Camino Palmero

Camino Palmero is the debut studio album recorded by American alternative band the Calling. It was released by RCA Records on July 10, 2001. It contains their hit single "Wherever You Will Go". The title of the album comes from a Los Angeles street where band members Alex Band and Aaron Kamin first met. The record has many grunge influences and guitar solos.

Lyrically, the album explores topics dealing with romantic love, relationships, heartache, and misplaced loyalty. The cover art of the album represents the platforms 5 and 6 of the Santa Maria Novella railway station in Florence, Italy.

Camino Palmero peaked at number 36 on Billboard 200 and was certified Gold by Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The album was generally panned by music critics for its subject matter and unoriginality, although some praised its arrangement and Band's vocal performance.

Critical reception
Camino Palmero garnered mostly negative reviews from music critics. Johan Wippsson of Melodic saw potential in the band based on "Wherever You Will Go" and an amount of constant energy throughout the album despite generic lyrics about relationships, concluding with, "Except for that this is a very impressing debut from a group that have all the chances to be the next Lifehouse." Bob Waliszewski of Plugged In commended the album for delivering positive messages of forgiveness and self-realization but found it a little indulgent in its unsavoury delights, concluding that "Camino Palmero acknowledges God, celebrates lifelong love and speaks up for the destitute. But several cuts show bad form in their approach to women by modeling lust, bitterness and sexual immorality."

David Browne, writing for Entertainment Weekly, said that despite checking off all the requirements of arena rock he criticized Alex Band for writing songs that are self-indulgent in their tales of on-and-off again relationships, saying that "The Calling are so stiflingly earnest that their love song playing off the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire catchphrase – "Final Answer" – is dead serious." Hannah Hamilton of Hot Press panned the album for its overly simplistic musicianship and lyrics about unoriginal romances, calling it "a mild, meek, pathetic excuse for a record that goes nowhere, says nothing and charges you twenty euro for the pleasure. Guilty? Oh hell yes."

Commercial performance
The album peaked at number 36 on the Billboard 200 and number 12 on UK Albums Charts, also reaching numbers 118 and 84 on the respective Year End charts. The album was also certified Gold in Canada by November 2002, having sold over than 50,000 units. Camino Palmero also did well on several international charts; it reached number 16 in Italy and peaked the Top 100 Mexico, attaining diamond certification plus triple platinum certification in that country. In Brazil, it has been certified platinum by Associação Brasileira dos Produtores de Discos (ABPD).

Personnel
Credits adapted from the Camino Palmero liner notes.

The Calling
 * Alex Band – lead vocals
 * Aaron Kamin – lead guitar, backing vocals
 * Sean Woolstenhulme – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
 * Billy Mohler – bass
 * Nate Wood – drums, backing vocals

Additional musicians
 * Ron Fair – synthesizer
 * Bob Glaub – bass guitar
 * Paul Mirkovich – keyboards
 * Zac Rae – organ
 * Satnam Ramgotra – percussion, tabla

Technical
 * Ron Fair – Executive Producer
 * Tiago Becker – Assistant Engineer
 * Marc Greene – Engineer
 * Robert Hadley – Mastering
 * Frank Harkins – Art Direction, Design
 * Chris Lord – Mixing
 * Stephen Marcussen – Mastering
 * Doug Sax – Mastering
 * Matt Silva – Mixing
 * Marc Tanner – Producer
 * David Thoener – Engineer, Mixing