|
| |
|
: : Glass Hammer - Shadow lands
: : |
|
Band/Artist
Glass Hammer
Title:
Shadow lands
Released
2004
Label
Arion Records |
 |
Track Listing:
1. So Close, So Far
2. Run Lisette
3. Farewell to Shadowlands
4. Longer
5. Behind the Great Beyond |
: : The Players : :
Fred Schendel – lead and backing vocals, steel
guitar, all electric and acoustic guitars, Hammond organ, piano, pipe organ,
keyboards, synthesizers, Mellotron, drums, and percussion /
Steve Babb – lead and backing vocals, four and eight string bass
guitars, synthesizers, keyboards, pipe organ, Mellotron, Taurus Pedals, and
percussion / Walter Moore – lead and backing
vocals Susie Bogdanowicz – lead and backing
vocals / Sarah Snyder – backing vocals
Flo Paris – load vocals (So Close, So Far) /
Bethany Warren: backing vocals (Run Lisette) |
 |
: : Shadow lands : :
It seems people either love ‘em or hate ‘em.
There was much ado about their previous album, Lex Rex. The album was heralded by
fans as a return to the progressive roots of the seventies. After giving that album
a listen, I cannot say it was love at first sight. Initially, I did not get them.
The music seemed a little busy and somewhat contrived. There was no I in team. In
other words, no solos, pauses, transitions. Instead, their music seemed to suffer
from monotony. The music trapped you in a corner and seemed to rob you of all the
concentration you possessed. Not being ready for this onslaught of sound, one can
submit too quickly.
The fact of the matter is you have to listen closely. There is complexity within the
layers. The music flows like waves upon a shoreline. From afar it looks like one
great body of water that is overwhelming without boundaries. With binoculars,
however, one can see a swirling stream, water that crashes upon the rocks, and
ripples that change the course of the current. There is more here than meets the
eyes once you can get past the wall of sound.
Most groups are showers. Whatever impressions are formed on a first listen is pretty
much what you can expect on repeated listens. Rarely do ones opinions go from one
extreme to the other in the realm of music. You either like the music or you don’t
with negligible change. After a few listens, you see that this group is quite
different. Glass Hammer is a grower. The songs continue to sound better on every
listen. Each time I took a trip to the Shadowlands, I got closer to understanding
the spectacle that was occurring within this ocean of music.
Glass Hammer sounds like early seventies progressive rock. Fortunately, we do not
have to wait decades to hear how they sound with the proper tweaking of modern
technology in various re-mastered versions. Right off the shelves, this product is
ready to go. No need for a recall. The music is crystal clear. Every instrument and
voice is capable of being heard.
They sound the most like Yes along with elements of Spock’s Beard and Transatlantic.
The songs have great balance between vocalists from each gender similar to the
recent Kaipa albums.
The opening track, “So Close, So Far” is the most like Yes. The guitarist Fred
Schendel has hints from Steve Howe, Al Morse, and Roine Stolt; so much you have to
wonder if he was a traveling apprentice to these masters.
The second track, “Run Lisette”, continues in this vein. The
bassist Steve Babb is the ideal counterweight. His bass drones out with the same
sort of soul that you would expect from Dave Meros. During other moments it squawks
like the legendary Chris Squire or grooves like the golden Jonas Reingold. The
keyboards border on Keith Emerson.
The third track, “Farewell to Shadowlands” is infused with herbs and spices from
Transatlantic’s garden.
The real treasures are found towards the end of the album. Starting us off with an
appetizer, we are treated to a remake of Dan Fogelberg’s Longer. Glass Hammer’s
version is so incredibly different that you experience a strange sensation hearing
it with these well-known lyrics. The encounter is almost surreal.
The album ends in epic proportion with a song that exceeds the twenty-minute mark.
The song takes the listener in so many directions that you will be experiencing
seasickness by the time it is over.
Spend a day on dry land after it is over. Let the music swirl around in your head.
By the time the dizziness leaves your mind and everything comes back into focus, the
master and commander of your curiosity will be begging you to hit the high seas
again.
Rating: 8.25 Stars
Reviewer: Josh Turner
: : Visit the Artist’s Website : :
: : Discography : :
Discography:
Shadowlands – 2004
Lex Rex – 2002
The Middle-Earth Album – 2001
Chronometree – 2000
On to Evermore – 1998
Live and Revived – 1997
Perelandra – 1994
Journey of the Dunadan – 1993
: : Related Albums : :
Wyzards - The Final Catastrophe - 1997
TMA-2 - Artifact One
TMA-2 - Tick Tock Lilies
Tracy Cloud - Love Changes |
|
|
