Crack the Sky's Ghost: A Return to Roots
Apr 06 '02
The Bottom Line Although there are bits here and there that don't work, overall Ghost is a splendid release worthy of widespread attention.
Bands that play Progressive Rock tend to have a tough time staying true to the genre. There's the push and pull factors of marketing / popularity, contrasted to the belief that one is "staying true to the music." While for much of the 1970s, bands like Yes or Emerson, Lake and Palmer could be as bombastic as they liked while still filling arenas, that didn't last, and no one who follows the genre with forget their first listen to Yes' 90125 or Genesis' Abacab.
Sellouts aside (and both Yes and Genesis have made an effort to go back to their roots,) many of these bands found that even toning down the complexity didn't do much other than alienate their core fan base. So I'm always pleased with bands that have taken the ups and downs of the industry in stride and stuck to their guns, playing the music that they want, whether it sells or not.
Crack the Sky is one of the few United States bands that has followed this track down the years. Their first release, in 1975, was hailed as "Debut Album of the Year" by Rolling Stone magazine and although members have come and gone over the ensuing time, I can only cite one or two albums of theirs that never really gelled, and even those are probably superior to the best selling albums of the same time.
CtS has characteristically been known for intelligent and insightful lyrics, strong musicianship, particularly on guitar, and pulling elements of bands like Gentle Giant, Genesis and King Crimson into a unique blend of Progressive Rock that has rarely been done this well by anyone else.
Ghost
Released in 2001, Ghost was presented to me as being something of a return to the early days of Crack the Sky. It seems to be independently released, as there's no record company or copyright information anywhere on the cd.
When I first put it in the iMac, there was a not so subtle message -- Quicktime Player launched, and I was treated to recent concert footage of the song "Robots for Ronnie" from the band's self-titled debut album. The rest of the album aside, this alone makes the album a great purchase -- "Robots" is a delightful song and the post 2000 version is every bit as good as it was 25 years ago.
The band for this release is Bobby Hird (guitars,) John Palumbo (vocals, keyboards, guitar,) John Tracy (drums,) Rick Witkowski (guitars,) Glenn Workman (keyboards) and Carey Ziegler (bass.) Palumbo and Witkowski are the only members from the first iteration of the band, but most of the rest have been with the group for a while.
While I agree that this album is definitely going back in the direction of early CtS sound, there's much more of a jazz feel to many parts of the recording. This gives the album a much more ethereal feel overall, although there are still some scorching guitar parts that most fans will recognize and adore.
Track Listing
Coconuts
This starts out the album on a great note -- thumpy guitar from Witkowski that recalls the first CtS albums. A biting lyric from Palumbo that speaks to the insanity of expecting a group of people to take care of themselves, and then we wonder what goes wrong when we stick out noses into it. There's a real sense of free jazz in much of the backing music, along with some phenomenal drumming. Overall, likely the best track on the album!
Ghost
Much more subdued, this has an ethereal undertone throughout, particularly with some creepy guitar bits that accent Palumbo's heavily filtered vocals. Musically, this is fairly minimal until about two minutes in, when it picks up with a scorching guitar bit, although this only lasts a short while before it's back to the subtle backing for the vocal.
I
The band again uses a repetitive backing with interesting accents and fills to supplement the focus of Palumbo's vocals. Effective key change through the bridge at about three minutes in, with a jazzy piano backing that switches off with heavy guitar and drums.
Go
With a fairly short lyric, one would assume this to be largely instrumental, and there is indeed some great dual guitar work throughout this track, but this slower track works well between Palumbo's melancholy singing and the rest of the band. Definitely a player on FM radio, if the corporate dopes paid attention to bands that aren't on their "approved playlist."
Fly
Sleepy and moody, "Fly" is a nice smooth song that builds a soundscape quite well with a really sharp Spanish guitar bit in the middle.
Tomorrow
Speaking to the uncertainties of life, this acerbic lyric by Palumbo is insightful and lies over a bed of music that truly recalls the first couple of CtS albums. Very thumpy bass, jazzy drums, and nice guitar solos throughout make this a fun and bouncy track.
Zoom
Mostly instrumental, this is my favourite song on the album. It starts out as a fairly simple rock track, then breaks into a subtle jazzy piece about three minutes in. At almost nine minutes, it's wide enough to allow some aural exploration, and I really like where they go with this. All elements of the band gel very nicely and Palumbo's vocals are less of an intrusion than just another instrument within the mix.
USA
A rather sarcastic view of the US from a centralist's point of view, the lyric on this doesn't quite have the kick of similar tracts on previous albums (like "Dog City" or "Lost in America") and when combined with Palumbo's rap-like vocal, this just doesn't work for me. Some interesting musical sections, but overall, not a great song.
Zazen
Like "Fly," this brings the tempo way down for a sleepy effect. I love the flute towards the end of the track, although it's not credited on the liner notes, so it might be a sample.
Husband
Ending the album on a bizarre note, this is a straight blues track. While the oddly minimalistic feel of the song sort of flies in the face of the depth of some of the previous songs, it works surprisingly well and either speaks to the versatility of the band or the simplicity on duplicating the Mississippi blues sound.
Conclusion
I'm often pressed by friends to name an "album of the year," and while I've escaped that for the last couple of years, I'd have to mark this one down as a contender for 2001. Setting a goal of getting back to their roots, Crack the Sky haven't quite succeeded, but they've come damn close.
This is a superior album that will definitely appeal to long time fans of the band, particularly those who might have lost a bit of faith in the ensuing years. In addition, fans of Progressive Rock in general will find a lot to like here, most especially if you're more into the ambient jazz line of things.
As noted by the category this review is filed under, this is an independent release, which may be purchased directly from the band at their website, which is at:
http://www.crackthesky.com
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Epinions.com ID:
adjensen
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Member: a.d. jensen
Location: Grand Forks, ND USA
Reviews written: 143
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About Me:
Now blogging reviews at http://kandsmil.blogspot.com/
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