Reviews

...Things do take a marketable ‘prog’ turn at the midway point. “Give It Time,” “How Can We Go On This Way” and “Lost In It All” sound like modern day prog — layered and intricate instrumental passages, no overtly singable lyrics and even a violin solo (though no violin player is listed on the credits). “Curiosity Song (I Only Want To Know”) has a little piano, but it comes in a little too late for my tastes — although a welcome change from the big drums and ‘arpeggiating’ guitars. “Peasant Under Class” and “All Fixed” harness an almost mid 80s sensibility and production, leading me once again to think this album is more pop then prog. “We strove for a balance of staying true to the songs as written while letting the artists bring something of themselves to the music,” Chris says about Reflections: An Act Of Glass. This is a fine tribute to a good songwriter, obviously a great brother and a man who died way too young.
www.vintagerock.com/classiceye/ag_reflections.aspx

...Opening track, "The Tall Tale Heart", way over eight minutes long though and sung by the excellent Nick D'Virgilio. "Give It Time" is happy, poppy, prog 'ala Rush at their most melodic day. "How Can We Go On This Way", smells like the eighties with The Police doing Prog-Rock music with Peter Gabriel. "Lost In It All" is very much like Gowan on a long road trip with Yes during the era of 90125. Tons of lovely keyboards, bass-lines in the vein of Geddy Lee (Rush), grace and hi-tech guitar sounds, makes Reflections a highlight of 2009. Great production - great songs. Highly recommended!!!
www.rockunited.com/reviews2009_01_03.htm

...Despite the whole rotating membership-dealie, An Act of Glass is a very wholesome experience; its peculiar atmosphere is intact from beginning to end, and every song that's been crammed into those fourty-some minutes is good. Some are considerably better than just "good", of course, but having a consistently above average, entirely filler-free CD is a pretty sweet place to be. My favourite track comes early: "The Tall Tale Heart", the first of a total of eight pretty dang decent prog rock tunes, is the longest cut on the record, starring Nick D'Virgilio of Spock's Beard fame on vocals. D'Virgilio's participation may partly explain my bias towards the 8-minute wonder, but every participant does a great job of starting things out with a bang here. The music and lyrics were all written by Andrew, and the resultant album proves that his compositional talents were undeniable. Props also have to be given to the musicians involved with the project, as they've all all injected it with plenty of personality, with Chris' dependable drumming a constant highlight. Also worth a mention is the production, which has left no instrument out in the cold...
www.metal-revolution.com/plugins/content/content.php?content.2107

Interview with Chris
www.seaoftranquility.org/article.php?sid=1289

...Stylistically the music on Reflections – An Act of Glass is a modern, arty, melodic progressive rock that is brimming with great melodies and hummable tunes. There are eight compositions here most in the five minute range allowing plenty of time for some interesting musical change-ups. As sonic reference points, I was strangely reminded of bands such as Esquire, Art InAmerica and Big Generator era Yes. These tunes first and foremost are great songs, but within each are any number of proggy embellishments and sophisticated arrangements. The odd-time the music shifts quite dramatically but more often than not, it slides into a different musical style seamlessly. A couple times the tune will start out a certain way but will end with a completely different coda. Perhaps the thing that was most noticeable was the upbeat nature of this disc. One is left with such a positive feeling….it like driving in your convertible with the top down on a sunny day. A fitting tribute to what was clearly an amazing musical talent...
www.jerrylucky.com/reviews%20f-j_024.htm

...First thing first, this is well performed (the line up guarantees that) modern US prog with a lot of pop elements, which could easily classify it as crossover progressive rock. Apparently, it should mostly appeal to fans of Yes (Trevor Horn era), Asia, mid 80s Rush, Saga, Spock’s Beard and Cannata. However, influences is one thing, but Gorczyca’s songs have a life of their own. Having the advantage of a persuasive production that brings the emotions out of every track, the music follow its course, which can be described as mainly up-beat based on a big drums sound, varying synth layers, intense guitar solos, effective in the foreground bass lines, clever arrangements and quite impressive vocals. Oh, I almost forgot to mention the violin solo by Billy Oskay in "Lost In Time" one of my personal highlights. Track list includes 8 songs whose length doesn’t exceed the five minutes with the exception of the excellent opener "The Tall Tale Heart". For many prog fans this could be an issue to keep them away, but the truth is that the songwriting is more mature than they could ever expected. Most of all, it is not going around in circles only to demonstrate musicians’ virtuosity. Instead, it focuses in the sentiments and that’s fine with me...
www.metalperspective.com/reviews/andrewgorczyca.php

Drummer CHRIS G. has done something quite stunning, because REFLECTIONS is a tribute to his brother Andrew Dean Gorczyca, who sadly died in 2004 at the age of 40. Andrew has been working on music compositions mainly throughout the 1980s and 1990s, but never was able to officially release an album. However, after his passing, his brother Chris was destined to record a full-CD as a tribute to his brother and so he got help from a bunch of respected musicians from the progscene, such as Adrian Belew, Nick D’Virgilio (SPOCK’S BEARD), Phil Keaggy, Mike Keneally and ENCHANT singer TED LEONARD. Together they recorded a fantastic CD with material that was originally written by Andrew. Musically we get to hear something very sensational, as ‘The music of Andrew Gorczyca’ contains high quality Neo-Progressive Rock that is not too far away from 80s SAGA, IT BITES and 80s IQ. Really excellent material from start to finish, just listen to such wonderful melodic tunes like “The tall tale heart”, “Give it time” and “Peasant under glass”. ‘Reflections – An Act of Glass’ is a wonderful tribute to Andrew and the music that meant everything to him. A highly recommended Melodic Neo-Prog masterpiece in the best 80s style of IT BITES and SAGA
strutter77.angelfire.com/HOTNEWREVIEWS141.htm

...The history behind this production is a heartwarming one, and looking at the musicians involved in this project one can't help admiring the efforts of Chris Gorczyca – not only did he manage to get his brother's works recorded post mortem, but he managed to get some really high profile musicians to participate in doing so. It's obvious that he's been truly passionate in creating an album as well made as possible to serve as the musical legacy of his brother to the world. The contents of this release won't set the world on fire though. It's stated on the homepage of this venture that Andrew had his most prolific years as a songwriter in the ‘80s and ‘90s and many of the songs do seem to belong to that era – there is a late ‘80s atmosphere to this disc from start to finish. Musically we're dealing with an album that belongs in the lighter segment of progressive music, more art pop than rock and with distinct mainstream tendencies. No thrills and frills, but pretty basic melodic music in between pop and rock in expression spiced with a few progressive dimensions. A driving, energetic bass guitar gives all the compositions but one momentum, taking the song in question forwards and maintaining a musical foundation for the proceedings. Wandering, clean guitar layers provide the melody; sometimes toned down riffs are utilized and there's also the odd appearance from the acoustic guitar, but the electric clean-sounding guitar dominates this venture through and through, effectively contrasting the bass while serving up some at times really neat themes. ..
www.progressor.net/review/gorczyca_2009.html

What brings top-tier artists like Adrian Belew (King Crimson, Frank Zappa, David Bowie), Phil Keaggy, Mike Keneally, Shawn Farley (Yogi, Half Zaftig), several members of Spock’s Beard, and more together to appear on an independent album? Sadly, it was the death of Chris G’s brother, Andrew Gorczyca, four years previously. _Reflections: An Act of Glass is a tribute to his memory and a recording by these many talented artists of his songs. Despite the fact that the album was recorded by many different artists in 12 different studios, it works very well as an album, maintaining a clean, harmonic prog sound reminiscent of ‘80s-‘90s Rush, The Police, maybe a little Tears for Fears, but still managing to stay as fresh as yesterday. Listeners can also hear shades of Yes (in “How Can We Go on This Way?”) and Blue Oyster Cult (in “Give It Time”). The mix is brilliant, integrating vocals, bass, keyboards, guitars, and drums together, while keeping each as an identifiable contribution, allowing each musician to show his considerable skills...
www.tollbooth.org/2008/reviews/gorczyca.html

...The highlights are the two songs sung by Ted Leonard, the Enchant-y "Peasant Under Class" and "Give It Time" which sounds a lot like Canadian superstars Rush. The latter alone notches the score up one point! This may not be a band, but in Prog and Melodic Rock most people listen to that stuff at home anyway, so it is not a huge drawback. Chris did a very good job releasing his brother’s legacy, although one is tempted to ask if eight songs with 40 minutes were all that could be retrieved. If there is more stuff to find, a recommendation must be made to Chris to continue and release whatever seems worthy, as Andrew was as good a songwriter as many others in the genre, without a doubt. For people who like good AOR or mellow Prog this is a nice record to have, just don’t let the label name lead you astray. It is a sad reason for which this album saw the light of day, but now that it did, it is worth being discovered.
www.metalexpressradio.com/menu.php?main=reviews&id=2926

...The songs themselves are all quite enjoyable, and there's enough variety here--largely due to the rotating collaborators--to keep the album interesting. The record gets off to a great start with the Nick D'Virgilio-fronted "The Tall Tale Heart" which is also the album's longest track by far at over eight minutes. The song has a wonderful driving melody that starts as the leading instrumental melody, which later becomes the main vocal melody. Nick gives one of the album's best vocal performances here, and manages to give a good introduction to the album's tone: upbeat music, even if the lyrical content isn't necessarily happy (in this case, the song is about deception). Other highlights on the album include the two songs fronted by Enchant's Ted Leonard, who provides some of his most accessible vocal work in years on "Give it Time" (which sounds a bit like a cross between Rush and his work with Xen) and "Peasant Under Class."..
www.progressivemelodies.com/2009/02/andrew-gorczyca-reflections-act-of.html

Final words, I think that Chris G, should be proud of this legacy, in honour of his brother whom obviously was a very talented songwriter. Also let me say this...Chris G, himself a fine musician, the drums on all tracks are excellent!! Furthermore what a nice touch, what a genuine thought, to bring Andrews music forth, so that we all can hear his talent by way of all these brilliant musicians!! IMHO this is a fine release and I recommend this album to all friends of high quality artrock/ with hints progrock!! You deserve this music experience and Andrew & Chris, deserves all the attention, they can get, for this very fine album filled with enthusiastic & superb musicianship in honour of Andrew G!! This is one album that will stay on my stereo for a long time!!
www.progplanet.com/index.php?categoryid=34&p2_articleid=739

...So, lots of clever musicians, recordings organized by his brother, a recording process lasting four years: how much can be left of Andrew's songs? I would say that it's a fair bit. In organizing and directing the sessions, Chris's aim was to strive "for a balance of staying true to the songs as written, while letting the artists bring something of themselves to the music". Isn't this what happens in good progressive rock bands, albeit with the original composer present? In this instance Chris was effectively taking the role of composer, Andrew's home "demos" effectively becoming his, but the process must otherwise be very similar. Progressive rock musicians rarely get writing credits on songs to whose arrangements they make major contributions (of course, this is often the cause of some angst as litigations like the Fisher vs. Brooker case over "A Whiter Shade of Pale" shows, but that's a debate for another day!), so I think overall it's fair to credit this music to Andrew Gorczyca. His album then, Reflections - An Act of Glass, may well be a short album by today's standards (I actually prefer them of this duration, there's less chance of "fluff") but it's a legacy that has been well worth the effort preserving and it is going to give (hopefully many) people much enjoyment over the years...
www.seaoftranquility.org/reviews.php?op=showcontent&id=7558

Relfections - A Touch of Glass is a postumous project by Andrew Gorczyca, that has written all the songs on this cd and contributes as a singer. His brother has finished this work in progress, helped by a "who's who" group of today's prog community. These are probably not the ideal conditions to make a consistent body of music, but surprisingly, Relfections - A Touch of Glass does not at all sound like a disparate collection of songs. There is a common thread to these pieces that together make one of the better Prog albums of 2009. I consider Relfections - A Touch of Glass to be a prog-pop album in a way first made popular by Asia. Great singing on catchy tunes, with interesting instrumental sections featuring lively synth and guitar solos, is how I would describe the music on Relfections - A Touch of Glass. The compositions are all very good and considering the level talent involved on this project, it's not surprising that the performances are all excellent. Fans of Asia, GTR and more recently of Kino should really check this album out. If we were still in the eighties, this music would be on FM stations worldwide. Great stuff indeed!!
www.proggnosis.com/PGRelease.asp?RID=28404

...“What is best described as a true labor of love for drummer Chris G has been completed.” ‘The recorded work, a tribute CD of the music of his late brother Andrew, is the culmination of nearly four years' effort devoted to countless studio sessions.” ‘At its core, the music would fall into the progressive rock category, given the elaborate arrangements and instrumentation. “A total of eighteen progressive rock players were recorded in twelve different studios located in six different American cities.” “This host of artists associated with the genre provided the cast of players sought by Chris to recreate Andrew's music with professional flair and credibility.” “Thanks to their talents, Andrew's musical spirit will endure, accessible to everyone. “According to Chris – "We strove for a balance of staying true to the songs as written while letting the artists bring something of themselves to the music." “Within that framework, the recording was completed as a lasting tribute to Andrew and the music that meant everything to him (http://www.chris-g.com/reflections/, 2009).”..
www.prognaut.com/reviews/chris-g.html

This is a posthumous album that was released as a brotherly tribute. It took drummer Chris G four years to render the music that his late brother Andrew Gorczyca (1963-2004) left behind. All eight songs on the album were written since 1983, so what you hear is mostly ‘80s pop. Indeed, Reflections – An Act of Glass bears the spirit of that age. So if you’re a fan of Asia, you will enjoy this album. In particular, “Give It Time” reminds of what we used to call YesWest back in the late ‘80s, “How Can We Go on This Way?” sounds a bit like the Genesis pop trio, “Curiosity (I Only Want to Know)” flirts with the Van Halen sound of the ‘80s, and “All Fixed (Predestination)” with that of the ‘80s’ Rush...
usaprogmusic.com/joomla/index.php?option=com_simple_review&Itemid=28&review=276-Andrew-Gorczyca-Reflections-An-Act-of-Glass

...It's fairly down the middle, classic eighties style progressive rock, and when a really good song comes along, as it does on the likes of 'From This Day Forward' and 'Curiosity Song (I Only Want To Know)', then it rises above its provenance, and stands alone as a recording. With eighteen performers recording in twelve different studios in six cities over four years, you wouldn't think it would all hang together as a unified collection, but it does, and if you like your prog on the melodic side, you might want to check this out.
www.the-rocker.co.uk