Search - The Shadows :: Ep Collection

Excellent collection of rare Shadows material

hyperbolium | Earth, USA | 03/22/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"An *extraordinary* anthology of England's dominant instrumental band of the early 60s. The Shadows scored a phenominal 20 UK Top-20 singles between 1960 and 1965. At the same time they backed Cliff Richard on *38 more* UK Top-20 hits between 1958 and 1967. That's a total of 58 Top-20 scores in just 10 years! Their EP stats are just as impressive: 13 top-10 EPs, and 4 number-1's. The only act to top them in weeks-at-the-top were a four-piece from Liverpool, named... named... uh... named...This CD volume is comprised of 22 tracks, taken from the Shadows many EP releases, and just about every track is a winner. The Shadows play a variety of beat-era Rock, surf sounds, folk, and pop instrumentals. Covers include a swingin' version of "Perfidia", and versions of Barry Gray's music from "Thunderbirds Are Go." I like the Shadows version of the Thunderbird tracks better than Gray's orchestral version.Some of the originals, including the surf-beat "36-24-36" really SWING. I start thinking of wild 60s discoteques when I hear these. The sound on these tracks is just so, so... so HAPPENING. Lots of Jet Harris' Big Boss Bass, ripping lead work from Hank Marvin, and big acoustic rhythm guitars. Every track, original or cover, has The Shadows sound stamped all over it. Evidently they took great care in arranging and recording each track, as none sound like filler or throw-aways.This is really what instrumental rock is all about to me. There's no vocalist missing, as a vocalist would sound out of place among The Shadows arrangements. Few instrumental bands (especially outside of the surf genre) managed to record more than a couple of great singles. The Shadows, on the other hand, recorded dozens. And since they were recorded in an era when the single and EP were king, a collection of this sort, despite missing many of their chart hits, is a great spin."