Customer Reviews
john steinbeck-inspired prog rock.
lots of space surronds the majesty of camels sound here, and andrew latimer's guitar work is wonderful as always. based on inspiration from the novel "grapes of wrath," by john steinbeck, this is an outstanding work of prog-rock. pink floyd fans should love this stuff. great music by an extremely talented outfit of musicians.
Semi-Autobiographical
It was released in 1991. This is Camel's 11th studio album but first since a seven year break. Sound quality is very good and it is 47 minutes long.
This is a concept album base loosely on the Grapes of Wrath. It starts out about moving west to California. It is sort of autobiographical, because Camel did move west during the making of this album. It was started in England but was finished in California's San Francisco Bay Area.
This CD is a lot like Camel's Nude, in tone and structure. If you like Nude, you are sure to like this one, too. I found both Nude and Dust and Dreams to be a little too drab and boring.
Dust and Dreams starts out slow and stark, maybe to give the feel of the dust bowl the Okies left. The CD does pick up in the second half and is more interesting.
I don't think this is one of Camel's best albums. I saw Camel perform this album live and was generally bored by it. That concert is available on the CD set called Never Let Go. But, I think this CD is better than anything Camel did in the eighties. I feel it is better than Nude.
But, this was a good start for the reformed Camel. Later albums are very good, especially Rajaz.
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Dusted Out!
It starts with the prying wind theme "The Dust Bowl" that turns into a vocal manifesto of the family`s unrelenting hope "Go West". This is a fantastic artistic interpretation of John Steinbeck`s "The Grapes Of Wrath", and it thoroughly explores the theme of The Joads` journey into the false eden called California. Then we have a short symphonic masterpiece "Dusted Out" whose dramatic performance shows the drama of the Okies being kicked out of their homes. "Mother Road" brings another important message namely that you and the road you are traveling along are the one thing. The next instrumental piece is "Needles", the city on the Joads` way to the milk`n`honey land, a quite nice transition to a beautiful and heartfelt song "Rose Of Sharon" which is even more sentimental in pitch than the book itself. The last vocal number is called "End Of The Line" which touches the problem of loneliness and helplessness among the trackers whose desperation increases steadily to the point of unutterable anger masterly expressed by the one of the final tracks "Hopeless Anger" in which Latimer`s guitar solo tears your heart apart. And at last the Joads are free to decide which way to go and what they left behind belongs to the past now, and the heavy rain drops bring relief and hope for a change. "Dust & Dreams" is the best concept work of Andy Latimer except "The Snow Goose" and "The Harbour Of Tears".
. You can see a complete list of all Camel discography, or go back to the Camel tabs
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