MIRAGE

Camel's debut was a very promising start, showing their excellent musicianship, ability to play as a coherent, balanced unit and excellent compositional skills. It was let down a little by slightly dodgy vocals and raw production and sales were modest due to poor promotion.

Mirage builds on their strengths whilst addressing the problems. They write two longer, multipart songs (the Tolkein inspired Nimrodel/The Procession/The White Rider and Lady Fantasy), both of which rank amongst the best things they've done. The other shorter songs are also strong, showing their instrumental prowess and their characteristically jazzy and melodic style. Bardens and Latimer write the majority of the songs, the first side as individuals and the second side as an effective team.

Vocals are used sparingly but are much better than on the debut and the production and dynamic range are much improved from the debut. It sold well and established Camel as a serious commercial presence after the disappointing sales of the debut. Overall, this is a brilliant album which would be the star in most bands' discographies. But the next two Camel releases were even better!