Audio CD review:
Camel - The Snow Goose

Camel - The Snow Goose

Band: Camel Title: The Snow Goose Rating: Release Date: 22 September, 1998 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: The Great Marsh 2: Rhayader 3: Rhayader Goes To Town 4: Sanctuary 5: Fritha 6: The Snow Goose 7: Friendship 8: Migration 9: Rhayader Alone 10: Flight Of The Snow Goose 11: Preparation 12: Dunkirk 13: Epitaph 14: Fritha Alone 15: La Princesse Perdue 16: The Great Marsh

Customer Reviews BUYER BEWARE: NO EXTRA TRAX, DIFFERENT MASTER Later, followed LP-mini-sleeve versions of those four titles. In 2002, the first four Camel albums were reissued with remastered sound and extra tracks in regular jewel case versions. "Moonmadness" & "Snow Goose" were issued in mini-sleeve format in 2001; "Camel", "Mirage" & "Live Record" in 2002. The first two titles, "Camel" and "Mirage", in their mini-sleeve incarnations, are the same exact remasters/extra trax versions as their jewel-cased counterparts. HOWEVER: "Moonmadness" is not. It has no extra tracks, and sports a remaster that is quite a bit louder than the remasters on the first two titles. The same is true for the "Snow Goose" jewel-case & mini-sleeve versions; the MS has a different (louder) master and no extra tracks. It's unfortunate that JVC did not avail themselves of the expanded versions of "Moonmadness" & "Snow Goose", and anyone who buys these mini-sleeve versions should be aware of the difference. WHAT IS A JAPAN "MINI-LP-SLEEVE" CD? Mini-sleeve CDs are manufactured in Japan under license. They are (usually) 13. 5MM X 13. 5MM cardboard sleeve replica miniatures of the original classic vinyl-LP album. Usually, everything in the original LP is included, such as gatefolds, booklets, lyric sheets, posters, printed LP sleeves, stickers, embosses, special LP cover paper/inks/textures and die cuts. An English-language lyric sheet is included, even if the original LP did not include printed lyrics. Then, there's the sonic quality: Often (but not always), mini-sleeves have Japan-dedicated remastering (20-Bit, 24-Bit, DSD, K2 or K2HD, and/or HDCD), which can be superior to the audio found on the same title anywhere else in the world. A mini-sleeve CD can also have bonus tracks found nowhere else. Each Japan mini-sleeve has an "OBI", a Japan-language promotional strip. The OBI also has other valuable info, such as the original album's release date, the street date of that particular mini-sleeve, the catalog number, and mastering. Bonus tracks are only listed on the OBI, so the integrity of the original LP artwork is always maintained. The enthusiasm and pursuit of mini-sleeve collecting must be tempered, however, with avoiding mini-sleeve fakes manufactured in Russia and distributed throughout the world, primarily on eBay. They are inferior in quality, worthless in collectable value, and should be avoided at all costs. Also, there are older mini-sleeve releases that have been supplanted with newer ones, usually with updated audio (such as JVC-Japan replacing older K2-mastered titles with new K2-HD mastered releases). Mini-sleeve collecting can be expensive, so, if you are a mini-sleeve novice, it is highly advisable to seek the advice of an experienced `sleeve collector!. Very nice background music It is an instrumental suite and is about 44 minutes long. Snow Goose is Camel's third album. It is very nice, but it isn't a masterpiece, or the best thing ever recorded or even Camel's best. There is also a live version available which you might want to get instead. The music on this album is very nice, but very mellow background music. There is nothing spectacular on it. There are good compostions and nice musical passages and some good solos. But, nothing really stands out. The best thing about this album is that it remains insteresting throughout. There are no slow, boring or tedious spots. It never gets repititious, but at the same time, continues a theme throughout the record. It is never overblown or pretentious. While Snow Goose is very nice, it is this type of album that gave progressive rock a bad name and eventually killed it. The Snow Goose is much better than many other extended progressive works, which could be pretentious, over blown excesses. Yes, for instance, got it right only about 50% of the time. Tales of Topographic Oceans is a perfect example of a group going overboard. There are parts that are fantastic, but there are 20 minute sections that just overblown bores. A complete live version of Snow Goose is also available on the double CD called "A Live Record". It is a little longer, slightly more energetic and electric and played with an orchestra. I am not sure which version I like better. But, I don't know if it is necessary to own both. Both Pete Bardens and Camel continued to play bits of the Snow Goose in concert. But, they would only play about 8 minutes sections that were pretty bland. After the Camel's fourth album, the group slowly broke up. Andy Lattimer continued on, using the Camel name, and moved to California. Camel has put out around 18 albums. Supposedly, Camel has now disbanded for good. Pete Bardens went on to a solo career. He created a band called Mirage, which included Camel's original drummer and members of Caravan. They toured, playing Camel and Caravan songs. He reformed Mirage with studio musicians, went on tour and put out a fairly boring live album. He put out some very nice solo albums, but most are difficult to find. He died in 2002. . A fantastic progressive-rock concept album The band had hoped to have a spoken narrative over the music, but Gallico declined and the band was forced to add "Music Inspired by. This 1975 album is Camel's masterpiece, an instrumental concept album based on Paul Gallico's novella about two misfits who become friends during World War II while caring for an injured snow goose. . . " to the album title to avoid a copyright infringement suit. The music here was written by guitarist/flautist Andrew Latimer and keyboardist Pete Bardens. A few songs have wordless vocals, but there are no lyrics. Only about half of the album has a rock beat, but the album is excellent throughout. "Rhayader", with a flute melody and synthesizer solo, "Rhayader Goes to Town", with a strong guitar solo and spooky keyboard interludes, "The Snow Goose" and "Flight of the Snow Goose" are all among Camel's best work ever. An orchestra is used to good effect on a handful of tracks. For example, "Friendship" is played by a windwood quartet, with a repeated bassoon triplet representing the goose's waddle. The only weak moments are on "Preparation" and "Epitaph" (the intro and outro to "Dunkirk"), which repeat a 5/4 figure for a combined six minutes. Other than that, the only thing I don't like on the album is the drum part on the title track (it accents a bass counterpoint instead of supporting the terrific main melody). Several themes appear more than once during the CD. "Fritha" is a happy, major key piece with an octave-sliding synthesizer melody; after Rhayader's death at Dunkirk, it is reprised in a minor key on grand piano as "Fritha Alone". "The Snow Goose" and "Flight of the Snow Goose" are repeated with the orchestra as the grand finale "La Princesse Perdue". "The Great Marsh" is a simple piece that slowly fades in to begin the album and fades out at the close. In its use of instrumental music to tell a story, and its reprise of musical themes, "The Snow Goose" captures the feel of good classical music better than almost any rock album ever made. (1=poor 2=mediocre 3=pretty good 4=very good 5=phenomenal). . You can see a complete list of all Camel discography, or go back to the Camel tabs