SHADOWMAN

This was a tad disappointing for me. Glossolalia was one of the most progressive (read as "creative and original") albums Walsh had ever made, but I think he must have run out of steam, as most of this album is typical modern hard-rock. Rise and Shadowman are fairly good hard-rock songs, but nothing to really scream about. The next 2 are completely mundane and forgettable. Pages of Old is decent little quirky ballad, but nothing terribly progressive. Please save yourself from boring pop by skipping Hell is Full of Heroes (Heart Attack was a better exposition of this type of music.) Then comes After which invokes much of the same spirit seen in Kansas and Smacking the Clowns from his previous work, definitely the highlight of the album. Finally, there is the River, yet another boring track that smacks of Rebecca, which I thought was the low point of Glossolalia. Overall, an ok album with a few excellent moments, but they are fleeting and hard to enjoy when mixed with such mediocrity. For a track by track break down

Rise 3.5, Shadowman 3.5, Davey 3, Keep On Knockin 2.5, Pages of Old 3.5, Hell is Full of Heroes 2.5, After 4.5, The River 3. That means 3 1/4 stars overall. It's a shame that he didn't just cut Nothing, Love is All About, and Rebecca off Glossolalia and add after. Would have been a nearly flawless album.