Monday 27 March 2017

Back Door Men – THE SHADOWS OF KNIGHT***

Bad Little Woman/Gospel Zone/The Behemoth/Three For Love/Hey Joe/I’ll Make You Sorry/Peepin’ & Hidin’/ Tomorrow’s Going To Be Another Day/New York Bullseye/High Blood Pressure/Spoonful

Back Door Men was the follow up album from the Chicago based garage band Shadows of Knight which featured a broader range of material than their debut.

“SOK's second album is a little bit more ambitious than their debut. The first half is great, opening up with the doomy Bad Little Woman. The Shadows try a few different styles here such as eastern style rock, The Behemoth, Byrdsian folk-rock, Three For Love, and a five-minute rip-snortin' version of Hey Joe. The best song on the album though is I'll Make You Sorry. The second half falls flat with some uninspired blues workouts.”

“It represents the peak of their muscular punk-blues creativity. Expanding on their debut the band stretched beyond the Chicago blues classics they'd sullied so perfectly the first time out. They still take time to apply their suburban garage sound to Jimmy Reed's Peepin' & Hidin' and a fine cover of Willie Dixon's Spoonful, but the real growth is on their originals and well-selected contemporary covers.”

“If you liked their debut, you will love Back Door Men, all the cuts are great. Rock and blues at its best, it still sounds as good as when released in the sixties.”

“While their first album, Gloria is primarily a blues rave up, Back Door Men boasts a variety of styles. Their version of Hey Joe is very original, and Three For Love has an almost Byrds-like quality to it with 12 string and harmony vocals to match. Though not promoted adequately, this second album is a great rock venture, and I recommend it highly to Shadows of Knight fans and sixties rock completists.”

“This is an improvement on their debut. Strong sales of the earlier album meant they could choose their own preferences on this one. It features more garage flavoured rock and more noticeable psych influences, via use of fuzz guitar. Though lacking a well known hit, I would recommend it to newcomers investigating this group.”

“An obvious improvement on their first, the band has matured and is more saturated with the sound that is popular for garage rock bands of the 60s. The bass is more prevalent, slightly sinister. Still, there are better garage rock albums from this time.”

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