Shadowlands

Description

Shadowlands is the sixth studio album by the British singer Sheila Walsh, released by Myrrh Records in June 1986, a division of Word. Also manufactured and distributed by A&M Records. The album was recorded and mixed at Swot’s Plot with Richard Osborne and Jon Sweet producing and arranging for Swot Productions (with the exception of the cassette and CD bonus track, “I Hope And I Pray“, originally a single produced by Barry Blue and licensed from Chrysalis Records). All songs co-written by Ron Trott and Jon Sweet except “Big Boy Now” written by Lance Demers of The Wall Brothers fame and the bonus track “I Hope And I Pray”, written by Jon Moss, Sheelagh Lippell, and Simon Brenner.

Featuring backing vocals by Annie McCaig and Mark Williamson of Nutshell and Mark Williamson Band fame, respectively.

Sheila Walsh is emerging from the shadowlands as a true light in the darkness. Having changed record label, direction, and style, Walsh offers her most consistent album to date. Moving towards a more keyboard-oriented, “Euro-disco” sound, Walsh sounds as if she has finally found her niche. Her vocals are more even and not overstated, as has been her tendency in the past.

Most of the songs were written by Rod Trott and Jon Sweet (who also wrote for Russ Taff’s ‘Medals‘ album), and what comes through in these songs are real human emotions. While I have enjoyed Walsh’s music in the past, the surprise is that now, somehow, her earlier music seems to amount to so much acting and posing and not so much a statement of who Sheila is. Again, this is not to discount her former work – much of which I still enjoy – but it is to say that she is truly growing and becoming more comfortable with who she is, what she wants to say, and how she wants to say it. This is most apparent in the sound of her voice. She has lowered the register of the songs and is better able to cover a wider range of feelings with her voice.

One of the best songs on the album is «Sand in the Hand» which contrasts the temporal nature of our world with the eternal love of God. «Keeper of the Key» has a great hook and deals with Jesus as the keeper of the key that can set your spirit free. Also worth mentioning are «Big Boy Now» and «Never Give Up». Available only on the cassette is «I Hope and Pray», the theme song of BBC’s Rock Gospel Show which is a duet with British rocker Alvin Stardust who has in the last few years become a believer.

This new sound might disorient a few of Walsh’s old fans, but more likely, she will gain a large, new contingent of fans which will scurry into stores and rifle the bins to find this record. [Devlin Donaldson, CCM, September 1986]

LP tracklist:

Side One
A1. “Sand In The Hand” – 3:43
A2. “Ship Of Love” – 3:59
A3. “Keeper Of The Key” – 3:49
A4. “The Hungry Night” – 4:13
A5. “Valley Of Tears” – 4:35

Side Two
B1. “Christian” – 4:17
B2. “Big Boy Now” – 4:48
B3. “Last Word In Love” – 4:13
B4. “What Do You Know (That I Don’t)” – 5:29
B5. “Never Give It Up” – 4:05

Note: Simultaneously released on cassette, 12-inch vinyl LP, and CD by Myrrh Records. The cassette and the CD versions feature the bonus track “I Hope And I Pray”, a duet with Alvin Stardust (a track released as both a 7-inch and 12-inch single by Alvin Stardust and Sheila Walsh on Chrysalis Records in 1986). (The UK vinyl edition features “I Hope And I Pray” while the track is replaced by “Christian” on the US edition.) A 12-inch vinyl single featuring “Christian” and “Sand in the Hand” was as well released by Myrrh Records in 1986.