Crack the Sky - From the Greenhouse (1989)

Here's a funny story about this album. When it was released, the title track "From The Greenhouse" got a fair amount of airplay on the local AOR station. The hook in the song sounded like it was lifted directly from Pink Floyd's "Have A Cigar". I was managing a popular record/CD store in Cambridge, Mass. at the time. After the first dozen or so customers came in asking for "the new Pink Floyd album", and meaning this one, I displayed the album under a sign saying "Not Pink Floyd".Anyway, this at the time was another comeback album, with guitarist Rick Witkowski rejoining the band for the first time since "White Music" back in 1980.

The results weren't bad. Not great, but listenable. But very derivative. The lyrics are pure Palumbo. Socio-political sarcasm, with a lot of humor. At time very poignant, at times very funny. The music however is pulled from a variety of sources. The title track, as noted above, sound like Floyd, not only in the hook, but also a guitar section sounds like "Brain Damage", and the whole feel of the song is Floyd-like.
In "The Frozen Rain", "All The Things We Do, and "Can I Play For You (Ian's Song)" you could play a game of find-the-Beatles-lick. While each is a nice song, the Beatles references are too blatant. And "Monkey Boy" sound like David Bowie, right down to Palumbo trying to sound like Bowie at times.The band even rehashes the "Crack The Sky Secret Rock Rhythm", used since their very first album, most notably on "Hold On", "Lighten Up McGraw" and many others throughout the years.For what it is, this is not a bad album. But only slightly prog.

Progressive rock group Crack the Sky was formed in the Ohio River Valley region in 1975 by frontman John Palumbo, guitarists Jim Griffiths and Rick Witkowski, bassist Joe Macre, and drummer Joey D'Amico. According to the website at www.crackthesky.com, the band was originally dubbed ArcAngel, building a loyal following on the Cleveland and Baltimore club circuits before signing to the Lifesong label to issue their self-titled debut LP, which earned critical acclaim for Palumbo's acerbic lyrics and the songs' complex structures and time changes. Commercial reward was minimal, however, and after completing Crack the Sky's second LP, 1976's Animal Notes, Palumbo exited to pursue a solo career. D'Amico assumed lead vocal duties on 1978's Safety in Numbers, with singer Gary Lee Chappell featured on the Live Sky release. Crack the Sky then disbanded, but in 1980 Palumbo, Witkowski, and keyboardist Vince DePaul briefly reformed the group to record the White Music album before again dissolving. Palumbo then formed another new lineup for a series of albums including Photoflamingo, World in Motion I, and Raw before reuniting with Witkowski, D'Amico, and DePaul for a series of 1986 live dates at the Baltimore club Hammerjacks and eventually a new 1989 studio LP, From the Greenhouse. Dog City followed in 1990, and Crack the Sky infrequently reunited throughout the decade to come.