MIRAGE

The second studio album by Camel is a huge jump from their self titled debut, not only in the actual compositions but also in the amazing musicianship. Of course I'm not trying to take anything away from their debut which is also a very nice record, but I must say I find Mirage to be miles ahead. Andrew Latimer and Peter Bardens take the writing credits on most of the songs, with the exception of the album closer "Lady Fantasy" which is actually a composition by all four members.

Now, on to the music. Every song on the album is IMO a work of art. Seriously. Not a singe note is out of place here and all the band members are at the top of their game. "Freefall" opens the album, and right from the start it grabs you and never lets go (no pun intended!). Things get mellower then with the beautiful "Supertwister" featuring Andrew's amazing flute skills. I can't describe the magic feeling I get every time I listen to this one, you have to discover it for yourself. Then we have one of the longer tracks on Mirage: the majestic "White Rider" (actually it's called Nimrodel/The Procession/The White Rider) which is based on Tolkien's Lord Of The Rings. It's amazing how this band can achieve such a high level of sophistication in their songs without sounding too complex and this track proves it. "Earthrise" is an instrumental song and quite an instrumental it is. The middle part has a really cool jam with Andrew and Peter leading with some insane solos. Doug and Andy also play pretty fast here. The final song, and the longest in the album is "Lady Fantasy". This song is made of a collection of different themes that are very nicely strung together, giving it a very wide range of moods, but everything explodes in the final minutes with a frenetic jam involving all four members, closing this masterpiece with a bang.

IMHO this is Camel's best work, although The Snow Goose and Moonmadness do come very close. I'm sure every proghead will find something enjoyable in this record and I couldn't recommend it more. 5 stars for sure.