Cathedral - Stained Glass Stories FLAC download

If anyone who owns the original copy on Delta could please update the listing with the matrix/deadwax info, this would be much appreciated!

I have an original copy. Matrix # is DRC-1002 A and DRC-1002 B. I will be listing this LP on ebay very soon.

This SOUNDS pretty good, but there is some real bad crackle/distortion which I believe to be the pressing, upon closer inspection, it seems it has non-fill....Just be warned about the pressing quality! (you can check my untouched rip on the YouTube bar to the right!)

Thanks for the reply - That's a shame. I wonder if they used the same stampers as the original for the reissue? The CD version doesn't have the issue. I can't find runout info of an Original to compare

maybe you can ask for a replacement or try a new one. is $12 now at the distributor. I have the original delta lp and it have the same problem plus is warped :(.

Three side open cover + Insert + big Poster

The sound of Stained Glass Stories borrows heavily from (Relayer-era) Yes, especially with the bass work and with many of the guitar riffs, but I certainly wouldn't label the band a Yes clone. Gothic tinges surface throughout the album, as with the chant-like organ noises, while comparisons to early Gentle Giant (Acquiring the Taste, Three Friends) are also somewhat apt. As has been noted by other reviewers, the vocalist has an extremely limited range. Although I don't feel that the vocals actively detract from the music (in places they even enhance to it's otherworldly qualities), I must admit that the instrumental "Gong" is the most consistently impressive track on the album. The rest of the tracks, although rarely phenomenal, are all consistently engaging.

Wonder where Änglagård received a lot of their inspiration? Look no further than this band from Long Island, New York. Until 2007 with the release of the reunion CD The Bridge, Stained Glass Stories was their only release. These guys take a similar approach to that '90s Swedish band, but without the Nordic influence, and instead English vocals from Paul Seal. Not to mention Cathedral had no flute player. Many people don't take too well to Paul's singing, but he doesn't bother me, but I can see why his vocals might turn some off. Tom Doncourt, simply lays it thick with Hammond organ and Mellotron, all over the place, tons of the tron choir, no doubt inspiring Thomas Johnson of Änglagård to do much the same. Fred Callan lays it thick with the Rickenbacker bass, just like Chris Squire before him, and Johan Högberg (now Johan Brand) had later done in Änglagård. Even guitarist Rudy Perrone took a similar approach, lots of Hackett-like lead, plus more mellow, reflective acoustic parts, much like Tord Lindman and Jonas Engdegård. I know I end up comparing this to Änglagård a lot, but they admitted to be highly inspired by Stained Glass Stories when they recorded Hybris. Now Stained Glass Stories isn't to everyone's liking. Many are put off by Paul Seal's vocals, as mentioned before, and others thought of them as nothing more than Yes, Genesis or a King Crimson knockoff. To me, if the group lacks originality, but still makes great an inspired music, I have little to complain (after all, Starcastle went out of their way to sound like Yes, and I love their first three albums). But in my opinion, Cathedral made some of the finest prog of the late '70s, as 1978 the prog rock scene was in pretty bad shape, with Yes giving us Tormato (which isn't too bad, but a bit disjointed, and "Circus of Heaven" should have been thrown in the trash), and ELP with Love Beach. Genesis reduced to a trio and ...And Then There Were Three... which contained "Follow You, Follow Me", which is basically the beginning of the 1980s Genesis sound, and of course, they continued that way in the new decade (to be fair, the rest of the album isn't bad, but not as progressive as what came before). Compared to what the major acts were giving us by 1978, Cathedral's Stained Glass Stories is much better, and certainly one of the best of 1978.Update: I found out some extra information about this album. The group was actually looking to get this released on a major label, like Atlantic. In fact it nearly ended up on Led Zeppelin's Swan Song label, but given it was 1978 and lack of interest in prog by that time it never happened. Imagine if it did, I'd be saying, "Cathedral is so much more interesting than labelmates Bad Company". Also I'd probably only be spending a few bucks for a used copy, rather than the hundreds of bucks an original copy actually commands (which is the reason I don't own the original LP on Delta, I only have the 1989 LP reissue on Syn-Phonic, and the CD reissue on Syn-Phonic, as well).

Maybe this album had a lot of impact in Scandinavia. It seems Morten Harket lifted much of his vocal styling from this album ;-)