Anteater

...yes, it is time. Time to rise from the ashes like a phoenix and once again TAKE HOLD of the flame....the flame of MB journaling on a semi-regular basis, mediating on topics and albums and artists that mean a lot to me but probably won't mean a lot to all of you at first. Give it time though: soon ye masses shall be seeing things MYYYY way -- MUAHAHWHAHAHAHAJWHAH...hah.

*sighs nostalgically, smoking an herbal cigar that won't give him lung cancer in twenty years*. Hard to believe its been almost five years since I first joined MusicBanter. Much to everyone's amusement, I've started up and subsequently run out of steam on a variety of glorious journals. Got quite a few of the bastards under my belt at this point too, everything from weird crap from the 70's to modern progressive rock....and yes, even essential smooth jazz music you should embrace with the fervor of a coked up grizzly bear.

..no, seriously, go read that last one in particular: it's chock-full of br00tal contemporary grooves, complete with the sort of edgy sax and keyboard work that have influenced countless indie and post-punk bands for generations.

All that being said, 'tis been quite the struggle to maintain long-term activity round these parts: I'm building a business here in the real world and when I actually write reviews its because the boys at MyGlobalMind.com are having me review new rock/metal releases on a constant basis..even the shitty ones!

Still, the Anthill is back, for better or for worse! Expect reviews for a variety of interesting albums from my usual genre suspects (rock and metal of all breeds, jazz, ???, folk, pop, soul, funk, R&B, electronic, obscure diddlies and the occasional avant-garde monstrosity), posts on interesting songs, movies and topics that haunt me like an opium addiction, entrepreneurial and life related advice (I peddled insurance for awhile, so I have words of wisdom on the art of salesmanship as well), plus all kinds of other nicknackery. I even take requests...sometimes! I generally prefer money though.

In short, this will be my journal to end all journals. You'll get a bit of everything and then some (all filtered through my glorious better-pack-two-sets of underwear writing style).

I'm gonna stick with this one fellas, so be prepared to follow me to the depths of Hell and back! Or, you know, just comment every once in awhile. It makes me feel less lonely. *Looks up at the moon as a single tear rolls down his furred proboscis*.

~ A.E.

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Mojo

I've always liked your way with words Anteater. Good luck with this one!

And where is my million dollars?

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Last.FM | Echoes and Dust

Trollheart

YES! YES! YES! Best news this month! Ant is back! This is going right to the top of the journal update (well, your name does begin with A....)

Welcome back, my old friend!

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Anteater

Looks like some of my usual pals are onboard, woooh! On that note, lets start things off the way they're supposed to start: with great music! Introducing: a spotlight feature on one of heavy metal's more unappreciated 80's innovators, the magnificent Crimson Glory!


Every story, no matter the band, has to start somewhere: ours begins in 1982. The place: Sarasota, Florida. In the ensuing years of the decade from this point, the state would spawn wonderful bands such as Iced Earth, not to mention an entire genre unto itself (death metal). But I digress: those years had not yet arrived. Magic, however, was in the air: the burgeoning NWOBHM movement was inspiring many talented people across the pond (and the world) to form outfits of their own. One such group of misfits went by the lovable moniker known as Beowulf, led primarily by (after a bunch of hectic lineup changes) young guitar virtuosos Jon Drenning and an enigmatic, five-octave ranged singer simply known as Midnight. Ooooh. Eventually changing their name to Crimson Glory, they subsequently began ripping through Iron Maiden, Tank and Judas Priest material like no tomorrow in live after live performance as they pursued a unique sound of their own from '82-'86, where they were finally signed by young label Roadrunner Records for the recording of their self-titled. And thus the beginnings of a progressive metal legend had begun, but questions still remain: just how far could these guys go? What makes them so special compared to the heavy metal greats? And perhaps most importantly of all....what's with the silver masks?

I will be answering all of these inquiries AND MOREEEE as I review each of their 4 record studio records, starting with the self titled and ending with 1999's "comeback" record Astronomica. In all seriousness though: these guys are a very special band: alongside Fates Warning and the classic Queensrÿche lineup, they spearheaded a bridge approach between atmospheric 70's art rock and thrash metal to spawn the first wave of the genre known as "progressive" metal. Of the pioneering bands though, CG have the lowest profile...hence why they're being spotlit. In any case, enjoy the reviews!

Crimson Glory – Crimson Glory (1986)

1. Valhalla (3:50)
2. Dragon Lady (4:27)
3. Heart Of Steel (6:13)
4. Azrael (5:38)
5. Mayday (3:02)
6. Queen Of The Masquerade (5:28)
7. Angels Of War (5:28)
8. Lost Reflections (4:50)
9. Dream Dancer (6:54)

Four years is a long time to hold a group of individuals together when you aren't signed and opening for larger acts that happen to come through Florida on their way to L.A. or wherever the biggies happened to be going at the time, but 1986 was the breakout year for Crimson Glory: they contracted with Roadrunner and went right into studio with many songs in tow that, by this point, they knew better than whatever Metallica cover they'd been jamming the previous night. And what very very good songs they are indeed!

The second you turn this sucker on to opening number 'Valhalla', several things become immediately apparent. The first is the clear yet vibrant guitar work of Jon Drenning, anchored by some haunting keys and the killer bass of Jeff Lords. The second is the unusually distinctive and listenable voice of Midnight: his lower register is scratchy with a knotty, almost bluesy bite to it, but when he suddenly goes up three or four octaves in the space of mere seconds, his talent is frightening to behold: this guy is right up there with the best who've ever taken the mic in realms heavy metal, Dio and Dickinson and Halford included. This was a man who was born to sing about dark gods beyond space-time, mystical women of dubious intent and the terrible fates dealt to those who seek madness of their own volition, and boyyy does he sell it!



Still, it's not all quiet/loud dynamics and walking that eerie tightrope between the primordial acoustic and pounding rancor. The band cuts loose with the very NWOBHMish 'Dragon Lady' early on in the album and even throw the Judas Priest crowd a bone with headbanger 'Queen Of The Masquerade' at the midway point.



In short, this was an incredible debut from a band that literally came out of nowhere, regardless of what genre bus you throw it under. Great dynamics and music matched, perhaps, only by The Warning from Queensrÿche back in '84 (which was also a monster debut). The band toured successfully in the aftermath of its release too, intriguing audiences in the U.S. and Europe with full silver-mask regalia as a way to cement their visual and musical identity in a year where the Big Four had begun ascending and glam metal was all the rage. And yet the band knew they could go even further, reach higher. Two years went by.... (TBC)

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Unknown Soldier

I love the first two Crimson Glory albums and they're a band I only discovered a couple of years ago thanks to another member on here. I was shocked to see that they're vocalist Midnight died not so long ago.

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Urban Hat€monger ?

Even when I was 13 I found Crimson Glory to be too corny.
This guy at school would not shut up about them and insisted I listen to them.
Made me listen to their first 2 albums, hated them.

I also remember Radio One broadcasting a live gig of theirs for the Friday Rock Show sometime around 88/89. They were atrocious live.

There's a reason they had such a low profile compared to someone like Queensryche, they were awful.

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Anteater

Corny eh? Just goes to show you that one man's trash is another man's treasure, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, etc. etc. I have my inclinations and you have yours: I do completely disagree with that corny bit though, especially since I revel in all that blood-pumping sword & sorcery fantasy stuff. Guys like Robert E. Howard and Ashton Clark Smith were some of the best damn writers that have ever lived, and CG's music touches upon their usual imagery often: Jon & Midnight were quite big fans of the latter in particular.

Secondly, they weren't that low profile. If anything, Fates Warning were probably the lowest profile among the original prog-metal bands (at least until the release of Parallels in 1991). CG toured with Anthrax and Ozzy in '88 and '89 for quite a while, and even briefly with QR themselves around the time they started selling out stadiums. But I'll be getting into that stuff on my next post, lol.

If they aren't your cup of tea, fine....but there's nothing wrong with CG musically or lyrically. They're a heavy metal band for Crissakes! Might as well piss all over Maiden and Judas Priest while we're at it.

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Anteater

The next three years after the debut would get quite busy for Crimson Glory. Tours overseas through most of Europe with Anthrax, Metallica and Metal Church, combined with more mainstream attention from magazines, TV and radio was a whole lot for any new band to handle. However, all the touring and newfound attention ultimately proved positive: the band's self image was bolstered and the desire to make even greater music intensified severely: the stage was set for an even better record than their first. That record, Transcendence, would be recorded and subsequently released in November of '88. With it would come a hit single in the form of 'Lonely' and even more attention, which would result in huge tours with Ozzy Osbourne and fellow progressive metal pioneers Queensrÿche. By 1990, they were doing venues of thousands, the largest being a premiere performance at Germany's Metal Hammer Festival for over 20,000+. All, it seemed, was very well. But by 1991...well, I'll get to that in the next post.

Thus, let's take a look at Crimson Glory's most lauded record, and a classic of first wave progressive metal. Ladies and gents....Transcendence!

Crimson Glory – Transcendence (1988)

1. Lady Of Winter (4:00)
2. Red Sharks (4:49)
3. Painted Skies (5:13)
4. Masque Of The Red Death (4:13)
5. In Dark Places (6:58)
6. Where Dragons Rule (5:05)
7. Lonely (5:17)
8. Burning Bridges (6:29)
9. Eternal World (3:51)
10. Transcendence (4:31)

This sophomore recording marks Crimson Glory's ascension to the realms of classic heavy metal, and even a cursory listen makes it easy to see why people hold this up alongside any of Iron Maiden or the Big Four's output from the same period: the mixing and overall atmosphere is gorgeous, the interplay between the harmonizing guitars and rhythm section were tighter than they had ever been...and hell, even Midnight's already distinctive vocals have taken on a more confident approach with the new songs. Listen to how the rest of the band harmonizes with him on radio-smash 'Lonely' or the tremolo picked 'Painted Skies': this is the sort of stuff people get into heavy metal for in the first place.



That being said, besides everything being a couple of steps up from the self-titled, this album's swagger covers surprisingly diverse ground: for starters, you have the especially stomping, Poe-inspired 'Masque Of The Red Death' and the percussive, almost militaristic power metal of 'Where Dragons Rule', kept anchored & raging by Midnight's croon. Secondly, there's nary a moment where something interesting unusual or progressive isn't going on in the rhythm sections or the songs themselves, such as album centerpiece 'In Dark Places', a venomous near-7 minute anthem that would later prove to be a live favorite. "In dark places we will be, forever beyond the light": tight!

My favorite of the ten songs here though is probably the closing title track, where Midnight's voice, an acoustic guitar and some scary sounding synths set up this hopeful yet strangely menacing bit of imagery as the last sounds fade away...

A bit spooky, no?



From my perspective, what makes Transcendence not only a top-notch progressive metal release, but also just a damn fine heavy metal album is general, is that it brings some of those unconventional chord structures and progressions which Fates Warning and Watchtower were known for back in the late 80's, but also draws upon the great fantasy imagery of CG's NWOBHM influences (and power metal contemporaries), subsequently mixing up these various traits with the heavier thrash sound pioneered by Megadeth, Metallica and Testament. This is no simple synthesis to pull off, and yet Transcendence makes it sound like it was the easiest thing in the world to accomplish. In other words, this is a case where the various matrices of the music's DNA are so well integrated into a core sound that the listener will be hard pressed to find any of the inconsistencies that sometimes arise when a band labors to do too many things at once.



Still, no matter how good a metal record is, great music like this still a tough sell for anyone who doesn't dig the genre (or possesses the capacity to enjoy it on its own merits) to begin with, which is unfortunate. Many people are so caught up in whether or not the music they listen to is lyrically relevant to their bland, boring lives that they forget that music isn't always about connecting with you emotionally: sometimes what makes music interesting or special is how it transports your mind (and perhaps your soul) to venues and places that you'd otherwise never go yourself. This record, ladies and gents, can do that for anyone who gives it an honest-to-God opportunity to do so.



Additionally, Transcendence is fascinating even in its lyrical content at times: amidst all the swords and magic and dragons, there's some real classy dialogue going on here about what it really means to rise above your mundane, day-to-day existence: some people think the answer lies in the manner of your death (understanding your own unique and inevitable doom as it were), while other people think the answer lies in arcane knowledge that others don't possess, finding patterns in the movements of the stars: perhaps even the Earth itself holds the means to determining one's purpose. And yet no matter what you believe in, death is going to find you anyway. The question is, are you someone who can reconcile with what may lie beyond...or not?

All in all, a fascinating album that stands at the peak of CG's output. And yet, interesting things were still to come....(TBC)

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The Batlord

****ing awesome post! I probably found out about Crimson Glory the same place as Unknown Soldier did, cause it was probably about two years ago, and they are fantastic. I can never decide which is the greatest eighties power metal album, Transcendence or Keeper of the Seven Keys Pt. II. I think I'm gonna go throw on Transcendence and find out...

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Anteater

^^ As much as I enjoy Helloween, I think most people would be hard pressed to find that long of a list of metal records at by the tail end of the 80's as good as Transcendence. Now, however, I'll be moving beyond the classic era, which is interesting on its own merits too.


So after two killer records, tours all over the planet with some of the biggest names in heavy metal and headlining friggin' huge festivals in Europe AND their home state of Florida (where they won multiple accolades at the Tampa Bay Music Awards), just where would the mighty Crimson Glory go next? Up? Down? Somewhere completely new entirely?

This, my friends, is where the story gets unusual...but to really appreciate my following review for Crimson Glory's controversial and bizarre 3rd studio release, you have to appreciate the context from which it arose.

By the summer of 1990 following the band's last major tour with Queensrÿche (who were riding high on a wave of their own thanks to their newly released record Empire, which went Platinum within a year) and Ozzy (who was busy with his own stuff at the time), core members Ben Jackson (guitar) and drummer Dana Burnell both departed simultaneously to pursue projects of their own. While they exited with the blessings of the rest of the band, this left the group with a couple of holes left to fill from out of nowhere.

Furthermore, Transcendence had sold really well and anticipation for an even better follow up albums was in the air. However, two things happened around this period which changed the game overnight.

1. Grunge. Lots of it!

2. CG got themselves a new drummer, a fella named Ravi Jakhotia (a future DJ superstar), who brought a "groovier" less metal-oriented dynamic to the lineup.

3. Lead vocalist Midnight demanded a more active role in the songwriting process. Naturally, the rest of the band let him do whatever he wanted. His favorite genres of music? Glam/funk metal, psychedelic rock...and all that trendy alternative & grunge stuff from Seattle, fascinations which seemed ironic to the rest of the group at the time.

In short, 1990-1991 was an interesting year for any metal band to throw the gauntlet down in studio. The music industry's tectonic plates had literally shifted overnight, and whilst the 'Reich had managed to score a surprise blockbuster in their rock-oriented followup to Operation: Mindcrime with the spacey power ballad 'Silent Lucidity', within six months you were dead meat if you tried to do the same thing. Thus, the question remained: what could a progressive power metal band do in a musical environment that would commercially condemn a second Transcendence before you could snap your fingers and say Cobain?

The answer to that question was 1991's Strange And Beautiful, an album that would prove to be the band's most unusual record...and yet one which finalized their doom as well.

Crimson Glory – Strange And Beautiful (1991)

1. Strange And Beautiful (6:17)
2. Promised Land (5:22)
3. Love And Dreams (5:29)
4. The Chant (3:45)
5. Dance On Fire (5:27)
6. Song For Angels (5:19)
7. In The Mood (5:55)
8. Starchamber (7:28)
9. Deep Inside Your Heart (5:13)
10. Make You Love Me (4:05)
11. Far Away (4:44)

So, pop quiz for my readers: what happens when a progressive metal band gets taken over by their spiritually-minded singer with a huge hard-on for sleaze rock, the RHCP, Faith No More and the first two Jane's Addiction LPs?

Well, that's pretty much Strange And Beautiful in a nutshell, and it's either one of the ballsiest and most underrated left turns of the early 90's or a helluva headscratcher that'll leave you feeling nearly as bamboozled as this album's initial buyers were back upon its release. Either way, this album is so radically different, both in style and in approach, from the 1986 self-titled and Transcendence that it's hard to believe this is the same band that recorded those two records not even half a decade before. The opening title track, for instance, plucks its way into a heavy, glam-oriented groove that would give Guns & Roses a run for their money, strung from high above by Midnight's puppeetered gutteral: it's the same powerful voice we're all familiar with, but his trademark shriekery has been replaced with a scuzzy, slinking sort of quality that drones into your mind in time with those heavy basslines. Unusual, but a great start to an unconventional album!



At this point though, I'm sure any metal fan that bought this album were probably thinking "wtf?". Some may have even wondered if they had bought the wrong record by mistake. And yet, lean in with those ears brothas and sistahs: characteristics of the classic CG sound are still evident here! The acoustic/loud contrasting dynamics especially, not to mention Midnight's voice. It's as good as ever, even if he's channeling Perry Farrell instead of Bruce Dickinson this time around. Different? Yes. Bad? Not at all!

Side one has some great stuff beyond the opener though, particularly 'Promised Land': its a gritty, percussive monster and the best song that Jane's Addiction never wrote. Everybody just rips, giving the song an infectious propulsion that oscillates with a life of its own. Again, nothing like anything the group did in the 80's, but it's still a great song.



Assuming you get used to Midnight's newly discovered inner glam metal/alternative rock muso within the first few tracks, there's plenty of surprises left. 'Songs For Angels' is an Axl Rose-ish ballad: you'll either love it or hate it, lol! 'Chant', 'In The Mood' (which features some sax in the second half) & 'Dance On Fire' are all excellent funk-metal numbers, while the epic 'Starchamber' is something of a throwback to Transcendence's songwriting style, featuring some killer syncopated rhythms and a tasty chorus to boot. It gets quite spacy over its 7 minute run, so be preparrrrrrrred!



So, my verdict: this is a really good album that, unfortunately, had the odds stacked against it from the beginning. Going from progressive/power metal to a heavy glam metal/alternative rock/grunge hybrid style in the space of one record was probably too much for most of the people who had probably gotten on board with the band due to Transcendence and their subsequent tours with Ozzy and Anthrax. Thousands initially bought it based on unrealistic expectations and then subsequently trashed it and spread the word...and in all likelihood without having given the album a proper listen either. Not helping matters were that publications like Kerrang! wouldn't give it a chance either (see where I red-circled in my initial post heading). In short -- a great album that fucked up any possibility for a long-term career for Crimson Glory: Midnight left the band almost immediately upon its release (due to public reception to the album) and went into a self-imposed exile that would last nearly ten years.



Guitarist and band leader Jon Drenning, on the other hand, held what was left of the group together as best he could in light of their iconic singer's departure: he recruited singer David Van Landing and the group toured in support of Strange And Beautiful across the U.S. for the remainder of '91. Funnily enough, they would be opening shows by the end of the year for both Alice In Chains AND Soundgarden.

Despite a fairly successful run, Atlantic (who CG were signed to) stopped promoting them completely. Due to this, Drenning would break Crimson Glory up in 1992, participate in various other bands/projects alongside other ex-CG members, and life would go on. And yet, this was not the end....(TBC)

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