Shy were originally known as Trojan, where they played a more hard edge rock before they changed their name and style. After seeing the success of bands like Journey and Foreigner, there were a lot of bands that changed their own sound to accommodate the more melodic aspects of rock. Shy were one of the UK’s more successful rock acts who followed that path.
Lead by the amazing vocal talents of Tony Mills, who had an unreal range hitting notes that no one else could, they had a brief time in the limelight. The first three albums (of which this is the second) were their best attempts. The single Hold Onto Your Love opens up the album, but it wasn’t allowed to chart as it had a T-shirt shrink wrapped with it and was disqualified.
My Apollo is pure keyboard aor nirvana, and Tony’s voice just soars above the song. Of course the ballad is king in aor circles and Reflections is just a run of the mill tune, some of the harmonies don’t quite work for me. Keep The Fires Burning is an uptempo aor groover with a nice hook and chorus, and Mills’ high notes are incredible. Side 1 closes out with The Hunter. A simple riff, but the layered vocals on this track are a bit too much. Sometimes less is more.
The title track kicks off Side 2 and the intro could have been any New Romantic pop band of the time, it’s only the hook and chorus that bring them back to rock territory. Wild Wild Woman is a very American rock radio-style tune and there is a lot going on musically compared to the rest of the album. Caught In The Act follows and it’s a very west coast sounding, laid back tune. The album closes out with Was I Wrong. They say save the best till’ last, and they certainly did here. It’s definitely my favourite track as it’s a whole league above any of the other tracks here. Great hook, groove, and Mills’ voice is perfect on this tune.
Looking back now after all these years, it’s easy to see why they never made the big time. There is only one really good track here, and you have to have great songs to break through.
6.5/10 from The Grooveman.
