The classic Camel recording from 1975 is reissued in a great new package, offering a new perspective on the music.
Release Date: Available now
Label: Esoteric Recordings/Cherry Red Records
Format: CD/Blu-ray
A CLASSIC OF PROGRESSIVE ROCK
Music Inspired By The Snow Goose is perhaps the most well known and appreciated album in Camel’s illustrious musical career and stands to this day as a classic of progressive rock from the 1970s.
There are many reasons for this. It was inspired by the evocative 1941 Novella, The Snow Goose, written by Paul Gallico. A poignant and moving story of friendship and redemption set in the Essex marshes with the emblematic symbol of the wounded Snow Goose and its interaction with the two main human characters forming the narrative centrepiece. In addition, the London Symphony Orchestra are featured on the recording, conducted by the very talented David Bedford, who also created the very fine orchestral arrangements. David Bedford in the progressive rock world is known for his collaborations with, for example, Mike Oldfield, and Kevin Ayers.
Then there is the broad cinematic ambition of the band’s compositions and arrangements that make up the album. In effect one continuous piece of music with different sections based around the unfolding of the story’s narrative. Not least, there is also the exceptional and sympathetic quality of the musicianship. Where in addition to the usual rock instrumentation, the band add in flute, pipe organ, and vibes.
The band that recorded this album consisted of the classic line up of: Peter Bardens on various keyboards; Andrew Latimer on guitars, flute, and vocals; Doug Ferguson on bass guitar; and Andy Ward on drums, percussion, and vibes.
THE NEW MIXES
This new clamshell box set reissue, released to coincide with the album’s 50th anniversary, includes two CDs, a Blu-ray disc, and a booklet with contemporary photos from the time, and an informative essay written by Mark Powell. It adds a number of bonus tracks, and alongside the original mixes remastered, you get the more recent 2022 stereo mix and 5.1 surround sound mix by Stephen W Tayler. These seem to be the same mixes that could be found on the 32-disc box set Air Born, which is now very hard to source. So, this set is a great option for hearing these mixes of a classic Camel album.
As we have alluded to in other reviews, Stephen W Tayler is a real artist in developing new mixes that bring out the musical detail and dynamics of a piece. In this review we will focus on Stephen W Tayler’s new stereo mix, with some commentary at the end of the review on the 5.1 surround mix to be found on the Blu-ray disc.
A MAGICAL JOURNEY
The album creates a magical series of soundscapes that follow the contours of the story. By way of illustration, it is worth focussing a little on the opening tracks. The album opens with The Great Marsh, which sets the scene perfectly, with ebbing keyboards and strings and soaring guitar figures, evoking the natural rhythms of a pastoral marshy setting. Rhayader, introducing one of the main characters in the original novella, features a dancing flute and a very fine Peter Bardens keyboard solo, accompanied by the band in sparkling full flight. It has some lovely jazz-based inflections that seem to speak to Rhayader the artist and his appreciation of the nature around him in his paintings. The theme is further developed through Andrew Latimer’s edgy rhapsodic guitar solo on Rhayader Goes to Town, where Rhayader leaves his familiar known environment.
Later, the section titled Fritha, introduces one of the other main characters, the gentle waves of acoustic guitar and synthesiser seeming to sum up the empathic personality who finds the wounded Snow Goose. The Snow Goose of course has their own musical section, which with its majestic sorrowful guitar figures and swirling organ phrases, creates a picture of a graceful creature felled by its wounds.
A MUSICAL SUITE
Interestingly, the music on the album in fact seems to work on two levels. Firstly, the creation of sound pictures that follow the outline of the story, and then also as a musical suite that offers a truly engaging series of varied musical arrangements, bringing together elements of progressive rock with a form of chamber music. This musical combination never seems to falter, with the band’s playing and David Bedford’s orchestral arrangements always completely in sympathy with each other, enabling all of the musical subtleties of such an extended piece to have a voice.
The album’s musical contrasts are very evident across some of the shorter tracks. For example, Friendship features some joyous oboe and bassoon work that is enveloped in washes of glistening keyboard sounds. The succeeding track, Migration, changes the pace completely into a funky rhythm and blues work out accompanied by Andy Latimer’s jazz resonant scat vocal. Stephen W Tayler’s new stereo mix supports and enhances this aspect of the music, giving both a sense of dynamic presence, and space to the orchestra and the individual band instruments in the soundstage. A good example of the latter is the track La Princesse Perdue where the intensity of the strings, and Doug Ferguson and Andy Ward’s percussive drive never feels overwhelming
THE 5.1 SURROUND SOUND MIX
The 5.1 surround sound mix is superb and creates a sense of being immersed in the music as the sounds move all around the listening position. To take just a few examples from the album. The introduction to Rhayader features the strings emerging from the rear speakers, as Andrew Latimer’s flute dances across the front speakers. The thump of Andy Ward’s bass drum is given a reverberating presence through the subwoofer speaker. With the jazz styled section that follows you feel yourself in the middle of the band in the studio, with the cymbals crashing around you.
On Friendship, the mix intriguingly seems to move the oboe parts from the back of the room to the front and back again. On Migration, the 5.1 mix really releases the sheer power of the band and the separation of the instruments across the speakers gives a dynamic live feel. With La Princesse Perdue the strings seem to circle the listener, creating an insightful listening experience.
I suspect the experience of the surround sound mix is a very individual and subjective one, as it should be. Hopefully the above comments will give a flavour of the listening possibilities it offers.
AN EXCELLENT REISSUE PACKAGE
This is an excellent reissue package of a classic album, where the new mixes really add to an appreciation of the qualities inherent in the album. You also, as previously noted, get the original mix remastered, bonus tracks, and an excellent booklet, that sketches in the background to the recording, via a Mark Powell essay. When listening, you might wish to consider seeking out Paul Gallico’s novella to read alongside the music.
You can view here a live version from 1984 of Rhayader / Rhayader Goes to Town:
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Esoteric Recordings and Cherry Red Records online: Esoteric Recordings Website / Cherry Red Records Website
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