History Music / Camel

* UncommonTime: ''Duh.'' It's prog. Were you really expecting something else?

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 be replaced by Richard Sinclair, an ex-Music/{{Caravan}} member; Mel Collins of Music/KingCrimson also joined. 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.

* ''I Can See Your House From Here'' (1979)

* ''Music Inspired by the Snow Goose'' (1975)

* Andrew Latimer - guitar, vocals, flute, recorder (1971-present)
* Colin Bass - bass (1979-1981, 1984-present)
* Denis Clement - drums (2000-present)

* Andy Ward - drums (1971-1981)
* Peter Bardens - keyboards (1971-1978; died 2002)
* Doug Ferguson - bass (1971-1977)
* Mel Collins - saxophones, flute (1977-1979)
* Richard Sinclair - bass (1977-1979)
* Jan Schelhaas - keyboards (1978-1981)
* Dave Sinclair - keyboards (1978-1979)
* Kit Watkins - keyboards, flute (1979-1981)
* Chris Rainbow - vocals, keyboards (1982-1991; died 2015)
* David Paton - bass (1982-1984)

* Paul Burgess - drums (1984-1992)
* Mickey Simmonds - keyboards (1991-1992)
* Dave Stewart - drums (1997-2000)
* Guy [=LeBlanc=] - keyboards (2000-2015; died 2015)

* Jason Hart - keyboards (2013-present)

* UncommonTime: It's prog. Were you really expecting something else?

* Guy LeBlanc - keyboards (2000-2015; died 2015)

Camel's Discography
* ''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''

** ''Nude'', the story of Hiroto Nooda, a popular story in Japanese culture

* EpicRocking: This is expected because they are prog-rock, but their most well known is the thirteen minute epic, "Lady Fantasy". "Nimrodel" and "Lunar Sea" are not very far behind, at over nine minutes, and ''The Snow Goose'' could be considered an example as well, since most of the songs actually segue together seamlessly.

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: "Never Let Go", "Lady Fantasy", "Echoes", and the entire ''Snow Goose'' album.
** "Ice"
** "Song Within a Song"
** The entire ''Mirage'' and ''Moonmadness'' albums probably deserve to be cited as well.

* ''Music Inspired By the Snow Goose''

* CrowningMusicofAwesome: ''Never Let Go'', ''Lady Fantasy'', ''Echoes'', and the entire Snow Goose album.
** ''Ice''
** ''Song Within A Song''
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: The cover for the album ''Mirage'' looks 'very similar to Camel cigarette cartons.

* EpicRocking: This is expected because they are prog-rock, but their most well known is the thirteen minute epic, ''Lady Fantasy''

** 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.

** ''Dust and Dreams'', which is based off the book ''Literature/TheGrapesofWrath''

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.

* VindicatedByHistory: While they enjoyed reasonable (but not huge) success back in the seventies, they've experienced a resurgence in popularity around the 2000's and are now often regarded as unfairly underrated.

* ExecutiveMeddling: ''The Single Factor'' was made to fulfil the band's contractual obligations to their label, which also pressured them to make more hit single material. As a result, it sounds rather different than most of their albums

[[caption-width-right:324:The 1975 lineup: Peter Bardens (keyboards), Doug Ferguson (bass), Andy Ward (drums, percussion), [[FaceOfTheBand Andrew Latimer]] (guitars, vocals)]]

[[caption-width-right:324:The 1975 lineup: Peter Bardens (keyboards), Doug Ferguson (bass), Andy Ward (drums, percussion), Andrew Latimer (guitars, vocals)]]

Camel presents tropes of:

* ExectutiveMeddling: ''The Single Factor'' was made to fulfil the band's contractual obligations to their label, which also pressured them to make more hit single material. As a result, it sounds rather different than most of their albums

** "Ice."
** "Song Within A Song"

* GreatestHitsAlbum: A whole bunch of them over the years, through most of out-of-print. The more recent ones have had the band try to avoid too much overlap between them by including lesser-known songs and live versions

** ''Dust and Dreams'', which is based off the book ''[[GrapesofWrath The Grapes of Wrath]]''