Shannon
Circus of Lost Souls
Mad Association
2013
This hard rock act from France is still going on and rockin’ well in any case. Shannon have been around for almost 15 years and this is their 3rd full-length album. In case you haven’t heard of them before, their music is heavily influenced by hard rock bands like: Danger Danger, Firehouse, Tyketto, Gotthard, Jaded Heart, Hardline, White Lion, Fair Warning, Harem Scarem, Talisman, Poison, Motley Crue, XYZ and the list goes on. As you have already understood, Shannon do have quite a few sleaze/glam passages on their songs every now and then as well.
The album starts very enthusiastically with “Ride to Live” and as the album keeps rolling the guys do not stop rockin’ with passion and desire. There are a bunch of guest appearances here. Tony Mills (ex-Shy, TNT) – appears on “Dust to Dust”, “Forever Now”, Harry Hess (Harem Scarem) does a duet on “Can’t Stop the Rain”, Mike Freeland, Chris & Tino Troy (Praying Mantis) make a guest on “In Your Eyes” and Lionel Blanc & Roland Pierrehumbert (Sideburn) appear on “Let’s Make Rock”. Not bad at all, huh?!
My only objection here is the production, which could have been kinda tighter and the drum sound but not always. Furthermore, the singer Olivier Del Valle (ex- Jannylee) may have a fairly good rockin’ voice but I think he goes over the line at times. I also have to mention that “Circus of Lost Souls” is the first album which features the new (ex-Square) members Philippe Sassard on bass and Jean-Marc Anzil on drums.
There are some strong melodic hard rock tunes on this album. The band is playing well, the guest appearances add that little extra more to their music and generally everything’s fine here. I almost forgot; the cover on the 80s pop/disco hit “Smalltown Boy” (originally by Bronski Beat) is very enjoyable! The hard rock fans that fancy the abovementioned bands will surely have a good time listening to Shannon. They’re totally on the right way and if they fix those minor, but not insignificant, snags then can do fairly better. For the most part, “Circus of Lost Souls” is a solid hard rock album…
The album starts very enthusiastically with “Ride to Live” and as the album keeps rolling the guys do not stop rockin’ with passion and desire. There are a bunch of guest appearances here. Tony Mills (ex-Shy, TNT) – appears on “Dust to Dust”, “Forever Now”, Harry Hess (Harem Scarem) does a duet on “Can’t Stop the Rain”, Mike Freeland, Chris & Tino Troy (Praying Mantis) make a guest on “In Your Eyes” and Lionel Blanc & Roland Pierrehumbert (Sideburn) appear on “Let’s Make Rock”. Not bad at all, huh?!
My only objection here is the production, which could have been kinda tighter and the drum sound but not always. Furthermore, the singer Olivier Del Valle (ex- Jannylee) may have a fairly good rockin’ voice but I think he goes over the line at times. I also have to mention that “Circus of Lost Souls” is the first album which features the new (ex-Square) members Philippe Sassard on bass and Jean-Marc Anzil on drums.
There are some strong melodic hard rock tunes on this album. The band is playing well, the guest appearances add that little extra more to their music and generally everything’s fine here. I almost forgot; the cover on the 80s pop/disco hit “Smalltown Boy” (originally by Bronski Beat) is very enjoyable! The hard rock fans that fancy the abovementioned bands will surely have a good time listening to Shannon. They’re totally on the right way and if they fix those minor, but not insignificant, snags then can do fairly better. For the most part, “Circus of Lost Souls” is a solid hard rock album…