A few of the tracks on
Glider were inspired by a British documentary that
Ian Thomas saw on television about the way in which man ruins the planet in an attempt to find new resources and habitat. What resulted was "Pilot," a song that swoops along on the strength of a smoothed-out chorus and guest musician
Bob Doidge's recorder. It was
Thomas' last Top 40 hit in Canada, peaking at number 32 in 1979. Although it didn't score as well, "Time Is the Keeper" was played steadily on the radio and added some stock to the
Glider album, as
Thomas managed to implement some enticing harmonies into the track even though it verges on a disco sound. The songs that were fueled by the documentary ("The Beast of Phobia," "Voices of the Children," "Small Talk") all come up short, and
Thomas' rage about big business' treatment of the planet fails to get off the ground because of silly lyrics and a lack of musical efficiency. After this release,
Thomas began to lose the interest of his Canadian fans and it seemed as though he couldn't even muster up another breakthrough single to boost the albums that followed.