Artist: Shadowman
Label: Escape Music
Release: 2006
Rating: 4/5
This is unbelievable! Are we witnessing a real “revival” of AOR hard rock melodics? The stream of excellent records just won’t dry up. This time it’s the release of “Different Angles” by Shadowman, who debuted two years ago with “Land Of The Living” (2004), a first album that came damn close to perfection. So how do you match or top an album like that?
Obviously, for old seasoned foxes like Steve Overland (FM), Steve Morris (Heartland), and Thunder’s bassist Chris Childs and drummer Harry James, that’s no obstacle at all. Sure, just like the debut, “Different Angles” doesn’t hide a few close parallels with Heartland and FM, but Shadowman are building an identity of their own and coming across as a fresh attraction on the British melodic rock scene. It’s not hard to say that “Land Of The Living” was one of the best records in the genre to come out of Great Britain in 2004 (thank god the old farts are still moving and shaking!).
Of course, expectations for “Different Angles” were huge after such a polished debut! The opener Learning to Live Without You, with verses for every guy who’s just had an ugly breakup and needs help realizing it was actually a stroke of luck, confirms right away that the new album is the real rock deal. I don’t want to repeat myself too much with AOR hard rock albums, but the genre really is booming! And when you get four hardened old tomcats under one roof in one band, great music simply can’t fail to show up.
Steve Overland’s voice has that phenomenal breeze of bluesy feel, which the guy slips deftly into his trademark singing style, on top of an otherwise mostly classic approach to vocals in AOR circles. In terms of passion, you could squeeze Overland’s voice somewhere in between soul heavyweights like Paul Rodgers (ex-Free, Bad Company) and Bobby Kimball (Toto), though still well east of Glenn Hughes. Overland simply gives Shadowman big wings of emotion, which carry “Different Angels” high from start to finish. He’s fully in it and has a great knack for adapting his voice to the different moods of the record. Alongside that, it’s an absolute joy to hear Steve Morris chasing that signature sonic perfection. He handled the “top class” production: crystal-clear, clean, and perfectly balanced. The songs are all on the same level, none particularly stands out stylistically, they all have a polished shape, heads and tails, and go into your ears shamelessly smoothly. But this isn’t an album that just passes through your system. It’s an extremely polished record where you can always stop and marvel at the perfect production, every last gap in the transitions filled, the finely mosaicked fit of the folded layers of instruments that make up the backdrop of Shadowman’s sound curtain, all of it faithfully seasoned with impressive little but effective guitar touches. Shadowman aren’t shy about bringing in pop rock elements, usually in the intro sections of songs, which sooner or later turn into a melodic attack of guitar riffs. With the pop, Shadowman might actually come off a notch too sappy in the semi-acoustic Runaway Girl, which fans of soft American tunes will love.
The “backing vocal” lines are practically flawless across the whole record! The choruses are the peaks of the songs, with the most impressive moments in Way Of The Wolrd, Cry Wolf, and Did It For Love! One of the high points of musical perfection on “Different Angles” is In The Shadows, with its lively, fat, voluminous bass rhythm “drive” and an excellent weave of acoustic guitar with the punch of “juiced-up” riffs. The instrumental middle section sounds in this song like modern Uriah Heep were right there with us (especially in the bass rumble and the warmth of the keyboards). Of course, the band serves up a whole range of songs with different tempos and moods. In that respect Shine On is a seriously “sped-up” closer, with the perfect guitar production of the noblest Boston, plus the warmth of Hammond organ in the background! It’s also the exit of the record, which ends in a way that makes you want to spin it again and again!
This is simply an album that can’t and won’t disappoint. An album for everyone looking for the flawless perfection of crafted songs that graced this genre when bands were making it in the late seventies and through the eighties. As I said, they slide into your ear on the first listen and have a perfect balance of instrument placement and a perfectly filled-out picture. If “Different Angles” had come out 20 years ago, and if I subtract the mentioned lapse into sappiness, it would probably be sharing the flattering title of cult classic with its 20-years-older brothers today.
Lineup
Steve Overland – vocals
Steve Morris – guitar
Chris Childs – bass guitar
Harry James – drums
Production
Steve Morris
Track list
1. Learn To Live Without You
2. Take Me Home
3. Cry Wolf
4. When Its Gone
5. The Way Of The World
6. In The Shadows
7. Did It For Love
8. Chains
9. Dreams Die Hard
10. Runaway Girl
11. Satellite
12. Shine On
Album length: 52:14
