01	Wait						05:03
	02	Your Love Is Stranger Than Mine						03:26
	03	Eye Of The Storm						03:52
	04	Who Are We						07:52
	05	Survival						01:12
	06	Hymn To Her						05:37
	07	Neon Magic						04:39
	08	Remote Romance						04:08
	09	Ice						10:18

I Can See Your House From Here
1979

Wait
Your Love is Stranger Than Mine
Eye of the Storm
Who We Are
Survival
Hymn to Her
Neon Magic
Remote Romance
Ice

Andy Latimer: Guitars, Flute, Autoharp, Vocals, Backing Vocals
Andy Ward: Drums, Massed Marching Military Snares, Drum Loop, Percussion
Jan Schelhaas: Yamaha C.S.80, Prophet Five, Yamaha Electric Grand Piano, Mini Moog, Grand Piano, Solina, EMS Sequencer
Kit Watkins: Hammond C.3, Solina, Yamaha Electric Grand Piano, Rhodes Piano, Mini Moog, Clavinet, Flute, Yamaha C.S.80, Grand Piano
Colin Bass: Bass, Vocals, Wal Fretless Bass, Backing Vocals.
guest appearances: Mel Collins: Alto Sax on Your Love is Stranger than Mine
Phil Collins: Percussion


Camel's sound stepping into the 80's with the notable production of Rupert Hine and keyboard work by virtuoso Kit Watkins. Some pop songs, some classic orchestration, some very good instrumentals, some less... But definitely Ice is the peak of this album; voted as the band's most favourite track, Ice is an emotional, impressive progressive piece, of over 10 minutes long.


Some ideas about the album's name and cover suggest it is based on a rather irreverent joke (which, if you really want, you can read on the Humour section). Further dwelling into the subject leads to think that the cover is a reference to the then-recently departure of Peter Bardens. The crucified astronaut could be a reference to Peter's penchant for spacey sounding keyboards and themes. Taken a bit further, it could be that the cover art and title of Peter Bardens' Seen One Earth (from 1987) is a reply of sorts to the I Can See... joke. Although quite interesting, this is totally incorrect... CP informs the members simply liked the vulgar joke, and wanted to give Camel a bit funnier aspect than the serious 'musician' status. (The idea was submitted by Jeff Gebhardt. Jeff, you were wrong, sorry.)
Andy Latimer: "I can see... was meant to be called 'Endangered Species'. I was out voted [sic] by the rest of the band [...] who wanted to be humorous."
...And yet several people felt offended by the joke, record shops refused posters and magazines refused ads.
Jan Schelhaas (he's from exotic Liverpool) played with Caravan, just like Richard Sinclair. When he joined Caravan in 1976, he replaced their keyboard player Dave Sinclair, Richard's cousin. Both Dave Sinclair and Schelhaas played with Camel on their Breathless tour.
Note: A two keyboards-players band. Latimer: "I suddenly thought using two keyboards players would be a great deal because we'd be able to do many more adventurous things..."
Eye of the Storm also appeared on Kit Watkins' band Happy the Man's third album, Better Late.
Neon Magic lyrics were written by Viv McAuliffe, Wait lyrics were written by John McBurnie.
Phil Collins probably played little riffs somewhere, I detect some typical riffs on Hymn to Her
Ice was recorded live in the studio at The Farmyard in Little Chalfont, Berkshire. Latimer wanted to redo the track because of the slightly flat guitar note in the beginning of the solo. The rest of the band, along with producer Rupert Hine and Phil Collins urged him to keep the track as is.
Listen closely to the end of Neon Magic and you'll hear a circus-organ playing a short excerpt from Rhayader.


Deram CD version includes notes by John Tracy.
Decca TXS-R 137, Arista 4254, London L20P 1048, Gama 211030, Released in mid-October 1979
Deram 820 614-2, One Way Records OW 29131.
Total Playing Time: 44:29
I Can See Your House From Here reached number 45 in the UK charts


I Can See Your House From Here Liner Notes


Their eighth album, and fifth to chart in the United Kingdom, I Can See Your House From Here, like its immediate predecessor, Breathless in 1978, was more a collection of songs rather than the concept package, a la The Snow Goose, for which Camel has become justifiably famous.

Of the founding quartet - Andrew Latimer (Guitar, Flute, Vocals); Andy Ward (Drums, Percussion)); Doug Ferguson (Bass) and Peter Bardens (Keyboards) - who'd initially pooled their resources late in 1971 to form this melodic ship of the desert launched officially during the spring of '71, only the first named pair remained. Doug called it a day after completing their fourth set (Moonmadness, 1976), to be replaced by Richard Sinclair, best-known for his time with the Kent-based aggregation Caravan. This line-up was then responsible for Rain Dances (1977), the double LP history A Live Record (1978) and finally, later that same year, Breathless.

At this point one half of the band's songwriting duo, Peter Bardens, decided to pursue an alternative path for the future, but as the boys were already committed to a promotional tour in support of their latest handiwork, a replacement had to be recruited and familiarize himself with Camel's repertoire forthwith. Richard stepped into the breach by suggesting his cousin David and/or Jan Schelhaas, variously Caravaner both, would fit the bill.

Each man was approached and the response was positive, although Dave made it clear from the outset that his association would be purely for the tour fulfillment and no more. Nevertheless, it set the bells ringing in Mr. Latimer's head, as he revealed in 1981: "I suddenly thought using two keyboard players would be a great idea because we'd be able to do many more adventurous things", adding tongue-in-cheek, "At one stage I did think of calling the band Caramel!"

The use of erstwhile Caravan personnel was perfectly logical, as both groups had been moving in similar circles during their respective careers, being signed to Decca labels. Their sounds also were both consciously British in content, and the Guildford, Surrey-born guitarist/leader explained why he intended Camel should remain that way: "I always wanted to keep the music very English because I didn't feel it was worth competing with the Americans. At one stage Peter wanted us to be a Santana-type band, but I believed we should stick to doing what we did best and not try to copy other peoples music." Clearly Bardens ultimate departure was an inevitability, but happily an amicable one in all departments.

Stability of membership though was not to become a prerequisite again in the forseeable future, since immediately following the Breathless crusade another bomb was dropped - exit Richard Sinclair. Andy Latimer: "Richard couldn't really cope with our level of touring. We were playing a lot of concerts, doing around seventy in seventy-eight days. It was very hard work. And we were playing to a lot of people every night, houses of around two to three thousand." So what was to happen next? "That was when we linked with Colin Bass who soon worked out extremely well. He was a very different player to Richard, very solid."

Jan Schelhaas who, apart from Caravan had also graced The National Head Band and Gary Moore's ensemble, remained with the Andys, and since Latimer wanted to continue with a twin black-and-whites attack, Kit Watkins from Happy The Man opted to change address.

Throughout the summer of '79 this new quintet set about penning the contents of another long-player, continuing the new-broom-sweeps-clean philosophy by seeking additionally a fresh face to occupy the producer's role. Rupert Hine received the thumbs-up, a top-notcher whose curriculum vitae already boasted the satisfied client signatures of such as Kevin Ayers (Confessions of Dr. Dream, 1972); Yvonne Elliman (Food of Love, 1973); Dave Greenslade (Cactus Choir, 1976); Quantum Jump (Quantum Jump, 1976; Barracuda, 1977) and Cafe Jacques (Round the Back, 1977; International, 1978). On top of this he'd also recorded as a writer/artist himself, notably in 1976 coming up with a marvellously innovative and unjustifiably neglected vocal 45 entitled Snakes Don't Dance Fast (Electric), on which he supplied all the instrumental accompaniment - reputedly with just his mouth. A man with a commercial pedigree, Camel had made an interesting choice.

Through a process of elimination after each participant had exercised his quill for the common good, nine numbers were shortlisted for recording, each the solo endeavour or in collaboration via various permutations, of the individuals named hereafter: Messrs. Latimer, Ward, Schelhaas, Bass, Watkins, John McBurnie and Viv McAuliffe. But what to call the harmonic portrait overall?

There was a rather long-winded joke doing the rounds in England at the time concerning crucifixion, the punchline of which had the poor unfortunate nailed to a cross stating to his beckoned observer, "I can see your house from here." Obviously this jape made an impression on our heroes sufficiently to be adopted and, plumbing for an outer space theme adaption for sleeve graphics, found itself registered as the billing for Taped and mixed at the Farmyard Studios in Little Chalfont with orchestral overdubs added at London's celebrated A.I.R. establishment, old friend Mel Collins - a sessioneer for Caravan also - added his saxophone contributions, while Genesis' legendary drummer/vocalist Phil Collins- totally unrelated - also dropped by to rattle some traps.

Latimer was delighted with the end product, as he made emphatically obvious: "Rupert was great fun to work with, he was really up and zappy. I enjoyed making that record. We did it rather quickly and it wasn't a lengthy production."

Magnetic oxide was delivered to 'The Supreme Record Company', and a release date scheduled at home for mid-October 1979 as Decca TXS-R 137. On the 27th of the month it bounced into the charts, lodging twenty-one days and peaking at No. 45.

It was decided by the powers-that-be to issue a supporting seven incher to boost media interest, and it appears that the first choice item was allocated a catalogue number and then shelved temporarily to make way for what was felt to be a stronger maxi-single. From the new spectacle Andy Latimer and Kit Watkins' Remote Romance was edited to form the 'A' side of Decca F-R 13879 (Rel.: 26th October, UK only), while its lower deck consisted of single version of Rainbow's End from Breathless (TXS-R 132, 22nd September 1978) and a Camel/Mick Glossop production of Tell Me, a number first heard on Rain Dances (TXS-R 124, September 1977). Sadly, like all such Camel offerings, it failed to trouble compilers of the weekly best-sellers, but encouraged the radio play for which it was primarily intended.

On 29th February 1980 that which had originally been intended as a inaugural single surfaced, when F-R 13871 called to admirers everywhere, this time cementing the latest set's Your Love is Stranger than Mine and Neon Magic back-to-back. While not breaking the mould of that which had gone before, sales figures were respectable. By their own admission, however, Camel set out to create anything with the singles market in mind, but unlike many of their album-orientated contemporaries, readily accepted their disc outlets' attempts worldwide to broaden band appeal through the media mainstream as they wished.

1980, as it turned out, would be the first year since their inception that our subjects proferred no new LP, for although one was ready for shipment immediately prior to Christmas that year, it was wisely held over until January '81 to avoid the possibility of being swamped in the seasonal rush.

This latest extravaganza, Nude, marked a return to a specific concept ideal, and witnessed the departure of both keyboard practitioners who had solo ideas waiting to come off the back burners. Duncan Mackay stepped into the performing spotlight in their absence, although Jan tinkled the ivories on one track and co-authored another, Watkins also leaving his pen's impression on a solitary opus. But that tale, dear reader, belongs to another day. Let us for now savour Chapter Eight of the Camel story, I Can See Your House From Here...

c John Tracy London, 1989




Deram (820 614-2)
UK 1979

Andrew Latimer, guitars, vocals, flute, autoharp;
Andy Ward, drums;
Colin Bass, bass, vocals;
Jan Schelhaas, keyboards;
Kit Watkins, keyboards;
with Mel Collins, sax; Phil Collins, percussion; Rupert Hine, vocals

Joe McGlinchey:
At the close of the 70s, most of the high-profile prog bands were slowly but surely choking in the noose, their musical output notably manifesting increasing concessions to their respective labels. Camel was no exception, and this somewhat dated-sounding, uneven release reveals a band pretty obviously trying to accommodate to the changes taking place in the popular musical climate. Up-and-coming new-wavers like Blondie probably weren't losing sleep over the 'rawer' offerings presented here like "Wait" or "Your Love is Stranger Than Mine." The former, an otherwise bland tune, still at least features some great fun in the dueling moog solos of keyboardists Kit Watkins (fresh from Happy the Man) and Caravan's Jan Schelhaas. Embarrassments like "Neon Magic" and "Remote Romance," however, make The Buggles and A Flock of Seagulls sound like Stravinsky by comparison. On the positive side, even now Camel didn't entirely jettison the roots of their past symphonic sound. Happily, there are still a substantial number of decent compositions: Watkins' "Eye of the Storm," Latimer's extended ballad "Who We Are," as well as side two's excellent offerings "Hymn to Her" (perhaps the closest-sounding track to the classic quartet era) and the ten-minute closer "Ice." So, on the whole you could do better than this one, but then again you could also do much, much worse.

Eric Porter:
Camel's lineup again changed on this recording. Sinclair had left the band, and Colin Bass makes his first appearance with the band and is thankfully still making music with Andy today. The fabulous Kit Watkins on keyboards from Happy the Man is also on this disc and he is my all-time favorite keyboardist. Only Andy Ward remains from the original line-up along with Latimer. Mel Collins reappears on a track, and Phil Collins also makes a guest appearance. This is probably the most accessible release by the band to this point. I find the performance excellent. "Wait" does have a very catchy feel, but if you listen to the guitar solos and Watkins' and Schelhaas's keyboard solos, it has to blow you away. "Your Love is Stranger Than Mine" is in the pop vein, and one of my least favorites on the CD. "Eye of the Storm" is a Watkins written track and is just beautiful: an instrumental work featuring Watkins on keyboards and flute. This also was done by Happy the Man, a great track. "Who We Are" is a pretty ballad that has an orchestra in the middle and the intro has some nice guitar work that does not reflect the structure of the vocal part of the song. "Survival" is an orchestra playing a short (1:04) piece of music written by Latimer. One of the more interesting tracks, in that it shows the scope of Andy's symphonic interests. "Hymn to Her" is still played in concert today and is a great track again featuring trade off licks between Latimer and Watkins (I wish they had done more together). This one sends chills up my spine, during the section where they solo together. "Neon Magic" is pretty pop-orientated and the vocal is lousy. There is a section which sounds reminescent of ELP in the middle which is the highlight of the song to me. "Remote Romance" I will go on record as saying may be one of worst songs they have recorded. It is very electronic sounding for its day, just not my cup of tea, and probably most fans feel the same. "Ice" on the other hand may be one of my all time favorite tracks and ends the CD with a lot of power and emotion. This may be Andy's best solo on record. If you are a fan of Camel and have not heard this one you are missing classic Latimer guitar playing. Watkins adds some fine keyboard work of his own, but the spotlight here is on Latimer. This is his "Comfortably Numb" if you will. A touching instrumental symphonic masterpiece. Although not the most consistent of Camel's work, it is good, and I don't think it is as pop oriented as most people.

===========

Their eighth album, and fifth to chart in the United Kingdom, "I Can See Your House From Here", like its immediate predecessor, "Breathless" in 1978, was more a collection of songs rather than the concept package, a la "The Snow Goose", for which Camel has become justifiably famous.

Of the founding quartet - Andrew Latimer (Guitar, Flute, Vocals); Andy Ward (Drums, Percussion)); Doug Ferguson (Bass) and Peter Bardens (Keyboards) - who'd initially pooled their resources late in 1971 to form this melodic ship of the desert launched officially during the spring of '71, only the first named pair remained. Doug called it a day after completing their fourth set (_Moonmadness_, 1976), to be replaced by Richard Sinclair, best-known for his time with the Kent-based aggregation Caravan.
This line-up was then responsible for _Rain Dances_ (1977), the double LP history _A Live Record_ (1978) and finally, later that same year, _Breathless_.

At this point one half of the band's songwriting duo, Peter Bardens, decided to pursue an alternative path for the future, but as the boys were already committed to a promotional tour in support of their latest handiwork, a replacement had to be recruited and familiarize himself with Camel's repertoire forthwith. Richard stepped into the breach by suggesting his cousin David and/or Jan Schelhaas, variously Caravaner both, would fit the bill.

Each man was approached and the response was positive, although Dave made it clear from the outset that his association would be purely for the tour fulfillment and no more. Nevertheless, it set the bells ringing in Mr. Latimer's head, as he revealed in 1981: "I suddenly thought using two keyboard players would be a great idea because we'd be able to do many more adventurous things", adding
tongue-in-cheek, "At one stage I did think of calling the band Caramel!"

The use of erstwhile Caravan personnel was perfectly logical, as both groups had been moving in similar circles during their respective careers, being signed to Decca labels. Their sounds also were both consciously British in content, and the Guildford, Surrey-born guitarist/leader explained why he intended Camel should remain that way: "I always wanted to keep the music very English because I didn't feel it was worth competing with the Americans. At one stage Peter wanted us to be a Santana-type band, but I believed we should stick to doing what we did best and not try to copy other peoples music." Clearly Bardens ultimate departure was an inevitability, but happily an amicable one in all departments.

Stability of membership though was not to become a prerequisite again in the forseeable future, since immediately following the _Breathless_ crusade another bomb was dropped - exit Richard Sinclair. Andy Latimer: "Richard couldn't really cope with our level of touring. We were playing a lot of concerts, doing around seventy in seventy-eight days. It was very hard work. And we were playing to a lot of people every night, houses of around two to three thousand." So what was to happen next? "That was when we linked with Colin Bass who soon worked out extremely well. He was a very different player to Richard, very solid."

Jan Schelhaas who, apart from Caravan had also graced The National Head Band and Gary Moore's ensemble, remained with the Andys, and since Latimer wanted to continue with a twin black-and-whites attack, Kit Watkins from Happy The Man opted to change address.

Throughout the summer of '79 this new quintet set about penning the contents of another long-player, continuing the new-broom-sweeps-clean philosophy by seeking additionally a fresh face to occupy the producer's role. Rupert Hine received the thumbs-up, a top-notcher whose curriculum vitae already boasted the satisfied client signatures of such as Kevin Ayers (_Confessions of Dr. Dream_, 1972); Yvonne Elliman (_Food of Love_, 1973); Dave Greenslade (_Cactus Choir_, 1976); Quantu


===========

I Can See Your House From Here (1979)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I don't listen to this album very often. Though it came after both, I would put it inbetween Rain Dances and Breathless both in "sound" and in quality (better than the former, not as good as the latter). Nothing about it really stands out, except for possibly the instrumental finale, "Ice". There are some nice upbeat songs; "Remote Romance" is particularly fun. The slower pieces are pretty ordinary and forgettable.
Overall, it's a good album. I think it was particularly disappointing to me because Breathless was such a promising return to the old Camel magic, but it seems to be slipping away again here.

Other Opinions
From William W. Thompson:
I am very hot on this CD. The level of musicianship kept rising within Camel with this album. Great keyboards! "Hymn to Her" is great. "Remote Romance" shows the then New Wave crowd how to do it right. And "Ice" is simply a classic. Love this disk!