Called by some "America's best hidden weapon,"
Florida's Crimson Glory developed a cult following in late 80s.
Their sharp-edged progressive metal, similar to early Queensryche , was
amplified by the intricate lyrics and ear-splitting vocals of the
enigmatic frontman, Midnight (real name rumored to be John Patrick Macdonald). Their self-titled debut (1986) received very high acclaim. The follow-up, "Transcendence" (1988) gave them a deity status. The line-up at the time consisted of John Drenning (guitars), Jeff Lords (bass), Ben Jackson (guitars), Dana Burnell (drums), and Midnight (vocals). But their success was not in the stars. Their record company simply did not succeed at marketing them as the next Queensryche, but instead advised them to take a more commercial rout. The resulting "Strange And Beautiful" (1991) was universally regarded as a failure, and the band broke-up. Drenning and Lords started a project titled "Erotic Liquid Culture," Ben Jackson formed the band Parrish, and Midnight being haunted by drug addiction and financial problems disappeared from music for almost ten years. In 1998 Drenning, Lords, and Jackson reformed the band, hiring vocalist Wade Black and drummer Steve "Dr. Killdrums" Wacholz, of Savatage glory. New album, "Astronomica" (1999), was somewhat of a return to the band's roots, though the absence of Midnight was a bitter pill to swallow for any CG fan. The band then went on tour in Europe, and apparently there were some tensions between Drenning and Black, which, in combination with Drenning's indecisiveness on recording of new material, lead to Black's departure in late 2000 (he first joined bands Seven Witches and Leash Law, and later -- Leatherwolf). Meanwhile,
Midnight recorded a solo album "Sakada" (2005), much maligned by
fans and critics alike. The band's status is in the air,
although the rumors of a full-fledge reunion are running rampant.
CRIMSON GLORY (1986)
RATING: *****
BEST SONGS: "Heart Of Steel," "Azrael," "Lost Reflection"
Simply put, a masterpiece. The closest comparative point is Queensryche's self-titled EP, mostly due to the similarities in singing between Tate and Midnight (who had the same vocal trainer), though King Diamond also comes to mind. Midnight, however, sings even higher than Tate; he has the most piercing high voice I have ever heard. He is higher than Tate, Halford, or King Diamond, and I'm not on drugs. He also sings with A LOT of passion, especially on the best songs of this album: "Valhalla," "Dragon Lady," "Heart Of Steel," "Azrael," and "Lost Reflection." The music, for the most part, is hard hitting prog, mid-80s vintage, when it was still possible to be a prog band and still rock like hell. "Valhalla" is an excellent mid-tempo march, as Midnight for the first time gives the new meaning to the term "high pitched vocals." "Dragon Lady" trailblazes the road for the Edgar Allen Poe-inspired gothic themes that highlighted CG's career. "Heart Of Steel"'s got the most amazing chorus, as Midnight wails away with "GOTTA HAVE A HEART OF STEEL!!" But that's just a pre-requisite for one of the greatest tunes from mid-80s, "Azrael." Starting from the acoustic intro ("Never been to hell before, but I'm falling down"), you know you're in for a ride. And then the mid-tempo attack begins, as the listener has nowhere to run, just to sit and headbang: "I lock the gates to hell, I toll the final bell, I AM FOREVER!!" Midnight's performance is unreal. Then come three songs that are good in themselves, but not up to the other highlights: "Mayday," "Queen Of The Masquerade," and "Angels Of War." Album-concluding "Lost Reflection" is, simply put, a masterpiece. It only has one musical line, yet it's one of the deepest and most emotionally sounding pieces I have ever heard. It tells a tale of a man, who's been locked up in the attic of the house by his woman, and he's quickly losing his mind. And, guess what: at the end, he does. And so does Midnight. I'm dead serious: I'm absolutely sure that at the end, Midnight has simply lost it in the studio. His screams have to be heard to be believed. "Cobwebs and dusty dreams! Sharp knives and hallowed screams! MY EYES OF TERROR!! Clawing the attic door! CANNOT TAKE IT ANYMORE! You better GET AWAAAAAAAAAAYYY!!" Unbelievable. This song was also covered by Morgana Lefay, and while they did a solid job, this feeling is impossible to reproduce, by Midnight's performance alone. An outstanding album, and an instant classic.
TRANSCENDENCE (1988)
RATING: *****
BEST SONGS: "Red Sharks," "Where Dragons Rule," "Eternal World"
Even though some people
referred to this band as "Queensryche clones," but I disagree: the
album has a very distinctive sound and proudly stands its ground
against the best in the genre of prog. I guess, for comparison
purposes, I should mention Queensryche's self-titled EP, but this is
definitely a mature work. Melodic "Lady Of Winter," anti-communist
super-evil anthem "Red Sharks," more melodic "Painted Skies" are all
very strong songs, but it's the middle of the album that's
absolutely amazing. Rocking "Mask Of The Red Death," based on Edgar
A. Poe's short story, and haunting Led Zeppelin-influenced "In Dark
Places" are magnificent pieces, and just check out the intro and the
scream "Seek and destroy!" in the 2nd verse of "Where Dragons Rule."
God, can a person sing any higher? Can a band rock any better? Nah,
unlikely. "Lonely" was the band's first ever single, and it's kinda
poppy. "Eternal World" (this is one evil bridge!) and title track
end (has a very Buddhist feeling to it and rivals "Lost Reflection"
in emotionality; Midnight is god) the album on an extremely high
note. One of the best albums I've heard all of last year (and I have
heard a few), but I must warn you: it might not immediately grab
you, because of its somewhat unusual sound, a mixture of prog and
gothic (King Diamond is another comparison I can come up with).
Drenning's guitar and Midnight's highly (I do mean "highly")
uncommon voice (it covers the full range from black metal shrieks to
glam wails) will definitely leave the mark.
STRANGE AND BEAUTIFUL (1991)
RATING: **1/2
BEST SONGS: "Promised Land," title track
Basically, crap from start to finish, full
of pop songs that would make Ratt cringe, with two... not bright,
but sort of... shimmering spots being the first two tracks, listed
above, and even they are weak by the standards of the previous
albums. Title track is in vein of Transcendence's title
track, if you dig that sort of stuff (I do, on certain occasions),
and "Promised Land" has a King's X-like
groove. After these two tracks, the distortion, the power, the
might, hell, even the progginess is gone! Shit like "Song For
Angels" and "Dance On Fire" is truly putrid. This was the first ever
failure of such magnitude, but no two consecutive album from any
band differ in quality more than Transcendence and
S & B No wonder Midnight left soon after the
release.
ASTRONOMICA (1999)
RATING: ****
BEST SONGS: "New World Machine," title track, "The Other Side Of Midnight"
Ten years later, another very unusual work
comes out. Not as solid as Transcendence, but still pretty
darn good. One noticeable problem is that Wade "War Machine" Black
doesn't know how to use his voice well: he screams too much, while
his voice is actually good enough to simply sing. The music became a
little less gothic and more technical, but King Diamond fans should
still like it, especially on "The Other Side Of Midnight" (a
possible nod to their ex-vocalist; they should have also done a
cover of Judas Priest "Living After
Midnight"), both of which are great songs. The opening instrumental
"March To Glory" is awesome, recalls Running Wild's "March Of The Final
Battle." "War Of The Worlds" is a first single, and is very loud.
"New World Machine" has an awesome chorus and shows how you can rock
even if the band don't use "kerrang" sound all that much.
Queensryche could have done this song, had they not gone pop. The
title track has a very cool Middle-Eastern intro, but quickly turns
into a good mid-tempo rocker, and Black sings pretty well. Coming to
think of it, most of the album has some sort of Eastern feel to it,
in both melodies and sound. "Edge Of Forever" resembles some of the
slower tracks from Transcendence, as well as some metal blues
tune: real good. "Lucifer's Hammer" is a real blast, just as the
title implies (it's like a faster version of "New World Machine,"
but it's still mid-tempo... one bad thing about this album is that
it doesn't have any fast songs). "The Other Side Of Midnight" is
pure King Diamond: soft music, but s-c-a-r-y. In case you didn't
know: it's a sequel to "Lost Reflection" from their debut album, and
in some ways it's better than "Lost Reflection," but NOTHING could
possibly top Midnight's performance at the end of that song, so Mr.
Black pales in comparison. "Cyber-Christ" and "Cydona" are also good
tunes, I only wish the outro to "Cydona" would not be 25 minutes
long! Once again, this one probably won't grab you from the first
try, especially if you are, like myself, into more traditional
sounds (the only CG album that immediately grabbed me by the balls
was the s/t). But it's definitely a good album.
MIDNIGHT: SAKADA (2005)
RATING: ***1/2
BEST SONGS: "Incubus," "Berber Trails," "Miss Katie"
This would be one of the most maligned albums in history, had it not been so obscure. In
fact, if you could focus all the hatred of CG fans and direct it at
this cd, it would surely melt. Strangely enough, it has little
to do with the music itself. The fact is: IT SOUNDS
NOTHING LIKE CRIMSON GLORY OR METAL AT ALL! So thousands of
fans that bought this album, expecting Transcendence or at
least Astronomica, got bitterly disappointed. And not
just fans. I got this album for FREE from a vendor who said
that it was so awful he would simply give it to me for free, so I
could listen to it once and throw it away. Well,
listen to it I did. But I never tossed it. Not yet, at
least.
This album is a psychodelic, eclectic product of
Midnight's influences -- Pink Floyd and Led
Zeppelin -- and his own messed-up mind. The result
comes out sounding not dissimilar to The Cure. I happen to
like certain Cure songs and I happen to like certain songs on
Sakada. Plenty of ethnic instruments (dulcimer,
maracas, banjo, etc.) complete the picture. Vocally,
Midnight's wail has deteriorated somewhat (how could it not?), but
when he does not sound like an angry grandma from Florida, he sounds
like Midnight of old. Opening "Incubus" has some heavy guitar
to it and actually rocks, but not in a metallic way. "Berber
Trails" (think "Kashmere" and beyond) is an excellent atmospheric
piece. "Miss Katie" is a creepy acoustic tale of a
typical redneck family: booze, incest,
rape, suicide, murder, not unlike the stuff of legends, "Lost
Reflection" (too bad I could never decypher all the lyrics:
the artsy booklet has none and the website is so bizarre, I could
never find them there). The rest is not quite as good, but
some songs have their moments ("Pain," "War," title track).
And some songs, on the other hand, have got to be the worst
stuff ever put on tape ("Little Miss Sunshine," "The Cat
Song"). "Lost Boy" would have sounded good on an early Rolling
Stones album, but on this one it is clearly misplaced.
Consequently, this album is best listened to with (1) a very open
mind and (2) close access to the "fast-forward" button. Once
you fulfill these two conditions, you may enjoy it better than you
thought you would. I did. Hell, it's much, MUCH better
than S&B! Now, it is
understandable if Midnight wants to expand as an artist and do
something that has never been done before. Or maybe he just
can't control his own brain anymore. But the man cannot expect
anybody to even know him other than the old CG fans.
And I will say this with authority: this album is NOT
what fans want to hear. If he wants to keep pushing the
envelope and record weird music, he very well can. But it
would be best if he also rejoined his mother-band and gave the
people what they want as well. It would be to everyone's
benefit.
|
|
