MOONMADNESS

1. Aristillus (1:59) is a very sustained and electronic short intro, which however is not developed, and gives way to the first real song, Song Within a Song (7:18) . The sequence does not flow well, the song in turn has a sustained intro which then becomes pastoral with Latimer's flute to weave the best music, while the choir voices seem distant, weak, listless. The song proceeds alternating between very soft pieces and more sustained pieces, then around three minutes, with a typical change of rhythm prog the guitar intervenes to liven up the song and a long instrumental piece starts, with an emphatic Bardens' solo too repetitive. But overall it is not entirely successful. Rating 7,5.

3. Chord Change (6:48) is an instrumental piece Guided by the guitar but with great play of percussion, perhaps too intrusive. The Camels aim at the saturation of the sound and the continuous digression on the theme, which arrives around two minutes, with a stretched piece always guided by the guitars, which risks becoming monotonous, routine stuff, then the keyboards of Bardens arrive luckily towards the 5 and a half minutes the piece comes alive and returns rhythm. But we are close to the exercises of style, to the ramblings on ramblings, without having the fantasy of jazz that makes every second different. Rating 7+

4. Spirit of the Water (2:09). melodic song with piano and voice (Bardens) treated with echoes. Flute in evidence. Short but pretty, more melodically inspired than the previous two. Rating 7,5/8.

Good but Not so great A-side.

End of A-side Side B opens with Another Night (7:00) Beginning syncopated, blues, then again the distant, not very incisive choruses. The vocal part is the weak point of the LP. Then an instrumental part starts where Ferguson's bass shows off virtuosity. In the finale the chorus voices return. Evocative, dreamy song. Rating 7.5 / 8. Final with Latimer guitar's solo. Rating 7,5/8

6. Air Born (5:04). Beginning with a good melody played by the flute, then start an electric ballad. Treated voice, electronic effects, ambient music. Then come back the choirs. Good ending, succesfull song. Rating 8.

7. Lunar Sea (9:14). Slow, lunar beginning (precisely) marked by the keyboards and some sound effects, then the mighty rhythmic section arrives towards the minute and a half, and we witness a flashy piece with the bass (Ferguson) that makes virtuosity, then after a minute the lunar plane returns with the keyboards by Bardens. At about 5 minutes Latimer's guitar takes the place of the keyboards and shows off a solo at a fast pace, with the rhythmic section playing jazzy below. Here there is very little lunar, we are very bombastic, a lot of emphasis, and meanwhile Bardens does the numbers with sound effects, sonic violence fades and the lunar keyboards of the beginning remain. Good piece, always very descriptive rather than narrative, in their style, but ends the album with good style. Rating 8+.

Camel produce an album similar to Mirage but with more instrumental parts, and more determination. They are always halfway between symphonic prog and the Canterbury scene, they offer liquid, descriptive music, with many changes of rhythm and atmospheres but always soft, without causing strong emotions, without any violence, at most a few small neuroses. I see them as excellent prog craftsmen but I feel that the genius, the pathos, the creative fury, the passion are missing.

Rating album: 8+. They reach four stars.

Share this CAMEL review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to jamesbaldwin
• Report this review (#2348046)
• Buy CAMEL music online with PA partners
• Show all CAMEL MP3/Stream
• Go to CAMEL page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Moonmadness page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for CAMEL related discussions