THE SNOW GOOSE

Not quite as solid as "Mirage", "The Snow Goose" shows Camel continuing with the same sound and style as the previous. For this one they decided to not include any vocals, aside from some scatting/vocalizations. I'm not sure I like that, I really do like Latimer's voice on Mirage. The Snow Goose is a full fledged concept album, and it's broken up into several small pieces which unfortunately resulted in an increase of weaker material. The music is actually pretty accessible, brought on by the great melodies.

Alot of the 1 minute tracks are pretty weak, like the opening and closing pieces, and Fritha. However, among them there are also some gems. "Migration" and "Flight of the Snow Goose" are excellent tracks and come close to the rush one gets out of Mirage. I really like the scatting on Migration, it is quite reminiscent of Wishbone Ash' first album. Among the best of the other tracks would have to be Rhayader Goes to Town. Sounds like the soundtrack to a Dracula film at points. Actually, just about all of the Rhayader tracks here are excellent. "Dunkirk" has a few great moments, the rhythm section is really intense. I would split the album in about half, half is excellent music, the other half decent but not spectacular. I didn't get as much repeated plays on this album when getting into it like I did Mirage, Mirage was played atleast 30-40 times in the course of a week, Snow Goose about 20-25. I can tell it will be one of those albums I can look back on later and appreciate though. Very atmospheric and emotional. Latimer's guitar isn't featured enough though.

Not as good as "Mirage" but certainly one of the best Camel albums. The combination of these musicians and their unique writing never ceases to amaze me!