nomisofsiman
Member
Totally agree. I love that album. I'm not saying it's as good as the first two, but I really do enjoy it quite a bit.
CRIMSON GLORY 2011 tour dates
- Thread starter Frode
- Start date
Totally agree. I love that album. I'm not saying it's as good as the first two, but I really do enjoy it quite a bit.
Astronomica is one of my favorite albums period. The older stuff is decent, just not in the same vein.
J. Golden
Heaven and Hell Records
J. Golden
Heaven and Hell Records
You know I could see Drenning not liking now after the fact. I have interviews were he talks about how he doesn't like 'Strange and Beautiful' a blames the direction and failure on Midnight. But in contrast looking back at old interviews for the album were he is flipping his hair and talking like a surfer, "oh yeah 'Strange and Beautiful' shows our true influence and is the direction we have always wanted to go", or something like that. Nonetheless it is funny.There is no doubt in my mine the 'Strange and Beautiful' was an attempt to sellout looking back at all the press for it. Still it was an awesome album, even this song it's biggest dud.
Last edited by a moderator:
TribunalRecords
Record Label(s)/Vocalist
i LOVE Strange & Beautiful. i loved it then, i love it now. Midnight and band are in top form performance wise. it was a change for sure, but everybody was shifting with the times, plus you know Atlantic was leaning on them to sell records.
It is just more my style musically I guess. I don't consider myself a Wade Black fan, but he crushes on this album.
J. Golden
Heaven and Hell Records
I thought that album was like a lot of the progressive / power metal simce then and it was interchangeable with a lot of other bands. The same thing I get from these so called progressive metal bands know like Kamelot, Sonata Arctic, etc; only thing that separates these bands is the logo on the album. What Crimson Glory were on those first to albums was amazing. Yes it was similar to Queensryche but you could tell the two bands apart. In the past 20 years seems most of the progressive / power metal world has become a color by numbers process (note; not progressing).
I hold on to faith in Crimson Glory because I know they put out three awesome albums and I think they maybe able to do it again. Then again maybe it was only meant to be those first couple of albums.
The so-called Progressive Metal fans are people who do not like how their bands progress; everyone slamming "Strange And Beautiful" for not being "Transcendence" part 2 prove that point.
I can understand why people slammed Queensrÿche for "Hear In The Now Frontier" though, because that album was not at all progression.
To this day, "Strange And Beautiful" stands tall and is the best-sounding Crimson Glory album (from a recording/production aspect), and I have never heard an album like that since. Midnight might have had a big hand in its making, as the Led Zeppelin influence is very clear, so it would make sense to "blame" him for its flop. I think it shows an artistic level that Midnight should have been proud of, and maybe he was. (Not taking away any credit from Drenning, Lords and the amazing Djakota though). The only thing I disliked with that album was the Gospel-like back-up singing. I still play "S And B" regularly, and it's worth it's weight in gold for Midnight's singing alone.
I can understand why people slammed Queensrÿche for "Hear In The Now Frontier" though, because that album was not at all progression.
To this day, "Strange And Beautiful" stands tall and is the best-sounding Crimson Glory album (from a recording/production aspect), and I have never heard an album like that since. Midnight might have had a big hand in its making, as the Led Zeppelin influence is very clear, so it would make sense to "blame" him for its flop. I think it shows an artistic level that Midnight should have been proud of, and maybe he was. (Not taking away any credit from Drenning, Lords and the amazing Djakota though). The only thing I disliked with that album was the Gospel-like back-up singing. I still play "S And B" regularly, and it's worth it's weight in gold for Midnight's singing alone.
J. Golden
Heaven and Hell Records
Honestly I think that album was more "progressive" than the first two. And it was as strong of a release as 'Transcendence' putting it into perspective.
I never read or saw anything from Midnight about that album but in the press Drenning played it up, as he should. And I recall later interviews where it was suddenly all Midnight's doing and influence which made Drenning seem kind of douchy. Now when Midnight's solo albums hit it began to make sense at least that Midnight was bring in the 70ish influence.
I was not one who based Midnight's albums like most did. I think they could have been a lot better. I think his material and astronimca both showed that the guys needed each other to make magic no matter if labels preasured them or they were changing with trends.
I think it would be a shame if S&B songs were not played in live sets and they were just forgotten.
J. Golden,
I honestly don't get all of the bashing on "Astronomica," especially when you love an album like "Strange And Beautiful." That's not to say that I don't like "Strange And Beautiful," as I went out of my way to get it on CD through Ebay before it was reissued as well as purchasing it on vinyl. Hell, I think I was one of the three people on this forum (yourself included) who was hoping to hear some of this material at their ProgPower performance. However, I just don't think that it's light years beyond "Astronomica" in terms of songwriting or musicality. In fact, if there's one thing that I think is holding back the last album with Midnight, it's Midnight. I much preferred his vocal stylings on the first two albums. Perhaps he was pushing really hard to achieve that sound and that he was singing more naturally on "Strange And Beautiful," but that more natural sound was akin to Robert Plant on helium. Outside of his brief appearance on the first Genius album, I haven't cared for Midnight's singing since "Transcendence."
As for the criticisms of progressive and power metal released in the last fifteen years or so, just keep in mind that it's not always the bands that give their music this tag name. So what if, say, Pathosray isn't doing anything that Dream Theater didn't do back in 1992? If the music is good, then that should be what matters. There are definitely bands out there that are pushing the boundaries of metal and that truly stand out from the others, but that doesn't mean that the bands who are sticking to more tried-and-true methods are bad. I can listen to a band like Pain Of Salvation and follow it up with a band like Primal Fear without a moment's hesitation, and that's because I can appreciate the merits of both.
I'm sorry if it sounds like I'm singling you out. I just don't understand the mindsets of a lot of metalheads. There seem to be so many people who only listen to metal released prior to the grunge era and shun anything by bands they don't already know. By the same token, there are a lot of younger folks who ignore the foundations laid forth by the predecessors of their favorite bands. I wish metalheads in general could just be more accepting of what's out there.
Stay metal. Never rust.
Albert
I honestly don't get all of the bashing on "Astronomica," especially when you love an album like "Strange And Beautiful." That's not to say that I don't like "Strange And Beautiful," as I went out of my way to get it on CD through Ebay before it was reissued as well as purchasing it on vinyl. Hell, I think I was one of the three people on this forum (yourself included) who was hoping to hear some of this material at their ProgPower performance. However, I just don't think that it's light years beyond "Astronomica" in terms of songwriting or musicality. In fact, if there's one thing that I think is holding back the last album with Midnight, it's Midnight. I much preferred his vocal stylings on the first two albums. Perhaps he was pushing really hard to achieve that sound and that he was singing more naturally on "Strange And Beautiful," but that more natural sound was akin to Robert Plant on helium. Outside of his brief appearance on the first Genius album, I haven't cared for Midnight's singing since "Transcendence."
As for the criticisms of progressive and power metal released in the last fifteen years or so, just keep in mind that it's not always the bands that give their music this tag name. So what if, say, Pathosray isn't doing anything that Dream Theater didn't do back in 1992? If the music is good, then that should be what matters. There are definitely bands out there that are pushing the boundaries of metal and that truly stand out from the others, but that doesn't mean that the bands who are sticking to more tried-and-true methods are bad. I can listen to a band like Pain Of Salvation and follow it up with a band like Primal Fear without a moment's hesitation, and that's because I can appreciate the merits of both.
I'm sorry if it sounds like I'm singling you out. I just don't understand the mindsets of a lot of metalheads. There seem to be so many people who only listen to metal released prior to the grunge era and shun anything by bands they don't already know. By the same token, there are a lot of younger folks who ignore the foundations laid forth by the predecessors of their favorite bands. I wish metalheads in general could just be more accepting of what's out there.
Stay metal. Never rust.
Albert
J. Golden
Heaven and Hell Records
Well I'm not one of those people who only listen to stuff prior to grudge (willing to show you the collection), nor am I one of those young people who who ignore foundations. Hell I see that more here in this forum from what I would guess is mostly middle aged men oppose to most of the younger people I talk with. And I did not wait for the advent of eBay to get 'Strange & Beautiful' before the reissue.
I too can go from listening to DT to Primal Fear, actually I usually find myself moving between much further extremes. But I don't think anything I have said would provoke your replies. And my criticism of progressive and power metal does not typically say if I like it or not I'm merely pointing that often it does not PROGRESS and a lot of it sounds the same. And I agree it is not usually the bands that refer to themselves this way it is usually the fans.
As for the last two Crimson Glory albums; to compare those two albums is a hell of a stretch I think. Astronomica' is more similar to 'Transcendence' than 'Strange and Beautiful' I only say that because I think that the last album was a sad attempt to recreate 'Transcendence'.
For some reason 'Tale Gunner' comes to mind right now.
If the last Crimson Glory album had another name stamped on it it would have slipped into obscurity and not given a second thought.
Similar threads
