Customer Reviews

Chronometree

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As much as I love the "progressive" founders of the style that time has come to identify as "symphonic" rock, I am as equally critical of projects that are, in effect, sampling these groups. Granted, it takes a respectable musician to recreate the best moments of Yes' "Relayer", but is there really a difference between playing homage to one's influences and Xerox-copying them outright while playing off the differences with changes in studio technology?

This, and beyond this, is the point that "Chronometree" trying to make. Read on....

Glass Hammer has the every potential for falling into the latter "Xerox" category. Although Fred Schendel and Steve Babb are multi-instrumentalists, they wear their keyboard influences on their sleeve. They freely and convincingly toggle between Emerson- and Wakeman-isms. However, keyboard influences aside, I think it is really hard to say that "Chronometree" as an overall project "sounds like" Yes or ELP. Even though they are playing in the style of these bands and moments of the album could have been lifted from "Going for the One" or "Tarkus", "Chronometree" distinguishes itself from these classic albums in several convncing ways.

Sonically, Babb and Schendel's choice of auxiliary musicians help to distance "Chronometree" from its influences. Usually, I am the first to have issues with melodramatic prog-rock singers, and it seems that many reviewers seem to take issue with the vocals of Brad Marler. However, I think that he is one of the jewels of "Chronometree". Marler has a unique style. He is in no way trying to cop Jon Anderson or Greg Lake, or any of the classic singers for that matter. In the prog-rock business, I think that stance is pretty bold and practically difficult. Most importantly, Marler is impassioned without coming off as cheesy or melodramatic. Add to this the tasteful and sometimes blistering stand-in guitar chops of Arjen Lucasson (of Aryeon fame) and you create some fantastically electrifying moments that distance "Chronometree's" best moments from the occasional "Awaken"-style church organ or the "Eruption"-style Hammond stab.

Most importantly, the musically derivative moments of "Chronometree" can be attributed to the unabashedly clever concept of the album. You see, "Chronometree" is a rock opera/concept album about a guy who listens to too many rock operas/concept albums. The main character, Tom, is a pot-smoking prog-rock junkie that starts to think that aliens are trying to contact him through lyrics. In the end, he drags his friends out to a field where he waits, Great Pumpkin-style, for four-dimensional alien enlightenment.

Think about it - you really can't go wrong with this one...

As silly as it sounds to read, the concept is actually quite heady in execution. Without a libretto, it would most likely take the listener a while to figure out that at its core, "Chronometree" is a self-referential satire. I think Obi-Wan Kenobi said, "Who is the more foolish, the fool or the fool who follows him?" The closer you look at "Chronometree", the more you become the fool. It pokes fun at you for looking too closely at its meaning. In the end, the hidden message that it seems to be trying to convey is that the music is what is most important - at least to Babb and Schendel it is.

And if the music is what is important, that is what one should focus on. All of this subtle humor is delivered with an academically straight face within some of the most well-composed modern symphonic rock being produced today. Thematic and harmonic recurrences make this a 45-minute journey into both the past and the future. As with many well-composed concept albums, it is difficult to suggest a single track to give the listener an idea of what to expect. However, the stand-alone interlude "Perfect Carousel" hands-down the best Rick Wakeman song written that Rick Wakeman never wrote. If you like that track, the rest of the album will blow you out of the water.

The lowdown: "Chronometree" is a great progressive/symphonic rock album that will make you sing, think, and perhaps even snicker to yourself if you care enough to pay attention. Probably the most distinctive thing the Hammer has done. MOst importantly, it FEELS good to listen to. The musicians involved seem to be genuinely challenged and joyful in their creation. `Nuff Said!

Glass Hammer is an amazing band with lots of heart, humor and musical talent. This is the second album of theirs I've heard (the first being The Middle Earth Album) and it's even better than I thought and hoped it would be.

Chronometree sounds like a cross between ELP, King Crimson (in some of the guitar solos), Yes, early Genesis, maybe a little Gentle Giant -- yet none of it sounds derivative. It sounds extremely vibrant and fresh, with lots of moving and beautiful keyboard passages.

Glass Hammer, in case you haven't heard of them (and, sadly, chances are you haven't), is two men (Steve Babb and Fred Schendel) out of Chattanooga, TN. They're more or less a prog-rock equivalent of Steely Dan -- two talented guys who are also studio wizards with the ability to assemble killer musicians from time to time that help them make remarkable music.

Their albums (they have five or six) are among the more creative and noteworthy of any recorded in America. They don't have the notoriety of, say, Spock's Beard or Dream Theater...yet I find their music to be just as magical. And, in some cases, better.

In fact, track six off Chronometree ("Chronos Deliverer") is on Repeat right now...and has been for two hours. It features an angelic choir, a big, big sound with mesmerizing keyboards/organ/guitar flourishes and such an uplifting feeling that even though it's a gray, cold day outside right now -- inside of me I feel all sunny and warm. (Of course, could I have expected any less with a choir singing "Gloria in excelsis Deo" over a vintage organ that seems to fill all the corners of my mind?) What an amazing track! It gives me the chills!

What is a Chronometree? Good question. You should check out the CD booklet and the band's official Web site for more information. Without giving away too much of the story, a Chronometree is the invention of an over-zealous prog-head who's favorite album is Yes' Close to the Edge. The story in the CD booklet is very funny.

If you enjoy melodic, expansive, magical music played with more intelligence and heart than you're likely to find anywhere, you'll love Chronometree. The nine tracks on this album will transport you to another world -- one which you'll only reluctantly leave behind.

Buy this album...and tell as many people as you can about Glass Hammer!

On "Chronometree", Glass Hammer gives progressive rock the same tribute/roast/sendup treatment that the Rutles gave the Beatles, or XTC's Dukes of Stratosphear gave psychedelia. It's done as a concept album about Tom, a man convinced that the music in his own prog-rock concept albums is conveying messages from an alien race on how to build a time machine. Like any good prog-rock epic, the single long track is given subheadings and sub-subheadings.

It's a very clever idea, but a joke that no one will want to partake of if the music isn't good. How's the music? Surprisingly good, after a dozen listens, especially since prog-rock isn't easy to write (I'm speaking from experience). Frankly, the concept allows Glass Hammer to get away with murder -- when there's a generic riff, a cheesy synth sound, or an unnecessary time signature change (and there's some of each), GH can just call it a satire of prog-rock clichés. I hear a lot of Yes and ELP in the music, a bit of Kansas, some organ runs that sound like UK, and a hodge-podge of a hundred long-lost bands from Babylon to Trillion. The lyrics of "Revealer" are a great send-up of Yes lyrics. "Shapes of the Morning" reminds me of Camel, and the hidden closing track is a perfect take on Gryphon. I don't hear much Genesis, except for the Mellotron parts in "Chronometry" and "Watching the Sky" (the latter, naturally, paraphrases "Watcher of the Sky"). The one cut that is truly as inspired as GH's influences is the uplifting "Chronos Deliverer", with soaring choral voices, wailing slide guitar, and pipe organ underpinning. "Empty Space/Revealer", "A Perfect Carousel", and "Shapes of the Morning" are also good, and all of the other songs have some good moments. In true prog-rock style, the closing "Watching the Sky" reprises a theme from the opening "Empty Space".

One thing keeps this from being a perfect copy of the great progressive rock bands: Yes, Genesis, and ELP had great singers. Glass Hammer has Brad Marler, who's game, but just not up to the task. At his best, on "An Eldritch Wind", he sounds like a poor man's Steve Walsh. At his worst, on his own song "A Perfect Carousel", he's a serious distraction. You'll wonder just how great this song could be with Jon Anderson singing it, with its acoustic guitar, "Strawberry Fields Forever" Mellotron flutes, and "Awaken"-style pipe organ. Overall, the music on this album isn't as good as the albums that inspired it, but the high concept is good enough to bump it up half a star. If you're a big prog-rock fan, you'll find it worthy of repeated listenings.

(1=poor 2=mediocre 3=pretty good 4=very good 5=phenomenal)

Somehow, about a month ago, I stumbled across the band name "Glass Hammer". I went to their web site and listened to many of the long samples that they make available. I was hooked. What a cool surprise -- a band that mixes the best of Alan Parsons, Yes, early Kansas, and mid-70s Genesis with a spice of new jazz. I bought all four albums and each has a different strength and style. They all are excellent, but Chronomotree is the cleanest, most mature and consistently excellent of the works. If you, like me, love The Flower Kings and Spock's Beard and Crucible, then you should gather the cash and put it on this band's works. The music is old and yet new; vintage yet fresh. And for you audiophiles, listen to the excellent mixing and engineering and know that if this level of sound quality can come from Chatanooga, TN, then we are in for some glorious times. I can't wait for Glass Hammer's fifth work.

According to (...) the band's official website, Chronometree is an affectionate spoof of 70s Prog. But, that ought to be obvious to anyone who was sensate during the 70s.

The melodies, the arrangements, and the production/presentation are all superb, the lyrical sections blending seamlessly with the louder, more turbulent sections, the whole presentation creating and sustaining a dreamlike atmosphere. Only the self-consciously mannered musical and vocal presentations and the slightly silly lyrics give away that Cronometree is a takeoff. I don't know. Perhaps younger listeners miss this obvious though gentle point. Certainly, the previous reviewers seem to have missed it.

So, to state the obvious, Chronometree is a progressive rock album about listening to progressive rock.

It's also about the dangers of taking any art form too seriously, and of taking oneself too seriously. To Tom, the hapless hero of the album's story, Chronometree reveals itself as the revolutionary new science of time. But, in the end, it reveals itself as nothing more nor less than the science of wasting time. Tom is a sort of (...) cross between Don Quixote and Linus Vanpelt waiting for a Great Pumpkin who never arrives.

However, whether regarded as spoof or straight Prog this, Glass Hammer's latest effort, displays their talent to great advantage. The vocal work is, as always, excellent. The increased prominence of guitars, besides fitting well with the album's theme/storyline, builds on work familiar to GH fans from Journey of the Dunadan, Perelandra, and On to Evermore. The orchestral passages, too, indeed the album as a whole, seems familiar and yet delightfully new as GH continues to grow and develop, as any dynamic organism will. Cronometree is an affectionate smile over the band's collective shoulder at its earnest if sometimes faintly ridiculous musical forbears.

I am a big fan of progressive and space rock (like Hawkwind) but have not been too impressed with the neo-prog groups of the 80's and 90's. While a lot of these groups (Dream Theater comes to mind) are technically amazing, they still manage to sound dated and cheesy. When I think of prog-rock, I think of the 70's - like ELP, Yes, Jethro Tull, Gentle Giant, Van der Graaf, etc. Maybe the reason I like this album so much is that it sounds both classic and new. I give GH a lot of credit for this album, the synths and moogs sound great. I know Arjen from Ayreon played on this album and he should take some lessons from them. I am very, very impressed and I would give this album 10 stars if I could. People who like progressive music need to support bands like this.

This is the first Glass Hammer I've heard...it is exceptional! Intricate and beautiful melodies and time changes, a real surprise. I've just ordered the rest. A must have particularly for Flower Kings fans.

These guys are phenomenal musicians who obviously have a great respect for the big-name progressive bands of the 1970s. And man, that keyboardist has his Emerson chops down! It was a pleasure to sit back and listen to this and try to pick out all the references to Genesis, Yes, and ELP. Some of it actually brought a nostalgic tear to my eye. It's a concept album about concept albums. Potentially very funny and poignant, but...

...what I don't understand here is that, if you're going to make what amounts to an original music tribute to some of the best symphonic progressive bands and musicians, why not go all the way? Didn't ELP have a great vocalist in Greg Lake? Both Gabriel and Collins were excellent in their own ways, and no one can argue the ethereal qualities of Jon Anderson's angelic voice. On "Chronometree," though, more often than not the vocals are mediocre at best and extremely irritating at worst. As another reviewer noted, the singer adopts a very annoying affectation on his voice, but even then, he's not consistant with it. Fortunately, this CD is mostly instrumental.

The best thing here is easily track 6, titled "Chronos Deliverer." Wow, talk about inspiring! I find myself unable to listen to this track just once though; it gets repeated at least three times every time I play this CD. There's a choir singing "Gloria In Excelsius Deo," great synth textures, and screaming, Steve Howe-inspired pedal steel runs throughout. The overall feel is like a combination of Genesis' "Afterglow" and the choral section of Yes' "Awaken." Very moving!

Thus, I'll give this CD 4 stars. Sonically, it's outstanding, and musically, it could easily have merited 5, but the vocals bring it down because they're blatantly irritating, and as such they end up diluting the concept. Still, if you're a fan of the 70's prog rockers ELP, Yes, and Genesis, you'll undoubtedly find something here to like. I'd even go as far as to say track 6 alone is nearly worth the price of the CD. Nearly.

Glass Hammer has created an entertaining album full of gutsy hammond runs, soaring synth lines, washes of melotron and a bit of flamboyant guitar work. Comparisons could fall more on the Emerson/Wakeman side of progginess, rather than the Howe/Fripp/ Hackett side.

The storyline is unique and humorous, and may have been the reason that composers Steve Babb and Fred Schendel chose to work with vocalist Brad Marler. There are quite a few folks who don't seem to care for Mr. Marler's voice, but I suspect that his slightly-stoned, desperate-sounding vocals may have struck the band as perfect for bringing the part of "Tom", the album's protagonist, to life. Note that Marler does not appear on the follow-up release, "Lex Rex."

While the arrangements contain the tricky time signature and key changes endemic to prog, each piece is sufficiently melodic to entice the listener back for subsequent visits.

The biggest disappointment I've found with this otherwise strong effort lies in the inconsistent mixing of the bass parts. Where Babb's bass lines are clear, powerful and distinct on the opening cut, "All in Good Time," his bass guitar and/or bass pedal work in the otherwise magnificent "Chonos Deliverer" is hardly audible, keeping that fine song from attaining even more grandeur than the slide guitar, organ and choirs alone can muster.

Nonetheless, I suggest that anyone who needs a new Yes, Genesis, ELP, or even SB/Transatlantic fix check these guys out.
"Chronometry" is a fine place to start.

Chronometree has quite a few good things going for it. The musicianship is very good as is the concept. It's nice to see a sense of humor in progressive music.

Glass Hammer does an fine job of creating a hybrid ELP meet's Yes via Peter Gabriel era Genesis sound. Although not dated Chronometree doesn't sound terribly modern. The keyboard work is stylish without being overbearing and most of the guitar work matches the "flavor" of the sound with the exceptions of a few passages of shred finger-tap style playing, in particular on the opening track, Empty Space, Revealer.

As another reviewer noted the singer has an affectation to his vocals - listen to An Eldritch Wind - that at times makes me wish he'd drop it (which on some songs he mysteriously does).

These issues aside Glass Hammer puts together a wonderful album of engaging music, and yes, even vocals. Almost everything is played with taste yet not mannered. It takes guts to pull off the bombast of Chronos Deliverer complete with choral arangement yet Glass Hammer does a great job creating one of several fine moments on the CD. Another is the arrangement on Revelation, Chronometry - subtle with great ebb and flow, similar to music found on Genesis' Selling England By The Pound.

All said a worthy album to own if you enjoy traditional progressive rock, especially ELP or Genesis.