Shy | Shy
by Justin Gaines
Staff Writer
Long running British melodic rock band Shy is back with a new album after a six-year absence that saw founding vocalist Tony Mills departing to join the ranks of TNT. Shy has gone without Mills’s services once before (with 1994’s ill-received Welcome to the Madhouse), but for a lot of fans Shy’s signature sound and Mills’s instantly recognizable voice are inextricably linked. You can’t blame the band for wanting to move forward and with a new singer – former Surveillance frontman Lee Small – on board, Shy is ready to turn the page.
With its stark black cover and simple title – Shy – the band’s tenth studio album finds the band getting back to basics. Despite some flirtations with a more metallic sound and the Hollywod hair metal sound back in the ‘80s, Shy’s strength was always in their more polished melodic rock approach, and that’s where this new album shines. Shy sounds a lot like recent albums by fellow NWOBHM veterans turned melodic rockers Praying Mantis. It has fantastic melodies throughout, and a great mix of punchy rockers and soulful, tasteful love songs that never get too wimpy. The contrast between the hard rocking “Blood on the Line” and the emotional “Only for the Night” is stark, but both songs perfectly reflect the new and improved Shy sound.
In terms of vocals, Shy could have gone the easy route and brought in another high-octave singer to try and replicate Mills’s style, but having a vocalist with a deeper register is one more way the band is turning the page. Small’s voice is anything but. He has a fantastic range that conveys both power and warmth, bringing to mind Jimi Jamison, Steve Overland and Toby Hitchcock.
With this album, Shy proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is life after Tony Mills. Shy is a terrific melodic rock album from start to finish, and it’s one that will more than satisfy the band’s existing fan base while also appealing to fans of high-quality melodic rock bands like FM, Praying Mantis, Pride of Lions and Work of Art.
Genre: Melodic Rock
Band:
Lee Small (v)
Steve Harris (g)
Roy Davis (b)
Joe Basketts (k)
Bob Richards (d)
Track Listing:
1. Land of a Thousand Lies
2. So Many Tears
3. Ran out of Time
4. Breathe
5. Blood on the Line
6. Pray
7. Only for the Night
8. Live for Me
9. Over You
10. Sanctuary
11. Save Me
12. Union of Souls
Website: www.shyonline.co.uk
Hardrock Haven rating: 8.5/10