Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Camel
Label: Decca Records
Release: 1976
Rating: 5/5
“Moonmadness” is Camel’s fourth album and the last one to feature the group’s original, classic lineup (that’s Latimer, Bardens, Ferguson and Ward). After their instrumental concept masterpiece “The Snow Goose” (1975), the band decided on “Moonmadness” to return to what most listeners would call a more accessible direction: vocals are back on most tracks, the track count is trimmed, and a few compositions of epic proportions are once again built around the traditional Camel sound. Just like “The Snow Goose”, “Moonmadness” has a central theme too, even though it’s not officially a concept album, based on musical portraits of the individual band members. Each track is inspired by their personalities: “Air Born” embodies singer, guitarist and flutist Andrew Latimer, “Lunar Sea” drummer Andy Ward, “Chord Change” keyboardist Peter Bardens and “Another Night” bassist Doug Ferguson. On top of that, the whole album is shot through with the band’s fascination with the Moon and space travel. Besides bringing the vocals back, on “Moonmadness” Camel mostly dropped the orchestral soundscapes that defined the previous album and turned back to their trademark layered interplay of guitar, flute and keyboards. With this return to their traditional approach, the band also likes to wander back into jazz fusion territory here and there, especially where the rhythm section and keyboards take center stage. As a whole, “Moonmadness” is a more accessible album than its predecessor, yet it also contains many tracks that rank among their most accomplished work. In this way “Moonmadness” got closer again to the sound and atmosphere that marked their first two albums, the classics “Camel” (1973) and “Mirage” (1974), while the band polished their potential even further .
The album opens with the short instrumental “Aristillus”, built on Bardens’ electric synthesizers, which create a feeling of epic exaltation. As a fun fact, Aristillus was an ancient Greek astronomer who, together with Timocharis, put together the first star catalog (around 300 BC) and also worked at the library of Alexandria. There’s a crater on the Moon named after him, and that crater was also the band’s source of inspiration for this track. What follows is a contrast in the form of the epic classic “Song Within a Song”, which contains the best elements of the music served up by the symphonic phenomenon called Camel. A space atmosphere of exceptional intensity and melody, conjured up by Latimer’s flute and vocals (though here the singing is mostly Ferguson’s domain) and Bardens’ vast palette of Mellotron and Hammond organ, which whisk the listener off into the depths of the universe in an instant. Meanwhile the solid, mostly jazzy rhythm line, on this track especially Ferguson’s bass, helps drive the intense melodicism that defines this wonderful composition. In time, Latimer’s original and subtle solos get their space too, and you simply can’t imagine a Camel classic without them. “Chord Change” is an unstructured instrumental marked by exceptional subtlety, which comes through in the interplay of Latimer’s solos and Bardens’ Hammond organ. You can pick out shades of bands like Santana and Pink Floyd in there too (in my opinion, two bands that had a major influence on Camel’s musical voice). It’s a gorgeous blend of symphonic prog, space rock and jazz fusion. “Spirit of the Water” is a Bardens creation that opens with an esoteric flute. It builds a dreamy, almost psychedelic atmosphere through a combination of piano, synths and Bardens’ vocals. A lovely but short piece that sounds like a forgotten creation from “The Snow Goose” and is here purely to link the tracks together and keep the album flowing colorfully and smoothly. But before we can drift off to sleep, the punchy “Another Night” is already up next, turning everything upside down again. It opens with a scorching riff and moves into an epic atmosphere that, thanks to the guitar parts, comes very close to early prog metal. Latimer delivers one of his more energetic vocal performances here, while Ward on drums shows some of his best moments on the album. Latimer is, as I’ve mentioned several times in earlier reviews, one of the most refined guitarists of our time. With seemingly simple, undemanding moves he can conjure up an incredible atmosphere from under his fingers, one that can lift the listener straight to seventh heaven. Fans of the heavier side of their music will get their fill on “Another Night”. “Air Born” is one of the album’s highlights and one of the band’s finest pieces, dominated for the most part by Latimer’s flute and guitar. Another contrast, showing the brighter, lighter side of the band. The best composition on the album, though, is definitely the closing epic instrumental “Lunar Sea”, which without a doubt ranks among the band’s best work. It’s a composition with an extraordinary space atmosphere, where the genius of all the musicians comes to full expression, above all keyboardist Bardens, who outdoes himself here. While Ferguson’s bass pulls the track toward jazz fusion, Bardens, with his countless synth effects, pulls it toward space rock in the style of Tangerine Dream. His soundscapes and multicolored keyboard textures create the feeling of landing on vast lunar plains. Despite its length, the intensity never lets up while you listen to “Lunar Sea”. No doubt about it, this is a composition that is the very embodiment of the band’s creative peak. At the same time, with its many jazz elements, it hints at where the band would turn with their next album. If the album opened with the birth of the first star chart, it ends with a quiet landing on the vast lunar plains (live versions of “Lunar Sea” even included recordings of the Moon landing). As is the wonderful tradition of progressive rock, individual tracks always stir up different reactions and images in the listener. On “Moonmadness” they mostly conjure up endless fantastical horizons, best captured by the superb cover art of this album.
Let’s not forget the great bonus material on the reissue either. The single version of “Another Night” would fit any prog metal compilation, and it lets Latimer’s mastery shine through even more. Next up is the demo version of “Spirit of the Water”, which in this original form is completely instrumental and dominated mainly by piano, with the flute not yet recorded on top. And then there are the excellent live performances of “Song Within a Song”, “Lunar Sea” and “Preparation/Dunkirk”, one of the gems of the unforgettable “The Snow Goose”.
“Moonmadness” is one of the band’s best works and the album where their classic era hit its peak. It stands out for its remarkable consistency and space-bound mood, which puts it among the best symphonic progressive rock albums of the 70s. Music fans back then knew how to appreciate it, since commercially, too, “Moonmadness” was their highest-charting album up to that point. But all hopes of wider recognition for the band were short-lived. Bassist Doug Ferguson left after the album came out, disagreeing with the more jazz-leaning direction favored by Latimer and drummer Ward. That kicked off constant lineup changes that thoroughly shook a previously stable band. According to Latimer himself, it was precisely Ferguson’s departure, and with it the breakup of the classic lineup, that was key to the band’s gradual disintegration. The albums that followed over the next few years mostly failed to capture the band’s original spirit. Still, “Moonmadness” isn’t the band’s last masterpiece, but it’s undoubtedly their last classic, one that belongs in the collection of every fan of symphonic prog rock.
Lineup
Andy Latimer -guitar, flute, vocals on 2, 5 and 6
Doug Ferguson – bass guitar, vocals on 2
Peter Bardens – keyboards, vocals on 4
Andy Ward – drums, percussion, voice on 1
Production
Rhett Davies and Camel
Tracklist
1. Aristilus (1:59)
2. Song Within a Song (6:48)
3. Chord Change (7:18)
4. Spirit of the Water (2:09)
5. Another Night (7:00)
6. Air Born (5:04)
7. Lunar Sea (9:14)
Album length: 39:32
The 2002 reissue, released on Decca (A Universal Company), contains 5 bonus tracks:
Another Night (single version) (3:22)
Spirit Of The Water (demo) (2:13)
Song Within A Song (Live 4-14-1976) (7:11)
Lunar Sea (Live 4-14-1976) (9:51)
Preparation / Dunkirk (Live 4-14-1976) (9:32)
