GLYDER

YESTERDAY TODAY AND TOMORROW

RELEASED MAY 2010

If you call your third album "Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow" does that mean you have to have Y&T main-man Dave Meniketti in to lay down a guest guitar solo on the title track? I think it may be the law and it's a great epic track the solo really takes it to another level.

The album may be a little late hitting the shelves (it was originally scheduled for last Autumn or Fall) but is well worth the wait. For those unfamiliar with this Irish band who have been around since 2004: they had their debut produced by TheRockpit.net's good friend Chris Tsangarides, have toured with a host of great bands like Y&T, Thin Lizzy, Thunder, Dio and WASP, and got a lot of acclaim for their last release  "Playground for Life".

As for their sound, well to me what we get here is certainly a lot of "Oirish" in there as Phil Lynott might have said. Glyder have a wonderful take on melodic rock that references their own Irish heritage unashamedly.

There is certainly some Lizzy in there, and definitely the bluesiness of a Rory Gallagher. But there's a lot more to it than that in fact I find it quite hard to describe Glyder as they do sound pretty different and don't easily fit into a convenient genre box. The sound is not simply as blues-based like fellow countrymen 'The Answer' (who I absolutely love). It could even be considered to have trace elements of 'Prog' in there, there's certainly a big meaty 70's vibe on songs like the title track, and certainly some Pink Floyd. Throughout the vocals are very much at the forefront of proceedings. It's not just simple verse chorus, verse chorus stuff.

Overall the album is very consistent; each song deserves to be here: there are the straightforward rockers like 'Knockout' and "Jack Strong". Then there are the more unusual numbers that blend Rock, Prog and Pop sensibilities to varying degrees like: "Back to the Water" and "Make a Change".

Overall though on a great album there's little that doesn't grab the attention; though the album's sound still makes me feel a little uneasy (but not in a bad way). Songs like "Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow" really open your mind to the possibilities for this band. Tracks like "One of Us" are probably works of minor genius that make you wonder where this band could be in a few years.

This album is certainly a jump forwards in song writing terms, and the melodies are more intense than on previous outings. Song structure though is taking them away from being a somewhat straightforward rock act to one that might even get the kids that love bands like Muse paying some attention. I am still not entirely sure what I think of this album, it's one of the harder to define albums of the year so far. One thing I do know though is that I like it.

Mark