Camel
The Snow Goose

THE REVIEW

We are in the year of grace 1975, and the last vestiges of progressive music are about to be swept away. Camel is a group not highly regarded and little known.
The English quartet, with two decent albums under their belt, releases their third work, an ageless jewel of progressive music and beyond. A concept written entirely in just two weeks (!!) in a sort of retreat in a Devon cottage.
The vocal parts, always sparse in Camel's albums, almost completely vanish here without the listener perceiving their absence, captivated by the soothing notes of Andy Latimer's guitar and Bardens' poignant piano. The music is in the group's full style, rich in extremely emotional passages (Rhayader, Fritha Alone, La Princesse Perdue), straightforward and lively (Friendship, The Flight Of The Snow Goose), mysterious and distressing (Preparation, Dunkirk).

The album is inspired by the eponymous story by writer Paul Gallico. Set during the famous Dunkirk retreat of 1940, it tells of the events and friendship between the solitary and deformed Essex lighthouse keeper and an injured snow goose who helplessly and astonished witness the defeat of the Anglo-French troops.
Impressionistic music distributed in sixteen "frescoes" linked by an indissoluble yet imperceptible thread.
The melodic lines are clear, pure, almost celestial, creating a unique atmosphere inherent to this wonderful album. It is extremely "visual" music, full of poetry, complex in structure yet disarmingly simple in melody (only the greatest can achieve this).

In short, let yourself be lulled and transported by every single note, free your mind, put aside all prejudice and listen to it in one breath, perhaps while reading Gallico's story... you will be completely amazed at what Camel managed to achieve: the music adapts to the story almost perfectly, aided discreetly and optimally by orchestral instruments such as bassoon, clarinet, oboe, and flute.
The masterpiece of progressive? Well, for me, undoubtedly... if asked which CD to take to the proverbial deserted island, I wouldn't think twice and would choose this "musical picture/place."