Mirage

One of, if not the, best prog rock bands to be named after an ungulate, Camel played a truly idiosyncratic variety of time signature-mangling madness. Hard-edged synths presaged bands like Zombi, but they could also be one of the most accessible of the bunch — “Lady Fantasy” kinda sounds like if The Doors took music lessons instead of drugs. That’s one of two suites here; the other is, of course, about Lord of the Rings. On this, their second album, everything comes together. They use all their strengths to journey across the desert of your imagination.