Customer Reviews

Beneath The Shadows

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I remember when this album came out. Hard fast loud aggro-core was in it's glory days in the underground all across America and TSOL were one of the main focal point bands of that scene, along with Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Minor Threat, Bad Brains etc. So imagine what most of the hardcore kids' reaction was to this album when it hit their ears for the first time. TSOL caught a LOT of... ahem... "do-doo" for it! I saw them on the tour they did for this album and most of the kids at the show were unreceptive to put it mildly! I remember one guy I hung out with back then who upon hearing the first 2 songs after buying this, yanked the record off his turntable and smashed it to little black shards over his speakers.

My personal take on it? Well, this album came out right about the same time I saw my first Damned show. That was a very pivotal time for me musically. Up until then I had been a typical early 80's short-haired hardcore hound... if it didn't move at the speed of light with amps cranked to 11 I didn't want to have anything to do with it. Seeing the Damned changed all that for me. They just blew me away when I saw them, and they were playing longer, more pop-oriented songs with a keyboard player in tow (from their then-new album "Strawberries"), but with incredible punk energy and attitude, and it cracked my mind wide open to new ideas and new tastes. Then I bought "Beneath The Shadows" a few days later and the timing couldn't have been better. The moody psychedelic overtones grabbed me just the right way, and the more I listened, the more I got into it. Most of my friends didn't though, and I got a lot of s*%t for openly liking it. Whatever. Later on many of those same people came to appreciate this album. The sad thing is that this album didn't get that kind of appreciation until after Jack and Todd left the band in disgust with all the negative attention they were getting at the time, and TSOL became an entirely different band altogether. Most bands that have had the balls and imagination to break new ground have suffered the same fate. Those are usually the bands I like best. To me that's all punk was really about anyway... doing your own thing no matter what the current popular trend is, and breaking away from the herd.

So anyway, this severely underrated album still gets a lot of play on my various sources of musical listening devices. It has aged well, like the rest of TSOL's early output, and is a profound testament to the pioneering punk spirit that says SCREW RULES AND GUIDELINES. In my opinion it was the last great TSOL album and if you don't limit your tastes to the rigid dogmatic guidelines of what necessitates a "genre", then you'll love this album... or at least appreciate it.

TSOL were so brave when they released this album way back then. Being an LA punk band and releasing this very experimental album was very ballsy indeed. Raved by critics but frowned upon by many of their peers at the time, This album stands the TEST of time. Forever old, Wash away, soft focus, and the beautiful title track make this album TIMELESS. It sounded like it couldve been released yesterday. This is why TSOL will always be my favortie band among other LA acts of the same period.

My god, does Dexter Holland deserve some brown-nosing or what? Without mentioning the fact that he plays in The Offspring (a group I don't care much for), he deserves kudos for having the guts to re-release this wonderful record upon an unsuspecting audience once more.

What can you call this? Punk? It's far too intricate and developed to merely fit in that genre. Pop music? This music has the hard edge that cancels that out. Rock n' Roll? Close, more like GREAT Rock n' Roll.

On Beneath The Shadows, TSOL offer up an appetizing combination of anger, sadness, pain, and hope that is scattered across the whole record. Never before has Jack Grisham shown that his delivery could be THIS good...I love the band, but his voice is just on a different level from previous releases. Todd (RIP) Barnes' drumming is precise and hard without descending into overkill. TSOL has always had one of the most powerful rhythm sections in punk, and the timeless Barnes/Roche team doesn't falter at any point. However, the record is made truly beautiful by Jack's voice and the incredible poetic force of Ron Emory's guitars and Greg Kuehn's keyboards.

On an album where every track is great, it's hard to pick out standout tracks. I'd have to go with "She'll Be Saying," "Glass Streets," "Wash Away" (one of the most beautiful rock songs ever recorded...I swear, Ron's guitar sounds very nearly human on the solo), "Send My Thoughts," or the wonderful title track.

To sum it all up, I'd recommend this to any self-respecting rock/punk fan who appreciates some thought and emotion in their music.

How amazing to have this released once more. For me, this
album pushed the boundaries of punk, crossed lines, and
successfully mixed together several genres.

But at its heart this is perhaps the ultimate "I just got
dumped" music, a whole CD of it. Any time you need to wallow
in self-pity/loathing, this music will take you there.

This one threw a lot of people for a loop: melodic, keyboard-heavy tunes, with more than a hint of psychedelia and prog-rock, from the hardcore punk band TSOL. This album is not unlike the work of the Damned and Echo and the Bunnymen at the time, and is similarly brilliant.

"Glass Streets" is one of the best rock instrumentals ever, period. Just a beautiful, yet powerful, classical composition with rock instruments. Tunes like "Wash Away," "Walk Alone," and the title track bleed through the speakers with raw emotion, punk drive, and toe-tapping catchiness to boot.

Any fan of melodic punk rock should run, not walk, to get this one.

This is TSOL's most ignored album. The band got a lot of flak when this album was originally released because it is so different from their earlier work. Instead of sounding hardcore this album verges into deathrock territory.Songs such as Beneath The Shadows and Wash Away are very similar to work done by an early Rozz William's Christian Death. The guitar playing and the keyboards on this album are very haunting and give it a darker edge than the rest of their work. Dance With Me is more horroresque,while this album deals with deep emotions. I totally recommend this album.

This album was so different than their previous albums, but it doesn't matter...it sounds old and new at the same time. This was TSOL's greatest time in my opinion. While they did not have the same angst as their music in their previous albums, this was like a new wave/rock/punk thing. Jack's voice was incredible and its so sad that he doesn't sing like that anymore on his new stuff. This album is a great buy...the music is inegeniously put together and the vocals are top notch. But if you are looking for old TSOL style stuff...go back a little further because this isn't it.

beneath the shadows doesnt get the attention it deserves. It's all around Dance with me. Dace with me is a good album. But this one is good too. A lot of the songs are about a girl. But not your "im so in love" songs. These are about heart ache and watching ur x be with another man. My gf just broke up with me when i bought this cd (coincedently) and i felt i could relate to these songs. Beneath the shadows is a great song. One thing about this album. Its a mix between punk rock and journey type of music.

I got this back in the summer of 2001 when Nitro Records were offering three T.S.O.L. albums "T.S.O.L/Weathered Statues", "Disappear" and "Beneath The Shadows", for like 15 bucks. I was already a fan of T.S.O.L.'s album "Dance With Me", so I figured for 15 bucks, it's worth checking out some of their other stuff. I am glad I did, "Beneath The Shadows" has become one of my favorite albums of all-time. Jack Grisham came with very introspective lyrics for a punk band back in '82, Greg Kuehn's keyboards totally fit the band's sound. Mike Roche's bass lines are unforgettable (as usual), Ron Emory's guitars ring out just like Jack Grisham's vocals, brimming with angst and emotion. Todd Barnes' ride-cymbal-obsessed rhythm (that was, in fact, the first thing I noticed when listening to this band). T.S.O.L. goes from the new-wave-esque first track "Soft Focus" sets the tone of the album, the title track is unbelievable, the instrumental "Glass Streets" never gets boring. "Walk Alone", is the musical equivalent to the cover, musically it sounds like something pulled straight from "A Clockwork Orange". "Wash Away" is an ??emotional?? good bye to something (a lover, sanity, whatever you pull from Jack's lyrics). "Waiting For You" is the perfect closer to this album starting with a very driving guitar followed by a great bass line. It's very different musically, but still punk rock in attitude. So, if you're looking for a different perspective on punk rock, check out this album.

One of the two best albums TSOL did ( right behind Dance With Me)They introduced the keyboard player on his one and only album, and it takes some getting used to, but they whole thing gets better every time you hear it. Several of these songs were performed live in the movie "Suburbia" as well. Anyone interested in the days of California punk, this is definately an album to have. Fits in nicely with the Descendents! If you lean more toward Hardcore, then get Dance With Me first..but this is a great balance to that one. Very serious, dramatic album, with some fine "just broke up with the love of my life" songs...