SHAW BLADES: Influence

Cover	Release	Style
	2007-02-16	AOR
	Label
	www.frontiers.it
	Website
	www.shawblades.com / www.myspace.com/shawbladesinfluence
	Contact

	Playing Time	Cat. N°
	39:06	FR PR CD 324
	Review by / Translated by	Rating
	Jany / Jennifer	8/10
nederlands	Review
I find that this ‘Influence’ CD, from Styx guitarist Tommy Shaw and Damn Yankees colleague Jack Blades, to be more than successful (this being in contrast to the 2005 cover album from Styx called ‘Big Bang Theory’). The Night Ranger bassist and the singer of Blades play drums and keyboards and all kinds of instruments here together with Shaw. The songs are all well known gems from the 60s and early 70s. That makes it more difficult because everyone knows the originals so well and that makes the challenge of it all even bigger… Their voices and the fabulous vocal harmonies is definitely the strongest element of their collaboration. Every song remains recognizable because the original singing is almost identical to the original. They have covered songs from Yes, Emerson, Lake and Palmer and Simon and Garfunkel, a rather unlikely mix. Another surprise is that most of the keyboard pieces have been dropped and reduces to a strict minimum but are not missed because of the incredible guitar pieces from Tommy Shaw. The songs are all slightly adjusted, modernized and sometimes contain some guitar solos (that unfortunately weren’t there in the original versions). The songs with the most keyboards were stripped to the essentials but still retain the power that’s needed for a strongly composed song. Rock elements were added to the songs of Simon and Garfunkel and the singing was just as good as the original. The Moog solo from Emerson was replaced by rock solid guitar work. As far as song choice is concerned, there’s nothing really noticeable. The mood that is conjured up will certainly put a lot of smiles on the faces of the 45 plussers. Songs like “California Dreamin” from the Mamas and the Papas and “Dirty Work” from Steely Dan work surprisingly well. The version of Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth” can compare to the original. ‘Influence’ conjures up a lot of memories from the past when music was written from the soul of the composer. Nostalgic pleasures and day dreaming about my youth was unavoidable…J They’ve got to make more albums like this one…
Musicians
Jack Blades: Bass, Acoustic Guitar, Percussion, Vocals Tommy Shaw: Electric and Acoustic Guitars, Keyboards, Percussion, Vocals Extra Musicians: Michael Lardie: Keyboards Brian Tichy: Drums Kelly Keagy: Drums on 'DirtyWork' Ben Krames: Drums on 'Time Of The Season' Colin Blades: Backing Vocals on "Your Move" Randy Mitchell: Loops
Tracklist
Summer Breeze (Seals & Crofts, 1972) Time of the Season (Zombies, 1968) Your Move (Yes, 1971) I Am a Rock (Simon & Garfunkel, 1966) Lucky Man (Emerson, Lake & Palmer, 1970) Sounds of Silence (Simon & Garfunkel, 1964) California Dreamin’ (Mamas and the Papas, 1963) On a Carousel (Hollies, 1965) Dirty Work (Steely Dan, 1972) For What It’s Worth (Buffalo Springfield, 1967) Dance with Me (Orleans, 1975)
Discography


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