Editorial Review:

One of the less essential Shadows albums, Shadow Music is essentially a "business-as-usual" type blending of characteristic remakes of pre-pop classics with a clutch of middling band compositions, with its highlights drawn from the least likely surroundings of all.

Christmas, 1965, saw the Shadows score a pantomime version of Babes In The Wood at the London Palladium, starring singer Frank Ifield. Three songs from the venture appear on Shadow Music - the buoyant beat ballad "I Only Want To Be With You," the chiming foot-tapper "Magic Doll" and "Maid Marion's Theme," a gentle guitar instrumental (of course) with the ghost of several past Shadows hits lurking around the edges.

For the rest, Shadow Music offers little to get excited over. Four further vocal numbers are pleasant but unexceptional. A rocking take on "Fly Me To The Moon" is scarcely an improvement on Cliff Richard's hamfisted assault of the previous year, while "Fourth Street" harks back to the lute and drum-led numbers which starred on earlier band albums, a showcase for drummer Brian Bennett's piano playing which adds to the variety, but contributes little to the legend...

The jazz spoof "Razzmataz" is neatly dexterous, while a rearrangement of Franz Listz's "Un Sospero," "A Sigh," brings a touch of classic class to the proceedings. There's also a chance to hear the band's original version of "In The Past," a song better known from Cliff Richard's 1969 rerecording. By comparison with past (and, indeed, future) Shadows albums, however, Shadow Music offers few surprises and nothing new.

About the Artists:

The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters) were an English instrumental rock group. They were Cliff Richard's backing band from 1958 to 1968 and on numerous reunion tours. The Shadows have placed 69 UK charted singles from the 1950s to the 2000s, 35 credited to the Shadows and 34 to Cliff Richard and the Shadows. The group, who were in the forefront of the UK beat-group boom, were the first backing band to emerge as stars. As pioneers of the four-member instrumental format, the band consisted of lead guitar, rhythm guitar, bass guitar and drums. Their range covers pop, rock, surf rock and ballads with a jazz influence.

The core members from 1958 to 2015 were Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch. Along with the Fender guitar, another cornerstone of the Shadows sound was the Vox amplifier. The Shadows, with Cliff Richard, dominated British popular music in the late 1950s and early 1960s in the years before the Beatles. The Shadows' number one hits included "Apache", "Kon-Tiki", "Wonderful Land", "Foot Tapper" and "Dance On!". They disbanded in 1968, but reunited in the 1970s for further commercial success.

The Shadows are the fourth most successful act in the UK singles chart, behind Elvis Presley, the Beatles, and Cliff Richard. The Shadows and Cliff Richard & the Shadows each have had four No. 1 selling EPs.