Glass Hammer Goes Rogue

Veteran progressive rock band's 22nd studio album takes listeners on a different kind of journey.

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Back in 2023, I was surprised that progressive rock veterans Glass Hammer released the band’s heaviest album ever, Arise. The album featured more prominent guitar than usual, a heavier tone, and instrumental jamming, all wrapped up in an epic horror-infused space opera story. Arise put the rock in progressive rock. I enjoyed speaking with Glass Hammer co-founder Steve Babb about the album about it, and I wrote my review for this newsletter.

The prolific Babb has already written and recorded a new concept album with a largely different cast, a much different kind of story, and a completely different sound. I had the chance to speak with him recently about that follow-up album, Rogue.

Let’s get to that story.

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When it comes to Glass Hammer’s more than three decades of recording history — to quote from “Tom Sawyer” by Rush — changes aren’t permanent, but change is.

Whether it’s the sound from album to album or the band lineup — and it’s worth mentioning that Glass Hammer is not so much a typical band as it is a project involving multi-instrumentalist and composer Steve Babb and whichever musicians he feels will best serve the material or the sound he’s seeking — Glass Hammer is a drifter who never stays in one musical place too long.

The current “place” is Rogue, the band’s latest album, which dropped on Friday, April 11. Rogue is Glass Hammer’s 22nd studio release and includes its most human story concept yet.

The lineup shifts constantly. Musicians involved in this latest chapter in the illustrious story of Glass Hammer include previous contributors Fred Schendel, Reese Boyd, Randall Williams, and David Wallimann. Newcomers to the GH family hail from all over the world, including vocalists Thomas Jakob (Netherlands) and Olivia Tharpe (United States), guitarist Oliver Day (UK), keyboardist Ariel Perchuck (Argentina), and drummer Evgeni Obruchkov (Poland).

Here is a full rundown of the Rogue personnel:

• Steve Babb — lead and backing vocals, bass, keyboards, Taurus pedals, guitars, percussion.

• Thomas Jakob — lead and backing vocals.

• Olivia Tharpe — lead and backing vocals.

• Fred Schendel — guitar (“Tomorrow”), lap steel guitar (“Sunshine”)

• Reese Boyd — guitar solo (“Terminal Lucidity”)

• David Wallimann — lead guitar (“What If”)

• Oliver Day — guitars and lap steel guitar (“The Road South,” “Tomorrow,” “I Will Follow,” “All Good Things”).

• Atillio Calabrese — lead guitar (“The Wonder of It All”)

• Ariel Perchuk — synth solos (“Terminal Lucidity” 6:15-7:46 and “All Good Things”).

• Randall Williams - drums.

• Evgeni Obruchkov - drums.

The sounds Babb was hearing in his head for each song determined which vocalist, drummer, and guitarist was used on the track. Despite Rogue being a concept album, the vocalist does not clearly identify with a character, mood, or other aspect within the storyline.

“Sometimes the concept album has to kind of get put off as a secondary thing and I have to think about what’s going to work,” Babb said. “Sometimes even the gender of the lyrics may be wrong, but I’m hearing it sung by a female vocalist. So, I try to put the best voice with the right song. Olivia Tharpe is fantastic, and now that I know what she’s capable of, I hope I get to write more for her.”

On the heels of the epic 2023 space opera Arise, Glass Hammer’s heaviest album to date, comes Rogue, a conceptual piece dealing with the existential anxiety over the inevitability of death that people experience as they age. The songs on Glass Hammer albums are always linked together, because that’s just how Babb writes.

“This is a weakness on my part, really,” he said. “I would have difficulty with an album that's just an album of songs. I wouldn't know how to explain it if they're not connected for me. For some weird reason, they all have to be tied together.”

On the surface, the album’s concept involves our protagonist taking a southward journey, where he’ll find a warmer, more pleasant climate and possibly reconnect with a lost love. This is sort of the original vision Babb had for the album, which was intended to mirror his own move from Tennessee to Florida. However, he realized that as a concept, the story was lacking.

“I thought, ‘This will be kind of a chill album,’ maybe about a journey, and I’ll put (in) my experience about moving, but I’ll make it about somebody else,” Babb said. “And I thought, ‘You know, that’s just boring!’ I’d already written a couple of songs, and I thought, ‘That’s really going to be lame.’ And then it kind of hit me one day. What if these songs, presented as thoughts, what if they’re the last thoughts of a dying man? And I sort of got chill bumps. How can I transform this journey from something physical into something spiritual?”

Some of the story of Rogue remained autobiographical in nature.

“My wife and I sold the house, sold the studio, (and) moved to Florida, partly because I’m trying to get as far away from winter as I possibly can, and it was quite a journey, let’s put it that way, trying to move when you’re in your sixties,” Babb said with a laugh. “We had storms — all the stuff that’s kind of hinted at in the album.”

The journey in the story turns out to be more metaphysical than literal, starting with an escape from his current gray, wintry existence. Along the way, the album’s main character reflects on his life and is haunted by regrets of his past actions. The primary regret seems to be leaving behind a woman he loved. He questions why he left her in the first place, but he imagines he can put everything to right once he arrives at the end of his journey. The lost love is not meant to be literal, according to Babb, instead representing regrets in life, personified by “her.”

A storm comes and blinds his vision, and he considers calling out to God for help. At this point, if it were a movie, a viewer might start suspecting this story isn’t what it seems. The traveler knows there’s one path that all men walk alone, but then wonders if there isn’t an important companion on that final trip. In a final moment of clarity, he recognizes he’s taking a much different journey home than the one he had imagined. Realizing this, he accepts and welcomes the end of his earthly suffering and pain and goes to his great reward.

“I’ve lost a lot of friends over the years, and I miss them, and I think about them,” Babb said of his shifting the story to something more spiritual. “At a certain point in your life, you start thinking, ‘Wow, there’s more time behind me than ahead.’”

Existentialist themes can be heavy, but Babb is an artist strong in his Christian faith, and he transforms what could be a somber or maudlin topic into a joyful and positive one.

Take me home
Won’t you take me home with you
Lift me up, Lord make me new

All Heaven rising now, All Heaven singing now
And so the very stars give voice
To the Victory Song

Death is gone
It will trouble you no more
Here where Love reigns forevermore

While Arise was loaded with heavy riffs and a dense sonic palette, it is the topic that carries the weight on Rogue. The music of Rogue is not only lighter than that of Arise, but it’s downright bouncy and happy in places. Babb focuses on melody and hooks, and it’s one of the band’s most accessible releases to date.

Along the way, the music shows disparate styles that Babb finds interesting. It’s always wrapped in Glass Hammer’s signature style of progressive rock, but Rogue is influenced at times by 1980s synth pop/rock, dream pop, space rock, and perhaps a bit of 1990s alternative.

“What If” opens the album and immediately announces that the heavy riffing of Arise is not what listeners are getting on Rogue. It opens with a simple, gentle keyboard bit. As the song opens up, melody and keyboard wizardry are at the forefront. There are layers of keyboard parts, with the trademark Glass Hammer bottom-end bass. Babb sings lead, setting the stage for the Rogue storyline. The music and vocal combination is reminiscent of some of the band’s classic earlier releases, such as Lex Rex. There’s a subtle but enjoyable guitar solo in the midway through.

Lyrically, the first clue to the “journey” is right there in the opening lines.

Farewell, it's finally time to go
Farewell...farewell to this place he knows

“The Road South” is a dreamy synth fest. Something about it reminds me of the Alan Parsons Project, and that’s a profound compliment. I think it’s Jakob’s vocals.

Near both the beginning and end of the song, Day contributes a soaring lap steel guitar bit, calling to mind the “Soon” section of “The Gates of Delirium” by Yes. It’s a stunningly beautiful song, particularly the “Gone but not forgotten” part and “Ever on” climax. It’s easy to completely immerse one’s self in this song, and it is one of the album’s highest points, for me.

The lap steel guitar idea has been in Glass Hammer’s music as far back as the Chronometree album in 2000, when Schendel played a regular guitar in his lap using a slide.

“Off and on, scattered through different Glass Hammer albums you’ll hear it,” Babb said of the lap steel guitar. “It’s just got this incredible kind of sadness. It’s not like you hear in country music. I can sort of hear that in advance. ‘This song needs steel,’ and it may be the last thing that goes onto the song, but it’s in my head the whole time. That steel guitar is going to sell the whole thing.”

“Tomorrow” is one of the more overtly Christian songs on the album in terms of lyrics, while musically it’s a beautiful mix of synthesizers, chunky bass bits, shimmering percussion, and guitar by Schendel. There are some nice proggy twists and turns in the final couple of minutes. It features some of Babb’s best bass playing on the album, sounding like Chris Squire or Geddy Lee, but on a Yamaha rather than a Rickenbacker. Babb said he learned to play bass on his own listening to 2112, Hemispheres, and A Farewell to Kings by Rush and Yesshows by Yes, only using a pick because Gene Simmons used one. His influences shine through in his playing, especially on songs like “Tomorrow.”

Along the lyrical journey, there are more clues that this isn’t a physical trip for the protagonist.

For now, I know it hurts, but
Tomorrow all will be fine

“Pretty Ghost” is the first of the two consecutive songs on Rogue sung by Tharpe. It’s more pop than prog, but it does have a lovely synth solo three minutes in that will appeal to those who live for the “widdly bits.” Tharpe’s vocals have a dreamy quality that suits the melody well. Lyrically, it represents the dying man’s regrets in life while also addressing how quickly time slips past all of us, seemingly without our awareness of its passing — a relatable concept to all of us on the wrong side of age 50.

Someday became today
Then, somehow, it was yesterday

The song ends unexpectedly, with a repeat of the first lines of the opening verse and an abupt stop to the music.

Yesterdays-so far away
Now, where did they all go?

It’s a perfect ending to a song about unfinished business, as it sounds a bit unfinished the way it suddenly stops.

“It’s tempting to try to resolve everything as a songwriter, but especially if it’s going to fit into an album, it doesn’t need to,” Babb said. “And that whole ending, to me, I feel like that was kind of a 90s reference. You know, you dry up the vocal and leave it kind of hanging like that at the end of a song. I feel like I’ve heard that kind of thing a few times.”

Babb said the song came out pretty much how he’d envisioned it and said that it’s probably his favorite track so far on the album. That song is followed by what is my early favorite from Rogue.

“Sunshine” starts with more dreamy lap steel guitar — this time from Schendel.

Babb said he was listening to a lot of Beach House, and you can hear some shared musical DNA with a song like “Space Song” from Beach House’s 2015 Depression Cherry album in it. “Sunshine” is probably my early favorite track on Rogue. Lyrically, it’s another song about the dying man’s regrets, represented by a lost love. Tharpe delivers one of my favorite lyrical lines on the album in her hauntingly beautiful voice.

There’s a rift in my heart that never mended
I hope it never does

“I think that was the first (track) that really started to become a song,” Babb said. “That was my exploration into dream pop. You soak the vocals in reverb.”

Schendel’s lap steel guitar plays the song out in such a way that you never want it to end.

“I Will Follow” is a pop/rock-oriented track that positively shimmers. The repetitive lyric structure is infectiously catchy. Babb’s bass playing gives heft to a sugary main keyboard melody with guitar and percussion accents. A church-like organ bit is a highlight, as well as more lap steel guitar. The backing vocals help make the song for me as well, adding depth. Tharpe, in particular, adds a lot of texture and brighter colors. This song is accessible enough that it could (should) be a hit.

“The Wonder of it All” has one of the most memorable chorus hooks on the album and a layered soundscape of keyboards and guitar over Babb’s bass and Obruchkov’s drumming. It’s more than seven minutes long but feels much shorter and poppier than its run time. Lyrically, it’s about being thankful for the time one has on this mortal coil, and it’s one of the most moving songs on Rogue.

The shortest track is “One Last Sunrise,” an enjoyable synth-drenched instrumental and the only song on Rogue that has no vocals. For those who hadn’t figured out the concept by now — and it should be apparent by this point in the record — this is the first of three straight song titles that give away the game. Stylistically, it sounds like something Genesis keyboardist Tony Banks might have written in collaboration with Jon Anderson of Yes.

“Terminal Lucidity” is the only epic on the album, but rather than a sprawling, 25-minute piece one may have found on previous Glass Hammer releases, this one is just over 10 minutes long. The title itself is the term given to the phenomenon of improved mental clarity in someone — often those suffering from dementia, Alzheimer’s Disease, or some other terminal illness or a brain injury — who is nearing death. Memory and alertness may temporarily return to the afflicted, particularly in dementia patients. However, the condition is rare, happening in only 10-20% of those nearing death.

“The last rally that a person has. I’ve seen that happen, myself,” Babb said, although he couldn’t recall when he’d first heard the term. Babb added that he wrote the track just for fun — and that it made a great title for a progressive rock track.

As for the song, most of it is instrumental. It’s a dizzying keyboard feast backed by Babb’s pulsing bass notes and Obruchkov’s beats. Vocals come in about two minutes from the end and are seated within the music almost as another instrument rather than cutting through the layered keyboards. To me, it sounds like it could be the soundtrack to an epic space battle with laser fire, but within the context of the Rogue story, it works as a representation perhaps of synapses firing the dying man back to clarity as he nears his end.

“I’m looking for ear candy, and neat little sounds and layers, and blips and bloops and bubbles and wind, and just that right moment,” Babb said. “I love doing that stuff. I always have. I would do a whole album that’s kind of geared around that sort of sound. I say that. I don’t know if I could pull it off, but I like that kind of stuff — Ozric Tentacles is a group I’ve always enjoyed listening to.”

The electronic-fest eventually gives way to a slower piano movement with lyrics, in which the dying man realizes he’s been dreaming of his journey and understands what is happening now.

I’ve had a dream
My life, it seems is a setting sun

This and the final track include repeating backing vocal answers of “we know” in the verses. This could be from the listener’s point of view, the loved ones gathered around the dying man’s bed, a choir of angels, or something else entirely. The track ends with a gentle piano melody. It could have served as the ending of the album, but it wouldn’t have been as hopeful as a final statement.

“All Good Things” is a heartbreakingly beautiful end-of-life statement played mainly on keyboards and acoustic guitar.

I walk alone now
They cannot come with me
Though I love them so
(We know)

I’m done with sorrow
And I’m done with heartache
Though I love them so
(We know)

There is also a description of…well, presumably angels, that Babb lifted directly from the song “When We Were Young” on Lex Rex, changing only the fourth line from “their faces burning bright” to “their faces aglow.”

The first such section is followed by a guitar solo. The second time through the song kind of stops about halfway through and it takes a weird instrumental left turn, dark at first, and then including more spacey Ozric Tentacles sounds, which could be the narrator’s literal death or synapses firing and ending the terminal lucidity phase from the previous track. I tend to think it’s the former, as the tone is darker here, with layered synth and organ in minor keys with a dizzying Perchuk keyboard solo playing over it. It resolves after a couple of minutes, and the tone shifts into a beautiful and more uplifting mood — first on keyboards and then on guitar. The vocals return with the main melody and the story concludes.

Death is gone
It will trouble you no more
Here where Love reigns forevermore

The wonderful lap steel guitar from Day returns, followed by a soaring guitar solo and synths that paint the picture of a happy and positive ending as the protagonist reaches Paradise at last.

It can’t be easy to end a story about a dying man’s final minutes on a hopeful note, but Glass Hammer pulls it off on Rogue. A downer of a topic becomes triumphant and happy. The spiritual element is always in Glass Hammer’s music, but — despite the presence of not one, but two Bible verses in the liner notes — the stories and metaphors are handled in a way that they can appeal to those with other beliefs, agnostics, or even atheists.

“I try to put a happy ending on everything we do,” Babb said. “It's not the first album that's ended with somebody going to Heaven. There was Perelandra, ‘Having Caught a Glimpse’ (from The Inconsolable Secret), same sort of thing. That’s a way to share your faith, to kind of encourage people that, if you’re a believer it’s not (the end). It doesn’t make it any less scary. Maybe it does, but it does mean there’s a happy ending. This isn’t the end, and all the suffering is going to go away. I think that’s a beautiful thing.”

The artwork features a striking cover by Michal “Xaay” Loranc, with interesting interior illustrations showing scenes of the protagonist’s journey as something out of the Victorian era. The “Pretty Ghost” is included in the artwork as well. The man depicted isn’t elderly, which may suggest the dying protagonist is suffering from dementia and sees himself as younger in his mind. Along with additional pieces of the story, the booklet provides a compelling companion to the standout music.

Rogue is an astonishing musical achievement by Glass Hammer. It is as good as anything the band has released in its considerable 22-album catalog, which dates back to 1993’s Journey of the Dunadan. It’s also the most human of the band’s many concept albums, is filled with lavish song arrangements that often sound simple, and the playing is exquisite. The melodies and hooks are pleasing, while there’s enough of the Glass Hammer sensibility to satisfy a progressive rock fan’s need for solos and invention. That so many styles can fit together as cohesively as they do — and feel consistent from the album’s start to finish — is impressive.

For my money, Rogue is one of the best Glass Hammer albums to date and is easily one of my favorites.

The fact that Glass Hammer released a melodic synth-driven masterpiece such as Rogue on the heels of something as different as the guitar-centric Arise is also noteworthy. Babb is in an absolute groove as a songwriter, and I can’t wait to see what comes next under the Glass Hammer banner.

Tracklist:

1. What If (5:20)
2. The Road South (5:08)
3. Tomorrow (4:36)
4. Pretty Ghost (4:37)
5. Sunshine (6:11)
6. I Will Follow (5:00)
7. The Wonder Of It All (7:21)
8. One Last Sunrise (3:35)
9. Terminal Lucidity (10:19)
10. All Good Things (8:45)

To learn more about Glass Hammer, visit glasshammer.com, where you can pick up physical CDs at the band’s web shop. You can order digital copies of Rogue or other releases from the band at glasshammer.bandcamp.com.

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For my full interview with Steve Babb, please check out the video below or download/stream Episode 149 of the Michael’s Record Collection podcast. In addition to the making of the album and the story concept, Babb discusses some of the direct influences on his music and this album, working with his rotating cast of musicians, how his faith influences his storytelling, and much more.

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