Camel - I Can See Your House From Here (1979)

Steve:

Having entered a new phase of their history with 1978's Breathless album, but also facing ongoing transience and uncertainty, Camel made their 1979 album I Can See Your House From Here with a very different lineup. Founding keyboardist Peter Bardens (a key composer for the band along with guitarist Andy Latimer) left the fold, as did bassist/vocalist Richard Sinclair. In their place, Camel added keyboardist Jan Schelhaas (recently of Caravan) and bassist Colin Bass (recently a member of Steve Hillage's touring band). Providing a new dimension to the band was the temporary addition of a second keyboardist - Kit Watkins, from Happy the Man. Woodwind maestro Mel Collins, drummer Andy Ward, and of course guitarist Andy Latimer (the only constant throughout the band's history) remained. 

Production duties were handled by Rupert Hine, who had already accumulated an impressive list of credits among both commercial and progressive artists, and who would continue at the helm of some very highly regarded albums in the 1980s. With that kind of support, Camel was in a good position to make a quality album with commercial potential. 

The commercial potential was only partially realized, but I Can See Your House From Here remains a superbly accomplished and enjoyable album, combining the best of Camel's instrumental and songwriting capabilities. The two-keyboard lineup immediately makes its presence felt in the electrifying opener "Wait", a fast rocker with frequent tempo shifts and a great keyboard duet where Schelhaas and Watkins trade off 8-bar phrases with their dazzling techniques. As with Breathless, I Can See Your House caught some fans off guard with the inclusion of a couple of mainstream pop songs. The second track "Your Love is Stranger Than Mine" (sung by Bass) is the most obvious example, following in the footsteps of the prior album's "You Make Me Smile".  "Neon Magic", another pop-friendly tune later in the album, was released as a single together with "Your Love is Stranger Than Mine", although it failed to chart.

Although I enjoy the pop tunes Camel offers on this platter, I'd rather write about the startling highlights. "Who We Are" and "Hymn to Her" are both vocal-based love songs with powerful pop hooks in their choruses, but both songs progress in unusual ways. "Who We Are" begins with a lengthy, brisk guitar-based theme before segueing into a completely different theme for the verses and chorus, only returning to the opening theme's melody for a slow and somber restatement prior to the final chorus. "Hymn to Her" also begins with a strong guitar-based instrumental that is reinforced with several repetitions of the verse, including a variation in a new key that's used as an unexpected bridge. The kicker is that the chorus doesn't come in until much later, at which point it repeats until the end of the song, making for a lovely conclusion that releases all of the emotion built up earlier in the song.

The closing 10-minute instrumental "Ice" deserves its own paragraph, as one of the best examples in the Camel discography of Latimer's expressive lead guitar style.  It's a slow song with a minor but majestic chord progression, over which a simple melody is established and developed on acoustic guitar, piano, Moog synthesizer, and finally electric guitar. Latimer wisely takes his time to build the emotion in the various solos, so that the track holds the listener's attention the whole way through. "Ice" is a cathartic musical experience. Whether you feel like you're floating through the sky or feel like crying your eyes out, you will probably not escape this track unaffected.

I Can See Your House From Here appeared in our home soon after the discovery of Breathless, and those two albums remain two of my favorite Camel albums, possibly because of their entry into my life as a pre-teen. Following prog's initial heyday, Camel survived by adopting the song-based style of bands such as the Alan Parsons Project and Supertramp. Although they didn't enjoy as much success as those bands, Camel's albums are as good as either of them.

Dan:

I couldn't write a better entry than Steve's, which captures my own thoughts about I Can See Your House From Here. I listen to "Ice" often and always find it exhilarating. It's the best evidence to support my claim that Andy Latimer is a top-5 rock guitarist, sadly underappreciated by most so-called rock experts. The inclusion of a mostly instrumental track featuring a long, soaring solo from Latimer was to become a staple of live shows and later albums. "The Hour Candle" from Harbor of Tears (1996), "Lawrence" from Rajaz (1999), and "For Today" from Nod and a Wink (2002) are all in the same vein as "Ice."

My copy of the album is a British vinyl pressing that sounds much better than the CD, although there have been more recent digital remasters by Esoteric that I haven't heard. The vinyl beautifully captures all the nuances of Latimer's signature tone. If you're curious enough to stream or download the album, Spotify and Amazon Music have compressed lossy versions available. Qobuz has a 2011 lossless CD-quality download of the album for $7.19. Alternatively, you can download the single track "Ice" from Qobuz for $0.89. Not a bad price to pay for one of the most sublime guitar tracks in prog history.