TRACK LIST:

1.  Esau's Burden 5:12 
2.  Fire Over Thule 9:26 
3.  The Sungazer 11:09 
4.  Fanfare for the House of Panorama 4:05 
5.  Intrigue in the House of Panorama 4:19 
6.  Trisagion 8:12 
7.  Barbarians at the Gate 4:37 
8.  Hope Against Hope 6:56 
9.  Last Stand 6:31 
10. Lament 4:55 

LINEUP:

Ed Macan - keyboards; mallet percussion
Andy Durham - bass 
Joe Nagy - drums 
Nate Perry - bass 
Matt McClimon - drums 
Donald Sweeney - bass 
Michael Morris - drums
Jason Hooper - bass, electric guitar

Analysis. "Crash Course" includes all nineteen of Hermetic Science's ever-released original compositions plus their interpretation of Gustav Holst's Mars the Bringer of War, all tracks having been remixed and re-mastered from the original master tapes especially for this edition. Only five pieces from the group's entire song catalog have been omitted, all being their cover versions of others' creations. When I got the album I was pleased to find that the representatives of each of the group's three studio CDs aren't intermixed among themselves here, so the set allows the listener to trace the development of its makers' work step by step. The five tracks from "Ed Macan's Hermetic Science" are the most unusual. Four of them, Esau's Burden, Fire Over Thule Fanfare for the House of Panorama and Trisagion, present the outfit as a trio of vibraphone, bass and drums. I think all of them were recorded live in the studio, only the latter two featuring some obvious overdubs - those of assorted mallet percussion. The sonic palette of The Sungazer is more saturated, which results from the addition of a piano to the instrumentation, but I wouldn't say I like this piece better than the others. All five are equally impressive and are excellent to my way of thinking - no matter that most of this stuff bears a certain likeness to Gong circa "Time Is the Key" and (to a much lesser degree though) to classic ELP. Inasmuch as the music is never distinctly symphonic or purely improvisational either, quasi Jazz-Fusion should be the best general term to define it. The trio's joint intense movements are predominant, but there are episodes that find Ed delivering cascades of vibraphone solos all alone. Somewhat less stylistically integral than the debut Hermetic Science CD, their second offering, "Prophecies", is nevertheless their only totally unique album (at least it doesn't arouse any direct associations in my mind), even though one of the tracks from there, Intrigue in the House of Panorama, is still the product of a 'vibraphone' trio, therefore having a sound that is typical of most of the first recording. Barbarians At the Gate and Hope Against Hope both are notable for their ever-morphing interactions between vibraphone, marimba and bass, often riding over thunderous drumming, some of the bass solos sounding almost like heavy guitar riffs. Last Stand steers in a similar direction, but is much quieter overall, without any aggressive attacks, particularly on the part of the drums. On the other hand, both Hope Against Hope and Last Stand appear to be the first signs of an approaching symphonic sound, as each contains some beautiful passages of ARP string ensemble. Lament concludes the first disc on a major note - with some really grand passages of Grand piano running all through it.

Disc 2