MIRAGE

Camel

Symphonic Prog

4.41 | 3064 ratings

From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

jamesbaldwin
Prog Reviewer

Camel, second album. Many persons thinks this is their masterpiece. Not me.

1. Freefall (5:47) Very rhythmic, with a central guitar solo, changes of rhythm, good rock but without great variations between the beginning and the end. Rating 7,5/8.

2. Supertwister (3:20) Instrumental, guided by the flute, pastoral. Rating 7,5/8.

3. Nimrodel / The Procession / The White Rider (9:12) Slow beginning, then it looks like a march, the first piece sung is reminiscent of the earlier King Crimson; the second instrumental piece is guided by keyboards, conventional, Genesis style, in symphonic rock approach; then, the second piece sung, with which we reach the 7 minutes. The last two instrumental pieces are guided by a nice bass and an atmospheric guitar solo and they are the best part of the song. Rating 8.

End of Side A.

4. Earthrise (6:42) Instrumental piece of almost 7 minutes with sluggish and repetitive start, with electric guitar rock solo but never in the foreground. Rating 7+

5. Lady Fantasy (12:46) - a. Encounter - b. Smiles For You - c. Lady Fantasy Mini suite with a relaxed beginning of keyboards reminiscent of Caravan, and in fact the Camel alternate music with relaxed ballad rhythms (in Caravan style) with more rhythmically sustained pieces; the suite becomes more rock towards 4 minutes, then moves to a slower, quieter atmospheric music, with voices from beyond the grave; it is descriptive and non-narrative music, then around 9 minutes a fast rock piece arrives, with solo of keyboards and around 12 minutes the initial melody comes back. Rating 8.

Record without falls but without very high peaks, Camel settles on an average quality of the pieces that lack the flick of genius or melodic inspiration necessary to become a masterpiece, they are prog artisans, without virtuosity, which makes music not trivial but lacking the originality and the look of the author that characterizes the great ones, in this album.

Rating 8. Three and a half Stars.

jamesbaldwin | 3/5 | 2020-1-3

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