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Giannelli & Hewitt (USA): Kabuki (Ocean, 1984)
Rock/Metal
Holly Hewitt (joint lead vocals, guitar)
Despite the title, this has no Oriental influences; and despite the artist credit, four people are depicted on the back cover (the other two presumably being vocalists Lowell Dwyer and Lisa DeDominicis, who may take the odd lead here and there). Musically this is AOR and hard rock, with good material by both Louis Giannelli and Holly Hewitt and a welcome absence of eighties production, which would probably have afflicted this LP had they gained a major label deal. GRADE: C+.

Giant Squid (USA): Metridium Field (Tyrannosaurus trecs6, CD, 2004)
Progressive/Metal
Aurielle Gregory (occasional vocals, keyboards)
Blending doom metal and majestic prog recalling Pink Floyd, this is a powerful, striking and varied album. The closing title track, running for 16½ minutes, is easily the best thing on offer, with its slow, repeated chords building in intensity, but this is a fine record throughout. GRADE: B–.
Giant Squid (USA): Monster In The Creek (Tyrannosaurus, CDR, with minisleeve, 2005)
Rock/Metal/Progressive
Aurielle Gregory (joint lead vocals, guitar)
Their second album, issued as a CDR with handmade packaging in a run of 400 copies, loses most of the doom elements. However, there is still quite a bit of metal and strong progressive rock influences, mixed with slower and more melodic keyboard-based music; the results are solid but not as strong as Metridium Field. The excellent 2013 reissue (Translation Loss TL-74-2, with gatefold minisleeve and booklet) adds three instrumental demos for the album, live performances of three of its songs and a comprehensive DVD featuring material from several different live sets, footage of the band in the studio and a photo gallery. GRADE: C+.
Giant Squid (USA): Metridium Fields (The End TE076, CD, with digipak, 2006)
Progressive/Metal
Aurielle Gregory (occasional vocals, guitar, keyboards, banjo)
As the title suggests, this is a straightforward re-recording of Metridium Field with a bigger budget and a slightly different line-up (including a full-time trumpeter, whose contributions work extremely well). Whilst the concept is somewhat odd, the re-recording does succeed in making a very good album truly great. GRADE: B.
Giant Squid (USA): The Ichthyologist (No label, CD, with foldout minisleeve, 2009)
Metal/Progressive/Avant-Garde
Jackie Perez-Gratz (joint lead vocals, cello)
Privately issued in a run of 1000 numbered copies, the band’s fourth album saw Aurielle Gregory replaced by Jackie Perez-Gratz (formerly of Amber Asylum and Grayceon). The music is more in the vein of Metridium Field(s) than Monster In The Creek (although one song is reworked from the latter) but has a more laconic, experimental feel hinting towards Grayceon, with some post-rock, post-hardcore and neoclassical elements worked in. An interesting guest list includes Kris Force and Lorraine Rath from Amber Asylum, Anneke van Giersbergen from the Gathering, and Karyn Crisis. A subsequent pressing of the LP (Translation Loss TL3702, CD) from later the same year features different artwork and allegedly extensively remixed versions of four cuts. GRADE: B–.
Giant Squid (USA): Cenotes (Translation Loss TL55-2, CD, with digipak, 2011)
Metal/Progressive/Avant-Garde
Jackie Perez-Gratz (occasional vocals, cello)
Like its predecessor, this is an unusual blend of elements – principally metal, hardcore, post-rock and neoclassical – that is never really spectacular but works well in totality, with plenty of creative moments. GRADE: B–.

Giant Squid (USA): Minoans (Translation Loss TL85-2, CD, with gatefold minisleeve, 2014)
Metal/Progressive/Avant-Garde
Jackie Perez-Gratz (occasional vocals, cello)
This concept album isn’t particularly varied, but it is hugely dynamic, with great interplay between the guitar and cello riffs. The interesting and clever lyrics are also a bonus, adding up to another impressive album. GRADE: B–.
See also Amber Asylum, Grayceon

Karen Gibbs (USA): Window Panes (Romar RPS-107701, 1977)
Singer/Songwriter
Karen Gibbs (lead vocals, guitar)
Gibbs’s voice has a touch of Joni Mitchell, but her songwriting style has none of Mitchell’s jazzy leanings, being simultaneously more straightforward and more baroque. With backing ranging from steel guitar to strings to sitar, this is a decidedly superior singer/songwriter effort, the only misstep being a lugubrious cover of ‘Loving Arms’ – not a number that really suits her style. In contrast, she tackles Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Oh Daddy’ in fine style – and in a very different interpretation to the original. GRADE: C+.

Gila (West Germany): Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee (Warner Brothers WB 46234, with insert, 1973)
Folk/Rock/Progressive/Psychedelic
Sabine Merbach (occasional vocals)
This is basically Popol Vuh under another name with a different female singer; after Gila leader Conny Veit joined the band, Popol Vuh mainstays Florian Fricke and Danny-Secundus Fichelscher repaid the favour by creating a new line-up of Gila with him. Musically, this combines the tranced-out lead guitar work of Hosianna Mantra with the heavier, denser style Popol Vuh would later pursue on Das Hohelied Salomos and Letzte Tage Letzte Nächte, with conceptual lyrics about Native Americans. The end result is a superbly atmospheric album and a fine addition to Popol Vuh’s discography. GRADE: B.

Richie Gilbert Ensemble (USA): The Richie Gilbert Ensemble (Chestnut 45184, 1978)
Folk/Rock
Diane Joan Marlowe (joint lead vocals), Joane Wilson (joint lead vocals), Libby Linton (joint lead vocals, guitar)
Although issued as a lawyer’s vanity project in 1978, the album sounds ten years earlier, offering lovely late sixties-style hippie folk and folk/rock. Gilbert is an excellent songwriter and has a mellow, slightly forlorn voice recalling early sixties pop crooners, whilst a total of seven different lead singers provides plenty of variety. GRADE: C+.

Giles Farnaby’s Dream Band (UK): Giles Farnaby’s Dream Band (Argo ZDA 158, 1973)
Folk/Rock
Judi Longden (joint lead vocals), Annie Crozier (concertina, psaltery), Leila Ward (crumhorn, recorder)
As a collaboration between the mediocre Druids and the fairly wretched Trevor Crozier’s Broken Consort, in theory this should be pretty disappointing. It isn’t. In fact, it’s an excellent electric folk set, featuring well-judged reinterpretations of mediaeval jigs and songs with a mixture of rock and early instruments. GRADE: B–.
See also Trevor Crozier’s Broken Consort, Druids

Giles, Giles & Fripp (UK): The Brondesbury Tapes (1968) (Voiceprint VP235CD, CD, 2001, recorded 1968)
Psychedelic
Judy Dyble (joint lead vocals)
This interesting archive release contains the full pre-album recordings of Giles, Giles & Fripp (some of which had previously been released on vinyl as Metamorphosis – Tenth Planet TP 049). Giles, Giles & Fripp, of course, soon mutated into King Crimson, but these recordings – some featuring Judy Dyble between leaving Fairport Convention and forming Trader Horne – are in more of a pastoral psychedelic vein with jazz edges. An important historical document, the set peaks on its best-known song — ‘I Talk To The Wind’, first issued back in the seventies on a King Crimson sampler. GRADE: B–.
See also Judy Dyble, Fairport Convention

Gilgamesh (UK): Gilgamesh (Caroline CA-2007, 1975)
Jazz/Rock/Progressive
Amanda Parsons (lead vocals)
This accomplished, if decidedly laid-back and somewhat disjointed, Canterbury album brings together several luminaries from the British jazz/rock scene, including Jeff Clyne, Alan Gowen and Phil Lee. Despite being credited as a full band member, Amanda Parsons barely appears on the LP, contributing wordless vocals in a couple of places. GRADE: B–.
See also Hatfield & The North, National Health, Laurent Thibault

Gill, Colin & Desmond (UK): History Of Love (Profile GMOR 142, 1977)
Folk/Pop
Gill Hargreaves (joint lead vocals, guitar)
Offering lightweight, jolly, whimsical Christian folk/pop, this is broadly typical of the Profile label and generally quite uninteresting. However, the title track, with a few autoharp embellishments, is somewhat more reflective and rather lovely. GRADE: C.
Gill, Colin, Desmond & David (UK): Refreshment (Profile GMOR 158, 1978)
Folk/Pop
Gill Hargreaves (joint lead vocals, guitar)
Their second album, issued as a quartet, is mistitled: it’s not refreshing at all, being in the same style as their first. On the plus side, it’s a better LP, with a more enjoyable selection of songs, but like a lot of Christian folk it’s all a bit one-dimensional and saccharine-sweet, and the lyrics are fairly horrendous. GRADE: C.
See also Gill Hargreaves

Dana Gillespie (UK): Foolish Seasons (London PS 540, USA, 1968)
Pop/Psychedelic
Dana Gillespie (lead vocals, guitar)
Mixing heavily orchestrated pop with folkier pieces and a couple of slightly more psychedelic numbers, Dana Gillespie’s debut sometimes sounds more like a compilation of singles and B-sides released at different times than an actual studio album. Nonetheless, it’s mostly good stuff, with high quality musicianship throughout, competent songwriting (including two numbers from Gillespie herself) and some powerful, emotive singing. Ironically for an album whose contents largely define the term ‘Swingin’ London’, this was only released in the States. GRADE: C+.

Gina & Los Tickets (Chile): Bailamos? (Odeon LDC-36213, 1966)
Beat
Gina
This obscure beat group is probably best known for launching the career of Carlos Corales, later the leader of Aguaturbia. Giving few hints of his psychedelic future, Corales looks like a well-groomed member of the Shadows on the back cover, and the Shadows live up to their name by casting a long shadow over the largely instrumental music, which is notable for its excellent guitar work. While decent enough, the closing versions of ‘Jingle Bells’ and ‘Auld Lang Syne’ are a little incongruous, but otherwise this is a fine mid-sixties beat album. GRADE: C+.

Giöbia (Italy): Beyond The Stars (Silent Revolution SRCD 002, CD, with gatefold minisleeve, booklets and obi, UK, 2004)
Progressive/Psychedelic
Marinella Mastrosimone (lead vocals), Paola di Francesco (violin, cello)
This enjoyable space-rock set owes as much to the Eagles’ ‘Journey Of The Sorceror’ as to Hawkwind, with pronounced folky edges as well as some Eastern tinges (with the instrumentation including bansuri, bouzouki, oud, sitar, violin, cello, accordion and banjo). There’s also a definite pop sensibility to the songs, which are good fun, with the most exploratory moments being on the instrumentals. A consistently fine album, it’s beautifully packaged to boot. GRADE: B–.
Giöbia (Italy): Hard Stories (Jestra JES51/Area Pirata APC16, CD, 2010)
Garage/Psychedelic
Saffo Fontana (occasional vocals, organ)
Returning with a slightly different line-up, Giöbia offer a quite different sound on their second album. Moving a few years back in time, this abandons the early seventies space-rock sound of Beyond The Stars for mid-sixties garage psychedelia. A lot of this kind of retro music was produced in the eighties, but it’s comparatively unusual nowadays; this is a good example of the genre, but to these ears it’s not a patch on its more expansive and ambitious predecessor. GRADE: C+.
Giöbia (Italy): Introducing Night Sound (Sulatron ST1302, CD, Germany, 2013)
Psychedelic
Saffo Fontana (keyboards, violin, backing vocals)
Their third album places the emphasis firmly on the psychedelic rather than the garage aspects of their sound, though once again it sounds like the late sixties refracted through an eighties prism. It is, however, far more expansive and tripped-out than its predecessor, representing a definite return to form. GRADE: B–.

Giöbia (Italy): Magnifier (Sulatron ST1509-2, CD, 2015)
Psychedelic/Metal
Saffo Fontana (occasional vocals, keyboards)
This is a logical step forward from Introducing Night Sound, though much heavier, adding in elements of modern stoner metal. It’s an impressive album: powerful, trippy and spaced-out to the max, though I question their decision to follow the shoegaze movement by mixing some of the vocals at a subterranean level; whilst presumably intended to add psychedelic ambience, it simply sounds odd. GRADE: B–.

Giöbia (Italy): Plasmatic Idol (Heavy Psych Sounds HPS113, CD, 2020)
Progressive/Psychedelic/Metal
Saffo Fontana (keyboards)
They seem to have gone full circle here, as this takes them back to the space-rock of their debut, though still with heavy rock edges and occasional garage touches from Saffo Fontana’s organ. However, there’s also a heavy Pink Floyd influence here that wasn’t apparent in their earlier work, so they seem to combine disparate psychedelic and progressive influences in different ways on each successive album. In any case, this is certainly one of their best, containing some great trippy jams. GRADE: B–.

Giöbia (Italy): Acid Disorder (Heavy Psych Sounds, CD, with digipak, 2023)
Psychedelic/Progressive
Melissa Crema (joint lead vocals, synthesiser)
Again, this is somewhat Floydian, capturing the heaviest end of the band’s style from ‘Interstellar Overdrive’ through to ‘One Of These Days’. As such, this could be dismissed as unashamedly retro; but then again, it’s undeniably excellent. GRADE: B–.

Gläns Över Sjö & Strand (Sweden): Är Du Lönsam Lille Vän (MNW 13P, with poster, 1970?)
Folk/Psychedelic
This Swedish political LP owes an obvious heavy debt to Bob Dylan, but is nonetheless both good and enjoyable. In parts, it adds a psychedelic edge, with some heavy feedback guitar providing an almost Velvet Underground-like feel, although the lack of a rhythm section on most cuts keeps the mood closer to folk than to rock. There are no musician credits, but the sleeve depicts a four-piece line-up (three men and a woman). The album comes with both a foldover sleeve and a large foldout poster/lyric insert. GRADE: C+.
Gläns Över Sjö & Strand (Sweden): Här Schaktas Utan Pardon (MNW 22P, 1971)
Folk/Psychedelic
Louise Mosskin (occasional vocals, flute, jew’s harp)
Like their debut, this is patchy but intermittently excellent, with the highpoint probably being the nine-minute opener ‘Fädernas Missgärningar’. This time round, the lyrics are printed directly onto the foldover cover. GRADE: C+.

Glass Bottle (USA): The Glass Bottle (Avco Embassy 33012, 1970)
Pop/Soul
Carol Denmark (occasional vocals)
Lively but inconsequential pop with soulful edges from a mixed-race, mixed-gender band. Group leader Gary Criss takes almost all the vocal leads; three of the six members are not even credited on the sleeve. None of the material is self-penned, with the best cut by far being the uncharacteristically heavy ‘Red River Sal’, which adeptly mixes hard rock and funk. GRADE: C.

Glass Hammer (USA): Live And Revived (Arion SR-5710, CD, 1997)
Progressive
Michelle Young (keyboards, clarinet, backing vocals)
After two albums as the duo of Steve Babb and Fred Schendel (with Michelle Young and Tracy Cloud providing very occasional vocals, but not enough to merit the discs’ inclusion here), Glass Hammer issued with odds-and-sods collection, which features a fuller backing band on several cuts. Recorded in 1994 and issued three years later in a numbered run of 1000 copies, it mixes live rehearsals and studio demos for what was supposed to have become their second album (but was abandoned in favour of Perelandra). Mixing up these recordings with brief, surreal links in which Babb and Schendel goof around (typically American and not at all funny) resulted in a real curate’s egg with some moments of fine prog, some rather uninspiring high-tech neoprog and a few moments that will make your toes curl. GRADE: C.
Glass Hammer (USA): The Middle Earth Album (Arion SR1311, CD, 2001)
Folk/Rock
Susie Bogdanowicz (joint lead vocals), Felicia Sorenson (occasional vocals), Sarah Snyder (occasional vocals)
This is a curious diversion for Glass Hammer, who had previously offered high-tech neoprog. As the title suggests, this is a collection of Tolkien-themed quasi-mediaeval folk songs, with background noise thrown in to recreate the atmosphere of a live performance in a Middle Earth tavern (at least, I assume that was the intention). The instrumental backing is centred around harpsichord and clattering percussion, with the material ranging from ribald singalongs to delicate folk numbers (the best of which is the beautiful ‘If I Wait’, sung by Felicia Sorenson). The whole thing is hammy in the extreme, and odd through and through, but not displeasing for all that. GRADE: C+.
Glass Hammer (USA): Lex Rex (Arion, CD, 2002)
Progressive
Susie Bogdanowicz (occasional vocals), Sarah Lovell (occasional vocals), Haley McGuire (occasional vocals), Carrie Streets (occasional vocals)
This is business as usual for Glass Hammer, offer dense keyboard-led neoprogressive, and once again they offer a concept album (something to do with ancient Rome). Whilst there are some nice symphonic moments, overall it’s a bit dreary and the circus-style interludes of narration and carnival music are arch and irritating. GRADE: C+.
Glass Hammer (USA): Live At NEARfest (Arion SR1121/NEARfest NFR 0003, CD, 2004)
Progressive
Susie Bogdanowicz (occasional vocals), Flo Paris (occasional vocals), Bethany Warren (occasional vocals)
This live album largely consists of a rendition of Lex Rex, which works a great deal better on stage than in the studio. In fact, this is their best album, live or studio, to date – by some margin. GRADE: C+.

Glass Hammer (USA): Lex Live (Sound Resources SR7112, DVD, 2004)
Progressive
Susie Bogdanowicz (occasional vocals), Bethany Warren (occasional vocals), Flo Paris (occasional vocals), Sarah Snyder (occasional vocals)
The live version of Lex Rex (and a few other pieces) knocks the studio original into a cocked hat, with plenty of energy and some great musicianship. That said, the band have zero stage presence or theatricality, and whilst I wouldn’t call the studio set a sow’s ear this definitely doesn’t qualify as a silk purse. Bonus material includes rehearsals, interviews, acoustic jamming in a hotel room and backstage footage, plus a low-budget promo video. GRADE: C+.
Glass Hammer (USA): Shadowlands (Arion SR1122, CD, 2004)
Progressive
Susie Bogdanowicz (occasional vocals)
The more Glass Hammer one hears, the more it becomes obvious how homogenous their style is. The dense synthesised backing with its twiddly little keyboard fugues, the tic of the voices mirroring the riffs and the understated singing style (which makes their multiple vocalists almost indistinguishable) continue unchanged from song to song – even the Dan Fogelberg cover is much of a piece. The result is a set with four songs around the ten-minute mark and the fifth over twenty during which nothing much actually seems to happen. GRADE: C+.

Glass Hammer (USA): The Inconsolable Secret (Arion SR1320, double CD, with digipak, 2005)
Progressive
Susie Bogdanowicz (joint lead vocals)
This 99-minute double album is Glass Hammer’s magnum opus and sees them taking a huge creative leap forward. Admittedly, the first disc (with tracks of 15½ and 24½ minutes) is a bit dreary, with the instrumental sections working better than the actual songs. However, the second is a revelation: the melodies are rich, the orchestrations are beautiful, the arrangements are varied and Susie Bogdanowicz’s singing provides a welcome change of mood. That said, I still have my reservations: the concept (something about a knight and a king, with some of the lyrics in Latin and ‘Elvish’) is cheesy, and the inclusion of an ‘epic poem’ by Steve Babb (along with a video, the lyrics and some desktop art) on the enhanced portion of the first disc suggests they’re taking themselves a little too seriously. But it’s nice to hear a band moving up to the next level and an album that steadily improves as it progresses has to be preferable to one that starts out strongly then gives up the ghost. GRADE: B–.
Glass Hammer (USA): Live At Belmont (Arion SR-1726, double DVD, 2006)
Progressive
Susie Bogdanowicz (occasional vocals), Flo Paris (occasional vocals), Bethany Warren (occasional vocals, rainstick)
Glass Hammer certainly don’t do things by halves: this double DVD has a total running time of more than four hours, and the main set features them backed by a chamber orchestra and a 150-piece choir. For all that, and even given the excellent musicianship, it’s a bit short on excitement. The bonus disc features 5.1 remixes of a couple of studio songs, amateur footage of a few other gigs, a slideshow with commentary and rehearsal and backstage footage. GRADE: C+.
Glass Hammer (USA): Culture Of Ascent (Arion SR 1825, CD, with digipak and booklet, 2007)
Progressive
Susie Bogdanowicz (occasional vocals)
This is nowhere near as expansive – or as good – as The Inconsolable Secret, but it’s still clear that Glass Hammer have come a long way from their low-budget, high-tech neoprog roots. Whilst there’s some welcome variety here, including a stab at a ‘Kashmir’ pastiche on ‘Ember Without Name’, the album plods in parts, especially on the 19-minute ‘Into Thin Air’, which eventually becomes an exercise in tedium. GRADE: C+.

Glass Hammer (USA): Live At The Tivoli (Sound Resources SR2327, DVD, 2008)
Progressive
Susie Bogdanowicz (occasional vocals), Flo Paris (occasional vocals), Bethany Warren (occasional vocals)
Once again employing string players and a huge choir, Glass Hammer offer another epic live set, this time with a slightly folkier slant. The choir seems better integrated this time round, and at its best this achieves a genuine majesty, but as with much of their work it’s simply not that exciting or involving. GRADE: C+.
Glass Hammer (USA): Three Cheers For The Broken-Hearted (Sound Resources SR 2624, CD, 2009)
Progressive/Psychedelic
Susie Bogdanowicz (principal vocals)
Down to a trio of Schendel, Babb and Bogdanowicz, Glass Hammer appear to have discovered a new interest in psychedelic pop. Whilst this is frequently recognisable from their earlier work (not to mention quite hard rocking and very, very American), it has an ethereal trippiness I haven’t heard them before and is certainly among their better albums, though the material is solid rather than great. GRADE: C+.
Glass Hammer (USA): Ode To Echo (Arïon SR3324, CD, 2014)
Progressive
Susie Bogdanowicz (occasional vocals)
After several albums with an all-male line-up, Susie Bogdanocwicz is back on board, though her profile isn’t nearly as high here. Their cover of ‘Porpoise Song’ recalls Three Cheers For The Broken-Hearted’s psychedelia, but the rest is business as usual for Glass Hammer – melodic, knotty, mellow, not particularly involving. GRADE: C+.
Glass Hammer (USA): The Breaking Of The World (Arïon SR3423, CD, 2015)
Progressive
Susie Bogdanowicz (occasional vocals)
Perhaps a shade jazzier than most of their work, this is another pleasant and mellifluous album of dense song-based prog. It all passes by tunefully enough, but typically for them there is no sense of adventure or artistic growth, let alone any truly memorable melodies or riffs. GRADE: C+.
Glass Hammer (USA): Double Live (Sound Resources ST3522, double CD plus DVD, 2015)
Progressive
Susie Bogdanowicz (joint lead vocals)
Unlike their last couple of live ventures, this doesn’t feature a choir or a string section or anything much in the way of spectacle – just a six-piece band performing the cream of their material. The result is their best live set by some margin. GRADE: B–.

Glass Hammer (USA): Valkyrie (Arïon SR3621, CD, 2016)
Progressive
Susie Bogdanowicz (joint lead vocals)
Glass Hammer sound revitalised here – this is genuinely progressive in a way that much of their work isn’t. There are even some extended instrumental passages and some solo piano, which lift the album significantly. In fact, this is by far their best studio work since The Inconsolable Secret. GRADE: B–.
Glass Hammer (USA): Untold Tales (Arïon SR3829, CD, 2017, recorded 1993 to 2017)
Progressive
Susie Bogdanowicz, Laura Lindstrom Davis, Tracy Cloud
This odds-and-sods compilation features excerpts from abandoned projects, contributions to multi-artist compilations, live versions of studio tracks (and vice-versa) and even an instrumental from Tracy Cloud’s LP. It’s a pretty mixed bag, and inevitably less cohesive than a studio album, but not without its moments. Involvement from female musicians is fairly limited: Susie Bogdanowicz fronts two cuts and Laura Lindstrom Davis one, whilst Cloud performs (presumably on acoustic guitar) on her number. The album deserves a prize for one of the best sleeve notes on any progressive rock LP: “I ultimately kept references to hobbits and elves out of it”. GRADE: C+.
Glass Hammer (USA): Mostly Live in Italy (Sound Resources SR4024, CD, with digipak, 2018)
Progressive
Susie Bogdanowicz (joint lead vocals)
Performed by a stripped-down four-piece line-up, this is one of Glass Hammer’s better live ventures (largely because the setlist mostly comprises Valkyrie). Whether I’d choose this over the studio original is an entirely different question. GRADE: B–.
Glass Hammer (USA): Chronomonaut (Arïon SR4222, CD, with digipak and booklet, 2018)
Progressive
Susie Bogdanowicz (joint lead vocals)
This excellent concept album (the concept itself being bizarre, but clearly tongue-in-cheek) unifies various aspects of Glass Hammer’s sound. It has a strong pop sensibility, complete with horn arrangements, and they manage some of the best hooks of their career. However, its tapestry of songs and instrumentals is relatively adventurous by their usual standards, and thankfully they rarely retreat to the sub-Yes stylings and high-tech neoprog elements of their early work. It all adds up to one of their best and most diverse releases. GRADE: B–.

Glass Hammer (USA): Dreaming City (Sound Resources SR4321, CD, with digipak and booklet, 2020)
Rock/Metal/Progressive
Susie Bogdanowicz (occasional vocals)
In a significant change of style, Glass Hammer go hard rock though this also feels distinctly modern and definite neoprogressive tinges remain. Nonetheless – the silly sword-and-sorcery lyrics aside – this is a fairly successful change of direction, even if the murky male vocals do them few favours. GRADE: C+.
Glass Hammer (USA): Skallagrim – Into The Breach (Sound Resources SR4628, CD, with digipak and booklet, 2021)
Rock/Metal/Progressive
Hannah Pryor (principal vocals)
Why Dreaming City’s conceptual follow-up is better all round is debatable – the music here isn’t necessarily a huge improvement over its predecessor, but in Hannah Pryor they’ve found the right singer for their new style. They also sound significantly more retro: if I didn’t know better, I’d swear they really want to morph into Deep Purple circa 1972. GRADE: B–.

Glass Hammer (USA): At The Gate (Sound Resources AG 4727, CD, with digipak and booklet, 2022)
Progressive
Hannah Pryor (principal vocals)
At The Gate is a good, solid album mixes symphonic prog with early seventies-styled hard rock and throws in a heartfelt ballad or two for good measure. The hour it occupies passes quickly, indicating its high quality. Beyond that, I can’t find much to say about it, which probably indicates that it’s a strong C+ rather than a borderline B–. GRADE: C+.
Glass Hammer (USA): Arise (Sound Resources AR-4826, CD, with digipak and booklet, 2022)
Progressive
Hannah Pryor (principal vocals)
Although running for a fraction under an hour, Arise feels surprisingly slight – this concept album about a rocket launch offers decent space-rock, effectively mixing songs and instrumentals and making for pleasant listening. But only occasionally does it catch the ear or really take flight. GRADE: C+.