MIRAGE

Mirage is the second album by Camel and one of the 3 best albums. It is the first one I had ever heard and I fell for it from the first listen in 1979. Their first album was like a lot of bands firsts, they were trying to find their way. Andy Latimer (guitar, flute, vocals), Doug Ferguson (bass, unifier) and Andy Ward (drums) were previously a 3 piece called "The Brew" until they brought on Peter Bardens on keys and that is where Camel was born. Bardens had already been where the other 3 had not; a music industry veteran who had recorded with Van Morrison had a solo album under his belt among other things.

Their first gig was as "Peter Bardens On" to fulfill his obligations before switching to the name that would stick. The magic was apparent on a few tracks on the first album but when "Mirage" was released they found their place. Really, when these 4 guys were together that is where the real best of Camel existed. Mirage is loud and soft at points but radical.

Latimer / Bardens had a great writing partnership and this album shows it. There is seriously not a single track on the album that I do not like. "Freefall" comes on to start and immediately sets a fast pace. "Supertwister" is a good track and "Nimrodel / The Procession / The White Rider" is a great prog track with some great key work and later a haunting guitar solo by Latimer that ends the song wonderfully. Bardens was one of the most underrated keyboardists in prog.

"Earthrise" is a great instrumental track that winds its way through a nice journey. "Lady Fantasy" is the longest and last track on the album. It is a love song but in a radical sort of way. It starts out that way but kicks into high gear through some great instrumentation and back to the love part and then explodes into the finale and a raunchy guitar solo and some fantastic keyboard work on Bardens part.

This is a well rounded album and it is only matched by "Moonmadness." This album is more raw in sound than that album. "Snow Goose" which followed this album was a great in between the 2. Camel's work after Ferguson left the band (pushed out) started to fall apart. Later Bardens and Latimer would both admit when Doug was let go it fractured the band. "Rain Dances" was good and had that more jazzy feel but it is not near as good and after that Latimer was aiming for pop hit singles and alienated Bardens forcing him out. After Ward left due to his issues with alcohol and mental health issues Latimer pressed on alone but none of the future albums ever came close to the beauty of this album and the others the 4 guys put out.