Camel - The Single Factor/On the Road 1982 (1982)

Dan:

In May and June, 1982, our family lived in Copenhagen during my stay as a visiting faculty member. During that time, Camel was touring, so Steve and I made plans to attend the concert, held at the Odd Fellow Palæet. Unbeknownst to us, this was a special venue that used to be a small palace but was later converted into a concert hall with only 210 seats and perfect acoustics, according to their website. My Danish friends were surprised to hear that a rock concert would be held in a space normally reserved for wedding receptions and string quartet recitals. 

As we walked in, I could hear amazing sounds coming from the P/A system. I later discovered that it was an instrumental excerpt from a Rush album, Moving Pictures, basically the first two minutes of "The Camera Eye." As we settled in and the stage lit up, Camel launched into "Sasquatch," a great choice for an opening number. The rest of the concert was, in a word, euphoric.

When I got back to Miami, I made my way to Yesterday and Today records and found The Single Factor, which had just been released. It was then that I realized that the tour in Europe was connected to the new album. The concert included lots of the album's songs as well as the old standbys, although I don't have evidence or memory of the set list. It doesn't matter. It was one of the most enjoyable experiences of the whole trip and a special event in my prog journey. 

Years later, after Andrew Latimer had established Camel Productions in Mountain View, CA, he released an "On the Road" series of live concerts. On the Road 1982 was recorded at another concert on the tour, in Den Haag, NL. It was like being back in Copenhagen for me. I ordered all of the live recordings, which usually arrived with Andrew's signature on the CD cover. I appreciated this personal touch and was glad to be a recognized member of the Camel fan base. 

Returning to The Single Factor, the album itself was a product of some of the conflicts mentioned in our earlier review of Breathless. In Camel's futile attempt to create a hit single, The Single Factor was populated with shorter songs. Thankfully, all of the songs are good ones, but of course none became hits. I almost feel like the band was too good to write pop songs for the masses. In particular, the strong instrumental tracks - "Sasquatch" and "Selva" - don't appeal to wider audiences; and the softer tunes - "Lullabye," "A Heart's Desire," and "End Peace" - are too delicate to play on the air. But they make for a diverse album that shows off the musicianship common to all of Camel's oeuvre. 

According to online sources, the title of the fifth song from The Single Factor, "Camelogue," combined the words “Camel” and “Epilogue,” reflecting Latimer's thoughts of putting an end to the band. Thankfully, he did not but the lyrics betray his worries:

Fighting the lead

I was so confused

Feeling so accused

A solo rise

Have to keep going for the song and the road

Temptation sighs

Leave us a memory we've loved and known

What can I do?

Lastly, I am glad that I got The Single Factor on vinyl; the CD version is quite bad. Hopefully the remastered Esoteric version (2009) improves the digital sound. 

Steve:

My first concert! You can bet I remember most if not all of the show in Copenhagen during that fascinating long-term (6 weeks) trip there as I was just entering my teens. When my daughter was around the same age, my family took a trip to England and Scotland, and I knew from my own experience that the trip would have a huge effect on her life.  

The Single Factor, unfortunately, came at a time of uncertainty and instability for Camel. As a result, it is commonly considered a low point in the band's discography. I only hope that readers will listen to the album with open minds to hear that it still has much to recommend it - that is, unless readers still begrudge "pop" Camel as found on Breathless and I Can See Your House from Here (both reviewed elsewhere on this blog). 

And yes, the song-based, verse/chorus songs are dominant here, with guitarist Andrew Latimer clearly leading the way. In fact, as the album title implies, it feels like a solo album with help from outside musicians. Founding drummer Andy Ward had left the band due to an injury to his hand (as the lyric insert explains; Ward would later resurface as a member of The Bevis Frond, much to my delight!). David Paton and Chris Rainbow, both of whom had contributed to the Alan Parsons Project, provide additional lead vocals and instrumental help, with Anthony Phillips helping out on guitar and Fairport Conventioneer Dave Mattacks playing the drums. Latimer was the single original member left. 

The songs (mostly co-written by Latimer and his wife Susan Hoover) are uniformly introspective searches for strength and inspiration. "You Are the One" sounds like a typical love song at first, but the lyrics strongly hint at a religious epiphany - a love letter to God. "Camelogue" (quoted by Dan above), my favorite vocal piece on the album, depicts a man cast adrift with an uncertain future but determined to somehow "keep going for the song and the road". The song preceding it, "Manic", is a frantic confession of extreme mood swings and loss of control, sung to a racing tempo with jagged synthesizer stabs and loud guitars. The song concludes in a dark cloud devoid of rhythm and full of dissonant chords as Latimer acknowledges "there is no way out". Heavy stuff.

On the instrumental front, The Single Factor extends at least one carrot to the devoted Camel fan, the majestic "Sasquatch", which opens side 2. This song opened the concert we attended, and I remember it as well as any concert in my life, 40+ years later. Anthony Phillips provides the defining riff, delivered in rolling waves of acoustic 12-string guitar, over which Latimer performs the lead guitar magic he's always done. Elsewhere, "Selva" is an atypical ambient instrumental similar to "Elke" from the Rain Dances album (which had featured Brian Eno). When followed by the short piano/vocal piece "Lullabye", side 1 ends on a calm yet somber note, setting the stage for "Sasquatch" to lift one's spirits again.

I would never claim that The Single Factor is one of Camel's best albums, but it did play a large part in my life, and it's a lot better than the dismissive reviews that dominate the critical landscape would have you believe.