MOONMADNESS

Camel's follow-up to Mirage and the Snow Goose was basically an album highlighting the best features of the two. Starting with short instrumental titled Aristilus, clearly intended to reminds us of the latter release, followed by a strong reminder of the former album with Song Within A Song!

Still, it's not all that simple with this release since we do also get a few hints of the things that are to come in the near future for Camel. Spirit Of The Water is keyboard-arranged ballad with a distortion effect added to the vocals that, I guess, are suppose to created a watery effect. This new approach is then followed by a song that could almost be considered a straightforward pop tune, luckily Another Night is saved by its instrumental middle section from becoming just that. We would unfortunately hear more of the abuse in the sound-effect department and a steady decline in Camel's songwriting in the next couple of years. But before worrying about all that, let's indulge ourselves in the beautiful conclusion to this excellent release!

Since it was impossible for Camel to top their previous releases, the band decided to make a slight change in their direction. Even though this was not entirely apparent on Moonmadness, the decline would be slow but steady over the course of the next few releases. This has of course little to do with my appreciation of this great album well worth it's excellent addition-rating!

***** star songs: Aristilus (1:59) Song Within A Song (7:18) Air Born (5:04)

**** star songs: Chord Change (6:48) Spirit Of The Water (2:09) Another Night (7:00) Lunar Sea (9:14)