Saturday, May 14, 2016

The Shining True Skies

        The Shining were an English rock band formed in 2000 that consisted of two ex-Verve members (bassist Simon Jones and Guitarist and keyboardist Simon Tong). This is an extra bit of rock magic you have never heard. Their album True Skies gives that adrenaline warm-blooded feeling. The feeling that only those lesser known musicians with something to prove can deliver. I will point out the highs and lows of this album.

Quicksilver- Steady bass and guitar line. The vocals are what make the song.

Young Again -A more complicated song with greater musical range. Different sounding chords during the verses.

Find A Reason- This song is neither dynamic nor a hard rocker. However it has gentle crescendos. A relaxing song. Interesting instrumentation at the very end.

Creast Of An Ocean- The music is high energy. The first song with a guitar solo. Although the pure guitar solo is short it continues through increasingly intense vocals. Then a whammy bar sounding outro. Great song!

Show You The Way- I love the bass in this song! Such a steady beat. And the vocals are well done in terms of accompanying the music. The best solo of the album so far. Very extensive and the exciting unique guitar not heard as often anymore.

I Wonder How- The vocals are very affecting and have wide range. The lyrics are unspecific and kind of weak. But the music sounds unique and the singing is great to listen to.

 I Am The One- This is a slower and beautiful song. The lyrics are stronger than other songs. The singing conveys much emotion yet is restrained. The beginning music alludes to The Beatles Strawberry Fields Forever.

Danger- Another slow song. The lyrics and vocals are strengthened by the obvious sincerity in Duncan's voice. This band is authentic. They bring something more than meets the surface. Sounds like a steel guitar is in the mix. I imagine going to see these guys perform would be fun. Although they broke up in 2003.

Find Your Way Home- This song has a slightly different feel and more textured sound. No disrespect to the band intended but this is fantastic background music. Towards the end is a guitar sound that hasn't been heard yet on the record. A sound that has vibrations to it. The high pitch notes resonate into the music's atmosphere.

What You See- Another song to start with acoustic guitar. This is creatively done. But the lyrics and vocals don't initially excite one. However the value of the song as a whole builds if you listen all the way through. This is because the "Through my eyes" part adds greater meaning.

Until The End- You now know this song is a 10 minute epic. Listening to it as a whole should be greater than the sum of sampling it. This consistently captivating song has a slow build with interesting percussion. However the lyrics are vague with only some crescendos. This spells relaxing. Suddenly around 7 minutes the volume of the music is being raised when you aren't pressing or turning it up. Oh my what an easy listen this album is. You can sit through is in one pleasant sitting as I have done tonight. The music is not really that intense with no controversy. Parents this is rock music to enjoy with your kids! This will rock their socks off!

Quicksilver Outro- Glad they kept this in. They were obviously coming up with some good music during the Quicksilver sessions. This is a variation of the music. And an interesting piece of music to stand on its own. However if you listened to music as artists never intended you might be disappointed in downloading this one track.

    As a whole, I believe The Shining have a truly unique sound. And if you have good relatively free spirited individuals in your family then they will all enjoy this music. The lyrics are uncontroversial. The music is interesting. It rocks sometimes but mostly has a pleasant enjoyable beat.

Check out this album for yourself.
True Skies