Camel - Moonmadness [Japanese Ed. 2CD] (1976)

Year: April 1976 (CD 2009)
Label: Universal Music (Japan), UICY-94134/5
Style: Art Rock, Symphonic Rock, Canterbury Scene
Country: Guildford, Surrey, England
Time: 54:41, 73:52
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 347, 437 Mb

CD1: Moonmadness - original album + 3 bonus tracks. CD2: The London Hammersmith Odeon Concert - 14th April 1976.
Moonmadness is the fourth studio album by English progressive rock band Camel. It was released in April 1976 on Decca and Gama Records and is their last album recorded by the group's original line-up of Andrew Latimer, Peter Bardens, Doug Ferguson, and Andy Ward. After reaching success with their previous album, the all-instrumental The Snow Goose, the band started on a follow-up and incorporated vocals and lyrics to the new music. Moonmadness has a loose concept with one track based on the personality of each band member: "Air Born" for Andrew Latimer, "Chord Change" for Peter Bardens, "Another Night" for Doug Ferguson, and "Lunar Sea" for Andy Ward.
Camel's popularity grew in 1975 with their critically acclaimed instrumental album The Snow Goose, which was followed by the group being voted Britain's Brightest Hope by readers of the nationwide music publication Melody Maker. In late 1975, the band spent three weeks writing new music for a follow-up album, and recorded Moonmadness in January and February 1976. At the time of release, Latimer said he was very pleased with the album despite the need to rush to finish it.
The last track, "Lunar Sea", ends with a minute-long wind-blowing effect. On some LP pressings, the record arm would skip during the end of this part and naturally return to the beginning of the effect, playing it endlessly (the "terminal groove" effect).
In the Q & Mojo Classic Special Edition Pink Floyd & The Story of Prog Rock, the album came number 23 in its list of "40 Cosmic Rock Albums".
It was voted no. 58 in the Top 100 Prog albums of All Time by readers of 'Prog' magazine in 2014 and is ranked 16th greatest prog album on progarchives.com (as of 23-07-2025).
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moonmadness)

01. Aristillus (01:57)
02. Song Within a Song (07:14)
03. Chord Change (06:43)
04. Spirit of the Water (02:07)
05. Another Night (06:54)
06. Airborn (05:02)
07. Lunar Sea (09:12)
08. Another Night (single) (03:24)
09. Spirit of the Water (demo version) (02:14)
10. Lunar Sea (live) (09:50)

01. Song Within a Song (07:38)
02. Excerpts From the Snow Goose (11:03)
03. Air Born (05:12)
04. Chord Change (06:58)
05. The White Rider (09:10)
06. Preparation / Dunkirk (10:17)
07. Another Night (07:25)
08. Lady Fantasy (16:05)

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Camel - The Snow Goose (1975)

Year: May 1975 (CD March 1983)
Label: Deram Records (Germany), 800 080-2
Style: Art Rock, Symphonic Rock, Instrumental
Country: Guildford, Surrey, England
Time: 43:29
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 230 Mb

Looking back the history, this album should be read as Camel music inspired by "The Snow Goose". Why? This concept album was composed with a reference to Paul Gallico’s Snow Goose. Right after the success of "Mirage" which stayed at Billboard’s Top 200 for a creditable 13 weeks peaked at 149, the band brainstormed the idea of making an acclaimed literary piece concept album. Peter Bardens voted for Steppen Wolf’s but Ferguson and Latimer proposed Paul Gallico’s. So the band created the music that revolved around The Snow Goose. Unfortunately, their record label failed to sign a deal with Gallico’s publishers in the hope of obtaining official blessing for the project, ideally having the author pen a sleeve note and possibly arrange a tie-in between album and tome. That’s why this tribute to our feathered friends had its title prefaced "Music Inspired By" and remained wholy wordless. [sleeve note].
Nevertheless, the streams of music featured in this album is a good one to enjoy and you may have a rewarding experience throughout some tracks. It starts off with an ambient "The Great Marsh" (2:02) which to me personally sounds like an opener for the whole atmosphere of the album. No one would argue that "Rhayader" (3:01) is an excellent track which has powerful melody combining flute, guitar and organ performed in classical influence music with medium tempo. This song has characterized the seventies music altogether with other common songs from Genesis or Yes or ELP or Pink Floyd. I used to associate this song with "Bouree" by Jethro Tull at that time because both of them are flute-based music. "Rhayader Goes To Town" (5:20) is a logical follow- up to Rhayader as it brings the music into faster tempo with great combination of guitar and organ solo with energetic beats. These two songs must be enjoyed in its entirety.
"Sanctuary" (1:05) and "Fritha" (1:19) are songs that I consider as bridges that connect to title track "The Snow Goose" (3:12) which contains guitar solo augmented with long sustain organ in the vein of Jan Akermann of Focus. Cool guitar-based instrumental. "Friendship" (1:44) is a bit boring exploration of keyboard / organ whicch may have more meaning if we can associate with certain part of the story - say our goose was running away or swimming quickly . things like that. Otherwise, it’s a meaningless bridge. "Migration" (2:01) brings the music into up-beat style followed nicely with a cool quiet passage "Rhayader Alone" (1:50). "Flight Of The Snow Goose" (2:40) explores Bardens’ keyboard virtuosity followed with good guitar fills that bring the melody of the music combined with a bit spacey keyboard work.
"Preparation" (3:58) is to me like a theme song that brings the introduction to the next track "Dunkirk" (5:19) with the use of Hammond organ as basic rhythm section plus some howling guitar work followed with guitar solo. The song is dominated with keyboard work even though guitar fills some parts and serves as melody in some other parts. It’s a good track. "Epitaph" (2:07) and "Fritha Alone" (1:40) are bridges to upbeat music with keyboard solo in "La Princesse Perdue" (4:44). Again, I can smell a similarity with Focus music, especially the guitar part. "The Great Marsh" (1:20) concludes the album with an exploration of nature sounds .
Overall, through this album the band has demonstrated their capability to maintain their creation on par excellent with their previous album "Mirage". The album offers good combined work between organ and guitar performed in various styles. The music is cohesive to support a concept album. I think this album should be "in" any prog collection as it was one of the icons in the seventies that anyone should not miss. Recommended.
(classicrockreview.wordpress.com/category/camel-the-snow-goose/)

01. The Great Marsh (02:02)
02. Rhayader (03:01)
03. Rhayader Goes To Town (05:20)
04. Sanctuary (01:05)
05. Fritha (01:19)
06. The Snow Goose (03:12)
07. Friendship (01:44)
08. Migration (02:01)
09. Rhayader Alone (01:50)
10. Flight Of The Snow Goose (02:40)
11. Preparation (03:58)
12. Dunkirk (05:19)
13. Epitaph (02:07)
14. Fritha Alone (01:40)
15. La Princesse Perdue (04:44)
16. The Great Marsh (01:20)

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Camel - Mirage [Japanese Ed. 4 bonus tracks + Germany Ed. AAD] (1974)

Year: 1 March 1974 (CD May 27, 2009. 1989)
Label: Universal Music / Deram Records (Japan/Germany), UICY-94131/820 613-2
Style: Art Rock, Symphonic Rock, Canterbury Scene, Progressive Rock
Country: Guildford, Surrey, England
Time: 68:08, 38:03
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 426, 267 Mb

Camel’s Mirage (1974), with its iconic, cigarette-brand-referencing cover art, was a record that seemed to materialise, fully formed, from the patchouli-scented smoke of the era.
While the previous year's self-titled debut promised much, Mirage was where the band truly found their voice: a clever mix of symphonic sweep, jazz fusion and melodic subtlety that set them apart from the prog giants of the day, even if it didn't reach the same levels of success.
Built around extended suites like Lady Fantasy and Nimrodel, the album blended pastoral English whimsy with intricate musicianship, led by Andy Latimer’s lyrical guitar and Peter Bardens’ swirling keys.
Though Mirage didn’t trouble the charts on release, its reputation has only grown, even if some still confuse the group with Peter Frampton's band of the same name.
(loudersound.com/music/albums/camel-mirage)

Germany Ed. - Album recorded and mixed in the analog domain - AAD. That is, a minimum of digital processing.
A=Analog. D=digital. The first letter stands for how the music was recorded. The second letter for how it was mixed. The third letter stands for the format (all CD's will have D as the last letter).

Japanese Ed. 4 bonus tracks:

01. Freefall (05:53)
02. Supertwister (03:19)
03. Nimrodel / The Procession / The White Rider (09:17)
04. Earthrise (06:42)
05. Lady Fantasy: Encounter / Smiles for You / Lady Fantasy (12:45)
06. Supertwister (live) (03:15)
07. Mystic Queen (live) (06:07)
08. Arubaluba (live) (07:47)
09. Lady Fantasy: Encounter / Smiles for You / Lady Fantasy (original Basing Street Studios mix) (12:59)

Germany Ed. AAD:

01. Freefall (05:54)
02. Supertwister (03:23)
03. Nimrodel - The Procession - The White Rider (09:18)
04. Earthrise (06:41)
05. Lady Fantasy (12:45)

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Camel - Camel (1973)

Year: February 1973 (CD 1992)
Label: Camel Productions (US), CP-002CD
Style: Symphonic Rock, Canterbury Scene, Progressive Rock
Country: Guildford, Surrey, England
Time: 39:23
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 260 Mb

Elsewhere, Andy shows that, apart from Blackmore, he has been attentively listening to Robert Fripp - some of the passages in 'Six Ate' are based on the fast, mathematically precise riffage of '21st Century Schizoid Man' - and maybe even Santana (the album opener, 'Going Down Slow', with its calm, steady Latin groove that suddenly turns into a wall-rattling temperamental solo midway through); pure jazz guitar chops are heard on the proto-National Health 'Curiosity'. Without a doubt, the guitar solos throughout are the best parts of the songs, and one major thing they have over subsequent instrumental passages on later records is dynamics; there's much more youthful aggressiveness in the playing than there would be on those records where the songwriting was to finally catch up with the playing and then eventually overshadow it. By contrast, Bardens lets his organ mostly stay in the background, being an essential part of the sound.
Oh yes, there's also the singing question - at least three band members take turns providing lead vocal parts, but not one of them is able to make any impression, and apparently they know it, so the vocals are kept to a minimum (and two out of seven songs have none at all). Incidentally, it's pretty damn hard to tell one guy from another; they all sound like slightly dusty clones of Pye Hastings. In fact, if there is one thing that's more or less common for all of "Canterbury rock", it's the vocals - quiet, high-pitched, and very weak voices, suggesting that Canterbury singers obviously do not drink, smoke, swear, date, eat non-kosher, or watch anime.
(full version: starlingdb.org/music/camel.htm)

01. Slow Yourself Down (04:47)
02. Mystic Queen (05:40)
03. Six Ate (06:06)
04. Separation (03:57)
05. Never Let Go (06:26)
06. Curiosity (05:55)
07. Arubaluba (06:29)

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Caravan - The Show Of Our Lives - Live At The BBC 1968-1975 [2CD] (1998)

Year: 1998 (CD 2007)
Label: Decca Records (Europe), 5301443
Style: Canterbury Scene, Art Rock, Progressive Rock
Country: Canterbury, Kent, England
Time: 71:36, 73:20
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 358, 430 Mb

Caravan were formed in 1968, during the reign of the Canterbury sound – a sudden waft of enthusiasm for avant-garde progressive rock. By the mid-seventies, the band had become synonymous with the scene. They found themselves saddled with a titanic irony: having effectively scripted for the rulebook for a scene borne from a desire to defy all musical rules and conventions.
Throughout the eighties and nineties, the band faded quietly into the background. But, in recent years, shows like BBC 6 Music’s Freak Zone have acted like a life support machine for the band, with Stuart Maconie regularly dusting off their records, and generating intrigue in their quirky, jazz-riddled rock.
The Show Of Our Lives – the closest thing to a Caravan release for four years – is a collection of BBC archive recordings, charting the band’s youth from 1968 to 1975. It’s a rich resource, bringing together well-polished recordings of some of the band’s best known and most respected work.
It’s a release which will appeal exclusively to fans of Caravan. Of course, this’ll come as no surprise to the Caravan boys: after forty years of skirting the fringes of obscurity, they’ll be well aware that their indulgent organ solos and hysterical song structures aren’t to everyone’s tastes.
Like any album forged together from the archives, it does feel rather disjointed. For those unfamiliar with the Canterbury sound’s proudest survivors, The Show Of Our Lives will be a pretty slapdash and substandard introduction. But if you’re already well acquainted with their idiosyncratic sound, then it should be a different story.
(bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/vmf9/)

01. Place Of My Own (04:13)
02. Hide (04:18)
03. If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You (02:47)
04. Hello Hello (03:13)
05. As I Feel I Die (06:25)
06. Love To Love You (03:13)
07. Love Song Without Flute (03:34)
08. In The Land Of Grey And Pink (03:46)
09. Nine Feet Underground (14:28)
10. Feelin', Reelin', Squeelin' (09:31)
11. A Hunting We Shall Go (09:16)
12. Waffle Part One: Be Alright & Chance Of A Lifetime (06:46)

01. Memory Lain Hugh (05:04)
02. Headloss (04:29)
03. The Love In Your Eye (13:55)
04. Mirror For The Day (04:17)
05. Virgin On The Ridiculous (07:02)
06. For Richard (15:06)
07. The Dabsong Conshirtoe (15:13)
08. Stuck In A Hole (03:16)
09. The Show Of Our Lives (04:54)

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