| Return Of Crystal Karma | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 19 June 2000 | |||
| Genre | Hard rock, funk | |||
| Length | 50:55 55:49 (Japanese version) | |||
| Label | SPV GmbH (Europe) Nippon Crown (Japan) | |||
| Producer | Glenn Hughes Michael Scott | |||
| Glenn Hughes chronology | ||||
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| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
Return of Crystal Karma (often abbreviated to R.O.C.K.) is a studio album by former Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Trapeze vocalist/bassist Glenn Hughes. The album was released 19 of June 2000 on SPV and Nippon records.
Return of Crystal Karma is Hughes’ seventh solo studio album, his sixth since 1992. The album has a similar bass driven funk sound to 1999’s The Way It Is , although R.O.C.K. has a slightly more serious tone.
R.O.C.K. was performed by a set band throughout the album, unlike many of Hughes’ previous albums which had featured multiple musicians and guests. Regular guitarist JJ Marsh makes his third appearance on a Glenn Hughes album and co-wrote many of the tracks. The rest of the band is made up of keyboardist Hans Zermüehlen, Hughes’ regular drummer of the period Gary Ferguson and Lol Tolhurst (former member of The Cure) who contributed some electronica parts.
"Gone" was written by Hughes and Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath for their abandoned 1996 album project. At the point of R.O.C.K.’s release Hughes’ considered it unlikely that those sessions would be released due to their prolific bootlegging. However, Iommi decided to release the songs from the sessions (along with "Gone") in 2004 as The 1996 DEP Sessions.
The instrumental track Owed to J is named in reference to the instrumental Owed to G, which featured on the Deep Purple album Come Taste the Band . The "J" in Hughes' track is a reference to Jeff Beck, and the song is very much influenced by the guitarist. The "G" in the Deep Purple song stands for Gershwin.
Hughes decided to give himself the moniker ‘Funk Man’ in the writing credits for the songs. This is the only occasion where he has referred to himself as such.
The Japanese version of the album contained a bonus track entitled The World Is Broken. There is also a more common double CD version which includes ‘Live in South America’, which was recorded in São Paulo on November 25, 1999. The live disc includes two songs from The Way It Is , two from the Hughes/Thrall album, a Trapeze track and No Stranger to Love, which was taken from the 1986 Black Sabbath album Seventh Star .
A video was shot for the song Days of Avalon and was released on VHS on Hughes’ Pink Cloud Records label, it is no longer available.
Glenn Hughes is an English bassist and singer, best known for playing bass and performing vocals in funk rock band Trapeze and in the Mk. III and IV line-ups of Deep Purple, as well as briefly fronting Black Sabbath in the mid-1980s. He is known by fans as "The Voice of Rock" due to his soulful and wide-ranging singing voice.
David Holland was an English heavy metal drummer born in Northampton, England. Holland is best remembered for his time with the bands Trapeze from 1969 to 1979 and Judas Priest from 1979 to 1989.
Seventh Star is the twelfth studio album by English heavy metal band Black Sabbath. Released in January 1986, it features founding guitarist Tony Iommi alongside musicians Geoff Nicholls, Eric Singer, and Dave Spitz, playing keyboards, drums, and bass, respectively, and Glenn Hughes, ex-Deep Purple bassist and vocalist, as lead singer. The album was the group's first release without bassist and primary lyricist Geezer Butler, who left the band in 1984 after the Born Again tour. It was originally written, recorded, and intended to be the first solo album by Iommi. Because of the pressures from Warner Bros. Records and the prompting of band manager Don Arden, the record was billed as Black Sabbath featuring Tony Iommi. Later releases label the album as simply by Black Sabbath. Despite the issues behind the release's production, it earned moderate commercial success, reaching #78 on the Billboard 200 chart.
The Sabbath Stones (1996) is a compilation album of Black Sabbath songs taken from albums ranging from 1983's Born Again to 1995's Forbidden. It was never formally released in the US or Canada, and was the last album to be released by Black Sabbath with I.R.S. Records.
The 1996 DEP Sessions is a collaborative studio album by British musicians Tony Iommi and Glenn Hughes, released through Sanctuary and Mayan Records in 2004.
From Now On... is a solo studio album by former Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Trapeze bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes. It was released in 1994 and had a distinctive AOR sound.
Burning Japan Live is a live album by former Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Trapeze vocalist and bassist Glenn Hughes. It was recorded at the Club Citta in Kawasaki, Japan on Tuesday 24 May and Wednesday 25 May 1994 in support of the studio album From Now On....
Feel is a studio album by former Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Trapeze vocalist and bassist Glenn Hughes. It was released in 1995 on Zero Corporation and SPV records and was Hughes' fourth solo studio album.
Addiction is a studio album by former Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Trapeze vocalist/bassist Glenn Hughes. It was released in 1996 on Zero Corporation, SPV and Shrapnel records and was Hughes’ fifth solo studio album.
Talk About It EP is an EP by former Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Trapeze vocalist/ bassist Glenn Hughes. It was released in 1997 on SPV and was taken from the album Addiction. It includes three previously unreleased live tracks.
The Way It Is is a studio album by former Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Trapeze vocalist/ bassist Glenn Hughes. It was released in 1999 on Nippon Crown, SPV and Shrapnel Records and was Hughes’ sixth solo studio album.
From The Archives Volume I – Incense & Peaches is a compilation album by former Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Trapeze vocalist/ bassist Glenn Hughes. The songs were recorded in various sessions between 1995 and 1998. It was released in 2000 on Hughes’ own Pink Cloud Records.
Building the Machine is a studio album by former Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Trapeze vocalist/ bassist Glenn Hughes. It was his eighth solo studio album and was released in 2001 on SPV, DNA and Nippon Crown records.
Songs in the Key of Rock is a studio album by former Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Trapeze vocalist/ bassist Glenn Hughes. It was his ninth solo studio album and was released in 2003 on Frontier and Pony Canyon records.
Soulfully Live In The City Of Angels is a live album and DVD by former Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Trapeze vocalist/ bassist Glenn Hughes. It was recorded at Sound Image Studio, Hollywood on January 11, 2004 in front of select group of guests. It was released in 2004 on Frontiers Records.
Hughes/ Thrall was a musical project formed in 1982 by former Deep Purple and Trapeze bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes and guitarist Pat Thrall.
Hughes/Thrall is the self-titled, debut album by musical collaborators Glenn Hughes and Pat Thrall. It was released in 1982 on Boulevard Records and is, to date, their only album. The single "Beg, Borrow Or Steal" peaked at #79 in the US in early 1983.
Live In Tokyo is a live album by Hughes Turner Project, a collaboration between Glenn Hughes and Joe Lynn Turner ; it was released in 2002 on MTM Music and Pony Canyon Records.
The Work Tapes is an album of demos recorded by vocalist Glenn Hughes and keyboardist Geoff Downes. The sessions were originally recorded in June 1991, but did not receive an official release until 1998.
Different Stages – The Best of Glenn Hughes is a compilation album by former Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Trapeze vocalist/ bassist Glenn Hughes. The album was released in 2002 on SPV records.
