A LIVE RECORD

I bought this on vinyl soon after it was released. The track listing was as listed above for the first CD version. More recently I purchased the album on CD, but it was the expanded edition with extra tracks.

First of all, this album shows the classic line up of Camel at its best, and the sound is enhanced by the addition of Mel Collins on saxophone. Collins makes a difference in particular to the songs Never let Go and Song Within A Song. The tracks are chosen from the albums Camel, Mirage, Moonmadness and Rain Dances, plus there is a full recording of The Snow Goose complete with orchestra. There is also a track Ligging At Louis, which did not appear on any studio album. I have never really appreciated post Peter Bardens Camel, so the selection of songs here is perfect for me.

My one qualm about the CD version that I have is that I would have preferred the tracks on CD1 to have followed the same order as on the original vinyl, with the unreleased songs at the end. I was so used to hearing the album open with Never Let Go that having four tracks from Rain Dances at the start sounds wrong. This wouldn't be a problem for anyone who hadn't owned the original album on vinyl, so maybe I'm being picky, but it doesn't sound right to me.

Top tracks for me: Never Let Go, Lady Fantasy, Song Within A Song, Lunar Sea, and the complete Snow Goose.