MIRAGE

I don't see any reason why this album should receive less than 4 stars. It's definitely an excellent prog album and a classic for sure but not Camel's best in my opinion. It doesn't have as many beautiful moments as "The Snow Goose" or "Moonmadness".

The music on "Mirage" however, is of high quality. It's lot more progressive than the first album and probably one of the most remembered by fans. There are only five tracks and two of them are striking multi-part epics, "Nimrodel" and "Lady Fantasy". Apparently "Nimrodel" was inspired by the lord of the rings. This album also features the first track by the band for Andrew Latimer to show off his flute ("Supertwister").

The album cover upset the famous Camel cigarette company at the time because the Mirage album art work closely resembles the cigarette packet design.

Highly recommended. Four solid stars.