MIRAGE

I very rarely give a 5-star rating, but I firmly believe that this is Camel at their absolute finest. Everything from the album artwork to the names of the tracks gives this album a somewhat mysterious quality, and Latimer and Co. are at the top of their game. This disc should go down in history with such classics as "Close To The Edge", "Red", "Selling England By The Pound", and "Thick As A Brick." That is of course only my opinion.

The album's most important composition is the 13 minute long "Lady Fantasy" which is undoubtedly a terribly underrated song. The entire band is highly underrated, especially in the US. This song is still being performed by the Camel of today...or at least the Camel of 2002.

The superb remaster contains another 30 minutes of excellent live material, showing that Camel were a live band to be reckoned with even in their formative years. As I said in the beginning, few records for me truly deserve a 5 star rating, but this one most certainly does!! It sums up Camel music of the period and it ranks right up with the best of the time and the best of the genre! Long live Camel!!!!