Here’s the Birmingham UK band Shy – representing the very best of mid 80’s AOR out of the UK, and also one that deserved to go a little bit further with fame and fortune.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Shy
ALBUM: Excess All Areas
LABEL: RCA
SERIAL: PL 71221
YEAR: 1987
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: England
LINEUP: Tony Mills – vocals *Steve Harris – guitars * Paddy McKenna – keyboards * Roy Davis – bass * Alan Kelly – drums
TRACK LISTING: 01 Emergency * 02 Can’t Fight The Nights * 03 Young Heart * 04 Just Love Me * 05 Break Down The Walls * 06 Under Fire * 07 Devil Woman * 08 Talk To Me * 09 When The Love Is Over * 10 Telephone
WEBLINKS: FB Page
Background
Here’s the Birmingham UK band Shy – representing the very best of mid 80’s AOR out of the UK, and also one that deserved to go a little bit further with fame and fortune.
Coming out of nowhere in 1983 with their debut ‘Once Bitten, Twice..’, Shy then progressed onto bigger and better things with the classic ‘Brave The Storm’ album. For this one they recruited demi-god Neil Kernon, and what we get is near perfect American flavoured AOR played in British fashion.
The obvious standouts for the band are the shrill high pitched but powerhouse vocals of Tony Mills, combined with the stylish playing of Steve Harris and the lovely ivory tinklings of Paddy McKenna. This combination when on-song, can perform some wonderful pieces of music.
The Songs
The album opens up with a brace of classic tracks. ‘Emergency’, ‘Can’t Fight The Nights’ and the sensational ‘Young Heart’. Phew! Gimme a breather! We slow up a bit for the ballad ‘Just Love Me’ before we race off to bang our heads again to ‘Break Down The Walls’.
‘Under Fire’ and the Cliff Richard chestnut ‘Devil Woman’ follow suit, and though good, are just slightly behind on what we’ve already heard so far.
‘Talk To Me’ increases the tempo again, those brass parps of McKenna sounding like he’s taken a Roland keyboard instructors course with Mic Michaeli of Europe. Another fantastic ballad appears in the shape of ‘When The Love Is Over’ while the album closes out with the racy/pulse driven ‘Telephone’.
In Summary
Any other UK band (apart from perhaps FM, Dare, Strangeways, Magnum) would be hard pressed to play AOR this well.
Though Mills vocal style takes a bit of getting used to, he is one of the compelling reasons I like this band so much.
The CD is now available through Zoom Club Records, and along with the aforementioned ‘Brave The Storm’ these two are compulsory acquisitions for your collection.
Shy on Video
Click to go to YTM album page.
