Camel - Mirage CD (album) cover




Symphonic Prog

4.38 | 1850 ratings

From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

3 stars 1. "Freefall" (7/10) starts the album off showing a blues-rock/Canterbury side of Camel. Some nice, complicated tempo changes.

2. "Supertwister" (8/10) has a bit more melody and mood to suck the listener in--almost too syrupy pretty--like a DEODATO or FOCUS song.

3. "Nimrodel / The Procession / The White Rider" (8/10) exemplifies perfectly why I will never be able to grant a Camel album masterpiece status: the vocals and drums in the slow parts (and when does a fast part of a Camel song have vocals) are dull, ordinary, soporific. Much better drums once the tempo picks back up, however, Michael Giles and Ward are two drummers I've never really appreciated. Perhaps they make it sound so easy,so straightforward, that they sound boring.

4. "Earthrise" (7/10) another Canterbury jam--one in which, IMO, the bass player stands out most. He's no Percy Jones, but he's good! othherwise, nothing so very special.

5. "Lady Fantasy: Encounter / Smiles For You / Lady Fantasy" (7/10) let's me know that STARCASTLE wasn't only YES-inspired. Nice recording and mix of this DOORS-like song. As a mater of fact, if I didn't know better, I would have guessed that Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger were sitting in on this one--a symphonic update of "Light My Fire." I do like all of the song's shifts and changes--they do work rather well--or "seemlessly" as another reviewer here on PA wrote. The music, however, is lacking the stunning soli and/or melodic 'hooks' necessary to draw me in. I've tried listening to this song over and over and over and, save but for a few moments here and there, without emotional impact. The ending has got to be one of the poorest ever--especially after coming right off that hard driving rhythm section part.

A band I like but don't love. Of the second tier of "classic" prog "greats," I would invariably choose FOCUS, RENAISSANCE, CARAVAN or even SUPERTRAMP before I'd choose Camel. IMHO, "Moonmadness" is their best--and that not even close to being a masterpiece. This one is good, but certainly not essential. 3.5 stars.

BrufordFreak | 3/5 |




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