Glass

Illuminations

They’re back! Glass was a seventies band that had never released an album, although they’d recorded enough material for several. In 2001 they released some of it under the title No Stranger to the Skies. We were the first to review this album and interview the band.

Now they’re back with a totally new album and a new label. Illuminations shows the band to be more mature, and more dedicated than ever. It sounds better than No Stranger to the Skies because it’s headed in a different direction and it was created under a different perspective.

The guys may have aged, but like a fine wine, they’ve aged gracefully and gained so much. Illuminations is cut up into several short pieces that fit into each other, like a long travel, one you engage upon with great pleasure.

There’s no particular strong part on the album, because there’s no weak spot. It just goes on keeping your interest at peak level throughout. The musicianship is confident and experienced, as is the production work.

It contains a lot of subtleties that add layers of beauty to the whole work; definitely an album you want and one that you’ll be listening to for years to come.

The music is beautiful, complex, but presented with facility; it doesn’t sound complicated. I’m predicting this album is going to go far and bring the band quite forward to the publics attention. And if they wait 30 years for the next one, I’ll go down to California and kick their butts myself…

No Stranger To The Skies

And no strangers to the music world either.

Back in the seventies, two brothers had a musical project called “Glass”. Unfortunately, nobody wanted to sign them. Which is amazing of itself. The talent in this band is quite obvious. Not only are they great musicians, but they are also great songwriters.

They could have gone to Germany where their particular brand of music would have caught on, but they remained in the US.

The booklet is a testimony to what they did back in the seventies. With copies of two studio bills and an add for one of their shows (admission, 50¢!). lots of photos and a letter from their management company telling them to keep at it.

Now, twenty-five years later, as Progressive Rock is on the rise again, they decided to repatriate long recorded musical pieces and release them on Relentless Pursuit records. The result is one superb album!

A mix of Orchestral Rock and Jazz Fusion, it has more than enough to please many people. The sound is still fresh, contrary to a most music which sounds dated after 25 years. This sounds as it just came out of the studio.

The album begins with a killer track, which gives its name to the whole album. Then it follows in various patterns, keeping you wondering what’s next. Always moving in unexpected directions, the album keeps you intrigued and asking for more. But wait, there is more! Luckily, this is a double CD. And the second CD won’t let you down either. Just raise the volume as it does start off at a lower volume than the first. Then it rises, but you won’t want to turn the dial down.

As a trip down many roads of musical experiment, No Stranger to the Skies won’t let you down. What we can hope now is that they sell enough to head back into the studio and record some more. But if they still have some old tapes lying around, we’ll gladly enjoy them.