It was supposed to be called ‘Thirty’ in recognition of Glass Tiger’s three decade anniversary, but they had to defer due to singer Alan Frew’s medical condition, however better late than never!
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Glass Tiger
ALBUM: ThirtyThree (EP)
LABEL: Willow Music
SERIAL: WM1901CD
YEAR: 2019
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Canada
LINEUP: Alan Frew – vocals, guitar * Al Connelly – guitars * Sam Reid – keyboards, production
Additional Musicians: Andrew Cole – guitars, keyboards, production * Chris Chaney – bass * Kenny Aronoff – drums
TRACK LISTING: 01 Ebb And Flow * 02 This Is Your Life * 03 Keepers Of Time * 04 This Is London * 05 Show Me (How To Get Close To The Sun) * 06 Dying Is Easy
RATING: 85/100
WEBLINKS: Site Link
Background
It was supposed to be called ‘Thirty’ in recognition of Glass Tiger’s three decade anniversary, but they had to defer due to singer Alan Frew’s medical condition, however better late than never! In fact, Frew fully recovered from his 2015 stroke and is back better than ever. I guess the old adage ‘what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger’ applies here.
This return effort is a six track EP and features both new songs such as ‘Keepers Of Time’ and older ones such as ‘Show Me (How To Get Close To The Sun)’. The material here is understandably not at the same level of their 80’s Capitol Records era, but the iconic voice of Frew is the big attraction here. Production has been shared between keyboardist Sam Reid and Englishman Andrew Cole.
The Songs
Kickstarting with ‘Ebb & Flow’, this is Glass Tiger’s return highlighted for all to hear, and it does rough up slightly which is good and is not so squeaky clean as a result. A little bit of grit is always good right? ‘This Is Your Life’ is a sun-dappled slice of pop that hits all the right notes for me, including that melting chorus. ‘Keepers Of Time’ features more percussive elements plus a breathy sax solo which keeps this in the upbeat range.
I think it would be fair to describe ‘This Is London’ as the EP’s rockiest track, no doubt used as a live revver-upper I reckon. Track 5 is ‘Show Me (How To Get Close To The Sun)’, one of GT’s older half written songs from the archives. The tinkly synth lines are interesting though the song itself is not quite there for mine. The closing ballad ‘Dying Is Easy’ winds things down, the piano is a feature, so too the majestic string arrangements. As you can guess, the song is about dying. Not everyone’s cup of tea. The spoken word narrative at the end is kinda different too.
In Summary
In the ‘here and now’ (as I write this it’s late 2022), it would seem that the classic rock circuit is alive and well in the Great White North. There are a bunch of names from the 80’s that are back touring, so I might be inspired to do a catch-up of who’s out there and whether there is any new music in the works. In the meantime at least we all know that Glass Tiger are back in the game. Thank the lord for small mercies!
Video
Ebb & Flow
