SHADOWLANDS

This appears to one of the highest rated Glass hammer albums on this site. In mY opinion, it's good, but by this time the Yes imitation was starting to wear thin. While the compositions are still good, it's the arrangements and production that sound derivative. At least this album brings to mind Genesis less often.

The opener, So Close, So Far, to mectually sounds quite a bit like Yes imitators Starcastle. And like Starcastle, I like the song, but can't go too crazy over it because of the borrowed sounds. Run Lisette has a keyboard track that sound like an imitation of Parallels, from "Going For The One". Again, it's a good song, but an album shouldn't be making me think more about other albums while I'm listening to it.

It goes on like this until the final track, the epic Behind The Great Beyond. Again, great composition. But here the inspiration seems to have been classic Kansas. With a large sound, a violin track, and that American classical sound, it brings back the "Leftoverture" era.

Schendel and Babb are extremely talented musicians, but I wish they would cut down on the imitations.