''Moonmadness'' is the fourth studio album by English

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

band

Camel A camel (from and () from Ancient Semitic: ''gāmāl'') is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. Camels have long been domesticated and, as livestock, they provid ...

. It was released in April 1976 on

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, record label * Decca Gold, classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, musical theater record label * Decca Studios, recording facility in West ...

and Gama Records and is their last album recorded by the group's original line-up of

Andrew Latimer Andrew Latimer (born 17 May 1949) is an English musician and composer. He is a founding member of the progressive rock band Camel and the only member who has been with them since their formation in 1971. Although he is best known as a guitarist ...

Peter Bardens Peter Bardens (19 June 1945 – 22 January 2002) was an English keyboardist and a founding member of the progressive rock group Camel. He played keyboards, sang, and wrote songs with Andrew Latimer. During his career, Bardens worked alongside ...

, Doug Ferguson, and Andy Ward. After reaching success with their previous album, the all-instrumental '' The Snow Goose'', the band started on a follow-up and incorporated vocals and lyrics to the new music. ''Moonmadness'' has a loose

concept A concept is an abstract idea that serves as a foundation for more concrete principles, thoughts, and beliefs. Concepts play an important role in all aspects of cognition. As such, concepts are studied within such disciplines as linguistics, ...

with one track based on the personality of each band member: "Air Born" for Andrew Latimer, "Chord Change" for Peter Bardens, "Another Night" for Doug Ferguson, and "Lunar Sea" for Andy Ward. In 2018, 42 years after its release, Camel performed the album live in its entirety.

Background

Camel's popularity grew in 1975 with their critically acclaimed instrumental album '' The Snow Goose'', which was followed by the group being voted Britain's Brightest Hope by readers of the nationwide music publication ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

''. In late 1975, the band spent three weeks writing new music for a follow-up album, and recorded ''Moonmadness'' in January and February 1976. At the time of release, Latimer said he was very pleased with the album despite the need to rush to finish it. The last track, "Lunar Sea", ends with a minute-long wind-blowing effect. On some LP pressings, the record arm would skip during the end of this part and naturally return to the beginning of the effect, playing it endlessly (the "terminal groove" effect). In the '' Q'' & ''

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'' Classic Special Edition ''Pink Floyd & The Story of Prog Rock'', the album came number 23 in its list of "40 Cosmic Rock Albums". It was voted no. 58 in the Top 100 Prog albums of All Time by readers of 'Prog' magazine in 2014. Camel performed the album in its entirety on a 2018 tour.

Track listing

Personnel

;Camel *

– guitars, flute; vocals (5, 6) *

– keyboards; vocals (4) * Doug Ferguson – bass; vocals (2) * Andy Ward – drums, percussion; voice (1) ;Production * Engineered by

Rhett Davies Rhett Davies (born 1949 in London) is an English record producer and engineer. Davies' father was the trumpet player Ray Davies. Davies became a studio engineer at Island Records in the early 1970s. One of his first recording sessions was for B ...

* Original LP cover design by Field

Release details

* 1976, UK, Gama Records/Decca Records TXS-R 115, Release Date March 1976, LP * 2002, UK, London 8829292, Release Date 3 June 2002, CD (remastered edition) * 2009, Germany, Decca 5316287, Release Date 25 February 2009, CD (deluxe edition)

Charts

Certifications

References

External links

Camel - ''Moonmadness'' (1976) album review by Daevid Jehnzen, credits & releases
at

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Camel - ''Moonmadness'' (1976) album releases & credits
at

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Camel - ''Moonmadness'' (1976) album review by Matthijs van der Lee, credits & user reviews
at SputnikMusic.com
Camel - ''Moonmadness'' (1976) album to be listened
as stream at Play.Spotify.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Moonmadness (Album) 1976 albums Camel (band) albums 1970s concept albums Decca Records albums Albums produced by Rhett Davies