Andy Latimer has a thing for albums with a storyline told through music. First The Snow Goose in the 70s, then
Nude in the early 80s and now Stationary Traveller. And later on, in the 90s there would be Dust And Dreams and
Harbour Of Tears. That is five such albums throughout Camels history.In my view these story-based Camel albums are all very good and they tended to become better and better one after another, culminating in the excellent Harbour Of Tears. This leaves Stationary Traveller somewhere in the middle both chronologically and in terms of quality.
All these story-based albums (perhaps with the exception of The Snow Goose of which I dont really know what it is about) are based on rather sad stories, and this is, of course, reflected in the music. Stationary Traveller is no exception; this is a rather melancholic affair. I will let you discover the story for yourself.
Compared to Camels previous, non-conceptual albums like Raindances, Breathless, I Can See You House From Here and The Single Factor, Stationary Traveller certainly is a return to form. I would say that Stationary Traveller is not only the best Camel album of the 80s, but the best Camel album since Moonmadness with Nude as the only serious contender. (However, Dust And Dreams from the early 90s would be the true return to the form of their glory days).
The instrumental material on Stationary Traveller is the best. The opener Pressure Points, the title track and Missing are three great instrumentals with dazzling guitar work. The vocal material, partly handled by Chris Rainbow and partly by Andy himself, is decent but a bit on the pop side of things. But this is not at all the kind of light weight, care free, happy pop present on many songs from Raindances, I Can See Your House From Here or The Single Factor. This is a much more melancholic and serious pop rock affair. Chris Rainbows vocals fit the material well, but I think that Andy should have handled all the vocals himself. That would have given this album a bit more Camel identity.
Overall, this is a very emotional album like Dust And Dreams and Harbour Of Tears. In that sense Stationary Traveller is forward-looking. But it is also backward-looking in a different sense. This was the last album of the 80's, with all what that involves in terms of sound and production. It was also the last Camel album before Andy started his own label and found new creative freedom.
If you are interested in post-Moonmadness Camel you should start with either the excellent recent live DVD Coming Of Age or some of Camels more recent studio albums like Dust And Dreams and Harbour Of Tears. If you still want more after that (you should!), Stationary Traveller is the one to go with.
Good, but non-essential.
by SouthSideoftheSky
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