Description
Beyond the Crystal Sea is the sole solo album by the American singer, songwriter, engineer and producer, Jimmy Hotz, released on Vision Records in 1980. The album was produced, recorded and mixed by Jimmy Hotz at Rivendell Sound Recorders in Pasadena, Texas; with assistant engineering by Brian Tankersley. For fans of classic progressive/space/art rock.
During the same year that Beyond The Crystal Sea was recorded Jimmy Hotz helped ArkAngel create their masterpiece Warrior at the same studio. There was a lot of cross-pollination between Beyond The Crystal Sea and the ArkAngel album. Richard Conine, the keyboardist featured on Warrior, used the Polymoog synthesizer of Phil Huston, who played keyboards on Beyond The Crystal Sea alongside Paul Mills, while Huston used Conine’s Fender Rhodes piano on Beyond The Crystal Sea. Jimmy Hotz and Paul Mills recorded Warrior, and Mills wrote the string arrangements for that album as well.
At age 17 Jimmy Hotz joined the band The Blessed Hope from Houston and later Dove, both pioneering bands in the early years of Contemporary Christian Music. (Beyond The Crystal Sea actually features Bob Farrell of Farrell & Farrell fame on backing vocals, a former bandmate of Hotz from Dove.)
For those who fell in love with Dawn Treader One album which opened with «Beyond The Blues» this is the rest of the Jimmy Hotz album. Ask any in-the-know collector about the best Christian progressive art rock album and the answer is usually a toss up between Arkangel’s Warrior and this one. Beyond The Crystal Sea is the heavier and spacier of the two, plastered with what seems like layer upon layer of synthesizers. «March Of The Dead Souls» pins your ears to the wall from the start with its hard space rock barrage and eerie banshee choirs. Hotz’s layered hard rock guitar is absolutely venomous on «Hand Of The Most High» and the instrumental «Teton», while «Vision Ships», «Beyond The Blues», and «From Love Life Did Begin» are reminiscent of the melodic lavish textures of Yes (though vocally Hotz brings to mind Peter Gabriel of early Genesis). Kemper Crabb is in here playing recorder on «Alpine Magic». The production quality is superb as is the fantasy cover art. If you’ve got a good stereo you’re gonna wanna blast this up loud. It’s out of this world! [Ken Scott, The Archivist, 4th Edition]
Christian space rock with nostalgic composition, tempered heavy metal arrangements and “angelic interludes.” Good production and presentation aimed at a kind of space age version of Christian warrior mysticism, this LP examines reality through symbols like warriors, kings, queens, sailing ships, flowers, mountains, and magic lands. Stressing Truth, God and Love, four lyric-laden songs combine with vivid imagery in the cover art to hearken back to the fuzzy spirituality so popular in the Sixties. The album probably will speak more clearly to the already Christian and to those in states of pre-evangelization. [CCM (What’s New), January 1981]
This is a re-mastered re-release of an album originally issued in 1980 and now considered by prog rock collectors to be something of a classic. Jimmy Hotz is quite a character. He is a producer, engineer, musician and inventor who has worked with some of the best, Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Winwood, BB King, Yes, Chicago and many more. He has also been a technical consultant and inventor for major companies such as Microsoft, Intel, Electronic Arts, Atari and JBL. Back in 1979 Hotz recorded this album for America’s Born Twice Records. No those clever folk at Retroactive Records have re-mastered and re-packaged the tracks on CD. The album is very much of its time and is a fine example of ’70s-style prog with larger than life synth intros, long passionate, head back, foot on the monitor guitar breaks and sincere vocals with deep ethereal lyrics. There is much here to remind the listener of early Yes, Genesis and Marrillion, although Hotz himself sites his influences being The Moody Blues, early King Crimson, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Asia, oh and Yes. My favourite track, being a total rocker at heart, is «Teton», which has guitar and synth ripping holes in your sound system. «Observations Of A Larger Reality» has all the grandeur of a Rick Wakeman production, with «Beyond The Blues» appears to be a real nod to Hotz favourites The Moody Blues. I’m not sure what second track «Night Passage» is all about though as it sounds like two minutes of an airline flight from the passengers prospective. Perhaps that’s the point. However, it certainly doesn’t feel dated in its hi-fi quality, the re-mastering team have done a good job. and I know that ‘Beyond The Crystal Sea’ is able to hold its own against many more modern productions. Followers of prog rock will want to investigate this fascinating dig into the archives. [Paul Loader, Cross Rhythms, August 2010]
Beyond the Crystal Sea – 30th Anniversary Edition
It was 1979 and Christian music fans that leaned toward prog/art rock didn’t have a lot of options. Along comes Jimmy Hotz’ Beyond the Crystal Sea, with cover art featuring Hotz (?) looking like a New-Age saint, staff-in-hand, in front of an icon-heavy representation of all things spiritual: angels, sailing ships, rainbows, castles, the Universe itself….. Well, we never said that prog/art was free of pretentiousness – and judging by the cover art alone, we knew that this wasn’t going to be at least a little more adventurous than the latest Steve Camp or Amy Grant album.
Actually, Beyond the Crystal Sea was considerably more adventurous than much of what was offered in the CCM arena in those days. Hotz both hits and misses the mark over the album’s nine tunes (two of which, «Long, Long Ago» and «The Gates of Time» are bonus songs added to this CD), presenting well-produced tracks that range from hard-hitting instrumental epics («Teton») to overly spacy, wide-eyed Christian flower-child material, frequently talking about time and space, crystal ships, love and such – not that there’s anything wrong with that. In retrospect, though, I think we’ve all learned that our feet have a habit of being pulled back joltingly to the ground more often than we ever thought they would. Why do I feel like a grouchy old guy writing these words? Maybe because lyrics like those in «The Vision Ship» no longer mean as much to me as they did when I first heard them: “Rest my weary neighbor / With dreams in your heart / Sing of far and distant lands / board the Vision Ship, and let your worries go…” hey – I live in New York. If you do that, you’ll be mugged before the Vision Ship leaves port….
Lest you think this is a negative review, let me say that this is an enjoyable album, although it’s perhaps a bit stuck in time, making the nostalgia factor pretty important in terms of how well you may or may not enjoy it. While the playing and composition are fine, the lyrics can sound a bit dated and the vocal performances are a bit limp. You can still pump up «Teton» and have a great time, though.
Lyrically, the album is certainly ‘Christian’ in its message and imagery if perhaps sometimes overly mystical-sounding. Although the liner notes indicate that the album is “written, produced, engineered and performed by Jimmy Hotz,” there are additional credits for Brian Tankersley and Wayne Six on bass (as well as Hotz), Gary Ingram, Rocky Mountain (?), and Russell Dunlap on drums, Phil Huston, Paul Mills and Hotz on keyboards, Kemper Crabb on recorder and Bob Farrell and Carol Chambers joining Hotz on vocals. Hotz gets the sole credit for guitar, and his playing is quite good, fitting squarely in the prog guitar camp.
You might want to dig out your love beads, fire up some incense and turn on a strobe light while listening. Black-light posters are optional. [Bert Saraco, The Phantom Tollbooth, 2011]
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/beyond-the-crystal-sea/261126741)
LP tracklist:
Side One
A1. “Observations Of A Larger Reality” – 8:04
A2. “March Of Dead Souls” – 1:50
A3. “Hand Of The Most High” – 6:14
A4. “Night Passage” – 2:05
A5. “Vision Ships” – 5:16
Side Two
B1. “Teton” (Instrumental) – 3:07
B2. “Beyond The Blues” – 4:37
B3. “Alpine Magic” – 1:38
B4. “From Love Life Did Begin” – 6:27
Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and 12-inch vinyl LP by Vision Records. Remastered by J. Powell at Steinhaus and re-issued on CD by Born Twice Records in 2010 as Beyond The Crystal Sea – 30th Anniversary Edition, featuring two bonus tracks: “Long, Long Ago” (5:47) and “The Gates Of Time” (3:45).
CREDITS. Produced and engineered by Jimmy Hotz. Assistant Engineer: Brian Tankersley. Recorded and mixed at Rivendell Sound Recorders. Cover concept by Jimmy Hotz. Front Cover Art by Bruce Eagle.
Musicians: Jimmy Hotz (Vocals, Bass, Guitar, Keyboards), Paul Mills (Keyboards), Phil Huston (Keyboards), Kemper Crabb (Recorder), Brian Tankersley (Bass), Wayne Six (Bass), Gary Ingram (Drums), Rocky Mountain (Drums), Russell Dunlap (Drums). Backing Vocals: Bob Farrell, Carol Chambers.
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