Customer Reviews

Journey Of The Dunadan

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

First let me say why I gave this CD only 4 stars - It's not that it's lacking - in fact, it's quite good. I gave it 4 stars because as a CD you can listen to over and over again - for me at least, it falls short. This is a story telling CD featuring a fair amount of narration - it almost reminds me of an audio book. Now, if this is what you want, then it is quite good.

I bought this after buying Chronometree (which I absolutely love). I can listen to Chronometree back to back several times a day without finding it redundant, but once I'm told a story, I usually like to wait a while before I hear the same story again - how many times can you go see a movie back to back - even one that you truly enjoy? I think that this CD features wonderful music, lyrics and is really one of their best offerings - but it's different in the narration and story telling aspects. It wasn't what I was expecting - still, I wouldn't discourage anyone from purchasing it - just be certain that you are prepared for a story and don't expect it to be of the same format as Chronometree.

By focusing this concept album specifically on Aragorn, and on his romance with Arwen Evenstar, the details of which Tolkien almost completely omitted from The Lord Of The Rings, Glass Hammer finds and beautifully exploits a powerful dramatic thread that a superficial reading of the book would miss. The music is nicely matched to the story and the powerful plot currents that sweep Aragorn through the War Of The Ring. The libretto captures the emotional contours of the Dunadan's adventure equally well.

I am told that this was Glass Hammer's debut recording. It's hard to believe; the record is polished, assured, and nearly flawless. Subsequent jewels from these fine composer-performers proved that it wasn't a flash in the pan, but the beginning of something very special.

A lot of Tolkien fans will undoubtedly find something to object to in Journey Of The Dunadan. Fans can be like that; their vision is often too strong to allow for alternate interpretations of the works they love. But it's clear from the power and quality of this record that Fred Schendel and Steve Babb are Tolkien devotees of the first water. They've created something new and brilliant to delight us and grace Middle Earth.

This is the debut album by the Tenessee based prog duo of Glass Hammer (well, they were a duo when they did this album at any rate). In case you couldn't tell from the name, this is a concept album based on J.R.R. Tolkien's _The Lord of the Rings_. Specifically, it's a concept album based around the character of Aragorn, who is (as are all things in Tolkien's fiction) known by many names and epithets, one of which is 'the Dunadan'.

That's all fine and well, of course. Tolkien's fiction has served other musicians well as a source of inspiration. This is especially true in the realm of prog-rock, as albums like Bo Hansson's _The Lord of the Rings_ and Ilildur's Bane's _Sagan om Ringen_ attest. Moreover, Glass Hammer's attempt to perform a retelling of part of Tolkien's fiction, focussing solely on one character shows a genuinely fresh approach to the subject that had the potentially to produce something genuinely new and exciting.

Unfortunately, a lot of that potential goes unfulfilled here-- and instead of a great Tolkien-based prog rock concept album, I think this one is only mediocre. It's a bit hard to put my finger on exactly why that is, but my biggest problem with this CD is that it elevates the 'concept' of the album about the music. In order to keep the story clear in our minds, there is a narrator who frequently fills in background, describes what has happened between tracks, and adds commentary on things. Some folks may like this, I suppose, but I personally find it extremely grating and mars the whole album for me. Another problem I have is that the lyrics and songs with vocals (which is the main means by which the concept gets related) tend to be much weaker (i.e. less original, less interesting, more cliched) than the instrumental parts. This isn't just a criticism of the singers (who are actually fine-- not outstanding, but fine), mind you, but of the songwriting. There are times on this where there are some *great* instrumental moments with nice keyboard lines and cool melodies, etc., and then... all of a sudden, we find ourselves suddenly transformed into a rather unremarkable and straightforward song so that some lyrics can be delivered to help relate the concept. At some moments, these actually get *really* cheesy (like "Something's Coming") and the generic ballad "The Way to Her Heart".

If Glass Hammer weren't trying so hard to tell a story here, and instead concentrated on just developing music, I think they would have avoided the worst of these pitfalls-- especially the narrator. But, as it is, I think they let the concept overwhelm the music to the point where the music suffers for it.

Journey of the Dunadan is a work of Tolkien fandom. That is, rather than dramatizing or retelling the story of The Lord of the Rings, the album expands on and explores that story. From simple, gentle ballad (The Way to her Heart) to heavy metal (Here Comes the Knight), the musicianship is excellent, the songs well differentiated and memorable. Lyrically, too, the album is well constructed, telling its story in poetically and narratively
interesting songs as well as spoken narration. Some of these spoken pieces directly quote or closely paraphrase the novel. Others give connecting and contextualizing material. But the album does not rely on words to create its atmosphere. The music itself does that. "The Great River," a lovely and evocative piece comes immediately to mind. In it the listener hears and feels the peaceful flow of the Anduin. The album as a whole brings Middle-earth as experienced by Aragorn (also called Strider) and to a lesser degree his lady-love Arwen Evenstar vividly to life around the listener.

I have all albums by Glass Hammer and saved this one until last because it was their first, way back in 1993! According to a story I read about GH in a progressive rock magazine recently, this album was written for Sci-Fi/Fantasy fans of J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings." According to the source, Babb and Schendel didn't even know there was an emerging underground Prog scene at the time they wrote it until a well-known Prog distributer heard it in the CD plant where it was being manufactured and contacted them to buy half their inventory of this album! Prog fandom passionately embraced them and since "Journey of the Dunadan", they've been growing and becoming what the critics say is one of the best bands in the genre since the early hey-day of Prog in the 70s. This album is a fantastic novely to add to your CD collection especially if you're a Tolkien fan and whether you're a progger or not! They have bits of narration in between some of the songs to give the listener a story to think about as they take you on a 'Journey' through their Tolkien tribute. I remember seeing this particular Glass Hammer album featured on QVC a few years ago which proves how special it is. Everyone should buy all of Glass Hammer's albums to encourage them to keep creating beautiful music for many years to come! They just keep getting better if that's possible. You'll be in for a special treat with this one.

Glass Hammer attempts to re-tell one of the Tolkien stories (why! ) and the result is sometimes inspired, sometimes profoundly embarrassing. Interspersed with excellent ELP-style keyboard and Renaissance classical depth is a narration using some of the most sappy "poetry" you will ever hear -- barely suitable for reading to your 3rd grader. The music itself, however, is superb keyboard oriented Progressive rock with classical influences. It deserves some effort. Plan on spending 2 hours editing and you will be rewarded with top-rank, mature and complex music. You do not qualify for this album without a CD-R to fix it up.

I WAS EXPECTING GOOD SOLID MUSIC LIKE THAT OF DAVID ARKENSTONE,
BUT ALAS, THIS WAS VOCAL. I WAS VERY DISAPPOINTED WITH THIS CD.
I HOLD THAT ONE WOULD THINK THE MUSIC OF THE JOURNEY OF THE
DUNADAN WOULD BE RICH AND STRIKING, WOULD TAKE YOU AWAY TO THE
MANY LANDS TRAVELED BY THE DUNADAN, NOT SOME GROUP OF PEOPLE
SINGING AS IF THEY WERE AT THE PRANCING PONY....