review by thomas

When Camel decided to release a live album they made the decision of takin’ live material recorded from throughout their then existing career. That gave us a double-LP with “Liggin’ at Louis’” and “Lady Fantasy” recorded in 1974, the entire “Snow Goose”, recorded with an orchestra conducted by David Bedford in 1975 and “Skylines”, “A Song Within a Song”, “Lunar Sea” and “Never Let Go” from their tour of 1977. As you may well know by the time of the 1977 recordings Camel had Richard Sinclair on bass and vocals onboard as well as Mel Collins on saxophones. Sadly Mel plays cheesy “Springsteen-saxophones” on “A Song Within a Song” and on the fan favourite “Never Let Go” and thus taking away something from those songs. He does play better on “Lunar Sea” though.

The “Snow Goose” suite is played in close style to the original album and the orchestra keeps a very low profile, they accompany the band without being in the way; this is clearly not one of those attempts to mix rock and classical music. Of the two 1974 songs “Liggin’ at Louis’” is a live workout, never released on a studio album. “Lady Fantasy” is as good as you would expect. Considering the fact that this live album – as most live albums – will be picked up mostly by strong fans of the group in question you can’t go wrong with this record if you like Camel in this phase. The playing is excellent and flawless (except, of course, for those saxophones) and it’s really nice getting the whole “Snow Goose” suite live. A good live album, it’s what you could expect from such a skilled and tight band (especially before 1977) as Camel, although it could have been better.

And then the real bonus for those who pick up the remastered double-CD from 2002 is that you get about 45 minutes of extra material, including among others “The White Rider” and “Another Night”, both recorded in 1976.