MIRAGE

This album blew my socks off a certain distance, but was caught in the dust of 'Moonmadness', the best CAMEL album of ALL TIME!!! 'Freefall' grabs the listener's attention with an authoritative vibe, although it loses the plot about two minutes in. This is quickly corrected, and the song finishes beautifully. The obvious prominent songs are 'Nimrodel' and 'Lady Fantasy', which have some amazing guitar work and trilling melodies. In the right mood, these literally blow my top off, as they are akin to sailing on swan back through mystic caves of aqueous planets. I disagree with the 'Canterbury Scene' tag some people have given this album, as it is a lot more symphonic than hippy-fide (mostly, anyway).

The only downside to this album is the guitar solo in 'Earthrise', which really annoys me after starting out so well. 'Supertwister's flute is extraordinary, maybe even ranking with that of 'Air Born' on 'Moonmadness'. Overall, this is an amazing piece of music, just slightly lagging behind CAMEL's finest hour - the exquisite 'Moonmadness'. This shouldn't be missed by any prog-head.