Glory - Crisis Vs. Crisis

It's no mystery by now that if a cd has Goran Edman on it then I will purchase it, and Glory's "Crisis Vs. Crisis" is no exception to the rule. Why you may ask? Well simply put, Mr. Edman has never let me down, I can safely buy anything he is singing on and know it's going to blow me away with top quality musicianship, songwriting, and his Swedish accented, heartfelt vocals. Goran has added his vocal talents to releases by Madison, John Norum, Johansson, Yngwie Malmsteen, Street Talk, Brazen Abbot, Reingold, and more recently Kharma and probably a couple of others that I neglected to mention. Each release is unique in its own way but still shining with that Seal of Edman Quality that makes them truly essential to anyone's collection. While often classified as just a hired gun, but more recently racking up more acclaim, Edman has proven time and time again that he can sing most anything and come away from the performance glittering like a diamond. But he's not the only musician on the album, and needless to say not the band leader. Checking over Glory's history, Jan Granwick is the glorious guitar wielding core that is Glory, as his band was around long before Goran was brought on the scene. He replaced Peter Eriksson for top vocal spot starting with the vocally sparse and instrumental heavy, "Positive Buyoant", where Edman was almost as misused as he was on John Norum's "Total Control" (playing only a bit part, but doing it oh-so well as always) and continuing on as the lead frontman for the Swedish outfit, to this day. Malmsteen followers will be delighted to see that the band is heavily reminiscent of the lineup for Yngwie's "Fire and Ice", only minus Yngwie and the little drummer boy. Bassist Svante Henrysson and longtime keyboardist for 'The Maestro', Mats Olausson, have joined Edman on this outing, and both turn in the kind of high class performances that are expected. Morgen Agren is the drummer, I've never heard of him but I'm sure he came from somewhere, and his command of the kit is nothing to be ashamed of. The pressure must have been on since he thunders like a madman when needed.

Admittedly when this disc first landed in my hands, it was not something that I warmed up to at all. Not liking anything I heard after a couple of songs, I shelved the disc, it seemed to be at a lower standard than Reingold and Johansson, two superb cds that this one was having to compete against in my mind. However, all was not lost, pulling the cd out once again and getting a fresh take on it allowed me to see it in a new light and hopefully this is the way the disc will be approached by all. As stated before, the performances are all exceptional, Olausson's keyboard flourishes are absolutely essential, creating psychedelic sonic tapestries or powerfully clean organ grinding, not limited to just filling in the backing sounds he goes totally wild with some dazzling solos. Granwick's guitar is equally impressive, running the spectrum of sounds, from thick and unyielding tones, to crisp arpeggio ridden, neo-classical fretboard acrobatics. Henrysson's bass is suitably thumping as well. Then there's Edman himself, the greatest pull to the release, and he sounds simply spectacular. He explores his versatility with some absolutely insane chattering, well controlled and ranged singing and the rich sentimental side flowing in when called upon. The song structures are often times baffling, with their fair share of unpredictability. Exotic sounds abound, Glory as a whole is definitely not content to walk the road of typical melodic rock, and stray from the path more often than they follow it, yet the needed hooks are never sacrificed for overindulgence in experimenting, and pop in from places where the listener is least expecting it. Its unconventional chances taken like this that keep the music fresh and exciting, and more often than not, some of the strangest metal-hard rock that has been produced in the 90s that wasn't just total shit, and "Crisis Vs. Crisis" is a world away from being exiled to the dung pile.

1. Exposure - Rolling keyboard sounds and tons of organ open the song before the heavy as steel and sharp as nails electric axeslinging pours in like a thick syrup, bathing the song in sticky sweetness right before some very distorted vocals bounce in. Shortly after the song is allowed to take its course, and allows a nice glimpse at the vocal variety that's in store for the duration of "Crisis Vs. Crisis", with low growling, even more distortion, Goran's regular and elegant midrange, and a few extremely high notes hit with absolute ease. For the instrument fans, there is a nice organ-guitar duel in the center, that sees it all slowing down for a bit into psychedelic lushness only to spiral out into its rocking pace for the finish. As an album opener it does its job of 'exposing' the experimental side of the band (which we will be seeing alot of before its all over with), and there's just something strangely attractive about that disjointed chorus.
2. Celebration - Uplifting background key fills help soften up the image of this one, and Goran's normal soaring vocals help to launch this one into a more straightforward AOR feeling formula. Then it gets weirder, just check out some of those vocal flourishes, wow. The sparse jungle percussion gets the blood pumping and the feeling of swinging through vines in the Amazon. Then the chorus kicks in, using those flourishes to its best advantage. Overall I get flashbacks of some of the tunes off Saigon Kick's "Water".
3. Crisis Vs. Crisis - The music box opening then children's voices against piano ivory tickling that reeks of safeness and security that has been the base of many a movie soundtrack and television commercial is done here. Then the winds of discord rears its ugly head, with ominious operatic vocals, it riles up to a quick finish.
4. Believe In A Miracle - A calmly and acoustic, yet infectious ballad, that shows the best of Edman's sentimentality. Rather romantic Spanish flavored acoustic frills spice up the vocally dominant tune that trembles alive with the sweet sounds of that expressive voice.
5. Set the World On Fire - An assault on the ears but it sheds away for violin sounds then thunders back on the scene with newfound fire. No saccharine approach to this one, that gentle vulnerable sweetness is replaced by pure aggression. The bridge that collapses for spoken vocals (with a little cough.. I guess we are assume that if the world is set on fire there will be some smoke as well?) is one of the better parts of the song. The guitar solo is rabidly blazing, burning quite brightly and causing its own commotion. The riffing at the end is just really awesome, not in a technical aspect, but simply pleasing to the ears. It lasts such a brief period that its worth playing the tune through again just to hear that tiny splash of electric sound.
6. Caught Up in the City - A glammish yell detonates this one wide open, which soon proves to be a straightfoward hard rocker with a touch of a bluesy swing. Clean and heavy riffs, and Goran's sharp midrange vocal sound, coming out rich and gorgeous on the hook-filled chorus. Something of an 80s Deep Purple-Whitesnake hybrid, but with a touch that makes it Glory's own.
7. Itch - This is unlike anything I have ever heard before, and defies description. Appalling at first, but that lure is thown out there, waiting for the listener to bite, which of course you will. The first half is carried by Goran's vocals, which are different to say the least. More spoken than sung, with an erratic edge, opening with sudden, swift paced vocals, which quickly ascend to half-sung ravings like a madman or perhaps a mad scientist, as mentioned in the song itself. This is all set to a positively thunderous background, which swirls out into eccentric pounding with the guitars swelling with modern distortion. Equally strange and beautiful guitar solos lash out inbetween, bordering on frenzied hysteria, and punctuating between Goran's deep throated rumblings of "Talk about it!". One of the weirdest takes on desire I have personally ever heard, but absolutely delightful all the same. Edman is the star of this show, telling his rambling story with an air of pure brilliance.
8. Virtual Reality - The soulful blues influence rears its head again, flowing out in the form of sensitive vocal beauty in what seems to be a ballad. But as most of the songs on here, its beginning is not at all related to what the song will morph into, but still retains some of the feel, as is shown when it turns into a rollicking midpaced blues rocker. But wait... that stripped and soft ballad-esque part shows up again, then back to the heavier foundations of the tune, and stays in this final shape until its very end. Another fantastic chorus, not an assault on the senses or bouncy in an AOR-ish way, but something on a different plane of existance all together. Lazily rolling through with carefully formed words, the song seems to take its time, with no hurry of getting to where its going. It all winds down after some high pitched parts asking "Can you hear me??" into nothingness, but then the volume swells again, a little guitar piece plays, another straightening out for a last launch into the chorus, then fade. Whew.
9. Standing Invitation - Thumping bass pushed into the front of the mix, wild neo-classical guitar and sinister spoken vocals. Its a relief to finally hear Goran singing as the song rounds up into a spectacular AOR hard rock tune that reeks of the finest quality. It's a comfort to hear a sticky sweet pop flavored chorus, bubbly axeweilding by Granwick, and Mats going nuts on a key solo after the strangeness of the last two tunes.
10. The Battle of the Bridge - With the air of a folk ballad it begins, but doesn't stay that way for long, of course not, it has its own little frills with a chorus of backing vocals, but its the lead singer that makes or breaks this one, and of course Goran milks the dramatic effects for every ounce he can squeeze out of them. Atmospheric swirling background of tiptoeing violin sounds, and then Goran breathlessly speaking... into an upward spiraling legion of sound backing him as he launches into full fledged singing. Its the transistions between this and the airy parts that keep the song convincing enough to hang onto every word. The sad acoustic strummings and Hollywood soundtrack style ending is a nice touch as well. "Fear is a language they speak it so well, so you've gotta shut up and listen!"
11. Garden of Earthly Delight - The mostly instrumental "Positive Buyoant" wasn't enough to get that animal out of Granwick's blood, as he found the need to include a display for his virtuosic talents on here too. Luckily its a pretty nice instrumental that feels alot like Joe Satriani meets Mike Romeo at the crossroads. Agren and Henyrsson give Jan a nice heavily thumpin' backdrop to shred on top of. The bass heavy fusion feel of the song's center throws off the most Satriani vibes of any other part then the guitar transforms into what sounds like Vinnie Moore. While covering alot of space in a little time, there's enough variety to warrant listen to it more than just the once curiousity run.