Rain Dances

Rain Dances is the fifth studio album album by English progressive rock band Camel. It was released in 1977, with Deram Records, and brought a major change to the band's lineup, by replacing bassist Doug Ferguson with ex-Caravan Richard Sinclair and by adding saxophonist Mel Collins, former King Crimson member.

Album summary

Rain Dances possesses a more jazzy sound than the previous albums. That is mostly thanks to Sinclair's appearance, but also because of the band's aim to change their musical direction and molding the music into a more commercial smoothness. Another distinguishing point is the absence of Latimer's flute and reduced amount of Bardens' organ tunes, which were the trademark of all four previous albums of Camel. Most of the songs are radio-friendly, yet they bear a mark of Camel's earlier work.

Track listing

1. "First Light" - Bardens, Latimer – 5:01
2. "Metrognome" - Bardens, Latimer – 4:15
3. "Tell Me" - Bardens, Latimer – 4:06
4. "Highways of the Sun" - Bardens, Latimer – 4:29
5. "Unevensong" - Bardens, Latimer, Ward – 5:33
6. "One of These Days I'll Get an Early Night" - Bardens, Mel Collins, Latimer, Sinclair, Ward – 5:53
7. "Elke" - Latimer – 4:26
8. "Skylines" - Bardens, Latimer, Ward – 4:24
9. "Rain Dances" - Bardens, Latimer – 2:53

Bonus track - available on the remastered CD:
10. "Highways of the Sun (single edit)" - Bardens, Latimer – 3:57

Lineup

* Andrew Latimer - Guitar, Flute, Vocals
* Peter Bardens - Keyboards
* Andy Ward - Drums, Percussion
* Richard Sinclair - Bass, Vocals
* Mel Collins - Saxophone

with

* Martin Drover - Trumpet, Flugel horn
* Malcolm Griffiths - Trombone
* Brian Eno - Mini Moog, Electric piano, Acoustic Piano
* Fiona Hibbert - Harp

Release details

* 1977, UK, Decca, Release date: September 1977, LP
* 1991, UK/GER, Deram, Release date: August 26, CD (w. bonus track)
* 2004, UK, London 8207252, Release date: February 2 2004, CD (remastered version)