All the old, great bands break up eventually. Those which happen to still be going are honestly not that great anymore. U2 was quoted a while back saying that if they put out two bad albums in a row, that will be the end. Unfortunately, the old greats who are still chugging along are still, well, chugging.

Then again, if one of these old greats happens to put out a fantastic album, more power to them. It is all about the music, after all. One solid album of good material is worth some hard earned cash.

Now, in Glass Harp's case there is a variations to the above sermon. They haven't been together for quite a number of years. It was around the 70's that they broke up. Phil Keaggy, their guitar player and major reason for a frenzied, cult-like following, continued in music with a massive solo career in the CCM industry. (He has been called one of the top guitar players alive today, and if you see him in concert it's easy to see why.) The first indication I had of a Glass Harp reunion was when I saw them on the bill for the Creation Music Festival 2002. Their show was a blast and proved that the old-timers could still tear it up. And a year later, they have given us this cd. Now, there is also a bell of truth in my mini-sermon. For unlike most old greats, this album is, indeed, fantastic.

With a first spin, this disc seems fairly scattered. Musical genres are tossed about like rag dolls. One song has a grungy sound. One a hawiian flair. Sometimes the band jams. Sometimes they rip briskly through the song. And, I kid you not, one song has a goth feel with, surprise, industrial sounding vocals.

And yet, there is a definite link that holds the whole thing together. Imagine, for instance, a rubber ball on some string. If you rotate it just so, it arcs in a perfect circle around you, yet if you start swinging too hard, the string snaps and the entire thing is wrecked. Glass Harp manages to reach that point where things just swing in a perfect arc.

The base of the sound is grounded in a classic rock feel. There are parts where they just let it all out and jam, akin to what they traditionally do live. (Keaggy is known for taking one of his normal three minute songs and making last ten when on stage, with all kinds of added guitar wizardry.) And to boot, there is a horn section that adds a rich texture to many of the tracks.

Unlike many albums released by guitar greats you won't be overwhelmed with overkill technical smart-assery (which no one but guitar players tend to appriciate, anyway). Keaggy doesn't focus on laying out every aspect of his talent, but instead lets the focus be on the songs. (Though in concert he'll flesh the songs out, doing things on the guitar that are absolutely astounding.)

This is the kind of album where not many songs stand out. But if you take your pick of any of them and pit them against just about every other song out there, these would win hands down.

peace.