Why does Glass Hammer get Hammered here?

They have 5 albums with an average rating of over 3.5 and 5 others rated over 3.  That doesn't sound like they got hammered.   They seem to be rated as a good band but not an amazing one.  That's probably a fair assessment based on whatever I have heard of them, though the fans would of course disagree.  

From the little I've heard, and not all that recently, I'd say they were a standard Symph Prog band so not a style I like too much.

Is it because this is a good place to get hammered?  Burrrp....

I only have 'If' and 'Cor Cordium', but I enjoy them both quite a bit.  They feel like they should have been released as a double album, really.

that sounds very enigmatic

^I'm liking that!  I'm guessing the intro or something along those lines.  Very atmospheric.

I think to many people on here they are TOO retro sounding, that they represent the `old' kind of 70's self-indulgent arrogant overblown prog - perhaps they do, but to many like me, that's exactly what we love about them! Their epic arrangements, virtuoso playing, big concepts, etc!

And I have to disagree - the `South Side Of The Sky' remake that opens `Culture' is far and away the worst thing on the album! It starts off very dark and interesting, quite different and original, then almost instantly falls into a straight remake, just with female vocals instead. A missed oppurtunity!

I don't think `Culture' is their best album, but tracks like `Sun Song' and `Life By Light' are incredible pieces! Wonderful lyrics/vocals, heartfelt singing, endless impressive instrumental passages, grand and inspiring arrangements! The heavier guitar helps give that album it's unique identity amongst their other albums.

I do think the `Yes-clone' criticisms of Glass Hammer have really kicked in since the arrival of Jon, not helped by the fact that at least with `If', the Hammer guys modeled their sound more on that classic band than ever. I'm not actually taking a shot at him or the band here, and I do think that `Cor Cordium' found more of it's own identity and was less `Yes' inspired than `If'.

I think if you look back at Chronomotree, Lex, Shadowlands, Inconsolable..., etc, they generally had a broader symphonic 70's sound as opposed to just influenced by the one band. Trying to merge their grand sound with all sorts of elements of their beloved favourite bands.

I was listening to `Culture Of Ascent' just an hour ago, and I thought they really went all out trying to find new directions, with very complex and experimental incorporation of orchestral elements, heavier guitar and a darker mood.

OK, I'm rambling now!

Progdaybay wrote: A good topic ! I started buying 2000-prog albums with The Flower Kings and Glass Hammer, and my first GH-CD was Chronometree. Since I love keyboard music because I am a keyboardist, I got impressed by their music. And of course they get too low scorings !! It is a shame.   But... I must say that I still consider the GH-voice to be Walter Moore. Too bad he is not there anymore. Their best production was when he was there, singing and playing. And it was huge in my ears. It happens that I do personal compilations of the CD's I have, on the overall quality of music for a complete album (i.e. high scoring when all tracks are good), and believe it or not : GH has 2 CD's in my Top-5 of all-time ! This means concerning ANY prog album ! And they are : Inconsolable Secret (#5) and Lex Rex (#2). Get that ! A competition with ALL other CD's and bands !! Of course, Moore was the singer on these. 'Inconsolable' gets high emotions going, and 'Lex' is perfection. I also like very much 'Arianna', 'Chronometree' and 'Compilations', which has the beauty 'Alkinoos'. 'Shadowlands' is more up and down, with the climax being the last.   They have low outings also : 'Culture of Ascent' is, in my view, impossible to understand, musically, the best track being the 'Yes' remake ! The last two are good productions, but I don't recognize GH enough in comparison to those cited above. I would give them something like 3.8 and 3.5 / 5. They remain very good interesting CD's to hear.   Since both CD's of GH I love most are concept albums : watch the next one ! It could be a very big thing, even if there are no epics.   So, Yeah ! When I see my #2 CD of all-time getting hammered, I am shocked. But I understand that it is a world open site, and everything is possible... unfortunately !

Lex Rex probably gets low marks because of the very unfortunate attempts to do a English accent in between the tunes (the narative). Musically its great though. Tales Of The Great Wars is probably my favourite modern symphonic prog track and stands up against the best symph prog imo.

Ambient Hurricanes wrote: ...Glass Hammer often gets tagged as a Yes clone...