Crack the Sky "Machine"

This is a great example of my music collection:  Rolling Stones, 1 album; Bob Dylan, 1 album; Crack the Sky, ELEVEN records!  And that's just CTS.  I have John Palumbo solo albums and one from another band he was in called Cruel Shoes.  Do you think I like this guy?  Come on, I've got quoted lyrics in the About Me portion of the blog!

Palumbo is the constant of Crack the Sky's 35-year, on again/off again existence.  He's the primary songwriter, vocalist and guitarist, yet he's been able to surround himself with plenty of talent in the varying lineups.  The group for "Machine" is most of the original members from the early days of the first couple of records which had some chart success.  If you were a concert-goer in the late 70's, you may have seen them as openers for damn near every major arena tour in the eastern half of the country.  They still perform live on a semi-regular basis, primarily to their Ohio and Maryland fan base, but Palumbo has slowed down a bit at the age of sixty saying, "I just don't stage dive anymore."  I never understood the constant comparisons of CTS to Steely Dan.  It's prog-rock, not jazz.  More like a cross of Cheap Trick and the Cars with Yes-like song structures.  I will say that the Cruel Shoes record had more of the pop/jazz stylings of Steely Dan, but it went absolutely nowhere. 

Machines are the running theme for this new album (go figure) and death seems to be a secondary thread.  Before you realize it, you'll be singing along to "We're all dead, we just don't know it yet."  The lyrics aren't morbid, but they are classic Palumbo.  Caustic, acerbic, sarcastic, introspective, reflective, and certainly humorous, which is why I am such a big fan.  The single, "Hyphen-Americans", is a perfect example of the lyrical style, where he recites many sub-genre hyphenated names and wonders in the chorus, "Where did all the American-Americans go?"  Musically, "Machine" is an electric guitar based progressive rock record with plenty of acoustics and a variety of keyboards, ie. a typical Crack the Sky record.  It takes one helluva of a band to make a great rock recording like "Machine" at sixty years of age after you've been toiling in relative obscurity for decades.  I hope you will seek this album out if this piques your interest.  It's not easy, but try their website or Barnes & Noble.  If not, then sample some of the other albums, like "Safety in Numbers"
(Palumbo wasn't actually on this record but he penned all the songs) or "White Music."  They are all MAD ROCKER approved!