Abandoning the lovely soundscapes of Snow Goose, Camel delved into layered guitar and synthesizers similar to those of Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here on the impressive Moonmadness.
Part of the reason behind the shift in musical direction was the label's insistence that Camel venture into more commercial territory after the experimental Snow Goose, and it is true that the music on Moonmadness is more akin to traditional English progressive rock, even though it does occasionally dip into jazz-fusion territory with syncopated rhythms and shimmering keyboards.
Furthermore, the songs are a little more concise and accessible than those of its predecessor.
That doesn't mean Camel has abandoned art.
Moonmadness is indeed a concept album, based loosely on the personalities of each member -- "Chord Change" is Peter Bardens, "Air Born" is Andy Latimer, "Lunar Sea" is Andy Ward and "Another Night" is Doug Ferguson.
Certainly, it's a concept that is considerably less defined than that of Snow Goose, and the music isn't quite as challenging, yet that doesn't mean that Moonmadness is devoid of pleasure.
In fact, with its long stretches of atmospheric instrumentals and spacy solos, it's quite rewarding.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AristillusAndy Latimer | Camel | Play | 01:56 | 4 MB | 0 MB |
| 2 | Song Within a SongPeter Bardens, Andy Latimer | Camel | Play | 07:16 | 16 MB | 0 MB |
| 3 | Chord ChangePeter Bardens, Andy Latimer | Camel | Play | 06:45 | 15 MB | 0 MB |
| 4 | Spirit of the WaterPeter Bardens | Camel | Play | 02:07 | 4 MB | 0 MB |
| 5 | Air BornPeter Bardens, Andy Latimer | Camel | Play | 05:02 | 11 MB | 0 MB |
| 6 | Lunar SeaPeter Bardens, Andy Latimer | Camel | Play | 09:11 | 21 MB | 0 MB |
| 32 mins | 74 MB | |||||
| 0 mins | 0 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Anstey | Logo |
| 2 | Peter Bardens | Composer, Keyboards, Vocals |
| 3 | Guy Bidmead | Assistant Engineer |
| 4 | Camel | Primary Artist, Producer |
| 5 | Mel Collins | Saxophone |
| 6 | Rhett Davies | Engineer, Producer |
| 7 | Doug Ferguson | Bass, Composer, Vocals |
| 8 | Field | Cover Design, Sleeve Design |
| 9 | Hideyo Itoh | Liner Notes, Text |
| 10 | Geoff Jukes | Coordination |
| 11 | Andy Latimer | Composer, Flute, Guitar, Recorder, Vocals |
| 12 | Andy Ward | Composer, Drums, Percussion, Voices |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |