plus some tracks from various bands Bardens played in during the 60's, three Camel numbers, and a few tracks from Bardens final solo album The Art Of Levitation (2002). As such Write My Name In The Dust works horribly badly as a retrospective as there is a very heavy focus on the very old--before Bardens became relevant--and the very new--long after he seized being relevant, overlooking almost everything of what came in between!
The primary reason for buying this two CD set is to get hold of those two full early solo albums for a reasonable price. Since I have reviewed those two albums separately, I will focus on the rest of what's here in this review.
The first disc opens with a set of tunes that Bardens recorded in the 60's with The Cheynes, Peter B's Looners, Shotgun Express, and The Village. The Zombies and Manfred Mann might perhaps be used as reference points here in terms of the style, but the quality of most of these songs is far below those acts. If you are looking for anything (proto-)progressive here, you are going to be disappointed.
The most important period in Bardens career is certainly his time with Camel. There are three Camel recordings here: a live recording of Arubaluba (originally from Camel's self-titled 1973 debut), Supertwister (from 1974's Mirage album), and a single edit of Flight Of The Snow Goose (1975). In addition there is a 2002 version of Spirit Of The Water (originally from 1976's Moonmadness) re-recorded for The Art Of Levitation--Bardens final solo album, released the same year he passed away. Like most of his solo albums, this was far away from Prog and more towards New Age.
Overall, a rather weird compilation this, and far from essential
Peter Bardens Prog Related
Review by
SouthSideoftheSky
Special Collaborator Symphonic Team
That I am not a fan of Peter Bardens solo career would be something of an understatement. But being a Camel fanatic, I needed to hear what Bardens achieved outside of that great band. 1993's Further Than You Know is the final Bardens solo album that I needed to hear and review for a complete familiarity with his solo discography. Like most of his other solo efforts, this one too is full of rather dull "adult contemporary" Soft Rock. There is little or no hint of anything progressive or remotely related to Camel. The opening number Sometime, for example, is in full-on Phil Collins mode.
Some of the jazzier, instrumental parts of the album are bearable easy-listening exercises, but they fail to grab my attention and they fail to leave any lasting impressions. The only highlight of the album is the pleasant Sea Of Dreams which sounds a bit like Mike Oldfield playing lead guitar lines over an electronic back-drop in the vein of Jean-Michel Jarre. This piece reminds slightly of Bardens best solo album, the electronic Seen One Earth. The rest of Further Than You Know is however best avoided.
Peter Bardens Prog Related
Review by proghaven