Cs80

Short-lived English super group founded in the 70s by John Wetton and Bill Bruford (ex-King Crimson). They were active between 1977 - 1980, and reformed in 2012 with John Wetton, Eddie Jobson, and Terry Bozzio as the main line-up…

Although not an honest representation of the band's character, this is undoubtedly their most popular work. The one-time addition of American Kit Watkins produces some fine keyboard lead work. Rupert Hine's resourceful production and appearances by Phil Collins and Mel Collins round out this strong import release. "Survival" and "Who We Are" feature some fine orchestrations, and guitarist Latimer delivers some exceptional lead work on the album's closer, "Ice." ~ Matthew Plichta

Following the ambitious song cycle Nude, Camel attempted their version of an Alan Parsons Project album with The Single Factor. Considering that Parsons was having hits that year with songs like "Eye in the Sky," it's not surprising that Camel tried to capture the same audience, yet their talent didn't lay with pop music – it lay with atmospheric instrumentals and creating detailed soundscapes. Consequently, The Single Factor sounds a little forced and often fails to capture the group's magic, even though there a few strong moments on the record.

Camel's The Single Factor is my least favorite Camel album up to 1982 and many would argue that this is also their weakest. Fresh off their release of the concept album Nude, Camel delivers a pop rock smorgasbord. There really are some woeful tracks here, but on the flip side, some pretty good ones as well. Latimer writes or co-writes everything here (not all that surprising) and The Single Factor did achieve mild success at the time of its release in the UK. As always, there is a decent amount of guitar work spread throughout the album to keep Latimer fans happy…