View from the Ground

View from the Ground
Studio album by America
Released	July 15, 1982
Recorded	1982
Studio	Amigo Studios, Capitol Studios, Hollywood, California; Abbey Road Studios, London, England
Genre	Pop rock
Length	39:44
Label	Capitol
Producer	Gerry Beckley, Dewey Bunnell, Russ Ballard, Bobby Colomby
America chronology
Alibi (1980)Alibi1980 View from the Ground (1982) The Last Unicorn (1982)The Last Unicorn1982

View from the Ground is the tenth studio album by American folk rock duo America, released by Capitol Records in July 1982.

This album marked a comeback for a group that had been generally written off since Dan Peek's departure five years before. It was a modest hit in the US, reaching number 41 on the Billboard album chart, and produced two hit singles: "You Can Do Magic" reached number eight on the Billboard singles chart and number five on the adult contemporary chart, and "Right Before Your Eyes" (also popularly known as "Rudolph Valentino") peaked at 45 on the Billboard singles chart and 16 on the adult contemporary chart.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

Allmusic gave high praise to the hit songs "You Can Do Magic" and "Right Before Your Eyes", but deemed View from the Ground "an exceptionally slick-sounding yet pedestrian album overall". They recommended that listeners instead seek out the two hits, especially "You Can Do Magic", on greatest hits compilations.^[1]

Track listing

Personnel

• Gerry Beckley – vocals, guitars, keyboards
• Dewey Bunnell – vocals, guitars, drums
• Russ Ballard – bass guitar, guitars, keyboards, backing vocals
• Chris Cote – keyboards, synthesizer, backing vocals
• Christopher Cross – backing vocals
• Hadley Hockensmith – guitar
• Mark Isham – synthesizer
• Tom Kelly – backing vocals
• Chuck Kirkpatrick – vocals
• Willie Leacox – drums
• Steve Lukather – guitar
• Matthew McCauley – string arrangements, string conductor
• Mike Mirage – guitar, vocals
• Bill Mumy – guitar
• Rick Neigher – guitar
• Brad Palmer – bass guitar
• Dean Parks – guitar
• Jeff Porcaro – drums
• Mike Porcaro – bass
• The Patterson – keyboards, synthesizer
• Timothy B. Schmit – backing vocals
• Alvin Taylor – drums
• Sarah Taylor – backing vocals
• Tom Walsh – percussion
• Carl Wilson – backing vocals
• Jai Winding – keyboards, synthesizer
• Michael Woods – guitar

Singles

• You Can Do Magic/Even the Score
• Right Before Your Eyes/Inspector Mills
• Jody/Inspector Mills

References