Glass Tiger - Diamond Sun

I've sort of slept on this one for decades. Oh don't get me wrong I bought this when it came out. I actually got Diamond Sun first and then worked backwards to the band's debut. It was "I'm Still Standing" that jumped out of the speakers the first time I heard it. I've always been a sucker for an acoustic intro, in this case a simple 12 string chord progression that suddenly blows up into a fantastic rock song. The album was good and I pulled "I'm Still Standing" off a couple of times to populate mix tapes. I gave the record a couple of cursory spins, enjoyed it and then put in on the shelf. 

I recently found the album and figured, "Why not?" I must have been in a receptive mood when I dropped the needle:

"Holy shit, this is awesome." I said. Then someone asked,  "Tell me are you a fan child?" And I said, "Yeah, I am tonight." - with apologies to Mister Marc Cohn 

Glass Tiger was one of those band who seemed to hit it big and then almost as quickly as they burst onto the scene they were gone. During their initial run they dropped three albums:

• 1986 The Thin Red Line - The album would eventually move over 400,000 copies in Canada, and would be their lone Gold record album in the US propelled by "Don't Forget Me (When I'm Gone)" that featured a vocal cameo from Bryan Adams, who's Midas touch in the mid '80s turned everything to gold. Ask 38 Special about "Teacher Teacher." 
• 1988 Diamond Sun - This is the album currently spinning. It too moved a lot of wax, well not really as most people probably got it on CD like I did. I was pretty happy to find it on vinyl after all these years. It would go triple platinum here in Canada.
• 1991 Simple Mission  - Saw the departure of drummer Michael Hanson, who was replaced by various session players. It also marked Jim Vallance's exit as the band's producer and CMO (chief mojo officer). The band brought in Tom Werman (before he retired he produced almost two dozen gold and platinum albums in the States) to produce and while the songs were glossy with an edge the song people likely remember is "My Town" and the back and forth with Rod Stewart. The album would still move 100,000 copies. Then the band went on hiatus.

The album opens with the title track, and "Diamond Sun" calls to mind "The Thin Red Line" and if I was in a more pissy mood (I'm not, thank you caffeine) one could argue they were working from a recipe and weren't about to mess with success. Of course that's nonsense ... right? Does it matter? Glass Tiger were in many ways standing on the shoulders of giants. For all the late '70s bands who originated arena rock, it was the kids in the '80s who perfected the genre. They were essentially working from the same play book, but what they produced sounded fresh while still feeling familiar. You have to remember 1988 was the peak of glam hair metal, and while the Bon Jovi' clones were riding the wave, Glass Tiger was there too and they weren't incompatible.

One of the unexpected highlights was the opening track to side two, "My Song" that featured none other than The Chieftains, who let's face it were (are) the coolest gallderned dweebs on the planet. "My Song" no doubt was the template used to write "My Town" - you don't mess with a winning recipe.

This is an album that was easy to like. I know I keep taking little potshots about their commercial stance and their formula, but dagnabit man, it was good. It would be too easy to shit on the band, but why? To what end? This was ear candy and not a bag of musical Liquorice Allsorts that somehow managed to not include the little beaded blue and pink ones that were the source of more than one fight in my childhood and my grandparent's place.

While this was a very successful album here at home, the reality was the band wasn't actually expanding it's audience. This one sold less than their debut, and Simple Mission would sell far fewer than this one. Which must have been really frustrating for the band, considering they actually delivered the goods. I suspect like with all things, timing is everything, and despite the hits and triple platinum sales at home, the band wasn't able to replicate their initial success in the States. It seems to be a very Canadian thing to love our own bands, and then throw them to the curb think less of them if they cannot crack the US market. It's like we need to have our own validated by others.

Regardless, I'm sitting here listening to an album that I'm really enjoying and they had more than one colour on their musical palette. They sounded different from track to track using Alan Frew's distinctive voice as the canvass to work on and the results are worth hearing.

Back in the day I was drawn to "I'm Still Standing" and didn't really give the album time to sink in. Which was sort of par for me back in the day. The songs on Diamond Sun are all really good, and the band sounds amazing throughout. Heck, I've got to give props to guitarist Al Connelly here for being so tasty. When I think of the big Canadian fretmeisters from that time, Marvin Birt from Haywire, Derry Grehan from Honeymood Suite, and Phil X who I first heard with Frozen Ghost, I didn't even know Al's name. Oh I cut the list short otherwise I'd still be writing. Keith Scott should be there too, but I forgot ... well not really as I just wrote it down ... but there are a lot I'd like to mention (Aldo Nova) but I'll just stop.

While the whole band was locked in, Al was often laying down a groove, and anchoring the songs with little flourishes that didn't draw a lot of attention. However, when he let loose it got my attention. So, to you Al, I salute you. 

Glass Tiger were very much of their time, and the times were good.