SHY — Shy (review)

SHY — Shy album cover Album · 2011 · Hard Rock Buy this album from MMA partners
4.5/5 ·
Time Signature
Blood on the line...

Genre: melodic metal

The latest effort by British hard rock veterans Shy - simply entitled "Shy" - is one massive effort and an instant melodic metal classic.

With emphasis on melody and AOR sensibility, the album is incredibly catchy and will definitely have mass appeal within and outside of the metal community because of its combination of melodic rock and heavy metal. In addition to the super catchy choruses and vocal lines in general, most tunes are built on chucking metal riffs, and the guitar sound is quite heavy in general.

Speaking of guitars, guitarist Steve Harris (nope, it's another Steve Harris) does an amazing job in terms of both rhythm and lead guitar. The rhythm guitars are rock solid and precise, while the blazing guitar solos are both characterized by feel and technical proficiency.

As the first track, 'Land of A thousand Lines' with its massive sound and Eastern influences indicates, this album takes hard rock to a new level in terms of big an epic sounds (as the keyboards do have a central role on the album), but still the hard rock identity remains central. The opening track is probably my favorite, but it is closely followed by tracks like "Pray", "Sanctuary", and "Union of Souls". Even an über-cheesy ballad like "Breathe" is actually very enjoyable to my ears.

This release is a brilliant, epic hard rock release, which combined metal heaviness and AOR mass appeal. Recommended to fans of melodic metal and hard rocking AOR!
Share this review

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
more than 2 years ago
Of course, I don't know how you will react to it, but it completely blew me away.
J-Man wrote:
more than 2 years ago
I have a promo copy of this one that I still haven't heard... your review really piqued my curiosity!

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

A Sonication Technical Death Metal
OBSCURA
Buy this album from MMA partners
Hin helga kvöl Atmospheric Sludge Metal
SÓLSTAFIR
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Cycles of Suffering Black Metal
BURIAL OATH
Buy this album from MMA partners
Facilis Descensus Averno Death Metal
SAEVUS FINIS
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us