MOONMADNESS

Warm, poignant and moving; this might be the most touching Camel album I've heard, and I'm not a guy known for giving emotion a weighing factor. Somehow, Camel always goes under my own radar and I never really figure out how good they are until I pop in an album and listen. MOONMADNESS really defines symphonic prog well, something that I really can't say about most symphonic prog albums I've heard.

Only ''Chord Change'' and ''Lady of the Water'' are clunkers. Even the opening ''Aristillus'' and its ominous march like theme is enough to turn heads and rupture the spine. The emotion and grandeur just pours out ''Song Within a Song'' and ''Air Born'' with some of the best vocals I've heard from Camel. But it's the rocker ''Another Night'' and the frantic synth piece ''Lunar Sea'' that really steal the show offering the full potential of Camel's songwriting abilites as well as the potential of the whole genre.

If you're looking for a good experience from a symphonic prog album but without overloading on the bells, whistles and bombastic decorations, MOONMADNESS is for you. Keep a box of tissues handy just in case.