If

Many 21st-century prog rock bands downplay their '70s roots, preferring to create an identity uncolored by close associations with Yes, Genesis, and the like. And while Glass Hammer have experimented with touches of everything from pop to metal since starting out in 1993, the arrival of singer Jon Davison and guitarist Alan Shikoh on 2010's If put the band definitively on an old-school symphonic rock course. Keyboardist Fred Schendel and bass/keyboard man Steve Babb had been the core of the band from the start. Davison and Shikoh not only helped solidify Glass Hammer's lineup; they enabled a full-scale embrace of the band's roots. On If's five tracks—mostly epic-length excursions—tricky time signatures, complex counterpoints, and dizzying polyrhythms are delivered, along with plenty of analog-sounding synth lines, airy vocals, and deftly melodic guitar riffs. If that sounds like a trip back to the glory days of prog, well, why not? And if any further proof of Glass Hammer's mastery of the form is required, consider the fact that Yes themselves tapped Davison as their new frontman in 2012.