MOONMADNESS

The masterpiece of the Camel? I think not,because for me this post belongs to "Mirage". But"Moonmadness" is a great progressive album and one of the best things I ever I heard in the last times.Unfortunately I have discovered this wonderful band recently.

Like the previous "The Snow Goose" is an concept album.But the concept is original: 4 of the songs deal with each one on a band member: "Air Born" about Andrew Latimer, "Lunar Sea" about Andy Ward, "Chord Change" about Peter Bardens and "Another Night" about Doug Ferguson.The other three, "Aristillus", "Spirit of Water"and "Lunar Sea" are about the moon (that's what I think, after all, this is a theme that runs throughout the album).

This album is significantly more psychedelic than the previous ones, as can be noticed by the use of spacey synths by Bardens.I personally prefer the keyboard here than in "Mirage. " An example is the great "Aristillus", which opens the album in style with its powerful synthesizers, which compose the whole song.

"Song Within a Song" is a great song but his great vocals are, unfortunately, scarce. "Chord Change" is the weakest track on the album and irregular, which does not mean we do not have some good moments. "Spirit of water "is a small track with good vocals.Personally I not think Andy Latimer has a great voice, but his vocals on "Moonmadnes" are above average.

The following three tracks are the best. "Another Night" is the song of the album more balanced and more focused.The work of Doug Ferguson on bass, most excellent (after the song is about him), sorry that he left the band after this album.I would say that this is the best song on the album, but we have "Air Born", the most beautiful music I ever heard of Camel.The sound of flute here is beautiful, and the voice of Latimer was never so good. "Lunar Sea"Is the most psychedelic, spacey keyboards opening this and then the battery gets older, until the song reaches its climax.Although is not as good as the previous two, this song is one of the most classic of band.In some moments i remind to Pink Floyd, especially "Dark Side of the Moon"

Unfortunately, Camel has never had the fame of other progressive rock bands like Yes and Genesis, but it certainly ranks right up there and these must be better heard.