no stranger to the skies
| Format | 2CD |
| Country | USA |
| Recorded | 1973-77 |
| Issued | 2000 |
| Label | Relentless Pursuit |
| Cat no. | RD4128 |
| Playing time | 44:37/56:15 |
| Reviewer | Rikard A Toftesund |
| GLASS no stranger to the skies |
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Welcome to chapter 497 in the series "unissued USA prog bands from the 70s". In this case, we speak of a double CD divided into studio/demo recordings and live recordings performed by an instrumental keyboards-bass/guitar-percussion trio from Washington State on the north west coast of the continent.
A particularily rich CD booklet with detailed comments by the band on each of the 14 tracks on the CDs, tells the tale of a locally recognized, but largely ignored Glass. The material on these two CDs spans the group's life from 1972-78. Musically, this is a well-known landscape for the experienced prog listener, symphonic rock with distinct fusion touches, which is especially emphasized through frequent use of major7 chords and general jazz harmonising.
Here, the listener once again is submerged into a swamp of this archetypical Hammond/ piano/ Rhodes/ Mellotron/ ARP/ Minimoog/ Taurus Pedals sound, without really understanding more of the irresistebility of just this recipe. In practice, there is not much that separates the music of Glass from clerarly related acts like Holding Pattern, SFF, Terpandre and Moonmadness-era Camel. These moderately sophisticated arrangements are forced through large pseudo-orchestral soundscapes, everything is well-played and delivered with just the correct amount of subtlety to ensure that the basic drive is maintained. Glass, in other words, have freed themselves from all expectations of innovation right from the start, something which puts all the more demand on the melodies. The studio CD is in this respect rather uneven, here are both well-intended active and involuntarily stationary parts, it is neither irritatingly lame nor impressively tight, it's just more of what you have already heard and liked/disliked, all according.
The tracks are very long, and the live CD opens with the 6-part Broken Ears lasting for half an hour. The closeness of the sound, and the more intricate structures, paired with the instrumental nerve in these performances, makes the concert recording far more interesting in my ears, in fact alone worth the total price.
The conclusion: This is another of the attractive and edible CDs that arrive too late to satisfy the hunger for something new.
© 2001 Tarkus Magazine