CROWN LANDS
CROWN LANDS “Fearless”
By Dr. Abner Mality
Iron Sheik (the Wormwood writer, not the wrestler) turned me on to this Canadian prog rock/metal band. Holy Syrinx, these cats are something else! They are as close to RUSH from their “Farewell To Kings” through “Moving Pictures” period as I have ever heard...sometimes almost too much so. Toss in a pinch of LED ZEP and their modern analogue GRETA VAN FLEET and we have CROWN LANDS.
They initiate the launch with “Starlifter”, an 18 minute plus ode to those immense RUSH epics of old, particularly the A side of “Hemispheres”. The song is an album in itself and is perversely proud of its many changes and shifts in tempo and style. Overall, the song is fast, energetic and has that clear, ringing guitar tone that Alex Lifeson pioneered. Synths are subtly integrated to the whole and there’s one section where they take precedence. There’s also another drop down to a mellow section featuring flute. But overall, the song is fast and guitar-focused.
And what of the vocals? Well, they are not quite to 70’s level of helium-huffing falsetto typified by Geddy Lee, but they’re not far off, either. Very high pitched, nasal and “sweet”, they really sound a lot like Josh Kiszka of GRETA VAN FLEET, so that’s where that connection comes in.
“Starlifter” is an album in itself, but is not even close to being half of this record. The remaining tunes are of shorter duration and many come in at under the 5 minute mark. They tend to be very peppy, upbeat and are an antidote to the darkness and doom in much of modern hard rock and metal. “Dreamer of the Dawn” and “Right Way Back” are two strong examples of the shorter CROWN LANDS tracks and they are firmly in the mode of “Permanent Waves/Moving Pictures” era RUSH, with some of ZEP’s “Houses of the Holy” mixed in. “Penny” is an acoustic instrumental while album ender “Citadel” is a piano-based ballad featuring the most eye-wateringly falsetto vocals on the album.
One track where the RUSH mimicry got to be too much was “Reflections”. Holy cats, I thought they just lifted the first two minutes of “Xanadu” straight up for this one! Now “Xanadu” is my all-time favorite song without a doubt (the RUSH one, not the OLIVIA one...smartasses!) but jeez, guys, write your own songs...this is pure plagiarism!
Overlooking that, though, “Fearless” was a breath of fresh Canadian air and a tribute to a style that virtually nobody else is doing anymore. “Starlifter” alone makes this worth the pick up and much of the rest of the album is also very worthy of inspection. RUSH and TRIUMPH fans simply must check this out!