Crimson Glory - STRANGE AND BEAUTIFUL

Yea, it's another "Fat Freddy dusting off an oldie" thread...

Any thoughts on this rather odd album from the formerly masked progressive power metallers?
Crimson Glory was one of my favorite bands in the late 80s and I remember being quite disappointed in this one when it was first released in 1991, mainly because it was such a marked departure from their first two (classic) albums (I still want TRANSCENDENCE buried with me when I die!)...but over the years STRANGE AND BEAUTIFUL has unexpectedly grown on me. I finally upgraded this one to CD about a year ago (thanks Lala!) and since then I've listened to it a lot more than I ever did when it was a current release.
Rather than continuing with their signature, straight up prog/power metal sound of the first two CDs, C.G. mixed in some other influences on STRANGE AND BEAUTIFUL, like world music (witness the tribal beats on "Promise Land" and "The Chant," way before Soulfly made such things fashionable!) and a heavy Zeppelin vibe. The only song that retains the spacey, sci-fi feel of the earlier material is "Starchamber" (note the sample from "2001: A Space Odyssey" at the beginning -- "My God! It's full of STARS!") It's even got a couple of decent ballads, those being "Song For Angels" (lovely) and the closing "Far Away."
Maybe the band should've released this under a different name, because it certainly doesn't "sound" like Crimson Glory if that makes any sense, but umpteen years after its release I guess I finally "get" this album.

Agree? Disagree? Shoot the breeze here.

Never heard it. But your description makes me believe I would dig it.

spectrefate wrote:

Never heard it. But your description makes me believe I would dig it.

You have a PM, sir.

What a coincidence! As I was picking out my cd's to take to work with me this week, I grabbed this one from the rack. I dunno why, other than it's been awhile since I gave it a spin. Unfortunately, it will have to wait a little longer before it gets played, as I had a nice shipment of new music (Sebastian Bach, Overkill, and some others) waiting for me in my in-box when I got in today. It's the only Crimson Glory cd I own. It seems to be the only one that's fairly easy to get a hold of from used bins and on ebay. I understand it's quite a departure from their earlier material, which I'd like to get someday.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

What a coincidence! As I was picking out my cd's to take to work with me this week, I grabbed this one from the rack.

Haha, me too! Great minds think alike.

I just heard Crimson Glory's Strange and Beautiful for the first time. Here are my thoughts. I started on a good note.........


Strange and Beautiful - Good mid paced groove. Kind of typical for 1991 from an eighties metal band. My favorite song from the album.

Promise Land - Begins with odd tribal sounds and jumps into a cool down tuned riff that almost sounds like it could fit on a Bulletboys album. Again, a typical sound in 1991, but not bad at all.

Love and Dreams - My first thought when hearing the beginning acoustic guitar was "Trixter". Crimson Glory have wandered far from their "Lonely" ballad days on this one. Painfully Average song for the period.

The Chant - Organ on a Crimson Glory song? That's interesting. Again another song with that "gonna go out and get laid tonight" swagger groove. It doesn't work for this band. This song is so bad that it has an almost "sing along chorus". Blech.

Dance On Fire - The beginning drums reminds me of Duran Duran's "Wild Boys" song. Again another song with the swagger groove. Horrible. I didn't make it
through this one.

Song For Angels - I equate this to Quiet Riot's "Thunderbird" as an out of place piano ballad that doesn't work. I'm not having it. Nothing special.

In The Mood - The blues kick beat and acoustic guitar seemed a common thing from rock bands in this period. It doesn't appeal to me. Midnight has such a superior voice when placed with this weird style.

Starchamber - This song has a "Empire-esque" Queensryche feel to it. Its not up to Crimson Glory's previous output, but this is the 2nd best song on the album for me, despite the weird slide guitar in the middle.

Deep Inside Your Heart - This ballad works for me. I like that chord progression in the beginning and the sound works with Midnight's vocals well. The accompanying vocals don't work for me, but I like this one.

Make You Love Me - You can guess how this one goes. Horrible song for a band with Crimson Glory's past.

Far Away - The "More Than Words" girl ballad of the album. Give me a break. Another weak attempt at being something they are not. Midnight's vocals sound like he is "Far Away" from the mic. Clever, eh?

Over all, I was disappointed by this album and have to agree with Freddy astonishment at just how average this album is. If this were a BulletBoys album I would dig it more, but it's supposed to be a Crimson Glory album.

Strange, yes, beautiful, no

kmorg wrote:

Strange, yes, beautiful, no

That about sums it up.

Ouch! You're way harsher on the disc than I was, Spec. But I agree with most of your points, except that I dig "Song For Angels" and "The Chant."

Fat Freddy wrote:

Ouch! You're way harsher on the disc than I was, Spec. But I agree with most of your points, except that I dig "Song For Angels" and "The Chant."

I may have been harder than I should have been, but I didn't care for that album. But I have an idea as to how Crimson Glory should sound from way back, so its tough to look at it objectively.

I have yet to hear it, but it sounds like they tried to "sell out" on this one.

spectrefate wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

Ouch! You're way harsher on the disc than I was, Spec. But I agree with most of your points, except that I dig "Song For Angels" and "The Chant."

I may have been harder than I should have been, but I didn't care for that album. But I have an idea as to how Crimson Glory should sound from way back, so its tough to look at it objectively.

Yea, I'm pickin' up what you're layin' down. As I said in my original post, I really hated this album when I first heard it back in the day because it sounds nothing like "my" Crimson Glory. Fifteen plus years later though, I can kinda look back at it and go "Ehh, it ain't as bad as I thought it was." Nowadays I kinda dig most of it.

One of the few reissues with bonus tracks I have no intention of picking up! lol

I like the cover art, very cool.

kmorg wrote:

One of the few reissues with bonus tracks I have no intention of picking up! lol

Yea, Metal Mind reissued this one a while back didn't they?? Kinda odd that they would reissue all that Roadrunner stuff but they didn't try to reissue the S/T or TRANSCENDENCE. Instead they reissued this one and ASTRONOMICA, i.e. the two Crimson Glory albums nobody really gave a rat's patoot about.
I'd like to see the debut reissued on CD with the long lost track "Dream Dancer" re-instated into the running order like it is on my old cassette copy (on PAR Records)... and as long as I'm dreaming, I'd like a new Corvette and a porn star wife too....

Fat Freddy wrote:

kmorg wrote:

One of the few reissues with bonus tracks I have no intention of picking up! lol

Yea, Metal Mind reissued this one a while back didn't they?? Kinda odd that they would reissue all that Roadrunner stuff but they didn't try to reissue the S/T or TRANSCENDENCE. Instead they reissued this one and ASTRONOMICA, i.e. the two Crimson Glory albums nobody really gave a rat's patoot about.

Yeah, that is strange.

Required Fields wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

kmorg wrote:

One of the few reissues with bonus tracks I have no intention of picking up! lol

Yea, Metal Mind reissued this one a while back didn't they?? Kinda odd that they would reissue all that Roadrunner stuff but they didn't try to reissue the S/T or TRANSCENDENCE. Instead they reissued this one and ASTRONOMICA, i.e. the two Crimson Glory albums nobody really gave a rat's patoot about.

Yeah, that is strange.

Crimson Glory did have a deal with a Greek label called Black Lotus that was supposed to reissue the first two albums a while back, but the label went out of business before anything came of it. That deal was also supposed to include a new studio album, a live DVD from the TRANSCENDENCE era, a box set of rarities, and a whole bunch of other goodies. Then Midnight got busted for drunk driving and he was kicked out of the band again. So I guess I shouldn't hold my breath waiting for anything new from their camp huh?

I wonder if his driver's license lists "Midnight" as his name. Is he wearing the mask in the license photo I wonder?

I know he didn't for his mugshot...

spectrefate wrote:

I wonder if his driver's license lists "Midnight" as his name. Is he wearing the mask in the license photo I wonder?

Blabbermouth posted a link to his mug-shot photo when he was arrested for the DUI back then. No mask, and BOY, time had not been kind to that guy. He looked like five miles of bad road. If he were ever going to get back with C.G., I would suggest that he put the mask back on.

EDIT: Dang, MetalGuy must've posted that mug shot pic while I was typing this reply. I envy your mad Google Image Search skillz!

You can find anything on the internet.

Fat Freddy wrote:

spectrefate wrote:

I wonder if his driver's license lists "Midnight" as his name. Is he wearing the mask in the license photo I wonder?

Blabbermouth posted a link to his mug-shot photo when he was arrested for the DUI back then. No mask, and BOY, time had not been kind to that guy. He looked like five miles of bad road. If he were ever going to get back with C.G., I would suggest that he put the mask back on.

EDIT: Dang, MetalGuy must've posted that mug shot pic while I was typing this reply. I envy your mad Google Image Search skillz!

I got a helper monkey for Christmas that now does all my typing and googling for me. I just point my giant sausage fingers at the screen and dictate my responses. Good job, Mojo.

Believe it or not, this is the one full album of theirs that I own. I dig it, though I know it's supposed to be the different album. I have on EP, too, but it's a shaped EP and I've not been able to listen to it since I picked it up last year or so.

I like this album alot.....

then I like MIDNIGHT's "sakada" cd too and have yet to hear a kindword about that one from folks....

I just scored a copy of Midnight's acoustic EP. And some turd is selling it on eBay for $199. Haha.