Album: Untold Tales
Artist: Glass Hammer
2017 Sound Resources
CD: SR3829
Performed by:
Fred Schendel (1-4, 7-13)
Tracy Cloud (2)
Steve Babb (2-13)
Walter Moore (3, 4)
David Carter (4)
Laura Lindstrom Davis (6)
Girls choir: Allison Savard/Kaytie Mitchell/Kendra Roden (6)
David Wallimann (7)
Matt Mendians (7)
Susie Bogdanowicz (8, 13)
Tim Starnes (9, harmonica)
Kamran Alan Shikoh (10-13)
Jon Davison (10, 11)
Randal Williams (11)
Jon-Michael Babb (11, sound effects)
Carl Groves (12)
Neil Peart (12, using Neil Peart Drums by Sonic Reality)
Aaron Raulston (13)
Produced by S Babb/Schendel
Recorded and mastered at Sound Resources, Chattanooga, TN
Administration: Julie Babb
Live sound engineer: Bret Noblitt (13)
Photography by Michelle Young/J Babb
Liner notes by S Babb
Tracks:
1. "Shadows of the Past 2008" [Schendel] (2:25)
2. "Infusion" [Schendel/Cloud] (3:16)
3. "Identity Principle" [Schendel] (12:38)
4. "Hold Your Head Up" [Rod Argent/Chris White] (4:17)
5. "Babb's Bach" [JS Bach; arr. by S Babb] (3:18)
6. "And Then She Sighed" [S Babb] (1:59)
7. "Eiger Dreams" [S Babb] (2:23)
8. "It's All Too Much" [George Harrison] (4:36)
9. "Troll" [S Babb] (5:03)
10. "A Grain of Sand" [Shikoh] (2:58)
11. "Cool Air" [mus: Schendel; lyr: S Babb, from a story by HP
Lovecraft] (9:44)
12. "The Impulsive Type" [Schendel/S Babb/Shikoh] (4:38)
13. "No Man's Land Live" [Schendel/S Babb] (14:44)
Notes (****): Untold Tales was a compilation of rare and
unreleased tracks, both studio and live, spanning the history of
Glass Hammer from 1993-2017 and celebrating their 25th anniversary.
Instrumentalists on the album are Fred Schendel, Steve Babb, Kamran
Alan Shikoh, Aaron Raulston, David Wallimann and Matt Mendians.
Vocalists on the album include Davison, Susie Bogdanowicz, Walter
Moore, Carl Groves, Laura Lindstrom Davis, Schendel and Babb. The
album was mastered in Aug 2017. Total run time is 74 minutes. The
tracks are arranged approximately in a chronological order.
(1) is an instrumental, a 2008 re-recording of the piece on the
band's first album, Journey of the Dunadan. (2) is an
instrumental from the 1990s, previously released on Tracy Cloud's Love
Changes ft. Glass Hammer (1995). (3) was recorded in the early
1990s except for a new recording of the ending, recorded 2017. (4)
is an Argent cover, recorded c. 1997. (5) is an instrumental
arrangement by Babb of Bach's "Zion hört die Wächter singen". (6)
was recorded in 2009. (7) is an instrumental, mixed in 2008. (8) is
a Beatles cover, but partly based on Steve Hillage's versions of the
piece; mostly recorded 2009, but with some additions for this
release. (9) was written in 2008, again with some additions for this
release. The lyrics are about trolls on prog rock forums.
(10) and (11) cover Davison's period in the pand. (10) is an
instrumental, written for If; the vocal track by Davison
used here is from that album's "If the Stars". (11) was previously
released on the multi-artist The Stories of H.P. Lovecraft
(2012). It includes sound effects by Babb's then 10-year old son.
(12) is from a Dave Kerzner-led project. It is based around a
pre-existing drum track by Rush's Neil Peart and was originally
intended for the Sonic Elements project. Babb said in a Dec 2013
interview that the band is "slated to contribute a track on Sonic
Realities' Neal Peart Project." Kerzner said on Facebook in Feb
2014: "I'll be mixing a unique track from the progressive rock band
Glass Hammer next week! This song will have a very interesting new
"element" in it." I asked Babb about their contribution in a Mar
2014 interview and he explained the track consists of Glass Hammer
(Babb, Schendel, Shikoh, Groves) playing to a drum part by Peart:
"Fred composed most of the music for this track, and I did the
lyrics. Alan added a good deal too. Carl Groves is singing this one.
We were given many of Peart's tracks to choose from, then asked to
write music to his drumming and to incorporate his ideas into the
Glass Hammer sound. [...] We just wrapped up this song, which for
now at least is called "Impulse"." Kerzner created the drum library
by recording Peart live playing various Rush pieces. (13) is from a
May 2017 live performance.
The album mostly doesn't give specific instruments credits, but
generally these have been:
Fred Schendel: keys, guitars, vocals
Steve Babb: bass, keys, vocals
Walter Moore: vocals
David Carter: guitar
Laura Lindstrom Davis: vocals
David Wallimann: guitar
Matt Mendians: drums
Susie Bogdanowicz: vocals
Kamran Alan Shikoh: guitars
Jon Davison: vocals
Randal Williams: drums
Carl Groves: vocals
Aaron Raulston: drums
Overall, it's a good album. If you like Glass Hammer, this is more
Glass Hammer. Unsurprisingly given it's nature, it's a bit
disjointed in places, but there are some standout tracks, like (2)
and (11). (HP, 31 Aug 19)
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