review by thomas

Very airy and soft, certainly mellower than the “Mirage” album, more in style with “The Snow Goose”. It’s a very good one with three standout tracks: the instrumental “Chord Change”, a very energetic and complex piece although it has a middle section that is softer, lighter and not so complex, built on feeling; “Lunar Sea”, another instrumental song which is a mighty album closer, a ten minuter, built more on repetition and atmosphere and it feels like an outtake (that would be a damn good outtake!) from “The Snow Goose” sessions. The third standout is the vocalized “Another Night”, a heavier, rockier piece with strong drums and guitar.

Apart from two shorter songs (of which Bardens lovely piano laden “Spirit of the Water” is one) all songs are quite long and though not so hard and raw – if you can use those words in a Camel description – as “Mirage” it’s still a good album. “Moonmadness” is produced in a cleaner way, the edges are cut off – but not to the extreme. Sure some losses comes with this; there are several rather unsatisfactory passages with a little too much lack of an edge, passages where feeling isn’t always the best substitute.

However another strong Camel album that I still like very much for its atmospheres, its music and its astonishing closer: “Lunar Sea”. Seven songs with good bass, guitar, percussion, keyboards, flute and vocals from Latimer, well Bardens sings on one track as well. More symphonic than their previous efforts for sure but not overwhelmingly symphonic – the Camel of old is still here.