Why do we listen to music? To express regret? To get our
nerve up? To relive a memory? Crimson Glory delves into feelings of recrimination,
love lost, determination, horror and more on their little known masterwork Transcendence from 1988 (MCA
Records/Roadracer Records). Caught up under the label of “hair band,” it was
partially their faults—they looked the part—this group compares favorably to a better known 1980s progressive metal band, Queensrÿche, who thought enough of the
group as to recruit
one of their later lead singers when their own vocalist Geoff Tate had a
falling out with the rest of the band.
Splitting into several camps during the 1980s, heavy metal
evolved the genre with the emergence of speed metal and had forward motion in progressive rock, as well. Crimson Glory took on the mantle that some had thought
handed off by Rush at the start of the decade with their more radio and MTV
friendly compositions. More than up to the task, Crimson Glory put up amazing
effort in Transcendence having an alternate-reality,
forward-looking perspective of material with a science fiction/fantasy theme in
large part.
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| Original Crimson Glory lead singer Midnight looked the part of heavy metal singer on 1988's Transcendence, but sang with much depth and emotion. |
Crimson Glory showed a lot of prescience in anticipating the
explosion of fantasy themes in the media with their song “Where Dragons Rule,” which
brings to mind a martial marching number with its rat-tat-tat-tat backbeat
courtesy of drummer Dana Burnell. Before there were Lord of the Rings and Reign of Fire movies and
other stories of reptilians of lore, Crimson Glory was singing of creatures
rising from the lake of fire on wings of steel. And the chorus of all the
members of the band answering to lead singer Midnight’s call, “In a world
between myth and strange reality | In a world where dragons rule,” they answer,
“Mission: Kill”. And in similar fashion,
Midnight asks, “We die for the dragon—is there a reason?” This song really
stirs the soul, striking a chord of defiance. When that Millennial blaring the
latest 50
Cent Hip Hop iTune download comes barreling up alongside you in his daddy’s
BMW, give him a blast of Old School Heavy Metal from Crimson Glory to snap him
back to the real world.
The band also takes a very literary tack on “Masque of the
Red Death,” which encapsulates the entire plot and character development of the
Edgar Allan Poe short story
of the same name into a mere four minutes and 15 seconds. We join the king and
his guests at the masquerade ball while the pestilence ravages the land outside
his high castle walls. But Crimson Glory relates how the personification of
disease and death makes his way into the dance and takes all with him.
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| De rigueur mysterious symbols accompanied Crimson Glory's liner notes on the 1988 release Transcendence. |
I am sure there must have been other groups that have
interpreted other pieces of literature into song, but I would have to believe
that Crimson Glory is one of the few groups in heavy metal who has done so. Vocalist
Midnight sings of “feeling” the disease flowing through his veins. And you can
nearly experience the terror of falling into the bleeding arms of the stranger.
Midnight (John Patrick Jr. McDonald 1962-2009)
performed exceptionally on Transcendence but
perhaps with the most dramatic presentation and dynamic vocal range on “Masque
of the Red Death,” hitting and sustaining high notes that would make operatic-style
singing archetypes Bruce Dickinson or Rob Halford proud.
On “Burning Bridges,” Crimson Glory really channels the
emotional side. As a gut-wrenching ode to love lost and isolation, Midnight
croons about never wanting to cause pain, never wanting to cause sorrow. Seriously,
these lyrics made me misty, nearly bringing a tear to my eye. The metaphor of
burning bridges makes a powerful statement of irrevocable loss and irredeemable
regret:
Now I feel the bridges burning
Flames reflecting in my eyes
The feelings much too cold to share
Smoke clouds dream I’ve left behind
This song can really get under your skin after repeated listening—but
in a good way. You may find your mind wandering to those who you might have
wronged in the past. Could small slights lead to failed relationships? They say don’t sweat the small stuff—and it’s all small
stuff. This song gives me pause to think that the reverse is truer.
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| Circa 2011, Crimson Glory now rock on without their late and previously separated singer Midnight. |
Another outstanding track, “In Dark Places,” uses a
sea-as-woman metaphor as an unnamed ingénue entices Midnight forward to a
solitary and shadowy world beneath the waves. Clocking in at a little over
seven minutes, it’s by far the longest cut on Transcendence and most haunting one, as well. It is really a
cryptic hymn about someone considering ending it all by drowning, saying
goodbye to the sunlit world for the permanent freedom of the great beyond—in
dark places we will be free.
Transcendence seems
to have been out of print for some time, but Amazon.com does list an import
edition available
on an orderable basis, though as of this writing it was temporarily out of
stock. There are also numerous new
and used
CDs from individual sellers and MP3
download files for the entire album. If you are interested in
mind-expanding music you missed the first or second time around Crimson Glory’s Transcendence is worth a look.
-Derek Handova
Appreciative Listener
Appreciative Listener
