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Zwaken 
Forum Newbie
Joined: March 04 2007
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Points: 6
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 Topic: Glass Hammer
Posted: March 18 2007 at 20:56 |
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I'm looking into glass hammer and they sound like a very solid band...Anyone else wanna say anything about them?
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1001001 S.O.S.
1001001 In Distress
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Man Overboard
Forum Senior Member
Joined: November 07 2004
Location: Austin, TX
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Points: 3830
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Posted: March 18 2007 at 23:17 |
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Their vocals are too smooth for me to enjoy on a regular basis, but Shadowlands is a nice album when I'm in the mood.
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Walker
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Location: Atlanta
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Posted: March 18 2007 at 23:21 |
They are good, but not great. Solid musicianship but semi-solid songwriting, If you are a fan of keyboards, especially Hammond, then you need to get at least one of their CD's to see if you like them. I would reccomend starting with Lex Rex.
By the way, I haven't heard all of their music, so keep that in mind when reading my post above. The ones I have are Lex Rex, Shadowlands, and The Inconsolable Secret.
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richardh
Prog Reviewer
Joined: February 18 2004
Location: United Kingdom
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Points: 27789
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Posted: March 19 2007 at 03:35 |
 Walker wrote:
They are good, but not great. Solid musicianship but semi-solid songwriting, If you are a fan of keyboards, especially Hammond, then you need to get at least one of their CD's to see if you like them. I would reccomend starting with Lex Rex.
By the way, I haven't heard all of their music, so keep that in mind when reading my post above. The ones I have are Lex Rex, Shadowlands, and The Inconsolable Secret. |
Pretty much says it for me as well. Lex Rex is a good one to start with then decide from there whether to check out more. I would avoid their latest The Incosolable Secret as it includes would some might call 'filler'.
Edited by richardh - March 19 2007 at 03:36
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salmacis
Forum Senior Member
Content Addition
Joined: April 10 2005
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Points: 3928
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Posted: March 19 2007 at 08:11 |
^Yeah, I have 'The Inconsolable Secret' and really wasn't blown away sufficiently to want to hear the other albums in a rush. The first disc is enjoyable retro-prog, the second is laden with filler, imho, and I don't really play it much anymore.
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Snow Dog
Special Collaborator
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Joined: March 23 2005
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Posted: March 19 2007 at 08:15 |
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Very good band. I think you will enjoy them very much. I know I do anyway, but, I'm not so harsh a critic as others.
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chopper
Special Collaborator
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Joined: July 13 2005
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Posted: March 19 2007 at 08:46 |
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GH are a good band who've not quite made it up to the next level yet. "Shadowlands" is good but marred by some overloud keyboards in places. "Lex Rex" is a good place to start as others have said. "The Inconsolable Secret" is also good, and I quite like the second CD which explores some mediaeval music, also others consider it filler. Again I found the production on this CD a bit strange, particularly the bass and drums but overall they're worth checking out.
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Blacksword
Prog Reviewer
Joined: June 22 2004
Location: England
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Points: 16130
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Posted: March 19 2007 at 08:56 |
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Very melodic and very symphonic. I actually prefer 'Shadowlands' to 'Lex Rex' and 'Inconsolable Secret' but as chopper says, the production on SL is quite 'annoying at times' The keyboards are way too loud, and the female vocals way to quiet.
There are lots of Moog solos and organ riffs. All very pleasant, but not exactly groundbreaking stuff IMO.
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Ultimately bored by endless ecstasy!
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E-Dub
Special Collaborator
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Joined: February 24 2006
Location: Elkhorn, WI
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Posted: March 19 2007 at 09:15 |
Blacksword wrote:
Very melodic and very symphonic. I actually prefer 'Shadowlands' to 'Lex Rex' and 'Inconsolable Secret' but as chopper says, the production on SL is quite 'annoying at times' The keyboards are way too loud, and the female vocals way to quiet.
There are lots of Moog solos and organ riffs. All very pleasant, but not exactly groundbreaking stuff IMO. |
I do like Lex Rex and Shadowlands a lot; however, the drums are pretty weak. Good place to start, plus their Live At NEARFest CD is a good live disc. There's also a cover of Kansas' "Portrait (He Knew)" with Richard Williams on guitar.
E
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Lofcaudio
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Joined: November 04 2005
Location: United States
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Points: 444
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Posted: March 19 2007 at 10:23 |
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Just to pile on, I highly recommend Lex Rex as I think it is by far their best. Shadowlands is decent and The Inconsolable Secret has its moments as well.
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mickstafa
Forum Senior Member
Joined: March 24 2005
Location: United States
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Points: 236
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Posted: March 19 2007 at 13:47 |
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Don't forget about chronomotree -- the vocals may need to grow on you, but I personally think it is one of their strongest (along with Lex)
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StyLaZyn
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Joined: November 22 2005
Location: United States
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Points: 4079
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Posted: March 19 2007 at 13:53 |
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They are talented, no doubt, but I agree for the most part that they are, at best, average song writers. Nothing memorable to me. I hate to say it, but I'd call these guys wannabe Prog Gods. I can hear their ambition, but it falls short. Maybe with a different lead singer and a harder edge they'd do it for me.
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lighthouse
Forum Senior Member
Joined: March 03 2007
Status: Offline
Points: 201
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Posted: March 19 2007 at 19:00 |
A mood orientated band for me ... Sometimes I play them and I love what I`m hearing other times the music doesn`t connect the same way .. yeah for me mood orientated ! 
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mrgd
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Joined: December 02 2005
Location: Australia
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Points: 822
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Posted: March 19 2007 at 21:24 |
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I've been considering their DVD 'Live at the Belmont' which has promising reviews but I have nothing yet of their music. Are there any recommendations of the DVD as a place to start?
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Looking still the same after all these years...
mrgd
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richardh
Prog Reviewer
Joined: February 18 2004
Location: United Kingdom
Status: Offline
Points: 27789
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Posted: March 20 2007 at 03:33 |
mrgd wrote:
I've been considering their DVD 'Live at the Belmont' which has promising reviews but I have nothing yet of their music. Are there any recommendations of the DVD as a place to start? |
Personally I prefer the Lex Live DVD. Live at Belmont is a very good DVD though and has some good bonus features including an excellent remix of 'Tales Of The Great Wars' (from Lex Rex).
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ozzy_tom
Prog Reviewer
Joined: March 15 2006
Location: China/Poland
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Points: 754
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Posted: March 20 2007 at 08:25 |
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Glass Hammer is one of my favorite "new" (from 90'-00') bands. Sometimes it sounds like some very ELP-inspired retro-symphonic group (due to the massive usage of Hammond, Moog & mellotron) and sometimes it's more neo-prog alike (for example "modern" vocals without any artistic freak-outs). But all of these neo-prog tendencis don't change my impression that it's really worth checking. My favorite Glass Hammer's album is "The Inconsolable Secret" because it shows their big impact on classic prog-rock with lots of Hammond organ and even some church organ. Also "Shadowlands", "Les rex" & "Chronometree" are great. Bet be careful ! Their earlier albums sound morel ike typical neo-prog and "The Middle Earth Album" is a normal...folk record.
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Tandary
Forum Newbie
Joined: April 21 2006
Location: Hungary
Status: Offline
Points: 2
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Posted: March 20 2007 at 10:47 |
Sorry to say that but Lex Rex was a huge disappointment to me. Somehow the music was too thin, I mean too simple as if one keyboard would sound at the same time. Whats more, the vocals are not so strong, either. I mean weak, very weak.
But I heard sthing on the net, it was beautiful symphonic complex rock, the music just grabbed my interest and didnt let go. The biggest problem is that I forgot the album title and I only remember the band name GH.
Regards
Dénes
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topographer
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mickstafa
Forum Senior Member
Joined: March 24 2005
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 236
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Posted: March 22 2007 at 13:04 |
Get the Belmont DVD (I did the CG animation on it) 
Edited by mickstafa - March 22 2007 at 13:05
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Glass Hammer
