Wednesday, August 24, 2016

THE MAX - Shadows In The Shade (1989)

THE MAX - Shadows In The Shade (1989)
Requested in "REQUEST & FILL CORNER" section...

Hailing from an unusual US state for rock music, the Livingston, Montana based trio THE MAX was founded by brothers Kyle & John Brenner in the mid-Eighties.
The group is still active playing basically covers in clubs and weddings, but between '88/'92 they faced crowds as large as 80,000 opening for major acts such as Styx, REO Speedwagon or The Fabulous Thunderbirds.

In 1989 The Max released their first album "Shadows In The Shade" via a small Canadian label.
There's not much info in the CD booklet (in fact; zero) but the band managed to obtain a superb sound from their own written tracks. Seriously, the production is on par with any of the big-budget from the era.
The Max plays here a very nice collection of lovely AOR / Melodic Rock tunes with a radio commercial approach, sometimes poppy, sometimes rockier, including a couple of ballads.
The best track for me is the pure AOR title track "Shadows In The Shade", complete with lots of synths, a strong guitar riff and a cool chorus.
But the rest of the songs offer high quality melodies in the vein of The Outfield, 8084, Glass Tiger or Fahrenheit, with really good vocals and musicianship.

THE MAX - Shadows In The Shade (1989) back cover

"Shadows In The Shade" is a pleasant listen from start to finish, with fine songs and excellent production.
The album was re-issued not so long ago by a retro label but on a cheap CD-R. This a high quality rip done by my friend totalaor (I miss you man) from the original CD press, including artwork.
Very Rare. Recommended music.

01 - You're Sorry
02 - Western World
03 - Shadows In The Shade
04 - Hardly Walking
05 - Got What I Wanted
06 - The Only Thing
07 - Shake The Chill
08 - Where Pride Runs Deep
09 - Hand In Hand

Kyle Brenner Vocals, Guitar, Keyboards
Eddie White Bass, Vocals
John Brenner Drums, Keyboards, Vocals




THE MAX - Shadows In The Shade HERE
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8 Comments:

Anonymous said...

Another classic....
Recommended...
Thanks for posting man...

DEEMON said...

Great songs...Thanks Camelblue. You Rock!!

Raul said...

I havent got words, long time waiting for this, thanx mate!!!!!

troynew said...

Have you got 'Vinyl Valentine' too?

Camelblue said...

The Max - Vinyl Valentine (1992) / 224K / NMRip
http://www.unibytes.com/wukaIvZ3LPgB

Anonymous said...


Details for Shadows in the Shade:

Artwork – Leigh A. Roberts
Backing Vocals [Additional] – Craig Wishniewsky
Bass Guitar – Eddie White (4)
Drums – John Brenner (3)
Guitar – Kyle Brenner
Keyboards – John Brenner (3) (tracks: 1 to 8), Kyle Brenner (tracks: 9)
Lead Vocals – Kyle Brenner
Mixed By – Dale Strength, The Max (2)
Mixed By [Assist] – David Swenson
Photography By – Richard Joslin
Producer – Dale Strength
Recorded By – Dale Strength, David Swenson
Vocals – Eddie White (4), John Brenner (3)

T.P said...

I vaguely recall a certain day in late April 2012 when I got attracted by this pretty good The Max - Shadows In The Shade feature to be found here at Camelblue's "sacred halls". Back then, though, I wasn't that "talkative" yet, so my gratitude about this cool post just remained with me, myself and I alone, without ever making it public. Never ever? Well, times tend to change, I guess. ;-)

Bye for now,
Thomas

Marcuslarzson said...

This is so lovely! But i don't really know if i'm just in love with the beautiful 80s sound or if it's good for real..i guess i'll find out by time. :) /Maniac Mac