Published on Jan 10, 2001
There is no doubt that Glenn Hughes is one of the most talented
voices in hard rock today. His stints with Black Sabbath, Deep
Purple and Hughes/Thrall Band all are evidence to this.
So why is Hughes’s latest disc,
Return Of Crystal Karma, so
boring? This is a guy who is capable of so much better; pity
he didn’t offer it on this set.
Oh, let’s be fair and share the wealth – it’s not always
Hughes’s fault. Often, his band – guitarist JJ Marsh, keyboardist
Hans Zermuehlen and drummer Gary Ferguson – just don’t seem like
they have the interest in the material, and thus can’t make it
sound interesting for the listener. (I’m leaving Lol Tolhurst out
of this group clambake, since he only contributed to one track. No
sense taking bullets meant for someone else.)
And it’s not that
Return Of Crystal Karma is consistently a bad disc. The
instrumental track “Owed To ‘J'” is a wonderful work which does
show how good this group of musicans can be. Likewise, the disc’s
closer “Days Of Avalon” (and, to a lesser extent, “Angela” and
“This Life”) offer proof that Hughes could well be one of the
least-acclaimed talents of his time.
But all of that goes to the side due to the mediocrity of the
remainder of the material. Tracks such as “The State I’m In,”
“Switch The Mojo,” “Gone” and “The Other Side Of Me” almost lull
the listener to sleep – not the best result Hughes could have hoped
for. The material on this disc was supposed to be Hughes’s return
to harder-edged music; instead, it’s the musical equivalent of a
nice, comfy mattress.
If this wasn’t enough, early copies of
Return Of Crystal Karma are packaged with a bonus disc,
Live In South America – proof positive that Hughes can be
just as God-awful dull live as he can in the studio. ‘Nuff
said.
Return Of Crystal Karma is a wasted attempt to show the
world what a talent they’ve been overlooking all these years.
Chances are many people aren’t going to stop and pay attention to
this one.