Journey Of The Dunadan

Glass Hammer

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 1, 1993)
• Original Release Date: March 1, 1993
• Number of Discs: 1
• ASIN: B00000JRI7
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #219,236 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Harmony Magazine -- France
"...a melodic standard that is infallible, a masterpiece of technique that is amazing, a revolutionary approach...here it is ALL genius!"

Product Description
Progressive Rock. Melodic. Concept album tribute to J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord Of The Rings".

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A new landmark for Middle Earth, December 7, 2002

By	Francis W. Porretto "Curmudgeon Emeritus" (Mount Sinai, NY United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Narration, fine music and story telling, May 28, 2002

By A Customer

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.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars The concept overhwelms the music, July 18, 2002

By A Customer

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.