On January 1, 1976 Stephen Holden of Rolling Stone magazine called the debut album by West Virginian prog-rock pioneers Crack The Sky “…one of year’s most impressive debuts.” Today, some 40 years later, Rolling Stone Magazine is calling them “…the Best U.S. Prog Band You’ve Never Heard,” and the band is cracking the charts with their highest charting debut in 40 years with their new studio album Living In Reverse. It charted at #7 Heatseekers, #31 Independent Current Albums, and #40 Top Current Albums. The band also released Crackology, a collection of some of their 12 career favorites. Both came out on August 24, 2018 on Loud & Proud Records.
Living In Reverse showcases 12 new genre-defying Crack tracks including “Talk Talk” – the lyric video was included in the recent Rolling Stone feature, “Raining Rain” which Billboard Magazine recently premiered, and “Living In Reverse” which Relix recently premiered. The retrospective Crackology chronicles a dozen of the best re-recorded gems as culled from the band’s rich and storied 40-year catalog. “They have more of an edge than the originals,” singer / guitarist / keyboardist John Palumbo affirms of the tracks on Crackology. “Those tracks all have more life to them now, and we play every one of them live.”
Named by Rolling Stone in their 2015 list of 50 Greatest Prog Rock Albums Of All Time and in their 20 Rock Albums Rolling Stone Loved in the 1970s That You Never Heard, the magazine’s very first review in 1976 went on to say, “Like the first albums of Steely Dan, 10cc, and the Tubes, Crack the Sky's debut introduces a group whose vision of mid-Seventies ennui is original, humorous and polished without seeming too arty…writer / lead singer / keyboardist / guitarist John Palumbo, whose lyric gift for dark satire, written in the flip argot of rock, is second to none…If Palumbo's lyrics are the latest in Seventies cynicism, their darkness is countered by the light-spiritedness of most of the music. Palumbo avoids conventional melodies, preferring to repeat a tuneful phrase and then abruptly break the mood he's established with something nearly opposite in spirit…Crack The Sky’s ensemble singing and playing are impeccable…Palumbo’s lead vocals are chameleonlike, sometimes resembling Ian Hunter’s and Bowie’s…"
“We’ve been going back in time to try and find ourselves, even while we’ve been looking ahead to the future,” observes guitarist/producer Rick Witkowski. “And we’re looking to bring in new fans who’ve never heard what we’ve done before.” Adds lead vocalist/chief songwriter John Palumbo, “Eventually, you find that everything comes full circle, so it’s fair to say we’ve been quite reinvigorated as artists these past few years.”
Crack The Sky just played a special headline show on August 25, 2018 at MECU Pavilion in Baltimore, MD for the 4th Annual Veteran’s Benefit Concert presented by Music Healing Heroes to benefit K9s for Warriors and the Wounded Warrior Project. They also have some select tour dates coming up (see below).
Tour Dates:
November 2, 2018 & November 3, 2018 @ Rams Head On Stage - Annapolis, MD - 8:30pm
November 4, 2018 @ Rams Head On Stage - Annapolis, MD - 12:00pm
Crack The Sky is
John Palumbo - Lead Vocals, Guitars, Keys
Rick Witkowski - Guitars & Vocals
Joey D’Amico - Drums & Vocals
Bobby Hird - Guitars & Vocals
Glenn Workman - Keyboards & Vocals
Dave DeMarco - Bass & Vocals
