CD Review  

Rating 72%

reviewed by Sarah Slater

Holly Valace. 
You could dunk yer biscuit in here...

The Cast (voted The Marquee's Worst Support Band 1987) get us underway with 'Walk On Water' - they were never this good live, let me tell you matey. Maybe I misjudged them. The accompanying booklet has some revealing nuts and bolts, one regarding this track reminisces abiout the 'long lunches'.. .hmmm...

Partners In Crime's 'Listen To The Doctor' shuffles along next and probably should have stayed in the waiting room. Very cute picture of Chekov in a bag on the page saves the day though.

Another Partners In Crime track, 'Heaven' is next. Nice picture of Chekov and Sulu here. This sounds nothing like 'Feels Like Heaven' by whoever it was, well except the chorus. [Competition: First person to email me here with the correct answer wins this CD] 

Even Clive fell asleep during this one!

Back in the early 90's, Mr Nolan wrote the score for a couple of low budget (probably, eh!) movies. I remember helping to run a few bootleg copies off to sell at some gig or another, while we were duplicating Shadowlands famous 'Jigsaw' live video. Anyone got a copy of that still? If you have, and it still has the black hand painted jigsaw piece attached to the case, then it's now worth upwards of £50 on eBay, you lucky bleeder! This is nice.

Another Cast track 'Say Goodbye To The President' finally captures their live quality, though not the embarrassing Alistair Pirrie look Clive sported in those unselfconcious days. The sight of Clive storming around the Marquee stage will haunt my nightmares for eternity!

The ever-so slightly gay disco version of Tracey Hitchens 'Beauty and the Beast' from her debut 'From Ignorance to Ecstasy', hangs around next, with a dodgy moustache, string vest and leather cap. The band used to play this at the Astoria in the vain hope of being invited to 'hang around' instead of being turned out into Charing Cross Road.

At last, Shadowlands 'Jigsaw' takes centre stage. Those were the days. I still don't think that Clive has bettered those two Shad's albums. This demo, though obviously not as polished as the final version, could be even better than it because it shows that Clive has a classic voice, easily better than most of the crooners he's employed in Arena. Cracking picture of Kate Bush in the booklet, gave me wood all over again. Along with the following "Whistleblower" these were the first Shads demos. However, unlike Jigsaw, I prefer the finished version of this one, which has more pulling power. Another classic picture in the booklet though; Clive and a grinning Karl Gloom engrossed in a copy of Silhobbit#3 - must be about the "haunted fridge" era.

Tina Reilly seductively breathes life breathlessly into 'In My Heat" next, a demo of a track that sadly got no further. I imagine that with some proper drums and some tlc this could have been decent. A couple of weak Cast demo's follow, with 'Out In The Cold' being the better of the two, showing some early Shads promise, while the truely (Marvin) Awful & Nolan joint 'Quantum Leap' brings up the rear.

So, all in all, this is predictably a mixed musical bag, like a box of Quality Street. Some nice Strawberry Creams and other treats, but also some of those horrid flat round toffees that will get stuck to the roof of your mouth, and the back of your teeth for ages.

Clives many legions of fans and admirers and floozies will have already bought this. If you are one, and haven't, then do so. Now.