Reviewed by Tim Cockram

Those of you with long memories will recall that Shane was the keyboard player with Split Level (he performed on their Big Feet released cassette album produced by one Tony Cummings). Shane has honed his keyboard and composing skills in the intervening years. 'Through Clearing Mists' is a collection of six instrumental tracks written and performed by Shane and a seventh track written and performed by Shane and Shaun McKeown. All of the tracks are of very high quality both musically and production-wise. The music is keyboard-based in the ilk of Rick Wakeman or Pete Bardens. There is no plagiarism; it's just that the styles are in the same area. Each piece is musically satisfying, Shane has learned the art of repetition without tedium. Excellent. Without too many superlatives I have to say that this is quality product. The bass part sounds as though it was played by a bassist and the percussion sounds like the work of a good drummer and well... The highpoints for me were the LA panpipe in the middle section of "Funky Or What?" and the sampled crowd noises on "Pandora's Box". There were a couple of low points, mostly to do with keyboard voicings: firstly, the use of sounds that don't come quickly enough on fast runs and brass voices that are rather too sharp for their own good; and secondly, an organ effect that would make a farfisa sound positively wholesome. Strangely, my reservations apply to the two tracks that contain the high points. All in all, this is a superb start for Shane, and if justice applies to record companies we will be hearing a great deal more of Shane's work.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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