I CAN SEE YOUR HOUSE FROM HERE

Even though 2003 was just a few years back, the comparison of great information resource sites have definitely expanded a lot since then. Back then, my main sources of influence came from AMG's Allmusic Guide and the occasional visit to Ground & Sky, but other than that I rarely bothered to get a third opinion before purchasing new music. When it came to I Can See Your House From Here, both of these resources seemed very untrustworthy, especially Allmusic that even awarded this album the AMG Album Pick and hailed it to be Camel's most popular work.

What I experienced here was far from the band that I would later learn to love. The definite commercial feel of the two opening tracks repelled me, still I pushed on and was awarded by a first glimpse of Eye Of The Storm. This was the only track composed entirely by Kit Watkins and the change of style is definitely for the better with this atmospheric instrumental number. This change of pace really did wonders for my initial experience since the next few tracks felt almost like the band were getting towards the style that would resemble progressive rock.

Hymn To Her was where the band managed to successfully combine their progressive influences with the commercial such and have they only continued in this same direction the results here would have been a whole lot better. This doesn't really happen and, starting with Neon Magic, the songwriting takes another turn for the worse. The 10-minute album concluding track simply titled Ice depicts a return to form for Andrew Latimer, but by this time it's already too late to save I Can See Your House From Here from failure.

Granted that 1979 was hardly a strong year for progressive rock, I Can See Your House From Here still managed to show everything that was was wrong with our heroes at the turn of the decade. The commercial approach might have worked for a few acts like Genesis and Alan Parsons Project, but for these few exceptions we had a sea filled with terrible pop music coming from bands that only moments ago made some of the best music of the '70s.

**** star songs: Eye Of The Storm (3:42) Hymn To Her (5:23) Ice (10:10)

*** star songs: Wait (4:50) Who We Are (7:26) Survival (1:04) Neon Magic (4:39)

** star songs: Your Love Is Stranger Than Mine (3:14) Remote Romance (4:01)

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