CD Review
The Shades
Darker Side of Fun
(No record label No cat #)
by Gordon Baxter
Review date: November 2004
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The Shades are a new name to me, although judging by the sleeve notes on their album, "Darker Side Of Fun," they have been around for a few years. A seven piece band, with two lead vocalists (Julius Dilligard Jr. and Nicole Hart), on paper they have the appearance of a soul/rhythm and blues outfit. First impressions can be a bit misleading, however...
The introduction to the opening track, "Footprints," did not do much to endear the band to me. It seems rather wasteful to use a synthesized horn sound when there is a sax player in the band. Having said that, Dilligard does almost pull things out of the fire on a number that has a jazzy edge to it, calling to mind bands like the Doobie Brothers. Hart leads the way on the ensuing "When I Think About Love," which has real sax, although the tune itself has little to make it stick in the mind. The extended bluesy guitar opening of track three shows promise, before you realise that it is not a blues number at all, but is an extremely long winded version of The Eagles' "Take It To The Limit."
If you like footstomping rockers--think Tina Turner, or maybe Pat Benatar--then the next two tracks ("If I'm Wrong" and "You Can't See") may light your candle, but they did not do much for this reviewer. The synthesized horns on "(Stop Doing) The Devil's Work" do not do much to redeem things, either. Fortunately, things do improve significantly for the closer,
"Blackout." It is an instrumental which is dominated by some fine tenor sax from Michael Carbone, who takes it in turns to lead from the front with guitarist Tony Pagano. The only downside is that it does rather overstay its welcome, and could easily have been cut by two or three minutes without really losing anything.
Everything is played well, and sung well on "Darker Side Of Fun," but it seems to lack a real spark of vitality that would make it stand out. It is not a blues album as such, although there are elements of blues underpinning quite a few of the songs. There are quite a few pointers that suggest that The Shades put on a good live show, but on "Darker Side of Fun" they just sound a bit too flat.
www.TheShades.net
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