Glass Tiger - The Thin Red Line

Back in '86 Glass Tiger seemed to come out of nowhere with "Don't Forget Me (When I'm Gone)." The song was infectious and benefited from the Adams effect. Bryan Adams was pretty much the king of the world and it seemed like even a passing association with Mister Adams was like receiving a blessing from the Pope. Bryan sang maybe two harmony lines on the song, but it was enough. The song was huge, and it pulled the album along with it and for over a year the band pulled singles from the album.

I'll admit my reaction to the album initially was a bit more complicated. To me they belonged in the same boat as Duran Duran and Platinum Blonde. That boat needed to be towed out to sea and used for target practice. I was torn though, I liked the songs I heard on the radio. True, "Don't Forget Me" was worn out, but the singles were so strong. Often you're lucky to pull off one or two highlights on an album, this album was chock full of solid songs:

• "Thin Red Line" opens the album, and it's a pretty ambitious song that seems to want to channel Big Country and blend it with cannon fire.
• I still love the song. "Someday" is a killer mid temp rock song. Too fast to slow dance to and too slow to dance to but it didn't matter, it was awesome and Alan Frew had a killer voice. 
• "You're What I Look For" is probably one of my favourite songs on the album. It's not the best song on the record, but there was something about it that always got me. 
• "I Will Be There" was the last single pulled from the record and while it featured Bryan on backing vocals, it was one trip to many to the well. As an aside it sure sounds like Keith Scott on lead guitar on this one. It's a great album cut but not quite a single, but it was so who am I to argue with history?

These were the singles, but the album cuts were good. There really wasn't a clunker on the album which honestly surprised me.

I know earlier I lumped Glass Tiger in with the teeny bopper bands the little girls went nuts over, but the reality was Glass Tiger was firmly in the AOR lane, and let's be honest back in '86 the pool was getting pretty crowded and being able to standout was a pretty nifty trick.

The band was solid and was made up of:

• Alan Frew - vocals
• Sam Reid - keyboards
• Al Connelly - guitars
• Wayne Parker - bass
• Michael Hanson - drums

Jim Vallance never really got his due as a producer. More often than not he's lumped in with Bryan Adams as the two were songwriting partners during Bryan's first golden age, but Jim Vallance was no mere sidekick. He'd been around a long time, and many of us remember him as "Rodney Higgs" from Prism's debut album. From what I've read he more or less stopped producing because it took him away from home, and he'd rather write songs. As to the songs he co-wrote on The Thin Red Line it was two of the album's strongest singles: "Don't Forget Me" and "Someday" that were written with the band.

Glass Tiger's debut still holds up pretty well and it's also a pretty cool time machine. I'd follow the band through their follow up Diamond Son in 1988 and 1991's Simple Mission. They were both good. Heck, I even got Alan Frew's solo album Hold On and that was good too.

However, it's The Thin Red Line that seems to be one I think of when I think of the band. There's always something special about the first one.