Shack is a band that everybody should know about, but they probably don’t. Consisting mainly of Michael and John Head, brothers from Liverpool, the rest of the line-up has kept changing over the years. Members trace their roots back to The Pale Fountains and The Strands. Read about them on Wikipedia here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shack_%28Band%29 The Head brothers apparently have a bit of an obsession with Arthur Lee and the band Love that comes through in their own writing. In fact when Arthur Lee visited the UK they performed the role of his backing band.
Shack consistently produces quality albums that contain beautiful songs. More often than not, these songs are about everyday occurrences with the skill of the Head brothers being that of holding up a mirror for their listeners to use to look at themselves. My first experience of Shack was when I got hold of the ‘HMS Fable’ album. This album on its own should convert anybody into a Shack fan. Each and every song is a killer. Michael and John, on Vocals/Rhythm and Vocals/Lead respectively, sing and strum away in some of the most evocative songs I had heard for a long time. My favourite song on this album is ‘Daniella’ which I don’t think is the obvious choice but really appeals to me. I next got the album ‘The corner of Miles and Gil’, although ‘Here’s Tom with the weather’ came out between these two albums, which in my view was not as good as ‘Fable’, but still a very strong offering.
Next for me has been ‘Time Machine’: the to-date Best Of offering. As with most Greatest Hits compilations, there is always going to be some debate as to which songs make it onto the CD (I for one cannot understand how Neil Young could release a single CD Greatest Hits compilation, he has enough hits to fill at least 3 CD’s). I think that in Shack’s case, this can be even more heated than usual. This is because their songs work on such a personal level, meaning different things to different people. I just love the track ‘Cup of Tea’.
As always, as it is a ‘Best Of’ compilation, one has to view the offering in terms of completeness as well. In other words, if viewed as a ‘Time Machine’ it must include tracks from all stages of their career in order to be able to transport the listener back in time. From this perspective this is an excellent collection that enables the listener to hear the evolution of the band as they grow from strength to strength. This is not to say that the earlier tracks are not good – they are indeed very good. What changes though is the production quality and the growing use of other elements to further enhance their sounds, such as a strings section (maybe what changed was the budget available to the band when entering the recording studio).
The two songs on here that are most recent do not come from any of the already released albums, and therefore could be seen as providing a view into what is still to come from this great band. I must admit, while they are not bad songs, they do seem a bit too conventional in my view.
Overall, this is a nice snapshot of a very good band that manages to help the listener to identify the beauty in their everyday surroundings. The songs always leave me with my mood improved and uplifted. The message from the band seems to be that: no matter what terrible things happen in your life there is also a lot of beauty around if you look hard enough. If you like this their other albums are sure to blow your mind, I recommend ‘HMS Fable’ first and then move on from there, you will not be disappointed.
Shack consistently produces quality albums that contain beautiful songs. More often than not, these songs are about everyday occurrences with the skill of the Head brothers being that of holding up a mirror for their listeners to use to look at themselves. My first experience of Shack was when I got hold of the ‘HMS Fable’ album. This album on its own should convert anybody into a Shack fan. Each and every song is a killer. Michael and John, on Vocals/Rhythm and Vocals/Lead respectively, sing and strum away in some of the most evocative songs I had heard for a long time. My favourite song on this album is ‘Daniella’ which I don’t think is the obvious choice but really appeals to me. I next got the album ‘The corner of Miles and Gil’, although ‘Here’s Tom with the weather’ came out between these two albums, which in my view was not as good as ‘Fable’, but still a very strong offering.
Next for me has been ‘Time Machine’: the to-date Best Of offering. As with most Greatest Hits compilations, there is always going to be some debate as to which songs make it onto the CD (I for one cannot understand how Neil Young could release a single CD Greatest Hits compilation, he has enough hits to fill at least 3 CD’s). I think that in Shack’s case, this can be even more heated than usual. This is because their songs work on such a personal level, meaning different things to different people. I just love the track ‘Cup of Tea’.
As always, as it is a ‘Best Of’ compilation, one has to view the offering in terms of completeness as well. In other words, if viewed as a ‘Time Machine’ it must include tracks from all stages of their career in order to be able to transport the listener back in time. From this perspective this is an excellent collection that enables the listener to hear the evolution of the band as they grow from strength to strength. This is not to say that the earlier tracks are not good – they are indeed very good. What changes though is the production quality and the growing use of other elements to further enhance their sounds, such as a strings section (maybe what changed was the budget available to the band when entering the recording studio).
The two songs on here that are most recent do not come from any of the already released albums, and therefore could be seen as providing a view into what is still to come from this great band. I must admit, while they are not bad songs, they do seem a bit too conventional in my view.
Overall, this is a nice snapshot of a very good band that manages to help the listener to identify the beauty in their everyday surroundings. The songs always leave me with my mood improved and uplifted. The message from the band seems to be that: no matter what terrible things happen in your life there is also a lot of beauty around if you look hard enough. If you like this their other albums are sure to blow your mind, I recommend ‘HMS Fable’ first and then move on from there, you will not be disappointed.
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