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Epicurus.com - Culture Of Ascent
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List Price: $16.99
Our Price: $16.99
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Arion Records / Sound Resources
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0769051221825
Label: Arion Records / Sound Resources
Manufacturer: Arion Records / Sound Resources
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Arion Records / Sound Resources
Release Date: 2007-10-23
Studio: Arion Records / Sound Resources
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Editorial Reviews:
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Featuring Guest Vocalist - Jon Anderson. Culture of Ascent takes Glass Hammer into new territory. The performances of French guitar-virtuoso David Shreddy Wallimann prove the perfect marriage for the highly technical, prog-metal drumming of Matt Mendians; giving Culture of Ascent a modern edginess something unusual for a band well known for its mastery of analog gear and seventies proginess. But GH hasn t forgotten its classic prog-roots as YES front-man and Glass Hammer collaborator Jon Anderson makes his debut performances with the band on two of the albums tracks. Culture of Ascent s lyrics are based in part on the best-selling Jon Krakauer novel, Into Thin Air , which tells first hand of the historical 1996 Mount Everest tragedy. GH still has their optimism intact however, as their new music evokes images of Everest s majesty as well as its many perils. The album s six epic tracks total over sixty-nine minutes. Glass Hammer s tenth release is a must-buy for fans, and sure to be a hit with connoisseurs of modern progressive rock.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: New Version, Same style
Comment: If you are familiar with YES you'll recognize the first song, this version offers a new perspective since it is singed by a woman. The rest of te album is not what everyone spects but is fresh material for the progressive scene.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Slowly Grows On You
Comment: Like one reviewer, the first couple of times I heard Culture of Ascent, I was at a loss for words. Yet like another reviewer, I originally thought that this was slightly inferior to Glass Hammer's legendary The Inconsolable Secret. Now after repeated listens on a cross-country journey, I am of the opinion that THIS is the band's best release to date.
Chili aficionados know that a well-made pot of chili isn't one where the spice is ostentatious and overpowering, but a subtle one where the heat slowly builds as you eat until you feel as though your body has been thoroughly suffused with it. Culture of Ascent is like that, tasty and increasingly satisfying with repeated listens until your mind is thoroughly suffused with the music.
I'm not going to write a novella about this album, some others already have. But I will tell you I have listened to literally thousands of prog albums in my half century on earth and this is one of the best I've heard. And if Glass Hammer's last two albums are any indication, the next one may even be better!
Some people compare Glass Hammer to the seminal prog band Yes. OK, it seems that all modern prog bands get compared either to Yes or to Pink Floyd. Since the prog style of Glass Hammer leans more toward that of Yes than that of Pink Floyd, its a valid point of reference. But by no means is Glass Hammer's music a clone of Yes' despite the fact that former Yes vocalist Jon Anderson appears in several sequences. Read the lyrics and listen closely to the music and you should agree.
As I said, I like the entire CD but to me it is South Side of the Sky and the epic Into Thin Air that really stand out. Culture of Ascent offers the prog enthusiast almost seventy minutes of often memorable music. If you are new to Glass Hammer, get this and find out why this band is increasingly on the lips of prog fans everywhere.
Customer Rating:
Summary: In Search Of Another's Identity
Comment: "Culture of Ascent" is Glass Hammer's 10th album, which was released October 23rd, 2007. On this album, Glass Hammer appears to be a band which isn't struggling to find their own identity, but one which is struggling to take on the identity of another band; specifically they appear to want to be Yes. It is more than their choice to cover "South Side of the Sky", or to have guest vocalist Jon Anderson provide some backing vocal work. It is even more than having Roger Dean design their logo. On many of their pieces there appears to be an attempt to recapture the Yes sound from the 70s. Not that Yes from the 70s isn't great music, but this is supposed to be progressive music, not regressive.
The album opens with the aforementioned "South Side of the Sky" which is a decent cover, but doesn't offer anything new or unique to the piece. Susie Bogdanowicz vocals are pleasant, but I don't find her voice strong enough, though it is good to hear Jon Anderson adding some vocalizations to the overall work. The next piece is "Sun Song" which starts out with a different sound, but takes on Yes overtones late in the piece. The lyrics are rather weak, and it is rather unexceptional. "Life by Light" is the most similar to a Yes song other than the cover, partially due to Jon Anderson adding some vocal work here as well. Once again though, the result is so-so. "Ember Without Name" is my favorite piece from the album. It does suffer from some up and down moments, but overall there is a lot more upside than down. "Into Thin Air" is the longest piece on the album, but never caught my ear as far as offering anything special. "Rest" also suffers from never really going anywhere, which is too bad considering there is some nice string work.
Overall, I found the compositions and the lyrics to be fairly weak. There are some nice moments in each piece, but they do not sustain it throughout the entire work. "South Side of the Sky" is not surprisingly the strongest work, but as far as the original pieces go I can easily place "Ember Without Name" as the one which shows the most potential. I do like the use of strings on the album, and The Adonia String Trio is a definite plus for the album. I found the vocals to be uninteresting for the most part, and an area where they need to improve, either through bringing in another lead singer or through the development of their vocalists. The best part of the album is the instrumentation and the solos, as it is then when the group really shines and it becomes clear why this group has a significant fan base.
The group consists of Steve Babb (bass guitar, pipe organ, Taurus pedals, the Free Note, associated percussion, mellotron, piano, harp, loops and programming, mini-Moog, backing vocals), Fred Schendel (Nord electro 2, Nord lead 2, piano, Bela D media D-synth, organs, electric piano, mellotron, additional synths, loops and rogramming, acoustic guitar, string arrangements, backing vocals), David Wallmann (guitars), Carl Groves (lead and backing vocals), Matt Mendians (drums), Susie Bogdanowicz (lead and backing vocals). There is also The Adonia String Trio which consists of Rebecca James (violin), Susan Whitacre (viola), and Rachel Beckham (cello). There are several guests as well including Jon Anderson (vocalizations on "South Side of the Sky" and "Life by Light"), Eric Parker (acoustic guitar on "Life by Light"), Robert Streets (backing vocals and `Eden' solo on "Into Thin Air"), Sarah Snyder (backing vocals on "Into Thin Air"), and Haley McGuire (backing vocals on "Sun Song" and "Into Thin Air").
Customer Rating:
Summary: Prog at its finest, but not audio quality
Comment: As a long time prog rock musician and listener, I was anxious to hear COA from Glass Hammer. This is an excellent piece of work from a group of very talented musicians. The keyboard tracks are very Fred, and drummer Matt is awesome as usual too. The vocal arrangements are much better than past efforts. The music is more straight ahead with the usual concept theme, but much more pleasing to listen to than the "dragons" type material from previous works. The only reason I do not give this a 5 star rating is the audio quality. I know that Fred is somewhat the audio guru and I wonder what happened this time around. Inconsolable Secret had amazing audio quality, but COA sounds more like garage band recordings done on a cheap computer program. There is no fullness to the sound and every track sounds thin. (Like most music produced these days) Come on guys...digital isn't always better! If this cd had the audio richness of Inconsolable Secret, it would rank as one of the all time best prog works ever recorded.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Looking up
Comment: I've never been big a fan of this prog band from Tennessee, but they sure are popular in prog circles. I've always critisized them in the past for being milktoast - not ballsy enough, too artsy-fartsy, lazy writing - steller musicianship though, at least one good song per album anyway. Kind of a souped-up Manheim Steamroller.
This new one is different. They have a couple of new members, Carl Groves of the band Salem Hill, who in my opinion is a much, much better writer of music and lyrics, and guitarist David Wallimann, who provides an edgier guitar sound. The songs on this new GH album, Culture Of Ascent, have bite, but still retain the air of symphonic prog. Not to say that GH sucked before, but they were a band patterned after the ELP side of prog (and I have little use for ELP). With this new album they have a more modern sound...well...as modern as this style of music gets anyway.
A few caveats - they touted this new one for months saying Jon Anderson was appearing on it...and he does, except he only provides "vocalizations" , not real vocals, so in my estimation, its like getting to second base on a date, over top of the winter coat. So anyone buying this CD thinking Anderson plays a major role on it will be disappointed. And while I appreciate the edge that Wallimann brings to this band, his soloing came acrossed a tad misplaced at times. The solos could have been thought out a bit better.
Carl Grove's touch is all over this one. I think the writing has improved and the compositions are stronger than on other GH albums. Perhaps GH is the prog outlet Groves has been looking for - fans of Salem Hill might want to take note of this new GH album, as its the prog album SH fans always wanted Carl Groves to make.
I like this rendition of Glass Hammer. No, this won't convert too many people already opposed to symphonic prog. The guitar play is meatier, but this isn't by any stroke a metallish sound; its still pretty much a keyboard affair. Sounding like a prog rock album, and not a Windham Hill album, it seems that someone finally lit a fire under GH for this new one.
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