Tag Archives: Steve Babb

Music

Glass Hammer’s Rogue: Joy in the Midst of Regret

Glass Hammer has returned with a new album, Rogue – due out April 11, 2025. Not surprisingly, given the history of this group, it is a stark departure from their previous several albums. Where the Skallagrim Trilogy rocked very hard, and their most recent work, Arise, was an exercise in space rock jamming, Rogue is jumps out of the gate with a burst of pure melodic bliss.

After listening to Rogue nonstop for four days, I am put in mind of some of Glass Hammer’s most enjoyable musical moments, such as Life By Light (Culture of Ascent), Having Caught a Glimpse (The Inconsolable Secret), and The Curse We Weave (Three Cheers for the Broken Hearted), among many, many others. I am tempted to say Rogue represents a return to form, except Glass Hammer has never fallen out of form – each release of theirs is a self-contained gem of excellence. Instead, let’s just say Rogue is a joyful celebration of beautiful melody.

What If, the first track, sets the stage as the protagonist decides to leave his cold and gray home in the north and head south to find a long-lost love – he is hoping to reignite an old romance that he ended years ago. It is a bouncy song that conveys the hopefulness of our hero as he sets out.

Summer! He’s weary of sleet and snow
Summer! Come now and do not go
He’s heading south to the land of his dreams

The Road South is where reality begins to set in. Has he made a mistake leaving his home? Is that a storm ahead? Musically, this song is reminiscent of classic Alan Parsons Project to me. Oliver Day’s lap steel guitar is outstanding – graceful and fluid without sounding shrill.

Tomorrow  is one of the most beautiful songs on the album. As our hero wrestles with the memories of all the wrongs he has committed in the past, a voice reassures him,

All will be fine
God is watching over all you do
His eye is on the sparrow and on you

The accompanying melody is appropriately soothing and calming.

Pretty Ghost and Sunshine feature the gorgeous vocals of Olivia Tharpe,  along with another pair of winning melodies. On Sunshine, Fred Schendel gives an outstanding performance on lap steel guitar.

Next up is my favorite track on the album, I Will Follow. This is a driving, upbeat, infectious song with an unshakeable earworm for a melody. It’s one of the best songs in the entire Glass Hammer catalog, featuring layered harmonies that should be listened to on headphones to be fully appreciated.

The Wonder Of It All has a synth-driven opening that I find very appealing. One thing I’ve enjoyed over the past few albums has been Glass Hammer’s incorporation of Tangerine Dream-like interludes that feature very cool rhythmic elements. Lyrically, this song seems to be a turning point for our hero:

Oh, I’m weary, yet I’m blessed
For all you’ve given me
The wonder of it all, I’d have to say
That I was here at all
I’ve done so little to deserve
This life you gave me

One Last Sunrise is a terrific instrumental, and Babb really shines on bass and Taurus pedals. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Steve Babb is one of the most inventive bassists working in music today.

Terminal Lucidity, at 10:19, is the longest track, and it is primarily instrumental. Synths, electric piano, and electric guitar weave a seductive web of melody that draw the listener in before an energetic jam gets going. Eventually, it becomes clear that our hero is on his deathbed: “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust/I can hear them calling me”. It was a stark and chilling moment when I first realized the true journey being taken!

Rogue closes with the triumphant and joyful All Good Things. Another uplifting melody (underpinned by Babb’s terrific bass work) brings the story to an emotionally satisfying ending:

This life you gave me
I’ll bring it home, you know
Sunshine in the morning sky
Descending from on high

It seems that, for all intents and purposes, Glass Hammer is now primarily a Steve Babb project. He handles some lead and backing vocals, bass, keyboards, Taurus pedals, guitars, and percussion. Longtime musical partner Fred Schendel plays guitar on Tomorrow and lap steel guitar on Sunshine. Babb has collected a stellar cast of supporting musicians: Thomas Jakob and Olivia Tharpe on vocals, Reese Boyd, David Walliman, and Atillio Calabrese all take a turn on lead guitar, and Oliver Day does a phenomenal job on guitar and lap steel throughout. Ariel Perchuk contributes some excellent synth solos, while Randall Williams and Evgeni Obruchkov provide drum work.

Rogue is one of the most ambitious albums Glass Hammer has attempted, and they pull it off with ease – it is an unalloyed triumph in all respects: conceptually, lyrically, and musically. Taken as a whole, this set of songs is the most satisfying Glass Hammer has provided in many years. I can’t stop listening to it! Meanwhile, the concept of a man wrestling with the demons of his past as he faces death would be daunting for anyone to tackle, but Glass Hammer does it with grace and hope. I can’t recommend Rogue enough to listeners who appreciate and are looking for melodic rock that has depth. It’s my favorite album of 2025, and I don’t see that changing any time soon.

Music

New Album In the Works from Glass Hammer

GLASS HAMMER GOES ROGUE WITH April 11th RELEASE

Glass Hammer’s “Rogue” spins the tale of one man’s fateful, final journey. “He leaves everything he knows behind,” explains composer Steve Babb. “And thinks he’s returning to a place where he once knew happiness, but in reality, his odyssey will sweep him away to somewhere completely unexpected.”

Babb explains that the ten-song album explores themes of regret, heartache, and the mortal salience that comes with age. “Life is fleeting,” he continues. “It’s a heavy topic for an album, but the music isn’t as heavy as our last few releases. Rogue is much more like the Glass Hammer albums our fans refer to as “classic.”

And who’s in the lineup? “It’s no secret that Glass Hammer reinvents itself every few albums,” says Babb. “It’s happened again! This time with a lot of new faces.”

Rogue features performances by Fred Schendel, Reese Boyd, and David Wallimann (GH guitarist 2006-2010). Vocalists Thomas Jakob (Netherlands) and Olivia Tharpe (USA) are new to the band. They’re joined by guitarist Oliver Day (UK), keyboardist Ariel Perchuck (Argentina), drummer Evgeni Obruchkov (Poland), and others. “It’s an international cast of characters,” Babb points out. “A super-talented group that our fans are sure to love.”

The hour-long Rogue is Glass Hammer’s twenty-second studio album. Fans can pre-order autographed copies, t-shirts and downloads on the band’s website. www.glasshammer.com

Steve Babb photo credit: Julie Babb

Track list:

  1. What If
  2. The Road South
  3. Tomorrow
  4. Pretty Ghost
  5. Sunshine
  6. I Will Follow
  7. The Wonder Of It All
  8. One Last Sunrise
  9. Terminal Lucidity
  10. All Good Things

Here’s the teaser video:

Republic of Letters

Glass Hammer Takes Off For The Cosmos

Arise

Having just finished posting a discussion of three classic Glass Hammer albums, comes news of the upcoming release of a new album! Arise is the title, and it is a completely new direction – thematically – from the Skallagrim Trilogy that took up their previous three albums.

If there is one constant in the career of Glass Hammer, it is change. I am not aware of any musical group that is always pursuing new directions, both lyrically and musically as Glass Hammer. The miracle of them is the consistent excellence of their output, regardless of the path they take.

Arise is a sci-fi epic, and I mean a true epic. It follows the voyage of an android sent to explore some deep space anomalies. The mission is called Android Research Initiative for Space Exploration. As we travel with our android ARISE, we encounter exoplanets: some beautiful (Arion), and some seemingly malevolent (Proxima Centauri B). There is also a “curious anomaly detected at WASP-12” – a rift in space where mysterious entities bent on destruction are entering our universe.

Communications from ARISE eventually cease, but strangely enough, “inexplicable sightings of the presumed-destroyed spacecraft Deadalus have emerged.” I don’t know if this indicates that the saga of ARISE will continue or not, but it looks like there could be more to come.

Musically, the album is not as heavy as the Skallagrim Trilogy, but it definitely rocks. Wolf 359 features Hannah Pryor on lead vocals again and she sings beautifully over a relentless beat. Arion (18 Delphini b) is a bright, upbeat song featuring Babb and Pryor trading lead vocals. Mare Sirenum is a brief instrumental in the spacey “Tangerine Dream” mode that GH has become so good at producing. Lost begins as a bluesy jam and then transforms into a very ear-friendly tune sung by Pryor. Rift at WASP-12 is my current favorite track – it’s a blistering rocker with a great hook. Proxima Centauri B is slow-burning heavy rocker that has Babb’s terrific bassline mixed up front, and it sounds great. Arise clocks in at 11:44, and it is quite a good epic. It features Pryor’s best vocals on the album. The song slowly builds in intensity and when she sings, “So little time left to say this/So little time is left for anything/There is a light up in heaven/There is a light shining down upon man/See Him, know Him, love Him/See, feel/And know eternal truth” it is a truly cathartic moment. The album closes with a long instrumental jam that holds the listener’s interest from the opening note to the last.

Besides Hannah Pryor, Reese Boyd is back on lead guitar. Randall Williams handles drums, and overseeing the entire project is Glass Hammer’s cofounder, Steve Babb. He outdoes himself here, tackling keyboards, rhythm and lead guitars, bass guitar. percussion, and vocals. Cofounder Fred Schendel plays drums and guitars on WASP-12.

Musically, ARISE is a winner, offering moments of serene beauty as well as ferocious rock. Hannah Pryor really shines on vocals throughout, and Steve Babb is still the most inventive bassist in rock. The concept of the album fascinates me, as well. The hero of the saga, ARISE, is an android – by definition an artificial human. Yet, in every song, he (she/it?) seems capable of perceiving a spiritual reality. In Wolf 359, ARISE sings, “They say that God is watching over me/I’m not sure what He wants or what He hopes to see.” And in Arion (18 Delphini b), “Thank God I found it/Thank God you’re standing here with me.” At the end, even though communication from ARISE seems to have ceased, it appears that he is returning to Earth – perhaps in a resurrected form? Hopefully, this is not the last we hear from this tale. As with every Glass Hammer album, the lyrics provide much food for thought. 

Republic of Letters

Some Glass Hammer, Revisited

1 Comment

Hammer

In this post, Brad Birzer and Tad Wert have a conversation about a trio of classic Glass Hammer albums, Ode To Echo, The Breaking Of The World, and Double Live. Glass Hammer is a progressive rock group whose long career has encompassed many personnel and stylistic changes. The one constant has been the core duo of the group: bassist/keyboardist/vocalist Steve Babb and keyboardist/guitarist/vocalist Fred Schendel. It’s no secret they are among Birzer’s and Wert’s all-time favorite musical artists.

Tad: Okay, Brad, I’m responsible for this topic of conversation. Over the past few days, I have been revisiting some earlier Glass Hammer albums, in particular the ones that feature Carl Groves and Susie Bogdanowicz on lead vocals. In my opinion, these three are a high point in the long career of GH – a career that has many high points! 

I know that many fans love the albums with Jon Davison, and they are excellent, but for some reason, the blend of Groves’ and Bogdanowicz’s voices are very appealing to me. I also appreciate Kamran Alan Shikoh’s outstanding lead guitar on these songs. This was, relatively speaking, a fairly stable configuration, with Aaron Raulston on board with drums. He’s still with them today, and I think his work has lifted them into the premier ranks of prog rock.

Brad:  Tad, I’m so glad you initiated this conversation.  You’re right, I’m a huge fan, and I have been ever since Amy Sturgis (an academic friend) introduced me to Lex Rex while we were at a conference in Princeton many, many years ago.  Crazily, it was also the same moment that I got Radiohead’s Hail to the Thief.  What a bizarre mix!

At the time, she told me about Steve and Fred and said I might like what they were doing.  And, here I thought I was the king of prog rock knowledge, and I didn’t–at the time–know about this seminal American band!  How mistaken I was!

Since then, I’ve happily taken the deep dive into all things Glass Hammer.  I even had the chance to have dinner with Steve Babb several years ago–one of the finest nights of my adult life.  He’s an amazingly nice and creative person!  I’m proud to count him as a friend and ally in this crazy world.  The guy is not just a wizard at bass and composition, but he’s an accomplished novelist, father, husband, and band leader.

For what it’s worth, I even take some considerable time to thank Steve (and Big Big Train as well) as huge inspirations for my book project on Tolkien and the Inklings.  Truly, Glass Hammer and Big Big Train were the essential soundtrack to that book.

Given the long history of Glass Hammer–dating back to 1992!–the albums (all wonderful) you selected are what, I guess, we would call mid-period Glass Hammer.

I’m a huge fan of all three, and I think that Double Live especially showcases everything wonderful and mighty about the band.  Groves and Bogdanowicz are in rarest fine form, and I’ve rather publicly and happily proclaimed Bogdanowicz to have the single finest voice in prog rock next to the late David Longdon’s.  I still think this.  It doesn’t hurt that Susie is also a knock-out.

I know that lots of folks like Jon Davison, but, frankly, he’s just a little too effeminate and fey for my tastes.  I tried recently to listen to the new Yes album, and I couldn’t get past the first song.  Give me Groves and Bogdanowicz any day!

Tad: Brad, I agree with you about Double Live. Most concert DVDs I have I’ll watch once or twice, but rarely more. I have watched Double Live at least half a dozen times, and here’s the interesting thing – there are no flashy special effects, lasers, or smoke machines. It’s just six very gifted musicians at the top of their form, presenting a terrific set of songs. They exude relaxed confidence, and they obviously love playing with and off each other. I wish this lineup had lasted longer!

Okay, here’s another reason I picked these three albums to revisit: I think they contain some of the best lyrics GH has come up with. Let’s face it, even with just Babb and Schendel, they have an embarrassment of riches – both are extremely literate and thoughtful lyricists, who assume their audience has the intellectual capacity to appreciate their work. That said, I think Groves sets a pretty high bar on the songs he co writes, and spurs Babb and Schendel to even greater heights on their lyrics. For example, here’s some of Groves’ lyrics to Garden of Hedon (off of Ode To Echo):

The Garden welcomes you, ma’am

Please sit down and find twice as much as you’ll eat

Cornucopia of desires

Lying there at your feet

The Garden welcomes you, sir

Please relax and find everything you want

Very little of what you need

No bread, no water, no God

Or these from Bandwagon (off of The Breaking of the World):

“We care!” Isn’t that what you said from your ocean-front home?

I know it’s got to make you feel so much nicer

“Go and be warmed.” Oh such warm charity

And these words still with no action will soothe you

Soothe you

If that isn’t a prescient condemnation of our current plague of empty virtue-signaling, I don’t know what is!

Brad: Yeah, Glass Hammer is prog for the intelligent listener, and given that prog is already rock for the intelligent listener, GH is really, really special.  More on that in a moment.  

My only complaint about Double Live is that it’s only available on DVD.  I would love a blu-ray edition, especially given the fact that Steve and Fred are two of our greatest audiophiles.  Can you imagine what the blu-ray sound quality would be like?  Simply excellent.

One of my deepest dreams is to have Glass Hammer play at Hillsdale, especially given how outstanding our music program is.  The band could use our existing choral students.  Oh, this gives me goosebumps even thinking about it.

Back to lyrics.  I’m in absolute agreement with you, Tad.  These albums just exude a powerful confidence.  Babb has such a fictional and mythic quality to his lyrics.  Here, for example, is Babb on “Ozymandias”:

The sculptor ‘neath his gaze

‘Twould be a monument of praise

Thus he enshrined the royal sneer

Of him, this Tyrant-King of Fear

I kneel to wipe away the dust of years

With trembling fingers trace the words

Found etched upon its base

They said, “I am King of Kings

See my works and know despair!”

Yet broken now he lies forgotten!

Let’s turn and leave him there

Nothing remains but this colossal wreck of stone

Round it boundless, bare stretch wide the desert sand

Forgotten, he lies

Here, his legacy dies

On “Mythopoeia,” Babb readily captures the essence of J.R.R. Tolkien’s poem of the same name and the speech given by the grand professor at the University of St. Andrew’s in the late 1930s, “On Fairy Stories.”

Maker of myth with your rhyme you weave

A tapestry of tales untold in recorded time

And though the shadows draw near

He writes as if he sees the world bathed all in sunlight

Can he keep the fеar at bay

In hope of day eternal

Hе’s dreamt of a paradise

Ruled by a thing infernal

Sub-create!

A mortal yet strives in his fallen state

He fills his world with monsters

They hide round each corner

Plotting wickedness, wreck and ruin

He fills his world with monsters

For monsters filled his world

One last thing–at least for now–about Ode to Echo and Breaking of the World.  The art for each is simply gorgeous.  For whatever reason, I didn’t buy the t-shirt for Breaking of the World, but I proudly wear my Ode To Echo t-shirt.  Indeed, over the last couple of years, I noticed I was the only one wearing a Glass Hammer t-shirt at Devil’s Tower in Wyoming and at Yellowstone.

Tad: Brad I’m glad you shared Babb’s lyrics to Ozymandias, which is the perfect ending to Ode to Echo. And yes, the art for both of these albums is some of the best in their career. One last thing I’d like to mention – in Ode to Echo, they include a marvelous cover of Goffin/King’s Porpoise Song, from The Monkees’ Head soundtrack. What a great song from the psychedelic ‘60s, and they improve on the original. In their earlier album, Three Cheers for the Brokenhearted, they covered the Zombies’ classic, A Rose For Emily; it would be great if Babb and Schendel recorded an entire album of their psychedelic favorites!

Well, my friend, hopefully our paean of praise for this brief period of Glass Hammer’s career will spur our readers to investigate these albums. It’s been a blast revisiting them with you!

Music

Glass Hammer’s At The Gate

GH-2022-cover-1080px-PREVIEW

Glass Hammer is set to release the third album in their Skallagrim Trilogy, entitled At The Gate. The first album of the trilogy, 2020’s Dreaming City, heralded a new, much heavier sound for GH, which is continued in At The Gate. The albums chronicle the sword-and-sorcery adventures of a hard-bitten thief named Skallagrim who finds himself locked in a desperate struggle with forces of evil. Through his struggles to find his lost love, he matures and gains much wisdom. In this final installment, Skallagrim has been cursed to live a thousand years seeking his love. When he finally does find her, he ends up sacrificing himself so she can be free.

At The Gate begins with one of Glass Hammer’s finest songs of their long career – the beautiful The Years Roll By. This song is in more of the “classic” prog style long-time GH fans have loved – a keyboards-driven melody with majestic vocals underpinned by Aaron Raulston’s excellent percussion and Steve Babb’s energetic and inventive bass. The inimitable Babb also supplies the pipe organ and keyboards on this one. Vocalist Hannah Pryor really comes into her own on this track, and Fred Schendel is outstanding (as usual!) on guitars.

Savage is up next, and it begins with a spare, unaccompanied guitar riff that soon explodes into a heavy groove. Pryor’s voice is perfect for this crunchy, metallic style, as she can really wail while maintaining a delicate tone.

North of North continues the interesting experiments GH has been doing with their instrumentals in the trilogy. It begins with a propulsive, Tangerine Dream-like synth riff that builds and builds. I hope they continue to explore this style of music!

All Alone begins as another crushing tune reminiscent of King’s X at their heaviest. The style fits the lyrics, as Skallagrim grimly mutters, “The dark is deep and blood runs cold, so cold. Don’t leave her there all alone.” The mood lightens when the melody transforms into a bluesy riff and Pryor sings, “Think how good you’ll feel when the battle’s won, no need to roam, you’ll take her home to stay.” I like the tension between the dark and light moods in this track.

All For Love is the most “proggy” song on the album, with lots of time changes, switching from major to minor keys, and furious guitar work from Reese Boyd. From the beginning, the tempo gallops along, leaving the listener feeling like he or she has run a marathon!

Snowblind Girl keeps the up the fast and furious pace, and Raulston really shines on this track. It also creates tension between the melodic passages sung by Pryor and the dark, chaotic instrumental responses.

Standing At The Gate is the most “difficult” song on the album, with discordant organ chords opening it and the rapid tempos continuing. GH alum Jon Davison has a nice cameo here on vocals.

After four heavy, blistering songs, the last two provide some welcome relief. In The Shadows and It’s Love are combined into a single track, and they contain some of the most beautiful music Glass Hammer has produced. In The Shadows evokes Radiohead at its most gentle and melodic. It’s a terrific song with simple instrumentation that like a balm after the frenetic and dense activity of the previous four. In it, Skallagrim has vowed to sacrifice himself for the sake of his love, and he is at peace with it: “There’s no life without you, there’s no life. If I walk this life alone, if I never find a home, there’s no life without you.”

In The Shadows segues seamlessly into It’s Love with some majestic organ work by Babb and the trebly, melodic bass that he is so good at. The production is open and inviting, as Pryor sings, “What you’re longing for is waiting in Heaven up above. There is no greater act then when one lays down his life, down for love.” It’s a truly beautiful moment, and one of Glass Hammer’s career highlights. The song ends with a coda that recalls the riff from Dreaming City’s A Desperate Man, which is nice way to tie the trilogy together into a unified work.

So, to sum up, At The Gate contains some of Glass Hammer’s most ambitious and challenging music. It is a tribute to their skill and talent that they pull it off so successfully. The album opens and closes with songs that sound like classic Glass Hammer, but with a contemporary feel. Looking back over their career, it is astonishing to me that a group of musicians are able to compose and perform such consistently excellent music over such a long period. Glass Hammer never fails to satisfy discerning prog fans, while exploring new and fascinating styles of music. They never stop evolving – here’s to hoping they continue for another 20 years!

You can order At The Gate here.

Here’s the video for The Years Roll By:

Music

Glass Hammer Set to Release New Album

1 Comment

GH-2022-cover-1080px-PREVIEW

Here’s the latest news from one of our favorite artists:

At The Gate, the third album of the Skallagrim trilogy, is set for release on October 7th. The new album follows Dreaming City (2020) and Skallagrim – Into The Breach (2021), bringing the story of the ‘thief with the screaming sword’  to its conclusion.

Vocalist Hannah Pyror is back to front the group and is joined by bandleader Steve Babb, keyboardist Fred Schendel, and drummer Aaron Raulston. In addition, vocalists Jon Davison (Yes) and John Beagley (Life In Digital) will contribute as well as guitarist Reese Boyd.   

Babb says to expect another 70’s metal-influenced project but also promises a return to the symphonic-prog sound the band is best known for.

“An album can be both things,” he claims. “Since the inception of the trilogy in 2020, it’s been my intention to tell this sword and sorcery-inspired tale with appropriate music. And to do that, I needed the sound to evolve toward something grand by the end of the third album. Skallagrim’s story is one of lost joy, of grief, and longing, and ultimately of a worn-down swordsman’s coming to grips with what the world can and cannot offer him. It’s probably the most important story we’ve ever told through music, so important to me that it led me to retell it in novels.” Babb’s book, “Skallagrim – In The Vales Of Pagarna,” was released in March of this year.

Babb adds, “So, for those who love our newer, edgier sound, they won’t be disappointed. But I’ve brought back the pipe organ, the choirs, and the sweeping ballads for those who miss the sounds of our earlier albums. I think it works, but the fans will be the ones to decide!”

Music

Sea of Tranquility Interviews Glass Hammer

Pete Pardo of Sea of Tranquility conducts an in-depth interview of Steve Babb and Fred Schendel, the artists otherwise known as Glass Hammer. While focusing primarily on their newest album, Dreaming City (reviewed on Spirit of Cecilia here), they also cover a wide range of prog-related topics.

Part 1 of the interview:

 

Part 2 of the interview, in which Steve reveals which GH album is “the Seinfeld of prog rock”:

Music

Through A Glass Hammer, Darkly

One thing I’ve learned in my eight years of being an avid Glass Hammer fan is to expect the unexpected. While every album of theirs is consistently excellent, there is not a consistent style that runs from their debut through to their latest offering, Dreaming City. So, I shouldn’t have been surprised at the onslaught of metal that greeted my ears when I cranked up the first track, The Dreaming City. Wait, is this the same group that gave us the light-hearted Chronomonaut last year? Yes, it is, and I like it. Actually, I love it! Under the massive guitar attack I can still hear Steve Babb’s melodic bass pounding away, and Fred Schendel’s keyboards providing bursts of furious punctuation.

The core group of Babb (lead vocals, bass), Schendel (guitars, vocals, keyboards), drummer Aaron Raulston, and singer Susie Bogdanowicz have augmented themselves with Reese Boyd (guitars, vocals), John Beagley (vocals), Brian Brewer (guitars), Joe Logan (vocals), James Byron Schoen (more guitar!), and Barry Seroff (flute). Dreaming City features the largest cast of contributors of any Glass Hammer album I am aware of, yet it doesn’t sound crowded or too busy. It’s a surprisingly lean production, with every instrument locked into the overall groove.

Dreaming City is the soundtrack to a very dark fantasy adventure, with the songs seamlessly flowing into each other, much like 2012’s Perilous. Our hero is a lowly thief, Skallagrim, who awakes in the land of Pagarna,  ruled by an evil sorcerer who has kidnapped his love. While in the Dreaming City, he is surrounded by evil ones who want to kill him. At the last possible moment, a sword appears over his head, which he grasps and uses it to save himself.

The sword, named Terminus, is possessed by an angel who provides the hero strength and hope during his daunting quest to rescue his love:

“And the sword is hope that comes from without by divine design, not from within.”

I won’t relate any more of the story, but there is a wonderful twist to it at the end which took me by surprise.

Musically, this is one of the most diverse and satisfying set of songs Glass Hammer has blessed us with. They are brimming with confidence and invention, and every track is a delight to listen to. The aforementioned opener, The Dreaming City, is the heaviest thing GH has ever recorded, while The Lonely World is an aural dose of pure pop. The angelic-voiced Susie Bogdanowicz sings lead on the beautiful October Ballad, while the epic closing track, The Watchman On The Wall, is a glorious and triumphant song that recalls the heyday of Permanent Waves-era  Rush.

I could rave about every single song, but I must single out Terminus for special praise. If Rush and  The Alan Parsons Project had a love child, Terminus would be it. A propulsive beat and a fantastic synth line serve a hook-laden melody to combine for a compulsive listen. Other highlights include the atmospheric instrumental tracks, Threshold of Dreams and The Tower, both of which are reminiscent of classic Tangerine Dream. But, as I wrote, every single song is outstanding.

What is most impressive about Dreaming City is how all the tracks come together to create a most satisfying whole. This is an album to listen to in its entirety, as it tells the compelling tale of an unlikely hero thrust into a desperate quest to overcome evil, and in the process find hidden strength within himself – with a little divine assistance. In Babb’s words, “This is all about evil people robbing us of our joy – holding it hostage. There can be unfortunate episodes in life where that happens and you can barely even remember what “joy” was like – may even become resigned to the thought that you may never know it again in this life, but determine to look for it nonetheless. So this was an important story for me and I hope it brings encouragement to many.”

Dreaming City is an extraordinary and career-defining work from one of America’s finest rock groups, and I can’t wait to hear what unexpected delights they have in store for us in the future.

 

Music

Music Podcast Roundup

If you aren’t subscribed to Anthony Rowsick’s ProgWatch podcast, you should do it right now! He consistently has informative interviews with all kinds of artists in the progrock arena, as well as featuring the best songs from new and classic prog albums.

Tony’s latest episode is Part One of a two-part interview featuring Glass Hammer’s co-founder and bassist Steve Babb. There are lots of great Glass Hammer songs as well as interesting anecdotes from the early days of this seminal group. You can listen to it the entire show by clicking here.

Meanwhile, over at Roie Avin’s excellent Prog Report, the second part of his Neal Morse Band profile is up. It is an in-depth history of Neal Morse’s career, and definitely worth hearing if you are a fan of Spock’s Beard, Neal Morse, Transatlantic, and Flying Colors (Phew, Neal really gets around!). Click here to listen.

Finally, in case you missed it, the boys at Political Beats, Scott Bertram and Jeff Blehar, discuss the entire Electric Light Orchestra discography with guest Jack Butler in exhaustive detail. And when I say exhaustive detail, I mean 2 hours and 46 minutes’ worth. You can download the episode by clicking here.

I’m interested in hearing from our Spirit Of Cecilia readers if any of you listen to any other music-related podcasts, and how you access them. I still use an iPod nano with iTunes for a lot of my podcast listening, but I also use Castbox on my phone. Are there any podcasting apps that you are especially fond of, like Stitcher or Podbean? Let us know in comments. Happy listening!