Time Signature Don't get me wrong...

Shannon is a French hard rock band who embrace a bend of American hard rock and 80s styled melodic metal. I have never heard them before, so I have no frame of reference when it comes to evaluating their third album 'Circus of Lost Souls' in comparison with their previous two releases.

'Ride to Live' is am extremely catchy tune featuring some nice guitar work and an appealing 80d AOR feel, while 'Forever Now' is more of a traditional metal song - albeit one that inherits the upbeat nature of melodic hard rock. In the heavier department, we find 'Halfway to Heaven', which treats the listener to crunchy riffs and catchy hooklines. While the three first tracks are pretty strong, the album loses some of its momentum with the sappy power ballad 'Can't Stop the Rain'. The uptempo metal-rocker 'Don't Get Me Wrong' injects some energy back into the album, but we never reach the same level as before the power ballad, and 'Dust to Dust' suffers a bit from this. Although it features some nice crunchy riffage and a catchy chorus, it comes across a bit limping. Another heavy track, which is more successful in breaking out to the listener is 'Death on the Run'. The quality and the energy level of the rest of the album s varying, with tracks like 'Let's Make Rock' and 'I Don't Need You Anymore' being energetic and uplifting, while tracks like 'Kick it Down' and 'In Your Eyes' sadly come across rather bland and uninspired. I like the idea of a hard rock band doing a cover version of 'Smalltown Boy', but it also has to be executed well, and I am not quite sure that Shannon get away with it - I am thinking about the vocals in the first verse in particular which are just, well, linda weird.

The production is perhaps a bit too fuzzy for this genre, which calls for a more pristine and well defined production and mix. As it is now, a number of details are simply drowned out in the mix, such as the keyboards, which are barely audible, and whenever Jean-Marc Anzil uses the bell ride technique. The rhythm guitars are also too weak in the mix, which means that some of the crunch of the otherwise pretty awesome riffage is siphoned out into nowhere. I think this is a bit of a shame because the music itself is considerably solid, and, if all its layers were brought more to the front, it would be easier to appreciate.

Fans of melodic 80s metal who do not mind a bit of a rough production should definitely check out this album. However, it is among those albums where you should probably just listen to your favorite tracks and sip through the weaker ones in order for the energy level to stay at high enough level.

Kev Rowland It has been six years since their last album, but French band Shannon are back with their third. There have been a few line-up changes since the last one, but the band have not only replaced those who have left but have also added some guests in Harry Hess (Harem Scarem), Tony Mills (Shy, TNT), Paul Sabu, Praying Mantis & Sideburn members who assist with backing vocals etc. They describe their sound as “the perfect alchemy between classic US melodic hard rock and typical European influenced NWOBHM sound, delivering a music as powerful as it is melodic.” Whenever I see comments like that I just have to take it with a huge pinch of salt, and that is definitely the case here as while this is okay, t certainly isn’t brilliant. Singer Olivier Del Valle has an annoying habit of being fractionally off key here and there, which after a while I no longer found endearing but rather annoying. The songs themselves are okay, but easily the finest part of their music are the guitar solos with some fine runs.

This is one of those albums where the more I played it the less I enjoyed it, and whoever thought that they could get away with a melodic rock version of the Communards’ “Smalltown Boy” needs to be taken out and shot. Luckily it is the very last song on the album, but it shouldn’t be there at all as there is nothing positive that can be said about it whatsoever!

Stephen After the highly praised debut in 2003, Shannon continues their next effort, "Angel In Disguise", in 2008, still with the same style, same pattern. It's always a good thing if you're hunting a fun trip to the past but on the other hand, after repeat listening and comparing it to the debut, I came to an early conclusion that this album was thinner in quality than their debut.

Europe, Fair Warning, Dokken, Pink Cream 69, and Axel Rudi Pell are few names that are influencing their music. The derivatives of those 80s giants are obvious on tracks like "Do You Know?", "Hungry For Love", or "No More Lies". The first three tracks are strong, but when you heard "Keep On Rolling" and the next four tracks, suddenly you can feel the songs started to lack the necessary variety.

Uninventive approach in writing might be their flaw but they're the expert in combining all those great things from the past. Like in "Winter Night", the classic heavy metal comes into play and Del Valle's screaming reminds me of early Halford. "Hang On", is definitely a blast, the uptempo tune was crafted with a superior arrangement. "Road of Desire" has a unique Mediterranean flair on its intro, another good track to listen to, but an example that this kind of track is inferior to songs like "Reach For The Sky" or "Goin' Crazy" on their debut.

The guitarworks are somewhat enjoyable, Patrice Louis seemed to did a satisfying homework. While you can hear the occasional high pitch scream of Olivier Del Valle, he mostly sounded like a cross of Tommy Heart and Brian Johnson here. "Angel In Disguise" is what you'll get from bands in the 80s, very similar sound with almost no trace of modern element at all. If you like the debut, chances are high that you'll like this follow-up as well.

Stephen Shannon's debut in 2003 farmed a lot of great praises and that's probably beside it's very rare to find a French band playing late 80s American melodic rock, the quality of this album is in fact surprisingly high. I bet Shannon was listening to Danger Danger, Firehouse, and Poison a lot to be able to create such nostalgic atmosphere but not necessarily drowned as copycat.

Out of thirteen tracks presented here, I found myself liking all tracks except "Scared of War" which I think a really bad filler. Several really strong tracks which you should pay attention at first are the midtempo "Heartbreaker", the ballad "She's A Liar", the fast-paced "Young N' Tough", the heaviest track with big NWoBHM nods "Reach For The Sky", the tense melodic rock with blazing riffs "Goin' Crazy", and the fantastic closer "One In A Million". Those are the heroes of the album and the reason why I didn't give this a five stars is because the originality value is almost nothing, and the rest of the tracks are good at best.

Sometimes honestly you found several tracks like "Wild, Wild, Wild", "Love In Hollywood", and "Lovehunter" have that hidden potential to be big but those notes composition behind them, don't know why, they have a slight tendency to bore the listeners. Singer Del Valle's effort to omit the accent is worth noticing, he's able to hit some difficult notes perfectly and sung very good here. All in all, Shannon's debut is more than satisfying, if you're craving for delicious melodic hooks from Paris, you know what to buy.