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Rating: After the excellent "Dust and Dreams" from 1991, A. Latimer aims to deliver another concept album but takes his time, hesitating, partly because he has now severed all ties with the world of record labels. Indeed, after the fair "Stationary Traveller" (1984), he tears up the contract with Decca and moves to California, where with great financial sacrifices he first establishes a recording studio and then his own record label. In conditions of absolute creative freedom, the aforementioned album is conceived, receiving a good response among old prog enthusiasts from the '70s.
In 1993, A. Latimer, after the death of his father, embarks on genealogical research, discovering distant Irish origins and links this to the central theme of the future concept: the great famine that devastated the island in 1845, forcing thousands of people to emigrate overseas. The work is intimate, dramatic, well blended, as if it were a single suite, yet it is neither difficult to listen to nor to "digest". This concept album diverges from the "fantastical, abstract, and carefree" works typical of '70s progressive; on this occasion, the drama is palpable, thanks to the electric guitar, which takes the lead role, dispensing emotions without slipping into pathos. Alongside the sole historical member, Latimer, are C. Bass, now a fixed member, J. Xepolas, drummer, and M. Simmonds, keyboardist.
The instrumental parts prevail over the lyrical ones, a constant for a band of Canterbury extraction. It starts with "Irish Air": an a cappella voice sings a traditional air, picked up by the leader with the flute and masterfully concluded with the electric guitar. With "Harbour of Tears", a subdued and mournful song opens the door to the drama of the Irish people, dying away to make room for another excellent solo on the six-string. "Send Home the Slates" and "Watching the Bobbins" are the most rock tracks of the batch, in both the rhythm section stands out and there is no shortage of lyrical parts; "Under the Moon" serves as a bridge between the two, a poignant and very brief electric guitar solo that demonstrates the ability, which not many musicians possess, to move with just a few notes.
"Eyes of Ireland" is a mournful ballad, where Latimer's singing, narrating the last vision future emigrants have of their homeland, is accompanied by the folk guitar, played on this occasion by C. Bass. In "End of the Day", a background layer of keyboards accompanies the verse sung by the leader, who, at the end, offers another of his melancholic performances on the six-string. Concluding the album are the two most inspired and complex tracks from a compositional standpoint, and also the longest: "Coming of the Age" and "The Hour Candle". The first is an elaborate composition, where multiple musical motifs intertwine. The second is the classic track where the band serves Latimer's creativity and flair. The beginning is slow and subdued, with only the keyboards accompanying the electric guitar (a solution already seen in "Ice" and "Stationary Traveller"), which, once the rhythm section enters, "intones" a heartbreaking lament, finding peace among the waves of the sea (in fact, the actual 7 minutes of the track are extended by a 16-minute insert, made up of waves crashing on the coast).
For those who love the genre, listening to this album is highly recommended (I urge you to also "explore" the subsequent live album, truly of excellent quality), as it is an intimate work that offers sincere emotions and addresses a forgotten daily drama, masterfully set to music without going overboard with various kinds of instrumental experimentation and virtuosity. The listener's ear is captivated by the last two tracks, but even the triplet "Send Home the Slates - Under The Moon - "Watching the Bobbins" does not disappoint emotionally. Personally, I love this work, which made me passionate about Camel and represented my first step in the long and difficult exploration of 70's progressive rock.
A strong 4, not far from a full score.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
03 Harbour of Tears (03:12)
Latimer/Hoover
I am one of seven brothers.
Five of us must leave and start again.
In this land of Saints and Martyrs,
Tears of sadness hide within the rain.
So fare thee well, Remember me...
Sail from the Harbour of Tearss
I can hear my father calling
'Godspeed, my son,
wherever you may go'
He looked so small
down on the quayside.
A man I guess
I'll never really know. Goodbye, lad... I'll miss you,
though I don't show it.
I am a farmer of the land,
I'm not a man of words.
Forgive me my failing,
you never knew me.
Godspeed wherever you may go...
So fare thee well,
Remember me...
Sail from the Harbour of Tears
07 Watching the Bobbins (07:13)
Latimer/Hoover
Watching the bobbins,
go up and down.
Fine Irish linen
for a ladies gown.
One shirt a penny,
seven in a tag;
ten hours a day
and her heart begins to drag.
This never ending cycle goes on.
But she promised she would never stay...
for long.
Rocking the treadle,
ache in her soul.
She keeps the rhythm
and it takes a toll.
Threading the needle,
strains in her eyes.
Old withered fingers
steal her young girl's pride
She's saving every penny she earns,
because the passion for her freedom
still burns.
09 Eyes of Ireland (03:09)
Latimer/Hoover
Listen now boys,
my grandmother said -
I'll tell you a story and
then off to bed.
There once was a time,
we lived off the land.
Harvest would come,
and we all lent a hand
But winds blew our lives,
and scattered our seeds.
Changing the landscape,
from flowers to weeds.
See in the graveyard
the families gone.
The grandest of tombstones
carry them on...
When you sail from the Harbour,
It's your last eyes of Ireland.
We tended the fire,
and faeries appeased
the flame never died
until we had to leave.
And when we were gone,
the house tumbled down
and covered our footprints,
we'd left on the ground.
When you sail from the Harbour,
It's your last eyes of Ireland.
My eyes are now tired
and no longer see.
But visions of Ireland
linger in me.
So carry your past
in the rooms of your heart
and you'll never he empty
of love when you part
When you sail from the Harbour,
It's your last eyes of Ireland.
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Other reviews
By Dr.Adder
"A beautiful track, undoubtedly a small gem."
"Do not expect musical experimentation, but genuine emotions with Latimer always in great form."
