MIRAGE

This is in my opinion the weakest Camel Album I heard, and I do not understand what the hype is about at all. Here, the band seems to be experimenting and trying to find their sound (they do not sound anything like in the great 'rajaz' or the peaceful 'snow goose'). The songs sounds spotty in some regions, not allowing them to flow very well, and the opener track is terrible. In addition, the singer is very dull and uninteresting ... that's why I love rajaz . (its instrumental)

Freefall 1/10 : I do not know what to say. This track sounds downright awful. The sound quality is bad, the guitar riffing is mediocre at best, the poor vocals even makes the song worse. It is a disaster. A joke and spot in progressive rock.

Supertwister 6/10 : much better than the previous song. It is an instrumental focusing on a very pretty flute melody.

Nimrodel 6/10 : This song is decent and sound like a lost soundtrack from The Lord Of The Rings movie. It starts sounding like a medieval march until it explodes with energy. The transition from the two movements is superb, but the song itself is just good, nothing more.

Earthrise 6/10 : A good instrumental showcasing the abilities of the members, but repetitive. I have heard a live version of this song which is way better than this one.

Lady Fantasy 5/10 : A mixed bag. It suffers with poor sound choices for guitars and keyboards, and its bad sound quality. In moments it shines, in moments it disappoints, and it doesn't flow very well. As Earthrise, it is better played in live.

Overall, I find this one of (if not the most) overrated album in progarchives. If you want to start with camel, start with Snow Goose/Moonmadness, follow with Never Let Go (live), and finish with their last albums.

Camel is not like this. It is mellow, pretty, peaceful, instrumental, and contains more symphonic arrangements led by a gimour influenced guitarist.

My Grade : D