THE SNOW GOOSE

Is The Snow Goose Camel's best album? Some would say yes, many would agree that the trio of albums Mirage, Snow Goose and Moonmadness are the highlight of their discography. For me, the Snow Goose is very good but the albums released either side of it are better.

I think the problem with Goose is that the quality of music throughout the album isn't consistent. The best part for me is Rhayader/Rhayader Goes To Town, and it's no surprise that this segment was often played live by the band. Starting with Latimer's flute and Barden's piano, the piece builds up with lead guitar coming in later and more keyboard sounds. If the rest of the album was the same high quality it would be a classic, but whilst there are occasional highs ( The Snow Goose, La Princess Perdue, for instance), other segments are quite good but not as memorable. (e.g. Sanctuary, Preparation).

The bonus tracks on the CD I would say are non-essential as they don't add anything to the main album, apart from the live version of Freefall from Mirage.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4.