GLASS HAMMER: "The Breaking Of The World" - Spring 2015

[Glass Hammer]

Isn't that like asking them who's their favorite child?

They are like children, but since they never read about themselves online I don't mind saying.... "The Inconsolable Secret" will always be a favorite, due in no small part to the huge amount of time invested in it. "Perilous" - very meaningful to me, Fred (I think he agrees) and Alan. The album seemed to work as a true concept album, at least to us. "The Breaking Of The World" is my new favorite. But of course I'm going to say that, right? Seriously. I'm very happy with the sound of it and the songwriting. So there's three for me

[ItalProgRules]

"If the Stars", "If the Sun" and "To Someone" are my favorites of your "children!"

[BarryLI]

"Shadowlands" absolutely kills it for me.

[selmer]

I'm going to put my two cents on this.
I listened to it only one time so it may change.
Can't say I'm a big fan of this or the previous ones sound. Really liked the first teaser but not the second one. Sure, the teaser trailers are only that - teaser trailers. The first trailer had some freshness about it and I expected the album to be something in that vein.
When I listened to the record I thought it was a bit too dry. It has some of the same vibe that the last few Haken records have. The production is too soft for my liking. I prefer the symphonic GH. Not the Inconsolable Secret one, not Shadowlands, but Chronometree, Perelandra, On To Evermore and Culture Of Ascent - those together with all of the Davison are what I prefer.
One thing which I'd like to add - I remain convinced that Culture Of Ascent is the best work of Carl Groves with GH.
No matter what, it's always great to hear new stuff from you. Keep on going.
The most important thing is that you did something different which is fantastic, there are a lot of folks who like this style so who cares what I think. You can pretty much ignore all of what I've written and read something of more value - the screenplay for the new Terminator movie, for example.

[Glass Hammer]

http://www.progarchives.com/forum/fo...asp?TID=102029
Interview posted on progarchives
The band is heading to Woodstock, NY tomorrow night for a show at the Bearsville Theater. Then on to NJProghouse Saturday night and Orion Studios in Baltimore Sunday night. RoSfest will be next for the band, Sunday May 3rd.

[rickawakeman]

Safe travels to the band...see youz guys Friday night in Woodstock! If you are willing to make the trek from Tennessee, I'm more than willing to make the 120 mile trip...

[julioscissors]

The album finally "kicked in" for me after 4 or 5 listens. "3rd Floor" is a great tune, and I cannot stop listening to "Haunted". Alan's arpeggiated guitars with Fred's Rhodes (I think?) and Suzie's voice are a perfect combo. Steve's bass sound throughout is, as always, amazing - goes without saying at this point, though.

I guess my only minor quibble is I'm not a huge fan of Carl Groves' voice. He's just OK to me. I preferred the other singers they've had in the past, and I think having Jon Davison sing on the If/Cor CD's may have spoiled me a bit. Shame he couldn't stay for a couple more CD's. Maybe "Yes" doesn't share nice...

[Progatron]

I think having Jon Davison sing on the If/Cor CD's may have spoiled me a bit. Shame he couldn't stay for a couple more CD's. Maybe "Yes" doesn't share nice...

Apparently they don't, if that cruise was any indication. One day it will all come out in the controversial tell-all book, Glass Hammer: The Untold Story Of Prog's Bad Boys.

[julioscissors]

Apparently they don't, if that cruise was any indication. One day it will all come out in the controversial tell-all book, Glass Hammer: The Untold Story Of Prog's Bad Boys.

Ahahaha - I'd buy that! Behind the scenes TURMOIL with the church choir! Fred Schendel's SHOCKING weight loss! The REAL story behind the ousting of front man turned pharmacist Brad Marler! EXCLUSIVE on how Steve Howe told the boys 'Stay away from our lead singer, and get the hell off of my lawn"!

[bill g]

"Shadowlands" absolutely kills it for me.

One thing I learned on my recent road trip to Cali to visit my mom. For freeway driving in the sunshine, 'Shadowlands' is one of the best albums there is. 'Run Lisette' is just fantastic, how it builds and is so great at the end. Of course, 'Behind The Great Beyond' is pretty fanastic as well which goes without say I imagine.

[gilawi]

The Breaking Of The World is a solid piece of work. Congratulations Steve, Fred and company on another winner!

Welll...The Breaking of the world received very negative reviews in the Round Table Review of DPRP. The problem I always had with Glass Hammer are their melodies. Stop buying their records because, as much as I try to like this group (certainly their competent musicians with great rifts), for some reason I still cannot pinpoint why I cannot remember their melodies or sing along almost any their songs. The singing puts me off too.

[aith01]

Welll...The Breaking of the world received very negative reviews in the Round Table Review of DPRP. The problem I always had with Glass Hammer are their melodies. Stop buying their records because, as much as I try to like this group (certainly their competent musicians with great rifts), for some reason I still cannot pinpoint why I cannot remember their melodies or sing along almost any their songs. The singing puts me off too.

You're of course entitled to your opinion, but I could not disagree more with some of those DPRP people. I frequently do, in fact, and they are dead wrong about The Breaking of The World.

[Soc Prof]

It would be more accurate to say that the album got mixed reviews from the Round Table. One reviewer gave it a 10 out of 10, and another gave it a 7 out of 10. I was surprised by the lower ratings because, to my ears, it's a solid album.

[perpetual strange]

It would be more accurate to say that the album got mixed reviews from the Round Table. One reviewer gave it a 10 out of 10, and another gave it a 7 out of 10. I was surprised by the lower ratings because, to my ears, it's a solid album.

Sounds like the reviews aren't negative at all then. Nor do I find their melodies unforgettable.

Wouldn't say its their best, but a very good, consistent album.

[Soc Prof]

Here is the reviewer breakdown:

Eric Perry: 7 out of 10
Karel Witte: 5 out of 10
Joel Atlas: 6.5 out of 10
Peter Funke: 5 out of 10
Andrew Halley: 10 out of 10

Now I think this horse is officially dead.

[selmer]

The album finally "kicked in" for me after 4 or 5 listens. "3rd Floor" is a great tune, and I cannot stop listening to "Haunted". Alan's arpeggiated guitars with Fred's Rhodes (I think?) and Suzie's voice are a perfect combo. Steve's bass sound throughout is, as always, amazing - goes without saying at this point, though.

I guess my only minor quibble is I'm not a huge fan of Carl Groves' voice. He's just OK to me. I preferred the other singers they've had in the past, and I think having Jon Davison sing on the If/Cor CD's may have spoiled me a bit. Shame he couldn't stay for a couple more CD's. Maybe "Yes" doesn't share nice...

Listen to Culture Of Ascent (if you haven't done it already) where Groves was the singer. I think it's a very solid album, I definitely like it more than the last two. The production was great on that one too.

[selmer]

Welll...The Breaking of the world received very negative reviews in the Round Table Review of DPRP. The problem I always had with Glass Hammer are their melodies. Stop buying their records because, as much as I try to like this group (certainly their competent musicians with great rifts), for some reason I still cannot pinpoint why I cannot remember their melodies or sing along almost any their songs. The singing puts me off too.

I think Presto Ballet have had something of this kind of a problem in their last few albums - they lack a bit of catchiness. But I guess that's how they intended it.
On the other hand, I can't exactly agree that the melodies of GH are unmemorable. Although I have some criticisms of some of their albums, I think the guys are very good song writers in terms of singing. I have a bit of a problem with the instrumental parts on some records but the singing in terms of writing and performing I like quiet a bit.

[selmer]

You're of course entitled to your opinion, but I could not disagree more with some of those DPRP people. I frequently do, in fact, and they are dead wrong about The Breaking of The World.

What do you mean by saying that they're wrong? I don't think that anybody's opinion can be wrong (well, for the most part). I don't always agree with what they say either, sometimes they give a good rating and I don't agree with it, but that's their point of view. As long as they give some intelligent reasoning, I'm fine with it. I think most albums have good things in them, it's better (when reviewing) to give both the positive and the negative ones. It's interesting how bands themselves react to the critical reviews, I've heard some saying that when they read some negative ones at the beginning they thought about it more but with time they didn't pay as much attention.

[aith01]

What do you mean by saying that they're wrong? I don't think that anybody's opinion can be wrong (well, for the most part). I don't always agree with what they say either, sometimes they give a good rating and I don't agree with it, but that's their point of view. As long as they give some intelligent reasoning, I'm fine with it. I think most albums have good things in them, it's better (when reviewing) to give both the positive and the negative ones. It's interesting how bands themselves react to the critical reviews, I've heard some saying that when they read some negative ones at the beginning they thought about it more but with time they didn't pay as much attention.

The "intelligent reasoning" is what was missing from a lot of those reviews. Rather, I saw a lot of "it's not good" statements and that was about it. Some of them didn't like it, which is fine, but their comments about the album not having "a single good chorus" are just blanket statements -- and inaccurate ones, as several of the choruses have gotten stuck in my head and I find myself humming them out of the blue sometimes. So, in my own opinion, they are wrong.

To each his own of course. I have also disagreed about their positive ratings in the past. On this particular round table review of theirs, some of the reviewers came across as incredibly dismissive, in my opinion.

Still, nothing as bad as Basil Francis' review of The Tangent's Le Sacre du Travail. Talk about completely missing the point of something.

[selmer]

The "intelligent reasoning" is what was missing from a lot of those reviews. Rather, I saw a lot of "it's not good" statements and that was about it. Some of them didn't like it, which is fine, but their comments about the album not having "a single good chorus" are just blanket statements -- and inaccurate ones, as several of the choruses have gotten stuck in my head and I find myself humming them out of the blue sometimes. So, in my own opinion, they are wrong.

To each his own of course. I have also disagreed about their positive ratings in the past. On this particular round table review of theirs, some of the reviewers came across as incredibly dismissive, in my opinion.

Still, nothing as bad as Basil Francis' review of The Tangent's Le Sacre du Travail. Talk about completely missing the point of something.

Well, there you go, you find the choruses good, they don't. I haven't read those reviews, but might do so sometime. To be honest, I'm surprised as well that some of those scores seem medium. The interesting thing is that sometimes the low points score doesn't correspond with the review as it's mostly positive and vice versa - a high scoring review has a lot of criticisms. I once read a statement from a person who said that he did not like one of Nolan's films at all and he made a bunch of criticisms about it. In the end he gave it 8 out of 10. Yikes!!! In my opinion, an 8 out of 10 is a very very good score. A 7 is a very good one as well.
Haven't heard The Tangent's latest one, but the thing about missing the point - it depends what this point is. It's possible that there are a lot of those who see it differently than was the band's intention when writing the material. Sure, there are those who miss the point. But I my guess is that I have missed the point sometime or another as well, we can't always get to the bottom of what was meant with the specific piece of art.