CAMEL

ABANDONING THE LOVELY SOUNDS-CAPES OF SNOW GOOSE, CAMEL DELVED INTO LAYERED GUITAR AND SYNTHESIZERS SIMILAR TO THOSE OF PINK FLOYD'S WISH YOU WAS 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 EXPERIMENT "SNOW GOOSE", AND IT DOSE 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 ON THE PERSONALITIES OF EACH MEMBER. "CHORD CHANGE" IS PETER BARDENS, "AIR BORN" IS ANDY LATIME, "LUNAR SEAS" IS ANDY WARD AND "ANOTHER NIGHT" IS DOUGH FERGUSON". CERTAINLY, IT'S A CONCEPT THAT IS CONSIDERABLY LESSS DEFINED THAN THAT OF "SNOW GOOSE," AND THE MUSIC ISN,T QUITE AS CHALLENGING, YET THAT DOSEN'T MEAN "MOONMADNESS" IS DEVOID OF PLEASURE. IN FACT, WITH ITS LONG STRETCHES OF ATMOSTPHERIC INSTRUMENTS AND SPACY SOLOS, ITS QUIET REWARDING.