MOONMADNESS

After the instrumental concept album The Snow Goose proved to be something of a breakthrough album, Camel must have been tempted to repeat the trick with another similar work. Instead Latimer, Bardens, Ferguson and Ward turned back the clock to produce an engaging album that probably ranks second-best among Camel's works, even if it is rather a long way behind the majestic Mirage.

After opening with the lively and brief instrumental Aristillus, our boys hit us with Song Within A Song, surely one of the most mournful, yet compelling tunes they ever committed to record. Latimer's flute-playing is exquisite and the combination of the vocals and flute is heart-breaking ... until a ballsy Latimer guitar solo cuts through that is. His segment then segues into a Bardens solo extravaganza with the rest of the band providing a typically Camel-esque backing track.

I'm not the biggest fan of the lengthy instrumental Chord Change, which while challenging enough, doesn't really have the memorable melodies that make Camel's musical interludes so special. The spacey Spirit Of The Water, which features some distorted vocals from Bardens is another track I don't rate too highly.

But the album then gets back into full swing with the highly charged Another Night. While hardly a typical Camel prog tune, there's something about its underlying sinister tone that really gets me. The excellent off-time solo section doesn't hurt either! It's followed by Air Born which has a gorgeous flute and piano theme and some more phased vocals (this time from Latimer).

The concluding track Lunar Sea is a storming piece of music that starts off, as one would imagine, full of spacey synths courtesy of Bardens. It eventually erupts into a full throttle Latimer guitar solo, but when the rhythm section starts playing around with the time signature, Bardens comes back in ... the effect is both discomforting and enthralling, and puts the exclamation point on an entertaining album. ... 70% on the MPV scale