Shadowman (ENGLAND)

[Horex]

Shadowman - Land Of The Living (2004)













Year : 2004
Style : Melodic Hard Rock , AOR
Country : United Kingdom
Audio : 320 kbps + all scans
Size : 116 mb

Bio:

Steve Overland is a legend in his own lifetime and needs no introduction to any fan of British rock music.He has a musical history that goes way back into the late seventies and his first major recording was with the band “Wildlife” in 1980.Their first album “Burning” was a fine introduction to his vocal prowess while the second album “Wildlife” in 1983 extended his popularity.This album also featured Simon Kirke (Bad Company) on drums.After the demise of “Wildlife” Steve went on to form the cult British melodic rock band “FM”, a band that released many great albums throughout the eighties and nineties.Steve also released his first solo album in 2008 titled 'Break Away' and has released other albums on the Escape label for the FM spin-off band 'The Ladder'.FM are currently preparing themselves for a headline performance at the 2009 Firefest festival in Nottingham UK.

Album:

Impressive line-up, consisting of lead vocalist Steve Overland (FM), guitar slinger and keyboard twiddler Steve Morris (Heartland), bass player Chris Childs (Thunder) and skinsman Harry James (Thunder). A strong line-up doesnt always guarantee a good album, but in this case I can easily state that Land Of The Living is a fine slab of easy listening AOR, expertly executed by all musicians involved.With various members of FM, Heartland and Thunder in the ranks, it won?t come as a surprise when I would describe the music of this Shadowman as a perfect mix of all three bands, with some slight blues influences thrown in for good measure. My favourite tracks include both openers ?Those Days Are Gone? and ?Medicine To Me?, ?Land Of The Living? (featuring special guest Mike Walsh ? from Departure ? on horns), ?Waiting For The Good Times?, ?Silver Lining? and ?If I Had Wings?, which are all more up-tempo than the rest of the (sometimes tame) material.Produced by Steve Morris and mixed by Pete ?Peewee? Coleman, this is another fine album from Escape Music, which will soon throw its 100th release on the market.

Line-Up:

Steve Overland - Vocals (Overland , FM)
Steve Morris - Guitar and Keyboards (Heartland)
Chris Childs - Bass (Thunder)
Harry James - Drums (Thunder)

Tracklist:

01. Those Days Are Gone [04:40]
02. Medicine To Me [04:06]
03. Touched By An Angel [04:31]
04. Gypsy Heart [04:20]
05. Land Of The Living [04:29]
06. Shelter Me [04:24]
07. Count Me Out [04:59]
08. How Does It Feel? [05:39]
09. Waiting For The Good Times [03:58]
10. Wild Waters [05:45]
11. Silver Lining [04:59]
12. If I Had Wings [04:04] (Bonus Track)




Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/

[Horex]

Shadowman - Different Angles (2006)













Year : 2006
Style : Melodic Hard Rock , AOR
Country : United Kingdom
Audio : 320 kbps + all scans
Size : 115 mb

Bio:

Steve Overland is a legend in his own lifetime and needs no introduction to any fan of British rock music.He has a musical history that goes way back into the late seventies and his first major recording was with the band “Wildlife” in 1980.Their first album “Burning” was a fine introduction to his vocal prowess while the second album “Wildlife” in 1983 extended his popularity.This album also featured Simon Kirke (Bad Company) on drums.After the demise of “Wildlife” Steve went on to form the cult British melodic rock band “FM”, a band that released many great albums throughout the eighties and nineties.Steve also released his first solo album in 2008 titled 'Break Away' and has released other albums on the Escape label for the FM spin-off band 'The Ladder'.FM are currently preparing themselves for a headline performance at the 2009 Firefest festival in Nottingham UK.

Album:

Two years after the very well received debut ‘’Land Of The Living’’ SHADOWMAN return with the classy ‘’Different Angles’’ And true to that debut this sophomore offering remains an excellent Melodic Rock workout. In my eyes these guys can’t fail. Where a decent UK Melodic Rock band is about as likely as catching fish in the Sahara Steve Overland and Co. deliver well crafted slabs of catchy Melodic Rock that competes and at times beats anything else out there.Fronted by the magnificent vocals of Overland (yet another in a long line of fine singers from the UK) and ably assisted by the seductive but not overwrought guitar work of Steve Morris SHADOWMAN let loose with consummate ease and versatility. Overland’s voice shines through on the ballad ‘’ Did It For Love’’ and rocks on the likes of ‘’In The Shadows’’, ‘’Way Of The World’’ and the driving ‘’Chains’’ The guitar work on tracks like ‘’Take Me Home’’ and the opening track is mesmerizing. Never overdone or undercooked Morris can really nail those licks and hooks.For a genre much maligned and slatted Melodic Rock seems to grow from strength to strength and I’ve no doubt that ‘’Different Angles’’ will be in a few top ten lists come the year end.

Line-Up:

Steve Overland - Vocals (Overland , FM)
Steve Morris - Guitar and Keyboards (Heartland)
Chris Childs - Bass (Thunder)
Harry James - Drums (Thunder)

All songs produced by Steve Morris
All songs mixed by Pete "Peewee" Coleman
Executive Producer: Khalil Turk

Tracklist:

01. Learn To Live Without You 4:48
02. Take Me Home 5:14
03. Cry Wolf 5:22
04. When It's Gone It's Gone 3:26
05. Way Of The World 4:09
06. In The Shadows 4:39
07. Did It For Love 6:03
08. Chains 3:30
09. Dreams Die Hard 4:28
10. Runaway Girl 4:07
11. Satellite 2:59
12. Shine On 3:02




Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/

[Horex]

Shadowman - Ghost In The Mirror (2008)













Year : 2008
Style : Melodic Hard Rock , AOR
Country : United Kingdom
Audio : 320 kbps + all scans
Size : 121 mb

Bio:

Steve Overland is a legend in his own lifetime and needs no introduction to any fan of British rock music.He has a musical history that goes way back into the late seventies and his first major recording was with the band “Wildlife” in 1980.Their first album “Burning” was a fine introduction to his vocal prowess while the second album “Wildlife” in 1983 extended his popularity.This album also featured Simon Kirke (Bad Company) on drums.After the demise of “Wildlife” Steve went on to form the cult British melodic rock band “FM”, a band that released many great albums throughout the eighties and nineties.Steve also released his first solo album in 2008 titled 'Break Away' and has released other albums on the Escape label for the FM spin-off band 'The Ladder'.FM are currently preparing themselves for a headline performance at the 2009 Firefest festival in Nottingham UK.

Album:

At last Shadowman finally sounds like the sum of its parts! Vocalist Steve Overland (FM) and multi-instrumentalist Steve Morris (Heartland) team up for their third record as Shadowman, but possibly the first that sound exactly as I had hoped the guys would – the perfect blend of current era Heartland mixed with classic FM.This is easily the best of the three Shadowman records and personally speaking it is already my favourite Steve Overland record to date.In a year where the stakes have been set high, the guys deliver another high classic melodic rock release that should rank as essential for all fans of FM, Overland and Heartland.This is a more uptempo record than previous releases and slightly heavier also, but still very much melodic rock. They aren't trying to be heavier than needed (such as the last Heartland record) nor too soft (such as the last album).This is perfectly balanced, engaging melodic rock, with energy and spunk and I love it.The rhythm section is a particular highlight here, with Thunder's Harry James really belting out the numbers. Steve Morris is filled with the great riffs that I thought were lacking on his last couple of record and Steve Overland simply sounds utterly phenomenal!This is one of the performances of the year.The record is mixed to perfection by Tommy Hansen and just sounds world class in every aspect.And credit to al, the songs on offer are the most engaging and catchy of the three records to date and some of the best material Morris has delivered full stop. I hope his run of inspiration lasts into the next Heartland record.Highlights are many once again – song of the year for 2008 is going to be a nightmare to adjudicate.Road To Nowhere and No Mans Land are both high on energy and big on rock and feature some outstanding choruses.Bad For You slows it down a little to inject some classic FM soul into proceedings. Colour Of Your Love is again high energy and catchy, catchy, catchy.The soulful and anthemic Fire And Ice is another highlight, especially the killer lead vocal. I've Been Wrong Before is simply one of the year's best ballads and just drips soul and emotion. Blues City has another instantly catchy hook and great uptempo flow.Little Miss Midnight is classic old-school Overland and closes the album with a bluesy uptempo swagger.Power, finesse, soul and emotion…everything Steve Overland is known for, wrapped up in a set of songs that sees Steve Morris also delivering his best. This is an essential purchase for fans of Overland, Morris, FM and Heartland. Well crafted British AOR/melodic rock with punch.

Line-Up:

Steve Overland (Wildlife, FM, So!, The Ladder, Overland, AOR) - Lead Vocals
Steve Morris (Heartland, Export, Grand Illusion, Message, Newman, Change Of Heart) - Guitars, Keyboards
Harry James (Thunder, Magnum, Russ Ballard, Terraplane) - Drums
Chris Childs (Thunder, Bowes and Morley, Broken Wings, Sledgehammer Ledge, The Union) - Bass
Steve Millington (Heartland, Sad Cafe, 10 cc, Wax) - Keyboards

Tracklist:

01. Road To Nowhere (4:28)
02. No Mans Land (3:53)
03. Bad For You (4:56)
04. Colour Of Your Love (4:15)
05. Fire And Ice (4:57)
06. Keeper Of My Heart (5:34)
07. I've Been Wrong Before (6:08)
08. It's Electric (3:44)
09. Blues City (4:47)
10. Outlaws (4:58)
11. The Hard Way (4:55)
12. Little Miss Midnight (4:12)




Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/

[Horex]

Shadowman - Watching Over You (Japan Edition) (2011)













Year : 2011 (Japan Edition)
Style : Melodic Hard Rock , AOR
Country : United Kingdom
Audio : 320 kbps + all scans
Size : 119 mb

Bio:

Steve Overland is a legend in his own lifetime and needs no introduction to any fan of British rock music.He has a musical history that goes way back into the late seventies and his first major recording was with the band “Wildlife” in 1980.Their first album “Burning” was a fine introduction to his vocal prowess while the second album “Wildlife” in 1983 extended his popularity.This album also featured Simon Kirke (Bad Company) on drums.After the demise of “Wildlife” Steve went on to form the cult British melodic rock band “FM”, a band that released many great albums throughout the eighties and nineties.Steve also released his first solo album in 2008 titled 'Break Away' and has released other albums on the Escape label for the FM spin-off band 'The Ladder'.FM are currently preparing themselves for a headline performance at the 2009 Firefest festival in Nottingham UK.

Album:

SHADOWMAN is a fairly mellow melodic hard rock band. They are a very experienced group of musicians, some members having roots dating all the way back to the 1970’s. You can tell by looking at their photos that they have been around for a while. I am not familiar with them since they are of a genre I don’t really listen to. It’s just a bit too soft for me, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a good album. As a matter of fact, this is as good as hard rock gets. As a fan of heavy metal, I could do with more punch, but that would be like asking JOURNEY to play like SLAYER, it’s not their style and my wishes are irrelevant. All the being said, I listen to a great deal of hard rock simply due to the fact that in America and especially where I live in that country, heavy metal radio stations simply don’t exist. That doesn’t mean they don’t play metal, they do, but it’s mostly mainstream metal like METALLICA and AC/DC and a few hit songs from BLACK SABBATH and JUDAS PRIEST, that’s about it.It is safe to say I have heard a ton of hard rock and mostly it’s the dinosaur bands like 38 SPECIAL, FOREIGNER, BOSTON, TOTO, SURVIVOR, etc. These guys are an awesome hard rock band. I cannot believe for the life of me that they don’t get airplay. I simply don’t get it. This album as soft as it is, it’s simply fantastic. I don’t like it enough to pay full price for their previous efforts simply because I am not in the genre, but out of curiosity, I would love to see how good the rest of their catalogue is. Every song is great. The production is stellar and I bet the hard rock fans that like power chords, but clean vocals and mid tempo to slow songs, would eat this up. How in the hell haven’t these guys made it big? According to their bio sheet, Steve Overland has been in previous bands and has a long discography.I wasn’t aware that he had such a huge back catalogue. The reason I allowed myself to discover it through the process of this review is to let you see the discovery I made as it happened, and not act like a know it all simply because I know how to do a Google search. It is important to me that my reviews seem honest and not a product of a man that has read a pre-written biography and pretends to have known it all along. Yes, I do now very much about heavy metal, but this is something else. It will take me months to ingest everything Mr. Overland has done. I simply don’t have the time to take it all in at once. So it is as I suspected, this band while not a whole has made it through at least one individual, the lead singer I couldn’t believe a band with a singer and songs this great were not well known, my suspicions have been confirmed. The lead singer is really big in Great Britain.If you like music with wonderful melodies and very catchy radio friendly music with awesome lead vocals, then you will love this CD. I think it is safe to say this has an AOR flavor to it as well. Don’t expect a heavy metal album out of “Watching over You” and you will get something truly special. SHADOWMAN has delivered an absolutely great hard rock effort.

Line-Up:

Steve Overland (Wildlife, FM, So!, The Ladder, Overland, AOR) - Lead Vocals
Steve Morris (Heartland, Export, Grand Illusion, Message, Newman, Change Of Heart) - Guitars & Keyboards
Chris Childs (Thunder, Bowes and Morley, Broken Wings, Sledgehammer Ledge, The Union) - Bass
Harry James (Thunder, Magnum, Russ Ballard, Terraplane) - Drums

Produced by Steve Morris

Tracklist:

01. Across The Universe (4:05)
02. Renegades (3:35)
03. Cry (5:41)
04. Watching Over You (4:36)
05. Are You Ready (3:49)
06. Suzanne (5:10)
07. Waiting For The Miracle (4:43)
08. Stop Breaking This Heart Of Mine (3:47)
09. Heaven Waits (4:20)
10. Whatever It Takes (3:32)
11. Justify (5:17)
12. Party Is Over (3:58)
13. Angel Of Mercy (3:57) (Japan Bonus Track)




Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/

[Horex]

Shadowman - Secrets And Lies (2017)













Year : 2017
Style : Melodic Hard Rock , AOR
Country : United Kingdom
Audio : 320 kbps + all scans
Size : 111 mb

Bio:

Steve Overland is a legend in his own lifetime and needs no introduction to any fan of British rock music.He has a musical history that goes way back into the late seventies and his first major recording was with the band “Wildlife” in 1980.Their first album “Burning” was a fine introduction to his vocal prowess while the second album “Wildlife” in 1983 extended his popularity.This album also featured Simon Kirke (Bad Company) on drums.After the demise of “Wildlife” Steve went on to form the cult British melodic rock band “FM”, a band that released many great albums throughout the eighties and nineties.Steve also released his first solo album in 2008 titled 'Break Away' and has released other albums on the Escape label for the FM spin-off band 'The Ladder'.FM are currently preparing themselves for a headline performance at the 2009 Firefest festival in Nottingham UK.

Album:

It has been almost 14 years since the debut album by Shadowman, "Land Of The Living", was released. The album was warmly received by all who had a penchant for good old British melodic rock. As you would expect, Shadowman had elements of both Heartland and FM deeply embedded in its grooves, yet it was highly original and often touted as the best British melodic release of 2004. Two years later in 2006 and the eagerly awaited follow-up "Different Angles" became an important album for this quartet that also includes both Harry James and Chris Childs of Thunder. The unmistakable guitar trademark sound of Steve Morris and the vocals of Steve Overland will always shine through at a very early stage. Somehow they make their music sound effortless, and as we all very well know: Steve Overland has a remarkable vocal range. His vocal range suits the classic melodic rock genre and he has a very bluesy side to his talent. His four solo releases on Escape Music are all fine examples of his work. Shadowman is a band that is all about great rock music who will win you over with charm. Quality rock music is so hard to find these days and it is reassuring to know that it hasn't lost its way. "Ghost In The Mirror", the band's third release from 2008 was an extension of the band's already established sound and the 2011 release "Watching Over You" helped nurture the band's identity even further. Another six years on and we are presented with the band's fifth studio release, and it's certainly been worth the wait. "Gravity"? is a marvellous opener which shows fresh ideas and superb musicianship, and this pretty much paves the way for the rest of the album. Along the way we have Steve Morris and his ever present guitar prowess, and Steve Overland just effortlessly gives us brilliant vocal performances throughout. The solid rhythm of Thunder men Chris Childs and Harry James are faultless, and with classic touches from original FM keyboards player Didge Digital, we are in for a real treat.

Line-Up:

Steve Overland (Wildlife, FM, So!, The Ladder, Overland, AOR) - Lead Vocals
Steve Morris (Heartland, Export, Grand Illusion, Message, Newman, Change Of Heart) - Guitars & Keyboards
Chris Childs (Thunder, Bowes and Morley, Broken Wings, Sledgehammer Ledge, The Union) - Bass
Harry James (Thunder, Magnum, Russ Ballard, Terraplane) - Drums

Tracklist:

01. Gravity
02. Automatic
03. Put It All on Love
04. Contagious
05. Broken Bones
06. Best Things in Life
07. Face the Night
08. No Smoke Without Fire
09. Good Times, Bad Times
10. Be True to yourself
11. Secrets and Lies
12. Stand Up and Be Counted




Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/