Glass Hammer Shadowlands Genres:New Age, Pop, Rock Shadowlands combines the legendary talents of prog-icons Steve Babb and Fred Schendel, the incredible vocals of Walter Moore and Susie Bogdanowicz, a half-million dollar pipe organ, a string section, an arsenal of analog g... more »ear, and all the magic that modern recording technology has to offer. Symphonic Progressive Rock at its finest.« less
Shadowlands combines the legendary talents of prog-icons Steve Babb and Fred Schendel, the incredible vocals of Walter Moore and Susie Bogdanowicz, a half-million dollar pipe organ, a string section, an arsenal of analog gear, and all the magic that modern recording technology has to offer. Symphonic Progressive Rock at its finest.
CD Reviews
A Leap over Lex Rex into Greatness
K. L. Woomer | San Antonio Texas | 02/27/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I have two GH CD's. One is Lex Rex. Which I really liked a lot. I thought it was solid. Good music.Shadowlands however, is a leap in songwriting ability. Much like Leftoverture was a leap by Kansas over their previous work Masque. The feeling is very majestic, and positive. It is not an easy thing for prog to convey without sounding cheesy, but GH does it with ease... and have done it with ease on other CD's. I must say that the production on this recording is completely superior to their last CD LEX REX, and I am not saying the production was bad on the last CD, but this one is just that much better... the sound is full and tight. Just like a good Prog band...Every song on this CD really jumps out at you. The songs that floor me are Run Lisette and Behind the Great Beyond. The pipe organ in RL is just totally standout. It hits you right against your head in pleasentness. Anyone who likes keyboards will be treated to a REAL pipeorgan being used.I love the way they blend in guitar and vocals. No instrument, sans pipe organ, really gets in the way of each other. Even vocals are chorused.If you like symphonic progressive rock, in the vein of Yes and Kansas (and this CD is quite the blend of both) you will have to like this CD.I read on the glasshammer web site that the pipe organ they found in N. Carolina is going to be on the next CD they record. So, this is a great thing for every symphonic fan of prog rockLong live GH.have fun"
More Great Modern Prog
Kurt Harding | Boerne TX | 04/10/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Prog rock is a genre I'd pretty much left behind in the 70s, having come to prefer jazz and tango. Procol Harum is one of the few bands from the past I continued to follow though they are not a prog band in the strictest sense of the word. In the past couple of years, however, I have been introduced to a number of fine modern bands that have rekindled my interest in prog with a vengeance. Glass Hammer is one of those.
The first GH CD I bought was Lex Rex. I liked it well enough to pick up a couple of others so I could get a wider sense of what the band is about. When Shadowlands was released, I ordered it expecting great things...and great things are what I got!
In Shadowlands, Glass Hammer combines all the best impulses of 70s prog with a 21st century sensibility. This CD is truly a musical feast for the discriminating listener. I liked most of it first listen through. My favorite cuts are Run Lisette and the epic Behind the Great Beyond. The virtuosity of these guys is astonishing!
I admit I smirked when I read the first reviewer's caustic comments about the inclusion of Dan Fogelberg's "Longer". My first reaction to it was similar to his. The song is commercial and more than a little cheesy, but Glass Hammer actually did a great job reworking it and making it a song that won't make you cringe when you hear it. Even those automatically disposed to sneer at pap will have to agree on hearing Glass Hammer's rendition that they have made it very listenable.I highly recommend Shadowlands to any serious fan of prog rock. Sadly, it will probably never get the airplay it deserves, but the prog community can help to ensure that it gets heard by buying it and playing it for as many friends as possible. With nearly an hour of more great modern prog for your listening pleasure, this gets five easy stars."
What do you expect?
Brian Cassidy | Cuyahoga Falls, OH | 02/17/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"What I expected was another magical album from Glass Hammer and I got it. I was a little scared because Glass Hammer is a concept album band, and this is not a concept album. I'll tell you what though, you cannot even tell. Even though the songs do not follow each other, they somehow work together in perfect harmony to create yet another album that brings you to another world. Musically, Shadowlands is very similar to Lex Rex. As a matter of fact, the first song will seem like it could have been on Lex Rex, then you get hit with a real pipe organ. The vocals are great, the words are thoughtful concerning love, life, fate, and all of those things that have made Glass Hammer truely amazing. And the production is better than ever. There also is a fair amount of altering between male and female vocals, which in my opinion, compliments the album perfectly.For those of you new to Glass Hammer, they are a keyboard based band. You will not hear much in the word of electric guitar chords. Electric guitars are used as solos, and at certain places to bring a little more power to the music. The best representation that I can give of their sound is early Genesis. They remind me of a seventies progressive rock band with modern recording equipment. This is a good thing, because their music encompasses prog in it's tuest form. They have a very unique style, and I would not recomend them to someone who thinks that modern rock is musically challenging. Expect this one, and their other material to take several listens before you can really appreciate what they have created. I would recomend this one as the first that you purchase. I think that it is a little more refined than their previous work, so is a little bit easier to listen to. Don't think though that this means that Shadowlands has lost the complexities that makes their music something that can be enjoyed for a long time. If you loved the early bands that shaped what prog is today, Shadowlands, and Glass Hammer in general is for you. Thank you for keeping prog alive Glass Hammer!"
Excitement, High Drama, and Mystical Reflection
Francis W. Porretto | Mount Sinai, NY United States | 01/24/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"All of Glass Hammer's offerings center on a strong central narrative, and Shadowlands conforms to that pattern. The animating story is that of Baron Marbot, an aide-de-camp to Napoleon during his eastern campaign, who, during the rout at Eylau, was assigned to convey retreat orders to several of the French units in the field. While doing this duty, Marbot was wounded near to death, but was saved by his mare Lisette. Lisette was an unusually fiery beast who had literally killed a groom and had savaged all who came near to her. She was considered intractable, essentially untrainable, until Marbot purchased her. Though she remained tempestuous and difficult for others to manage, she was willing enough under Marbot's hand, even in the frenzy of battle. When Marbot, carrying retreat orders from one regiment to another astride Lisette, was knocked half-senseless by the grazing impact of a cannonball, and was converged upon by enemies intent on completing his demise, Lisette, though herself grievously wounded, trampled one and mortally tore another with her teeth before bearing her master away to safety. As with last year's brilliant Lex Rex, the libretto to this story is simple and affecting. Because of the use of overlaid and cannonaded vocal sections, it's best to follow the music with the liner notes in hand. The musical textures of Shadowlands beautifully track the stages of Marbot's adventure, from his departure from home, through his acquisition and training of Lisette, through the crisis on the battlefield and his subsequent period of convalescence and reflection. The composition is at times ethereal, foreboding, stirring, stately, whimsical, ironic, solemn and sweet. Glass Hammer's trademarked gift for melody and for complex shifts of meter is well displayed here, its power amplified by the exploitation of five skilled vocal contributors -- Walter Moore, Susie Bogdanowicz, Sarah Snyder, Flo Paris, and Bethany Warren -- the gorgeously resonant pipe organ of the First United Methodist Church of Waynesville, North Carolina, and the Adonia String Trio, a brand new element for a Glass Hammer composition which we may expect to recur in future work. Shadowlands is filled with beauties. Narratively, it offers excitement, high drama, and mystical reflection. Musically, it's a showcase for a group of superb musicians who never exalt their egos above their material or their respect for it. The composition and performances leave nothing to be desired. Yet another triumph for Steve Babb, Fred Schendel, and the rest of the Glass Hammer crew."
Glass Hammer's Best to Date
C. F. Kemp | Pacific Grove, CA USA | 07/21/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Glass Hammer has improved steadily over the course of its seven albums, and, accordingly, Shadowlands represents its strongest effort to date (as of the time of this writing I have not heard their latest release, The Inconsolable Secret).
I've always appreciated Glass Hammer's enthusiasm in embracing their identity as a progressive rock band and, to a lesser extent, their ability to infuse Christian sensibilities into their music subtly enough as to not alienate a secular audience. However, in my opinion, the band was always plagued by certain shortcomings. Shadowlands, for the most part, successfully addresses these.
First of all, all five cuts on Shadowlands are strong with no real drop off in quality, something that has plagued even the group's later, stronger efforts. There is no sign of the "limpness" of some of their very earliest works-all the cuts are dynamic, melodious and grab the listener's attention, even in the softer parts. Some people have taken issue with the inclusion of Dan Fogelberg's "Longer"-and it probably is the weakest cut-but the arrangement is interesting and I think the band should get some kudos for doing something different.
The first two cuts, "So Close, So Far" and "Run, Lisette" are among the strongest compositions the group has ever recorded. "So Close, So Far" is complex but catchy, even as it moves through its distinct movements, "Run, Lisette" was the first cut I ever heard by this band and it absolutely grabbed my attention. In a musical genre where it becomes harder and harder to come up with something of note, I dare say "Run, Lisette" is unforgettable. The delivery of the story, well-documented in other reviews here, is heartfelt enough that the first few lines still manage to send chills up my spine. And I love the intricacies of the multi-layered vocals, male and female.
Which brings me to my next point-the vocals. Glass Hammer's vocals have always been kind of an issue with me-I think they absolutely wreck Chronometree in parts-but the incorporation of female vocalists, which began in earnest with Lex Rex (their previous release), is really what kicks Shadowlands into the stratosphere. In my opinion, there should be more female vocalists in prog, and that Glass Hammer utilizes as many as four on this album makes it distinctive.
If I have one complaint, it's that the drumming is a bit sub-par. I know that Glass Hammer is basically two people, keyboardist Fred Schendel and bassist Steve Babb, together with a number of for-hire musicians, and while I appreciate how far Schendel has come as a guitarist, I can't help but feel he's laboring as a drummer here. I understand the economic necessities that are probably driving these decisions (I think they had something to do with the band's past decisions on vocalists), but enlisting a studio drummer would be a prudent move.
All in all, I would recommend Shadowlands to any fan of progressive rock. The band is really carving out its own style, improving its songwriting and losing nothing in complexity. With the recent demise of Spock's Beard after Neal Morse's departure, they may be (and probably are) America's best practitioners of symphonic prog.
