Mirage (Camel album)

There are five tracks on Mirage, two over 9 minutes. Those two are multi-part songs: "Lady Fantasy" and "Nimrodel/The Procession/The White Rider", the latter being about The Lord of the Rings. "Supertwister" includes a showcase for Andrew Latimer's flute. ==Creation==

Gama Records was looking for an outlet for their projects and quickly signed a long-term deal with Decca/London branch label, Deram Records. The first fruits of this collaboration was Mirage. For this first installment, the Gama Records label makes a production effort well above that of the first album with MCA. The first step was to have a weight producer like David Hitchcock (Genesis, Caravan), and half a dozen sound engineers including John Burns, Bill Price or Howard Kilgour and distributed between Island Studios, Decca Studios and the Air Studios. Mick Rock shot the inner sleeve photo for the album. ==Critical reception==

There was no promo single, nor did it chart in the UK, but the general media response to the finished record was very promising. The prestigious Sounds magazine was one of the first to praise the work and Andy Ward and Doug Ferguson were described as a well-oiled machine. Even further was The Beat Magazine that declared Mirage "Album of the Month", and finally came the surprise when the record entered the Billboard Top 200 at number 149 and remained visible for no less than 13 weeks. Today, Mirage is considered one of the essential Progressive Rock albums of all time, occupying position 21 on the list of the 50 Essential Progressive Rock Albums by Rolling Stone magazine. In a Sputnikmusic album review, critic Matthijs van der Lee declared Mirage as Camel's "magnum opus". Release details • 1974, U.S., Janus Records • 1974, UK, Deram Records SML 1107, Release Date 1 March 1974, LP • 2002, UK, London 8829292, Release Date 3 June 2002, CD (remastered edition) • 2023, Deram Records, Release Date 20 October 2023, Digital (2023 Remastered & Expanded Edition) • 2025, Esoteric Recordings, Release Date 2025, Box Set 2 x CD 1 x Blu- Ray ==Track listing==

Camel • Andrew Latimer – guitars, flute; vocals on "The White Rider" and "Lady Fantasy" • Peter Bardens – organ, piano, Minimoog, Mellotron, Fender electric piano, Hohner clavinet, celesta; vocals on "Freefall" and "Lady Fantasy" • Doug Ferguson – bass • Andy Ward – drums, percussion Production • Produced by David Hitchcock • Engineered by Howard Kilgour and Bill Price ==Charts==