Review Summary: A great mature work. An oasis of music.
“Mirage” is the second studio album of Camel that was released in 1974. The line on the album is Andrew Latimer, Peter Bardens, Doug Ferguson and Andrew Ward.
I always considered Camel an underrated progressive rock band among the greatest prog rock bands of the 70’s. Likely it was mainly due to Latimer’s voice. Latimer has a strong and deep voice. He always knew that and that is the reason why many of Camel’s tracks are mainly instrumentals. This was one of the things that made of Camel a unique band in the progressive rock scene. Besides, he was never considered one of the greatest guitarists of the 70’s, which I think is unfair. He isn’t one of the most virtuous guitarists, but he knows well how to create a unique and unmistakable sound on his guitar. His guitar style is appreciated by many other guitarists, even in our days, like Mikael Akerfeldt of Opeth.
And now, let me tell you a curious story about Camel and “Mirage”. Camel was involved in some controversy with the American brand of Camel cigarettes. We can clearly see the similarities between the album’s cover of “Mirage” and a pack of Camel cigarettes. As the peak period of the advertisement of the brand cigarettes that had a picture of a camel smoking, coincided with the peak period of the release of “Mirage”, the album was boycotted by some anti-smokers.
“Mirage” became as one of the band’s most acclaimed albums. “Mirage” is probably the album that best illustrates the main features of the band, already mentioned by me above, which are undoubtedly, quality, simplicity and beauty. This is the album where Camel begins to develop their own distinctive sound with some intricate rhythms and the wonderful and unpredictable instrumental exchanges made notably by the two main songwriters of the band Latimer and Bardens.
With their second album, Camel delivered one of their masterpieces. “Mirage” is already that old, but even today it still sounds refreshingly young. With “Mirage”, Camel begins to develop their own distinctive sound, highlighted by the band’s liquid, intricate rhythms and the wonderful and unpredictable instrumental exchanges by guitarist Latimer and keyboardist Bardens. The original album contained only five tracks, but each of them became a Camel’s classic track. However, two of the tracks are multiple titles, each with a playing time of over 9 and 12 minutes, in which the most diverse musical styles found their way into a thoroughly homogeneous form. This applies particularly to their probably best known track “Lady Fantasy”, a joint composition of all bands’ members at the time, a landmark into their career.
“Mirage” has five tracks. “Freefall” is almost an instrumental largely dominated by Latimer’s guitar and nice moments performed by Bardens’ keyboards, well supported by an inventive bass and a dynamic drumming work. It’s influenced by diverse styles and the melody is great. “Supertwister” is the most beautiful and peaceful song on the album. It’s a great instrumental partially dominated by a great flute work by Latimer. Here, Latimer proved to be a great flute player too. “Nimrodel/The Procession/The White Rider” is one of the two multi-part epic songs on the album. It’s based on “The Lord Of The Rings” trilogy of J. R. R. Tolkien. This is one of the best songs on the album with its frequent time changes and soundscapes, which carries the track to a great symphonic climax. “Earthrise” is a nice instrumental with a frenetic middle section with Latimer’s guitar and Bardens’ keyboards. It’s the second instrumental track on the album and is also probably one of the best and finest instrumentals ever made by the band. “Lady Fantasy” is divided into three parts: “Encounter”, “Smiles For You” and “Lady Fantasy”. It’s the other multi-part epic song on the album. This is the most celebrated song on the album and one of the most famous songs of Camel. It’s one of the most progressive songs of Camel too, a good example why Camel is considered, even in our days, as one of the best and most respected progressive rock bands in the progressive rock universe. Here we can clearly see how Camel has influenced Akerfeldt.
Conclusion: In my opinion, “Mirage” is with “The Snow Goose” and “Moonmadness” the three greatest masterpieces of Camel. But, despite I prefer in the first place, “Moonmadness” followed by “The Snow Goose”, I consider “Mirage” the most simple, pure, naïve and unpretentious of all Camel’s studio works. I even can accept that it might be their best work. Every moment on every song on “Mirage” is to be treasured and every note is perfectly placed. The album has two epic pieces, but the seamless tracks flow unifying the themes and the harmonious sound. All make that all album feel like a real masterpiece. The album showcases an uncanny ability for melody, in which the songs with no lyrics will have you creating stories in your own mind to fit the real mood. “Mirage” is an essential progressive rock album, a true classic. With “Mirage”, Camel becomes as one of the greatest and most respected progressive rock bands. If you like of good progressive music and you don’t have this album yet, do yourself a favour and get “Mirage” as soon as possible.
Music was my first love.
John Miles (Rebel)
