Glyder are an Irish melodic rock band with very definite Thin Lizzy overtones. Playground For Life is their second album, following their critically acclaimed, self-titled debut released in 2006. 

As well as the fairly obvious Thin Lizzy sound, which is prevalent on most tracks, there’s also a quite unmistakable touch of early, Paul Di’Anno era Iron Maiden thrown in periodically for good measure (check out second track, “Sweets” and you’ll hear it immediately).  The songs themselves are well crafted and played throughout, reflecting a band who are clearly both musically competent and lyrically thoughtful and interesting. 

There are ten tracks on the album and each of them has something to offer, but of particular note are the epic and excellent title track as well as “For Your Skin” and the haunting closing track “The Merryground”, with its Pink Floyd / Marillion feel. The more you actually listen to the album the more intricate the songs reveal themselves to be, with so many facets to virtually every one of them. As a result, the album is one of those “growers” which seems to improve with every listen. The quality of the songwriting really does separate Glyder from the vast majority of up and coming acts that would be viewed as their peers, which augers extremely well for their future. 

For me the only slight weak link is bassist/vocalist Tony Cullen whose voice is a touch bland and not quite powerful or melodic enough to really do the material full justice. I’m probably being a bit harsh here but I think Glyder are genuinely capable of much bigger and better things but, to achieve this, maybe a dedicated singer/frontman should be considered. Cullen’s bass work is an integral part of the band’s sound and he would make a great backing vocalist so I would advocate that an addition rather than a replacement would be the way to go. 

Also worthy of note is the fabulous album artwork by Mark Wilkinson. I’m still very old-fashioned, loving to have a decent CD booklet (I’ve just about got over having to do without vinyl and gatefold sleeves) with a cover that hasn’t been nicked from some photoshop template and containing the words to the songs to sing along with. All in all, a really good quality release which will no doubt increase their popularity, as will their support slot on Fish’s forthcoming tour and an appearance at the Sweden Rock Festival in the summer. Critical acclaim will again be bestowed upon the band for this album and deservedly so, but I just have that little niggling feeling that as good as they undoubtedly are, they could be even better.

Let us know your views on Playground For Life

Track Listing

Gamblers Blues
Sweets
Puppet Queen
Playground for Life
For your Skin
Walkin' my own ground
Sleeping Gun
Dark Meets Light
Over and Over
The Merryground

Line Up

Tony Cullen - Vocals/Bass
Bat Kinane - Guitars
Pete Fisher - Guitars
Davy Ryan - Drums