FEATURED BAND

Glass Hammer first emerged on to the USA Prog-Rock scene in 1993. The core line-up of the group is Fred Schendel (Hammond organ, Mellotron, Mini-Moog, keyboards, acoustic, electric and slide guitar {lead and rhythm}, auto-harp, drums and backing vocals) and Steve Babb (bass guitar, keyboards, Mellotron, assorted analogue synths, and backing vocals), with several other musicians drafted in for extra instrumental and vocal support.

Instrumentally, they come from the ELP, Greenslade and Yes school of thought, and the Pink Floyd class in the vocal department. The band’s keyboard dominated style of music is one of THE finest examples of the genre to come from the American prog scene. They have a superb melodic flow to the music they make, encapsulating real power and dynamics without ever becoming overpowering.

Their albums are totally professional productions that allow plenty of space for instrumental work-outs, with sensationally skilled keyboard work that is right up there in the class of Tony Banks (Mellotron/synth parts), Keith Emerson (Hammond organ) and Rick Wakeman (synth soloing). The two keyboard players instrumental interplay is absolutely first rate, and both make their presence well felt without either one taking over completely. Twelve-string acoustic, steel and electric guitars also feature fairly regularly, but only rarely as lead instruments, and a tight rhythm section knits it all together.  Another major point to note about this band, is the quality of the vocal parts – the male/female lead and backing singers are truly excellent, sounding like something between Yes, Pink Floyd and America in the harmonies department.

Their fist three albums (‘Journey Of The Dunadan’, ‘On To Evermore’ and ‘Perelandra’) all sold consistently, but it was not until year 2000 when their 4^th album ‘Chronometree’ was released that they really started to take off in terms of big sales at CD Services. That album broke all the records and has remained a top seller ever since. The major success of ‘Chronometree’ sparked off an interest in the band’s brilliant back catalogue titles from those who had bought it as a first-time Glass Hammer purchase, and thought, like us that this band was utterly amazing.

The late 90’s saw the release of ‘Live And Revived’, an album that was more of a selection of unreleased tracks recorded ‘live’ in the studio, as opposed to ‘in concert’ recordings. This CD was deleted, but it is now available again.

In 2001 they released a highly unusual album entitled ‘Middle Earth Album’ – A one-off release that was very much a personal ambition of the two main members of the band, and as far away for the ‘normal’ Glass Hammer style as you could get music-wise, but everything else (artwork, concept etc.,) was similar. This CD is really only for Glass Hammer collectors, or those who are into the band’s ‘other world’ style album concepts rather than the music itself.

Late 2002 has brought the release of the band’s finest album yet in ‘Lex Rex’. This album returns to the ‘normal’ traditional progressive Glass Hammer sound, and should break all their sales records to date – ‘Lex’ is a prog fan’s dream, featuring all their best instrumental sounds and strong vocal arrangements on brilliantly constructed tracks that offer a variety of styles, some of which can be a little complex in places, yet it is thoroughly melodic and totally accessible to fans of ALL progressive persuasions, with their sound spiced up to include even more in the way of huge climactic highs.

As often happens in many of our reviews, you will notice that we use a lot of big name comparisons (Yes, ELP etc.,) in our descriptions of this band’s music, but Glass Hammer are not in any way cloning or copying the artist/band names we quote – Glass Hammer’s music is very much their own creation - We only use these names to give you (especially those who have never heard the band before) reference points that will help build a mind model of what the music sounds like. Sure, some of the sounds the band make do bear a remarkable resemblance to the names mentioned, but therein lies the clue – in most cases, it is the SOUNDS, not the tune, or the melody, or the theme that evokes the comparison we make. This band uses all the right gear required to produce perfect prog-rock, but they also have the musical ability and writing talent to make all that equipment work its magic for them. Let’s face it, we all know there are lot’s of musicians around who can afford the gear, but how many have the real talent required to make ‘music’ as good as this with it!

While Spock's Beard undoubtedly hold the heavy power prog crown in the American prog-rock league, but with Glass Hammer producing some of the finest melodic prog on the planet, using their instruments in more of a traditional progressive style, they surely must be considered as the undisputed kings of the American symphonic prog scene.

This album has been a top seller since it first arrived here in 2000. It is a phenomenal, mostly instrumental prog epic that is really all one long track entitled ‘All In Good Time’. Each instrumental passage is split into individual sections, with two songs embedded in the middle. Heavily influenced by ELP, a bit of Pink Floyd and a fair bit of Yes too, the album was written, produced and recorded by Fred Schendel (Hammond organ, Mellotron, Mini-Moog, keyboards, acoustic, electric and slide guitar {lead and rhythm}, auto-harp, drums and backing vocals) and Steve Babb (bass guitar, keyboards, Mellotron, assorted analogue synths, and backing vocals). The duo call in Brad Marler (lead/backing vocals & acoustic guitar), Walter Moore (drums, electric & acoustic guitar), plus Arjen Lucassen (of Ayreon) & Terry Clouse (for additional lead guitars). This is a fantastic keyboard based prog album with fine guitar work, good vocal arrangements and top-notch production. Their sound quite blatantly incorporates influences of the best elements of ELP and Yes, blending them into their own wonderful brand of stylish symphonic rock, and believe me, seldom will you hear it done better than Glass Hammer do it!!

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Weight: 150.00 g

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The is the group’s debut album from 1993 and it almost immediately brought the band critical acclaim with it’s powerful blend of high flying keyboard work that evoked memories of ELP at their peak, without ever sounding like they were a clone of the mighty trio. The album has now been revamped with an extra track that takes the track tally to 17 and the disc running time up to seventy-three minutes. ‘Journey’ is an album with a fantasy world storyline that suits the music of Glass Hammer perfectly. It is a kind of concept-based album clearly heavily influenced by the content and spirit of the epic ‘Lord Of The Rings’ series of books, while musically, it’s a band playing huge-sounding symphonic rock that has “top-quality prog” written all over it. With its combination of male vocals and female vocals (from the excellent Michelle Young), and heavy influences from the cream of the seventies UK prog-rock, notably Yes, Renaissance, Genesis & ELP, this really is a superb first album indeed. Most of the songs are keyboards/synths dominated in terms of lead and textural work, with guitars largely performing rhythmic and background roles, while the rhythm section is fluid and strong throughout. The vocals tend to veer more towards multi-tracked harmonies, although there are quite a few of the band taking co-vocal roles, while the mood is one of restrained strength, studied story-telling, surging and dynamic ensemble instrumental work. ‘Journey’ is heart-warming, familiar and original, all in one, making it an easily digestible prog package that will appeal to a wide-ranging audience.

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Weight: 150.00 g

A new studio album, and it’s the REAL follow-up to ‘Chronometree’, and we all know how good that was!!! So, does ‘Lex Rex’ live up to our expectations? HELL, YESSS!!! I mean to say – you just KNOW it’s class when you hear the opening, post-intro track - It’s nothing short of mind-blowing - One of those where you just have to go back and start again, if only to believe what you have heard first time round – is that Yes – is it ELP or the Nice? No, it’s Camel – oh no, it’s Yes, change that it’s Rush, ooops no, there’s some Starcastle, is that Chris Squire I hear? Oh, there’s some Greenslade... oh, hang it – blow all these comparisons this is just THE BUSINESS!!! Only one track in, and hey, I’m convinced already – This is truly sensational music and one of the most impressive openings to a prog-rock album we’ve heard, ever! Apart from 3 short narrative sections (it is a concept album you know!) the CD has 8 tracks of utterly fantastic music. About 70% of it is instrumental, and it’s almost too much to absorb in one listen, but each repeat play brings even more exultation, more thrilling multi-keyboard solos, more breathtaking guitar leads and plenty more surges of pure listening pleasure for you to enjoy, and there seems to be an endless supply of all that, from start to finish of ‘Lex Rex’. You might not have the time, or want to read all the more detailed stuff that follows, but you should have gathered by now that we are talking one very special and truly sensational album here. It’s even better than ‘Chrononotree’, and many of you know how good that was - The wall-of-sound approach of that CD has been replaced by a more crystalline, yet still full-sounding, multi-layered set of arrangements that flow magically for music so intricate and impassioned. This is prog-rock the way almost all of us love it to be - No pop, no neo, no fusion - Just out and out pure-prog – symphonic, dynamic and exciting, with harmony vocals that melt the heart and more imaginative themes and head spinning solos than you can shake a stick at. The sound this band make from their vast armoury of keyboards (including Mini-Moogs, Mellotrons and Hammond organs) together with several forms of guitar and bass & drums is positively awesome indeed, and to hear that searing Howe styled ‘Relayer’-era Yes slide electric guitar sound come and go is overwhelming at times. All you can do is listen, and be transfixed, open-mouthed and utterly, utterly amazed at what you are hearing. It’s instrumental craftsmanship of the highest calibre, sprinkled liberally with vocals of equal quality. Without a doubt, ‘Lex Rex’ is Glass Hammer’s finest hour (well, hour and seven minutes to be precise). It is 70’s derived music that loses absolutely nothing for being created today, and is one of the finest albums of its kind-EVER!  Click the extra information link for a full blow-by-blow account of the action.

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Weight: 150.00 g

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When is a live album not a live album? When it’s this album, actually! Why? – It consists primarily of previously unreleased studio tracks from what the band call “the lost album of ‘94”, plus other tracks that were recorded live in the studio (hence the ‘live’ bit presumably), this is to all intents and purposes, a studio album of 14 previously unreleased recordings, and a darned good one it has to be said, too. With some fantastic organ and keyboards work throughout, these tracks are performed primarily by the core nucleus of the band. It’s a high quality set of the new and the familiar, as the keyboards and, this time, electric guitar, soar and duel on tracks that have the previous sheen of quality surrounding them, but also an added bite as the ‘unpolished’ (don’t get the wrong idea) nature of the tracks lend an added sense of urgency and vitality to the stirring compositions that you’ve not previously witnessed on their albums before. Not only that but there is a greater emphasis on instrumental space, despite the fact that there are 14 tracks in the sixty-one minute running time. Overall, this is a surprise, and a welcome one that will come as an unexpected treat for all prog-fans.

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Weight: 150.00 g

Now be warned… this on not your normal Glass Hammer CD! It is highly unusual, one-off album that is very much a personal project of the two main members of the band, and although the concept is the kind of thing you might expect, music-wise, it is not! Aesthetically, everything about the album looks just about how you would think a GH album should - Roger Dean fantasy style artwork etc. Musically, it is what is in essence, a set of 12 folksy songs inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien’s books and 1 normal-ish GH track. The scene is set in some fantasy world beer house, where characters from the Tolkien books entertain each other with stories in song about goblins, trolls, dragons and the like, as they sit on barrels and sup their grog from flagons – It’s one big sing-a-long, and a merry old time is had by all. Male and female vocalists share the character rolls, with the females sounding a bit Annie Haslam (Renaissance) like. Medieval style instruments such as flutes, harpsichord, acoustic guitars and basic percussion form the core of the instrumental side, but it’s not until the second last track that what you would call normal GH music is heard, with synths, piano, organ etc showing face for just a short while. This CD is really only for Glass Hammer collectors, or those who are into the band’s ‘other world’ style album concepts rather than the music itself.

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Weight: 150.00 g

This is a sixty-three minute, mature, 10-track concept album released in 1998, built around ‘The Story Of Arianna And The Sculptor’, and it contains songs that convey a tale that will warm the cockles of your heart, with an ever-developing mix of vocal and instrumental work that will stir both the reflective and soulful side of the listener. ‘Evermore’ finds the group stretching themselves a bit more than the previous two releases, featuring in ample doses, some of the finest prog keyboard soloing we’ve heard, whilst bringing in more lyrics at the same time. Some songs have slight, but distinct Pink Floyd influences (especially the opening title track), while others seem to elegantly span the worlds of Yes and Renaissance without ever sounding like a carbon copy of either. The vocals are excellent, and all the classic prog instrumental elements are in there in abundance. Track lengths vary from five to sixteen minutes, and some of the songs, especially in the earlier part of the CD, have a catchy feel that brings a more mainstream appeal to Glass Hammer music. Overall, this is a really “tasty” symphonic prog album.

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Weight: 150.00 g

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Their 2^nd album is also a concept of sorts. It was originally issued in 1995, lasts sixty-two minutes and features 12 fantastic symphonic keyboard driven pieces that are packed with fine themes, melodies, superb lyrics and stunning synth playing. On hearing it for the first time you’ll wonder why it is that you feel like you are listening to some long-forgotten 70’s UK prog-rock classic that no-one ever told you about before. It’s an instrumental mix of Yes-like bass/synths, Greenslade-like dual keyboard interplay, Renaissance-styled piano/keyboards, Emerson-like organ, early Genesis acoustic guitars and Pink Floyd-like languid vocals. Just sample the anthemic, ten minute ‘Time Marches On’, the dexterity of the keyboard skills on ‘Felix The Cat’, the slowly building keyboard orchestrations of the title track, and the classy vocal harmonies on ‘Into The Night’ for proof of what a high-class outfit GH were becoming at this stage of the group’s evolution. With this album their sound was growing into a hybrid of Yes and ELP without ever really sounding too much like either. There are a few strong glimpses of ELP when the Hammond organ rolls into action, plus snatches of Rick Wakeman on the fast and furious synth solos, but the overall construction of the band’s music is totally individual. The glorious harmony vocals evoke comparisons to any one of a number of classic 70’s UK bands, with excellent ensemble and counterpoint vocalising. The male vocals are light of touch and yet incredibly heartfelt, mingling with female vocal harmonies on songs that are uplifting, reflective and optimistic, but, above all, it’s the extremely tasty keyboard work that sticks out a mile on this CD. This is the sort of album that makes your mind drift away to happy places rather than get your head shaking interminably - It is a thoroughly consistent example of quality progressive song-writing and how to deliver it, with playing and production to match. This is perfection - catch up on this band now and give yourself a real treat!

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Weight: 150.00 g