Transcendence
Studio album by
Crimson Glory
ReleasedNovember 14, 1988
StudioMorrisound Studios, Tampa, Florida
Genre
Length50:24
LabelRoadracer (Europe)
MCA (US)
ProducerJim Morris, Tom Morris
Crimson Glory chronology
Crimson Glory
(1986)		 Transcendence
(1988)		 Strange and Beautiful
(1991)

Transcendence is the second studio album by American heavy metal band Crimson Glory, released in 1988 via Roadracer Records (now Roadrunner Records) in Europe and MCA Records in United States. It is considered by many to be their finest work. It was recorded at Morrisound Studios.[3]

In 2006, Black Lotus Records announced a plan to release a remastered version with a new name, "Transcendence: Renovatio". This was rumoured to feature new cover art, two bonus tracks and more, but Black Lotus ceased operations shortly thereafter and it was never released.[4]

Writing and recording

"Masque of the Red Death" is about the story written by Edgar Allan Poe. "Eternal World" was written as an instrumental for the tour of the band's first record in the Netherlands.[3]

The drums are a combination of both live and sampled drums. The band sampled drummer Dana Burnell performing live drums into a synclavier without any cymbals, and then re-recorded the cymbals live later in order to have complete separation of drums and cymbals. Guitarist Jon Drenning stated "It was a very arduous and time consuming way to do it but at the time it seemed like something we wanted to try to achieve; a pristine, clean sound and true separation of all instruments."[3]

Artwork

The front cover artwork was made by Japanese artist Takashi Terada, which was featured on the Japanese poster art for the 1985 science fiction film Lifeforce. Following some of the album's themes of mysticism and divinity, the back cover features a Kabbalistic Tree of Life. This is superimposed by a series of runic letters which, when decoded, spell:
CRIMSON GLORY
WE WILL STRIKE DOWN THE ONES WHO LEAD US
WE ARE YOUR FUTURE – WE ARE FOREVER
TRANSCENDENCE

Critical reception and legacy

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal8/10[6]
Rock Hard9.5/10[7]

Upon release Kirk Blows of British magazine Music Week reviewed album positively and found it "more complex and sophisticated" than debut. He wrote: "Thoughtfully structured, powerful yet with melodic passages, Transcendence is fine testimony of a band who have the potential to fully establish themselves in the near future."[8]

In 2005, Transcendence was ranked number 412 in Rock Hard magazine's book The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time.[9] Loudwire named it at #15 in their list "Top 25 Power Metal Albums of All Time".[10] ThoughtCo named the album in their list "Essential Power Metal Albums".[11]

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Lady of Winter"Midnight, Jon DrenningDrenning4:00
2."Red Sharks"Dana Burnell, DrenningDrenning, Jeff Lords4:52
3."Painted Skies"MidnightDrenning, Midnight, Lords5:16
4."Masque of the Red Death"MidnightLords, Ben Jackson, Drenning4:15
5."In Dark Places"Midnight, DrenningDrenning, Lords7:03
Side two
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
6."Where Dragons Rule"Midnight, DrenningDrenning, Lords, Midnight5:07
7."Lonely"Midnight, DrenningDrenning, Lords, Zahner5:18
8."Burning Bridges"MidnightDrenning6:32
9."Eternal World"Midnight, DrenningDrenning, Lords3:54
10."Transcendence"MidnightDrenning (intro), Midnight4:34

Personnel

Additional musicians

  • Jim Morris – synclavier programming
  • Lex Macar – synclavier programming
  • John Zahner – additional synthesizer programming
  • Janelle Sadler – backing vocals (haunting melodies)
  • Tom Morris – backing vocals (kruschev impression)
  • Jim Morris – backing vocals (mission commander)
  • The Killing Crew – backing vocals
  • The Red Death Mob – backing vocals
  • The Dragon Beast – backing vocals

Production

  • Jim Morris – producer, mixing, engineering
  • Tom Morris – mixing, additional engineering
  • Judd Packer, Scott Burns, Mike Gowan, John Cervini – assistant engineers
  • Jon Drenning – artistic direction

References

  1. ↑ Divita, Joe (July 5, 2017). "Top 25 Power Metal Albums of All Time". Loudwire. Townsquare Media. Retrieved September 27, 2021.
  2. ↑ Wagner, Jeff (2010). Mean Deviation: Four Decades of Progressive Heavy Metal. Bazillion Points Books. p. 64. ISBN 978-0-9796163-3-4.
  3. 1 2 3 "Transcendence". Maxium Metal. March 18, 2010.
  4. ↑ "Crimson Glory: Remasters, Upcoming Releases Detailed". Blabbermouth.net. April 18, 2006. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
  5. ↑ Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Transcendence – Crimson Glory | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
  6. ↑ Popoff, Martin (November 1, 2005). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 2: The Eighties. Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 79. ISBN 978-1-894959-31-5.
  7. ↑ Trojan, Frank. "Crimson Glory – Transcendence". Rock Hard (in German). Archived from the original on June 16, 2013. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
  8. ↑ Kirk Blows (November 26, 1988). "Crimson Glory: Transcendence (Roadrunner RR9508)" (PDF). Album Reviews. Music Week. Gwent: Pensord Press Ltd. p. 22. ISSN 0265-1548. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 5, 2023. Retrieved January 15, 2023 – via World Radio History.
  9. ↑ Best of Rock & Metal – Die 500 stärksten Scheiben aller Zeiten (in German). Rock Hard. 2005. p. 44. ISBN 3-89880-517-4.
  10. ↑ DiVita, Joe (July 5, 2017). "Top 25 Power Metal Albums of All Time". Loudwire. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
  11. ↑ Marsicano, Dan. "Essential Power Metal Albums". ThoughtCo. Archived from the original on October 29, 2018. Retrieved August 17, 2019.
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