MTM 2005
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
9 January 2005

Shy? Journey? Shy? Journey? Shy? - Blimey... I thought they sounded a lot like
Journey already with "Unfinished Business" and after hearing the first couple of
tracks on this CD, I'll have to say that it only confirmed my previous
statement. Shy are nowadays a very "slick" AOR act with a more "mature" American
sound than ever. The Steve Perry-a-like phrases sung by high-pitched singer Tony
Mills, and the excellent, smooth, guitarwork, puts "Sunset And Vine" a notch or
five above the rest of the pack. In fact, I don't believe you'll get a much
better pure AOR/Melodic release than this during 2005. Well... at least not if
you're into that "slowly-drifting-away" sound of US arena rockers like
you-know-who.

It's almost liked you're getting pissed over the fact that they're from "dull,
old, England" and not the states. Especially since they're beating the yankees
at their own game somehow. That would be like USA getting trashed in the olympic
basket ball tournament with... no wait... that actually happened [;-)]. You
could however also say that "Sunset And Vine" are full of old cliches and AOR
toons. Absolutely, they're not going to win any awards like 'most original
sounding rock act' with this release. It's something that fans of vintage Shy
-"Brave The Storm"- and a certain amount of Journey-ism will find this truly
exciting. Mills must have been spending all his spare time infront of the stereo
lately. Listening and adoring the work of Steve Perry & Journey as the vocal
harmonies are sometimes scary alike. Mills have this really high-pitched voice
though and it's not a question of being a deadringer or a complete copy-cat. Shy
doesn't use the keyboards as much up front either.

It's difficult to pick any clear highlights as each track is a important piece
of the puzzle. I love the flow of songs like "Open Your Heart" and "Don't Jump
The Gun" though. "First Love" must be one of the better songs Journey never
wrote, while "I'll Be Home Tonight" is a great ballad in the style of
you-know-who. The only real downer would be that many songs are mid-tempo one's
and that Mills could get on your nerves at times (due to the massive overkill of
high-pitched Perry a-like vocals). I definitely prefer this over the otherwise
"similar" old-style AOR of Pride Of Lions. Good work lads!!!



regards,


Russ Blomstedt
http://blomstedt.ssr.be
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