Crack The Sky: Debut Vinyl LP

Crack the Sky is the debut album by American rock band Crack the Sky, released on LP in 1975 by Lifesong Records (catalog #LS-6000).
If you don't know who Crack The Sky is do yourself a favor and download this and Animal notes.
I have had these two LPs forever and listen to them frequently.
All the Crack The Sky albums I posted here are worth a download. The music is serious, the vocals are great, guitars are awesome. The lyrics by John Palumbo interesting and thoughtful. If you like prog rock, hard rock, intelligent music, whimsical like Zappa or Thomas Dolby or maybe even Martini Ranch then you know what you are in for. Ripped today in MP3@320, so enjoy this masterpiece.
I go to plenty of music blogs and see stuff posted of bands I never heard of and often I just fly by looking for something familiar. These guys wouldn't post their favorite albums to share if they didn't strongly think someone else out there would enjoy them as much as they have.



All songs written by John Palumbo

"Hold On" – 3:00
"Surf City" – 3:54
"A Sea Epic" – 6:33
"She's a Dancer" – 3:54
"Robots for Ronnie" – 4:39
"Ice" – 4:36
"Mind Baby" – 4:32
"I Don't Have a Tie" – 3:04
"Sleep" – 7:48

The band
John Palumbo — Lead vocals, keyboards, guitar
Rick Witkowski — Lead guitar, percussion
Joe Macre — Bass guitar, back-up vocals
Jim Griffiths — Lead guitar, back-up vocals
Joey D'Amico — Drums, back-up vocals

Additional musicians
Michael Brecker — Horns ("She's a Dancer", "Mind Baby")
Randy Brecker — Horns ("She's a Dancer", "Mind Baby")
David Sanborn — Horns ("She's a Dancer", "Mind Baby")
George Marge — Woodwinds ("Robots for Ronnie", "Sleep", "A Sea Epic")
Tom Jones — Trombone ("Sleep")


79MB, MP3@320, 40 Minutes

http://rapidshare.com/files/90235623/Crack_the_Sky.rar

From Wikipedia
Crack the Sky is a progressive rock band formed in Baltimore,USA in the 1970s. They have had only meager success, but continue to release records to a small but devoted fan base to this day.

History

1970s
Crack the Sky traces its roots to an early seventies band called ArcAngel, which featured John Palumbo on vocals and Rick Witkowski on guitar.

Crack the Sky was formed in the mid-seventies by Palumbo and Witkowski, after they signed with Lifesong Records. In addition to Palumbo and Witkowski, the original band included other former members of ArcAngel: Joey D'Amico on drums, Joe Macre on bass, and Jim Griffiths on guitar.

In 1975, the band released their critically acclaimed first album, the eponymous Crack the Sky. Although declared the "debut album of the year" by Rolling Stone magazine, promotion and distribution problems prevented its widespread success.[1]

Animal Notes, the band's second album, was originally written as a rock opera about the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Like the band's debut release, it was critically acclaimed, but the high concept and lack of "radio singles" contributed to lack of sales.

As a result of a breakdown in communications with their record label, and a divergence in creative approaches, Palumbo left the band in 1977 to pursue a solo career. The remaining band members, with vocalist Gary Lee Chappell, released Safety in Numbers in 1978. In addition, the live album Live Sky was released by this lineup of the band. Following this, Crack the Sky disbanded, and Classic Crack, a greatest hits compilation, was released by Lifesong in 1980.


1980s
In 1980, Palumbo reunited with Witkowski and keyboardist Vince DePaul to release White Music. This record featured a number of the "singles-quality" songs that had earlier proved elusive to the band, including "All American Boy", "Skin Deep", and "Hot Razors in My Heart."

Palumbo reformed the band once again in 1981 with DePaul, Carey Ziegler, Michael Taylor and John Tracey, and produced Photoflamingo. This release, and subsequent efforts including World in Motion 1 and The End, failed to garner the critical and public acclaim of the earlier releases, and the group disbanded again in 1983. A notable song from this era is "All Fly Away", about the fears of nuclear holocaust.

Palumbo released the studio album Raw in 1986. Although the album has the signature Crack the Sky sound and feel to it, it featured no past members of the band besides Palumbo (guitarist Jamie LaRitz is the only other musician credited).

Palumbo reunited Crack the Sky with Witkowski, DePaul, Ziegler, and D'Amico for a series of live shows in 1986 at the Baltimore club Hammerjacks. Between then and 1989 this band performed a number of shows in the Baltimore area, including Painters Mill Music Fair.

In 1988, Palumbo joined with Witkowski, DePaul and D'Amico to produce From the Greenhouse, in many ways a return to the band's classic sound, with solid efforts including the title track and the song "Lost In America". During this time, this lineup performed occasionally in the Baltimore area with Ziegler joining on bass.


1990s
Crack the Sky released Dog City in 1990. The period between then and 1996 saw little activity except for the release of the compilation disc Rare! in 1994.

Palumbo gathered the band together again in 1996 beginning a series of live shows at small venues in the Baltimore area. The band at this time featured the same lineup as 1993's The End, with the addition of Nat Kerr on keyboards. A new studio album, Cut, was released in 1999, as well as a double disc release featuring one of the band's live shows at the Recher Theatre in Towson, Maryland.


2000s

Crack the Sky (Rick Witkowski and John Palumbo), June 26, 2004Crack the Sky continues to perform occasional live shows and collaborate on new music under Palumbo's guidance. The albums Ghost and Dogs from Japan were released to critical acclaim in 2001 and 2003, respectively, and the band continues to enjoy a devoted fan following. The band completed a new concept album in 2007, entitled The Sale, which features the return of original bassist Joe Macre performing and co-producing the record with John Palumbo.[citation needed]


Discography

Full-length albums
Crack the Sky (1975, Lifesong)
Animal Notes (1976, Lifesong)
Live on WBAB (1976, Lifesong)
Safety in Numbers (1978, Lifesong)
Live Sky (1978, Lifesong)
Classic Crack (1980, Lifesong)
White Music (1980, Lifesong)
Photoflamingo (1981, Lifesong)
World in Motion 1 (1983, Criminal)
The End (1984, Criminal)
Raw (1986, Grudge)
From the Greenhouse (1989, Grudge)
Dog City (1990, Grudge)
Rare! (1994, Yodelin' Pig)
Crack Attic (1994, Renaissance)
Cut (1998, Stepford Wives-2007 Aluminum Cat Recordings)
The Best of the Rest (And Then Some) (2000, Winthrop)
Live—Recher Theatre 06.19.99 (2000, self-release)
Ghost (2001, self-release)
Dogs from Japan (2004, Red Line)
Alive and Kickin' Ass (2006, Lifesong)
The Sale (2007, Aluminum Cat Recordings)

Compilation appearances
Supper's Ready—A Tribute to Genesis (1995, Magna Carta) (song: "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)")
John Palumbo (Keyboards, guitars, lead vocals), Ian Palumbo (guitars, back-up vocals), Tim Deaner (back-up vocals), Dr. Maurice Hayes (narration)

Crack Pack horn section
Sometimes the band has a horn section—known as the Crack Pack Horns—accompany them at live shows or on album tracks.

Tom Williams — Trumpet (1980s–1990s)
Tom McCormick — Tenor saxophone (1980s)
Dave Fairall — Tenor & alto saxophone (1980s–2000)
Paul Soroka — Lyricon (1980s–1990s)
Chris Walker — Trumpet (1990s–2000)
J.J. Gunning — Trombone (1990s–2000)
Ronnie Fowler — Horns (1986)
Jim Stienfeld — Horns (1986)
Keith Zaffino — Horns (1986)