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CADENCE /CASCADE
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PROG ROCK, PSYCH, AVANT GARDE...
And Others Genres Thereabouts
Exceptional CD Remasters
And Others Genres Thereabouts
Exceptional CD Remasters
Covering 1967 to 1977 - It Also Focuses On
Fusion Rock, Acid Folk, Art Rock and Underground
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"...Lady Fantasy..."
Camel's self-titled debut album from February 1973 had clocked up modest sales of 5000 within its first year of UK release (MCA Records MUPS 473) and launched the band into a Prog Rock landscape dominated by giants like Yes, ELP and Genesis. But it was their third LP "(Music Inspired By) The Snow Goose" - an instrumental concept album with 'music inspired by' Paul Gallico's 1941 short story and presented in a classy laminate sleeve (with insert) that turned them into genuine Prog Rock stars and saw Camel finally make a chart presence in the UK (albeit at a modest No. 22).
The success of album number
three also made fans and newcomers alike look back to their equally good second
platter - "Mirage" from March 1974 on Decca/Gama SML 1107 with its
striking artwork and lengthy Progtastic tracks. Sales wise "Mirage"
did considerably better than the debut in the UK even if it hadn’t exactly stormed
the citadel when it came to chart placing (it didn’t register). Now considered
by fans as a bit of a classic (even if the public didn’t see it at the time) -
"Mirage" did however dent the Top 200 in the USA at No. 149 in
November of 1974 prompting a US tour and enough momentum for them to get to
"The Snow Goose" where real success lay. Speaking of stepping stones
and stepping on toes - the UK artwork for "Mirage" had to hastily
withdrawn after the Camel Cigarette company complained about unauthorised use
of their famous brand logo - so the Janus Records LP was released in the USA in
different artwork - pictured on Page 6 of the booklet.
Always somehow in the shadow
of its more famous follow ups "Music Inspired By The Snow Goose" in
1975 and "Moonmadness" in 1976 - "Mirage" is ripe for
rediscovery. So let's get Shimmering in the Nimrodel (if you know what I
mean)...
UK released June 2002 -
"Mirage" by CAMEL on Universal/Decca 8829292 (Barcode 042288292920)
is an 'Expanded Edition' CD Reissue and Remaster of the 1974 album with Four
Bonus Tracks that plays out as follows (68:08 minutes):
1. Freefall [Side 1]
2. Supertwister
3. Nimrodel/The
Procession/The White Rider
4. Earthrise [Side 2]
5. Lady Fantasy:
Encounter/Smiles For You/Lady Fantasy
Tracks 1 to 5 are their
second studio album "Mirage" - released March 1974 in the UK on
Decca/Gama Records SML 1107 and November 1974 in the USA on Janus JXS 7009 in
different artwork. It was reissued 1977 on Passport Records PB 9855 in the
original UK artwork (the original US artwork is pictured on Page 6 of the
booklet). Produced by DAVID HITCHCOCK - the album peaked at No. 149 in the USA
(didn’t chart UK)
BONUS TRACKS (Previously
Unreleased):
6. Supertwister (Recorded
Live at The Marquee Club, London, 30 Oct 1974)
7. Mystic Queen (Recorded
Live at The Marquee Club, London, 30 Oct 1974)
8. Arubaluba (Recorded Live
at The Marquee Club, London, 30 Oct 1974)
9. Lady Fantasy:
Encounter/Smile For You/Lady Fantasy (Original Basing Street Studios Mix)
CAMEL was:
ANDREW LATIMER - Guitars,
Flute and Vocals
PETER BARDENS - Organ,
Piano, Mini Moog Synthesiser and Vocals
DOUG FERGUSON - Bass
ANDY WARD - Drums and
Percussion
PASCHAL BYRNE - an Audio
Engineer of serious experience - has done the tape transfer honours here and
like the others in this 2002 series it's a sweetly warm and musical job done.
The 8-page booklet has liner notes from MARK POWELL (later of Esoteric
Recordings) that features the usual period photos of the boys in various
long-haired serious-muso poses as well as the cartoon artwork for the US LP
that seemed to depict a Gryphon type flying dragon perched for action on some
moon landscape. The CD re-release is dedicated to Keyboardist Peter Bardens who
had only just passed away in late January 2002 as the reissue was going to
press. It's nicely done and the Bonus Tracks are just that - genuine Extras for
Camel fans - the three live tracks from a 1974 Marquee gig and an alternate
version of the 13-minute "Lady Fantasy" centrepiece on Side 2. Let's
get to the music...
A swirling bank of keyboard
drones introduces a pounding Bass line as the Side 1 opener
"Freefall" unfolds whereupon a very Crimson-like guitar jab soon
morphs into men with beards getting Prog Rock about snowflakes falling
helplessly to the ground (Andy Latimer’s fretwork shines throughout). Things
become very Focus with the three-minute instrumental "Supertwister" -
Latimer giving it some flute flourishes as Bardens underpins his note warbles
with smoochy keyboards - what you might call 'pretty' Prog. One of the album's
centrepieces end's Side 1 - nine-minutes and sixteen seconds of
"Nimrodel". It's first part "Procession" does exactly what
it says on the tin - a marching rhythm - but that segues into a gorgeous combo of
Mellotron and Guitar - Bardens warbling about a 'land beyond the night' (the
lane at the back of The Clissold Arms in Finchley mate) only to hurtle towards
its otherworldly finish with a heavy synth line and an echoed guitar solo.
Side 2 commences with the
near seven-minute "Earthrise" - an instrumental that for me
represents excess rather than success - soloing for the sake of it. Which
brings us to the LPs big moment - all 12:43 minutes of "Lady Fantasy"
- a band composition broken into three parts - its famous opening keyboard
repeats and Crimson guitars virtually defining Prog in one minute flat. The
monster soon settles into some bippity-boppity keyboards and a tune about a
lady he can never hold (reminds me of you). The part I like most is the mellow
guitar break at 5:17 - beautifully played and recorded. The 'Original Basing
Street Studios Mix' Bonus Track has subtle differences and the live tracks are
amazingly well recorded and played.
"Mirage" isn't a
masterpiece - but it's a quality album given an even better lease of life on
this exceptional CD Reissue and Remaster - and it's only four squid into the
bargain. Seeing double indeed...
