Camel Album: “Snow Goose”

THE SNOW GOOSE was the album that enabled Camel to hit the big time, and move beyond the loyal fan base built from several years of touring and next to no radio airplay. This, Camel's third LP, was their first and last concept album, and it sticks more rigorously than most to its source text. The band should have done another, because this is extraordinarily good.

It's labelled a 'progressive' disc, but the music is nowhere near as difficult to appreciate as say, a Henry Cow or Gentle Giant album. Indeed, much of Andy Latimer's lead guitar sounds like that of his first idol, Hank Marvin. Overall, the sound is somewhat like a wordless Alan Parsons Project. The success of this album must have convinced Parsons that he was on the right path as he prepared to record his first concept album, TALES OF MYSTERY, in August 1975.

The sleevenotes on this CD give plenty of information that was never available for the original LP, such as: the music was mostly written during an intensive fortnight in a cottage in Devon, England; the album peaked at No. 162 in the Billboard 200, whereas its predecessor MIRAGE reached the dizzy heights of No. 149.

I have a few news clippings from 1976 when Camel were publicising their next album MOONMADNESS, and its interesting to note that lead composers Bardens and Latimer deliberately made that album a more free, jazzier LP for the benefit of the rhythm section, particularly drummer Andy Ward, who found SNOW GOOSE too constraining.

The orchestrations on this album were done by David Bedford, one of the few artists actually sacked by the Virgin label. Whether or not you like his ORCHESTRAL TUBULAR BELLS, there is much to appreciate about his arrangements for SNOW GOOSE. On track #15, 'Princesse Perdue', you can really believe that that those violins are a flock (should that be 'gaggle'?) of geese chattering as they fly.

THE SNOW GOOSE reached a broad audience, and rightly so. It sits outside the rest of the Camel canon, and should be purchased on its own merits, rather than for any part it played in Camel's subsequent career.

Sometimes you come across works that make objective discussion out of the question, and all the normal ways of judging something by familiar forms and analysis is just swept away.

This piece will astound you and I hadn't heard this piece for so long I had forgotten it. The next day with this music in my heart was time off the planet as far as I was concerned. It's a very coherent and convincing piece which is, at time whistful, impossibly sweet, and then (as though you weren't able to discern how) suddenly changes to what you might call conventional rock music, and then changes, again, to something else, from between the stars.

The only thing I know which comes anywhere near close to this is some Sibelius and Tchaikovsky, but in music this century, try Bo Hanson's interpretation of Lord of the Rings.

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. 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..." 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)

Join the club ... I only recently heard (or even heard of) Camel. What a pleasant surprise! If you like progressive 70s music, I don't see how you could go wrong with Snow Goose ... it is an excellent and cohesive album ... it is a wonder these guys were not better known in the US ... oh well, discover them now and I'll bet you will not be content with just one title ... this is a band worth discovering albeit late ... if you like Yes, KANSAS, Gentle Giant, Jethro Tull, Spocks Beard (like I do) I think you will want to add Camel to your collection ...

Andrew Latimer of Camel is perhaps one of the most under rated musicians (and guitar players) of our time. Snow Goose is a testimony to Latimer's great musicianship and sense of harmony. Proficient on a number of instruments, Latimer's guitar solos always stand out. His guitar playing signature is that of the "guitar gods" such as Dave Gilmour of Pink Floyd or Carlos Santana; he brings out the best of each note without being afraid of spending extra time on a fret. His long and sorrow filled guitar solo on ICE (from I Can See Your House from Here) is one the best I have ever heard. Don't forget to check out the latest CD or Video from Camel's latest tour "Coming of Age." Kaihan Ashtiani.