CRIMSON GLORY

Crimson Glory is mostly a power metal band, or even better one of the founding bands of the genre in the United States of America. Nothing close to euro-power metal that is. I have always found several progressive stuff in their music, so I would say it is a progressive band as well. As for this album, it is one of the most amazing debout album in metal history. Amazing guitar work with extraordinary solos and the 80's feeling that accompanies most of their former work, with a bizzare touch of the whole mystery behind the band, with their masks on and so on. The band's lead singer Midnight is one of the best metal singers that have ever stepped on this planet, with an amazing range of high piched vocals, often compared to Queensryche's Jeoff Tate but quite better if your ask my opinion, with an epic colour in his voice. All tracks of the album are really amazing, with some outstanding, like Heart of Steel, Azrael and the crippiest metal song ever, Lost Reflection, a composition by Midnight and a creepy and strange story behind it.

Masks. Ridiculous silver masks. In an age when Heavy Metal was a spandex clad laughing stock, the use of silver masks for stage wear can only have been seen as misguided. However, there are 3 bona fide classic 80s metal songs on this, the band's debut; 'Azrael', a song good enough to fit snugly into the Iron Maiden songbook, 'Heart of Steel', a magnificently pompous slice of melodrama almost Styx-like in it's grandiosity, and Valhalla, a song the by now- floundering Ronnie James Dio would have welcomed into the fold with open arms. The rest is good, though not great as was to be the case with each subsequent CG outing.

my favourite CG album and one of my top 20 heavy metal albums of all time. songs like azrael, mayday, dragon lady and lost reflection (the group's best song IMO) are not composed every day. The group takes its influences from ryche/fates warning and iron maiden and creates probably the best debut album in the history of US power metal (queensryche's the warning followed their ep so i do not consider it as their first full lenght attempt). Albums like this reminds us of how heavy metal used to sound and how it turned to be by some 'rockers' wannabes with big trousers and rap influences.

This album is a landmark in the history of power/progressive metal. Crimson Glory is the perfect mix between Queensryche, Fates Warning and Iron Maiden. Amazing guitar work with extraordinary solos and the great voice of Midnight. From my point of view this man is even better than Geoff Tate. Truely amazing! Great bass lines and drum work. This is where power/progressive metal starts. "Heart of Steel" and "Lost Reflection" are in my top of 80's best songs. But "Transcendence" is even better :)

CRIMSON GLORY's debut album is a combination of IRON MAIDEN-like guitar, Geoff Tate-like vocals, and even early FATES WARNING-like melodies. If you are a fan of eighties metal and haven't heard these guys yet you owe it to yourself to check out their first two albums.

"Valhalla" is one of my favourites on this album. The melodic twin guitar attack and the screaming vocals of Midnight all spell pleasure. "Dragon Lady" is similar but more uptempo. "Heart Of Steel" has tasteful MAIDEN like guitar melodies and is really a ballad until 1 1/2 minutes in when the tempo speeds up with riffs galore. "Azrael" is another great tune that reminds me of early FATES WARNING until the tempo picks up to a galloping rhythm. Some nice drum work to end it.

"Mayday" opens with a sample of a count down and as the count hits zero CRIMSON takes off flying. This is the craziest, fastest song on the record. Lots of screaming vocals on this one."Queen Of The Masquerade" opens with some great guitar and also features some theatrical vocals. "Angel Of War" has a catchy melody. "Lost Reflection" might be the best tune on the record. It opens with gentle guitar, synths and slow paced theatrical vocals. After 3 minutes the song explodes breifly. Nice contrast ! It ends as it began.

This is one of those albums that will either make you cringe a lot or bring a smile to your face as your taken to a familiar place. I guess I did a little of both. 3.5 stars.

Crimson Glory was a little band from Florida that ignored the flourishing death metal scene and instead helped to pioneer progressive metal alongside Queensryche and Fates Warning. Their vocalist dubbed himself Midnight. Had he not been so talented, that would be sufficient reason for us to never mention Crimson Glory ever again. However, in a rare turn of events, the band backed up their silly metal attitude with skill. Combining the complex melodies of Fates Warning with the soaring vocals of Queensryche, Crimson Glory were one of those all too often overlooked bands that helped to shape progressive metal. Vocally, Midnight sounds like King Diamond if King Diamond only used the upper half of his range. However, there is more power in Midnight's high notes than the King's airy falsettos. He moves the songs as much as the instruments do, which is impressive considering the speedy gait of these power progressive tunes.

There are a few highlights on this debut album. Valhalla is a power metal anthem from the gods, with screaming guitars and vocals that are sure to make the average maiden fan smile. Dragon Lady is more of the same, but it still pleases. Heart of Steel goes from a soft opening to an epic song that wouldn't sound out of place on an Iron Maiden album. Azrael fuses Fates warning melody with Maiden's galloping structure t make a very interesting track. The real stand out, however, is the closing track Lost Reflection. Midnight's composition is a haunting song that goes from an eerie intro to a full blown epic in just under five minutes. One of CG's top three songs, in my opinion.

Crimson Glory's debut, like Queensryche's The Warning, owes a little too much to Iron Maiden to be considered unique. However, it did stand out against the death metal scene of their native Florida and the hair metal scene that dominated US airwaves. Fans of Fates Warning, Iron Maiden, and Queensryche must pick this up, and while you're at it get CG's best album Transcendence. This is one of the strongest debuts of 80s metal, but it's not quite progressive yet.

Grade: C

"Crimson Glory" is the eponymously titled debut full-length studio album by US power/heavy metal act Crimson Glory. The album was released through Roadrunner Records in October 1986. Crimson Glory was formed in 1979 under the Pierced Arrow monicker but changed their name to Beowulf in 1982, before finally settling on the Crimson Glory monicker in 1983. While not all five members had been part of the early lineups of the band, Crimson Glory were in 1986 already quite an experienced act...

...and that is audible while listening to the album, which features high level musicianship on all posts. Stylistically the music is melodic US power metal and artists like early Queensrÿche and early Fates Warning are valid references. That means powerful heavy metal riffing, blistering solos and melodic lead themes, a pounding organic rhythm section, and the extremely high pitched vocals by Midnight in front. He is an incredibly skilled vocalist with great power and a commanding delivery, and while his helium screams are usually what people mention he does deliver really convincing and more raw mid- range vocals too. Not enough great things can be said about his performance here. He certainly is a vocalist extraordinaire (just take a listen to his performance on tracks like "Heart Of Steel" and "Mayday" for a display of his incredible skills). The rest of the band follow suit though and the instrumental performances on the album are also of incredibly high class.

The material featured on the 8 track, 38:51 minutes long album is well written and quite catchy US power/heavy metal tracks. Crimson Glory are often linked to the early 80s progressive metal scene, but it´s not often they leave the classic vers/chorus formula. Not that it matters though, because they master that formula to perfection. Another strength of the album is the great energy that is present in the music and the good balance between melody and rawness. The album features a powerful and well sounding production too, and upon conclusion it´s a very strong debut album by Crimson Glory. When the quality is as high as it is here, it´s simply wrong using the word promising to describe the album (which is often a word used about debut albums). A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)

Crimson Glory - 'Crimson Glory' 2.5 stars

The cousin of Queensryche and Fates Warning.

Those two bands come heavily into mind when listening to this band. I wouldn't call this a brother because this band was left in the dust when Queensryche and Fates Warning put out albums to be remembered, but I am sure very few found this band to be better and their impact on the progressive metal scene should be pretty close to what the above did also.

This is a very dated record. The compositions aren't exactly intricate and explorative and the vocals scream hair metal. The guitars can still hold up to be pretty interesting, even by today's standards with all the giants now like Dream Theater and Symphony X.

I can't really bring myself to listen to this ever again regardless of any circumstances. It is just too dated of a record to bring any listening joy. I would only give this 2 stars for collectors of the genre of progressive metal. Things just got far better than this twenty years later.

This debut album of CRIMSON GLORY is a true monument in the history of modern American metal with some prog influences!Even it's a debut album,CRIMSON GLORY was since the beginning a band like no other,especially because the unique voice of the trully regretted vocalist MIDNIGHT- RIP- a sensational vocalist!This guy had an unique and instantly recognisable voice,with amazing capacities-from very alto tones to really ferocious ways of expression!Of course,we have to remember about their ridiculous masks-their trademark at the time-but it was something that was very original-remember-all happened in the middle of the 80's!Pople known CG as the band with the guys wearing the masks!!!This album has a good production and some sensational compositions,in my opinion LOST REFLECTION is the absolute masterpiece of the band,one of the most amazing compositions in the history of metal-a trully sensitive metal ballad,with wonderful verses and a majestic performance from MIDNIGHT, which is giving here the whole measure of his fabulous voice!Other highlights are VALHALLA,DRAGON LADY and QUEEN OF THE MASQUERADE-true metal anthems and songs made for eternity!MIDNIGHT was also on the second CRIMSON GLORY album,the masterpiece TRANSCENDENCE-one of the most important albums in metal too ,some people says a true milestone in music,of the same importance like classics of the genre- METALLICA-MASTER OF PUPPETS,QUEENSRYCHE-OPERATION MINDCRIME,FATES WARNING-PARALELLS.In fact,CRIMSON GLORY were ofter compared to FATES WARNING,QUEENSRYCHE and MAIDEN-ant that's perfectly true!CRIMSON GLORY is trully mentioned as major influence for hundreds of bands in the prog metal and power metal genre!A wonderful album,which deserves his place iv every serious collection of prog metal fans,goot American classical metal,generally speaking. 4,5 STARS,because Transcendence is the one which deserves 5!!!

We all have those albums, right? You know the ones? The ones we SHOULD like but just can't get into. Doesn't matter how much you like the band or how many listens you give it, you just cannot get into the album. This is THAT album.

Now, I love Crimson Glory (the band), and it's a huge shame that they never truly lived up to the potential they displayed in their short-lived prime. But that "prime" consists of their self-titled debut release, which seems highly revered by fans, but I just can't seem to enjoy, no matter how hard I try to.

The songs just don't work for me, and I can't place my finger on why. Are the compositions lacking the polished feel of their later hits? Is the production too primitive? Am I just being picky? Or is it a combination of all three? The musicianship is top-notch, and it's easy to see how this band were so influential upon the power metal genre, and along with Fates Warning and Queensryche, how they laid the early foundations of progressive metal. Midnight's incredible vocal range is truly unmistakeable, although, indeed the production here doesn't do it justice and at times it just sounds incredibly tinny.

Overall though, I just can't enjoy this album, for no legit reason, really. 'Dragon Lady', 'Queen of the Masquerade', 'Heart of Steel' and 'Valhalla' are all good songs, but they all lack something that prevents me from ever truly going out of my way to listen to them. I could listen to 'Transcendence' or 'Astronomica' any day, but there's just something missing from 'Crimson Glory' that makes it a record I endure, instead of enjoy.