Steve Walsh - "Shadowman" Review

Artist/ Band: Steve Walsh
Title: Shadowman
Label: Muse-Wrapped Records
Year of Release: 2005
Artist/ Band Link (click for details/ ordering)

The Review:

After my disappointment in Glossolalia (2000), I really wasn’t sure what to expect from Shadowman. I honestly didn’t care for the direction taken in Glossolalia. Maybe I wasn’t ready to hear Steve Walsh in a metallic format. Now five years later, Steve returns with Shadowman, it has that metallic edge but with more of a variety of sounds, not all in your face. It’s a pleasant surprise when you get a solo album of some famous band that doesn’t tend to tread similar grounds. His last two solo albums showed that he can step away from the sound he’s most famous in to create a musical identity outside of Kansas. This could be a blessing or a curse, depending on who you ask. Personally it’s a blessing because, he’s a musician that needs to spread his musical wings and not be in the shadow of Kansas.

Steve Walsh’s voice, while still not the same as in the heyday of Kansas, is miles above the late mid-90's Kansas output. In many ways his sometimes gruffer voice suits the music perfectly. The core of the band on Shadowman is Steve (vocals, keyboards), Joel Kosche (guitars, bass) and Joe Franco (drums). Special guests include Michael Romeo (of Symphony X) and David Ragsdale (ex-Kansas).

Personal highlights are, the opener Rise, the title track and After. These three songs best represent the whole album, but all of the songs are good and have a nice cohesive flow to them. I would have to recommend Shadowman especially to fans of Kansas and fans of prog-metal. This album showcases a harder edge not seen aside from Glossolalia and one of the more diverse albums of it’s kind of 2005. So go get a copy of this fantastic album today.

Reviewed by Ron Fuchs on Deceember 13th, 2005

Tracks:

1. Rise

2. Shadowman

3. Davey and the Stone That Rolled Away

4. Keep On Knockin'

5. Pages of Old

6. Hello Is Full of Heroes

7. Afetr

8. The River