Due to circumstances, this Anniversary Article had to come out at the end of this month this time, and in the end, I decided to make it a bunch of reviews. Normally, I don't end up doing this to the Anniversary Articles until the later years, but it turns out that I don't really have that much to say about 1993. Most of the innovative things in rock and metal were happening in genres I don't generally cover (like alternative rock or extreme metal). While there were some major grunge albums, and a pair of notable (if underwhelming) albums from Helloween and Gamma Ray, I figured it would be better to instead try and fill in some gaps by review some albums I had never heard before, and what we have this time are four debut albums! Let's get into it!
Threshold, like many other bands, started out doing covers, with Wikipedia naming Ratt and Testament (which is certainly a bizarre combination). However, as they started to develop their own songs, they drifted into the territory of early progressive metal, as Dream Theater's first two albums loom as a large influence on their debut album.
Since it's their first full-length effort, such emulation is often forgivable, and it's not like the iconic Berklee band is their only influence, as some of their pop metal cover days do slip in during some of the more conventional parts, mostly reminding me of Europe, largely due to the constant synthesizers. In any case, they have a solid sound, even if it is very 90s, with the snappy production and the cheesy synths with tones that feel like they came from several video game soundtracks of the era. However, they don't go into lengthy prog digressions, instead leaning into more of a melodramatic style in order to serve up their very didactic lyrics. While it's not overly preachy, it's hard not to feel like the band worked with Captain Planet in the writing of them, with all the environmental and social issues they discuss.
That's not to say this isn't worth listening to, as they do have some solid songs here. Nick Midson and Karl Groom's guitars provide plenty of chunky riffs, and Richard West's keyboards provide more than just some symphonic layers, as he gets in a solo or two. Damian Wilson definitely sounds like he's aping James LeBrie, but he's certainly a good match for what they're doing. The songs themselves are mostly decent, with the opener "Consume to Live" really setting the tone for the album and "Paradox" with it's more uptempo blend of guitars and synths being the major stand outs. It's definitely a decent start in the same vein of melodic prog as Vanden Plas and other bands that followed in the wake of Dream Theater.
While progressive metal certainly picked up in the early 90s, it was grunge that had taken over. Candlebox formed in Seattle just before it became the new mecca of rock, and they benefited greatly when their debut album came out at the peak of the grunge wave. Listening to it, they definitely epitomize the sound, sounding particularly like Pearl Jam, but with the edges trimmed off.
Jam is definitely the vibe this album goes for, though. While "Don't You" starts things off with a lot of energy, after that, it immediately drops into mid-tempo hard rock for most of the songs, giving it this default grunge feeling. There are a few shake-ups, such as the jazz-fusion elements in "No Sense," or the bluesy "Rain," and some of them maybe go on for a little too long, but honestly, this feels like the most safe, profitable thing one could have released in 1993. Maybe for someone new to grunge, this would be a good introduction to the genre as it doesn't have much of the weirdness that the other bands had (like Pearl Jam's psychedelia, or Nirvana's caustic angst).
That's not to say that it's a bad album. Kevin Martin's vocals drift between a laidback, dreamy style to outright wailing, with rambling sections here and there. The rest of the band plays well, as Peter Klett gets in some pretty solid solos, and the production makes them all sound huge and immediate. The big problem is that it's mostly the same ideas all the way through: quiet verses, loud choruses, a dash of jamming here and there, and then fade-out, on almost every track. I did like "Don't You" and "Arrow," but I found my mind drifting as the album went on, as it didn't have any ambitions other than to blend in with the crowd of bands that were big at the time.
Shifting back to progressive music, Glass Hammer formed in 1992 and released their debut the year after. However, I first became aware of this band much later, when Jon Davison, who had been the band's singer for a few years, joined Yes in 2012. I did check out If and Cor Cordium at the time, and I thought they were okay. It's only been lately, as I've been hearing their new singles which have a much stronger Rush feel, that I've began to wonder if there isn't more to this band that I first thought. So, letting this article work as a good reason to do so, I've checked out their debut album. (Of course, having it be a concept album about Aragorn from The Lord of the Rings certainly piques my interesting, being the fantasy nerd that I am.)
Narratively, it's basically a greatest hits of the adventures of Aragorn (though skipping the events of the Two Towers for some reason). Of course, these songs are based on the books, as the movies had not come out yet, so it's a bit of a different interpretation of the character. Still, it's a decent story to build an album around, mostly revolving a very synth-heavy sound that makes me think of Emerson Lake & Palmer. However, they include elements of folk music and even dark ambient styles to tell the story, resulting in a pretty diverse listen. Unfortunately, the whole thing is hampered by the cheesy production. If I felt that Threshold's synth tones were video gamey, many of the ones here feel borrowed from edutainment PC games. Despite the excellent playing, it's hard to take them seriously when they sound so cheap. The lyrics mostly work, often using narration to bring the story along, but sometimes they also dip in the cheese, making the album sound like an Andrew Lloyd Webber adaptation of the classic legendarium.
Still, there are some good moments. "Something's Coming," "Pellanor Fields," "Anduril," and "Return of the King" in particular lean pretty hard into the ELP sound, with those hammond organs taking center stage. The album also features some decent ballads in "The Way to Her Heart," and "Why I Cry." I know it's kinda tacky to do this sometimes, but I do wish this album got a complete re-recording, as I think it would hold up. As it is, it's a solid album with some good ideas, but it's sadly hampered by the limitations of their budget and tools.
After enjoying Holy Land so much, I figured I should move back and check out their debut as well. The band's lineup hadn't quite stabilized yet, but they already have their iconic prog/power metal sound right from the first track.
To be fair, their sound is a little rough at this point, and their influences of Dream Theater and Helloween do peek through pretty often (I suppose getting both Kai Hansen and Dirk Schlächter, who were together in Gamma Ray at the time, coming to guest star on a song together and recording the album in Kai Hansen Studios in Germany would be a factor as well). They also include extended references to many different pieces of classical music, with the intro being a piece of Schubert. Oh, and there's a cover of "Wuthering Heights" by Kate Bush for some reason.
As for their own songwriting, it's pretty solid stuff. There are a few clunky transitions, as the songs will sometimes shift from prog to power and back again within the same song multiple times, and it doesn't always work. However, Andre Matos bellows his vocals with confidence, the teamwork of Kiko Loureiro and Rafael Bittencourt is right on display, Luís Mariutti is shredding right along with them on bass, and while they relied on a session drummer named Alex Holzwarth, he nails the double-kicking energy the band needs. The stand-out songs for me were "Carry On" which is punchy and energic, the title track with its ambitious transitions between styles, and "Evil Warning" for it's neo-classical power metal epicness. While it doesn't really shine all the way through, as there are still a few elements to polish, but this is still an excellent entry in the early history of power metal.
I guess that will have to do for 1993. Certainly an interesting group of albums, exploring different ideas at a time where there was a lot of that going on. As always, be sure to check out the playlist and let me know if I've missed anything in the comments below. Maybe as I listen to more albums from this year, I'll have more to say about it, but for now, I've got to move on to my next set of articles. Until then, rock on! \m/
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