Album flashback

Glass Tiger - Diamond Sun [1988]

How do you follow up on a debut album that dominated the charts - selling quadruple platinum at home and gold in the US - while also earning Juno and Grammy recognition?

Could expectations be any higher? Could Glass Tiger withstand the pressure to deliver another set of singles to dominate the radio? And could the band do all of these things while reaching for the next rung as musicians and songwriters?

I believe the answer to all of these questions is yes. But not without taking a toll.

So the boys got Jim Vallance back behind the boards and proceeded to knock out that difficult sophomore album. In the wake of the success of The Thin Red Line, the label now wants similar results. Vallance has spoken of the difference in atmosphere, which makes sense as the first album was made with nowhere near the level of expectation.

The core of the band was still intact as writing and recording got underway: Alan Frew [vocal, key songwriter], Sam Reid [keyboards, co-wrote 7 tracks], Michael Hanson [drums, co-wrote 5 tracks], Al Connelly [guitar], and Wayne Parker [bass].

As for songs, the material was mostly written on the fly as a heavy and drawn out touring schedule hadn’t permitted a lot of time to lay down demos. One crack starts to show as Frew, Reid, and Vallance are putting in hard yards getting the songs right, while the other three members spin their wheels a bit. Connelly, Parker, and Hanson had more active roles in writing the first record as well.

This would conclude with Michael Hanson leaving the band in the middle of the Diamond Sun tour.

Did you know that Glass Tiger ranked #9 in our 80s CanCon Power Rankings, and that they did so with the highest average chart position of them all?

Let’s look at the three Top 10 singles from Diamond Sun, in release order.

I’m Still Searching - peaked #2, 1988

I’m a big believer that if you’re choosing a single to launch your new album that you should go upbeat. You know, kick a little ass and get folks excited to see that you’re back.

In that spirit, here comes I’m Still Searching to announce that Glass Tiger are back after about a year off the charts and they are firing on all cylinders.

This is forever my fave GT jam. It just moves. And listen carefully for a little slide guitar from Connelly.

Diamond Sun - peaked #5, 1988

Now that you’ve thrilled your fans with the up-tempo number, you’ve earned the right to drop that ballad. And for the first time we sense that maturing songwriting voice that Frew wanted to showcase.

While he’s not the first CanCon artist to write about the colonization of our Indigenous peoples, I think it interesting to see the perspective of a new Canadian [Frew came from Glasgow as a 16 year old] on our nation’s disappointing progress on this issue.

We have walked on this Earth
Since the first star was shining and the moon had its birth
But as with the shadows of lonely trees
We are in bondage, but our hearts are still free

Oh, diamond sun has to burn
Oh, are we never to learn?

My Song - peaked #9, 1988

Music can make almost anything better, and such is the message behind this one. Hard not to feel the pull of The Chieftains playing a Dublin pub, in defiance of their usual rule against doing so.

Originally, the two bands did not lay this down in the studio - Reid was sent to Ireland to oversee recording there, with the finished product then returned to Vallance in Canada.

As they had done on their single Thin Red Line, the boys had perfectly blended traditional sounds with their powerful pop.

Sadly, only one more Glass Tiger project was to come - 1991’s Simple Mission. In a way, it’s success would outshine the first two albums as no fewer than four Top 10 singles emerged.

We’ve seen a remix album, a hits package, a live record, and even a Christmas album in subsequent years. No signs yet of new recordings, but some of the boys are still on the road playing these tunes.

I will run the numbers one day, but my belief is that song for song, Glass Tiger’s three records stand alone as the masters of the RPM chart.