Shades of Two Worlds

Allman Brothers Band

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 2, 1991)
• Original Release Date: July 1991
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B0000027RT
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #109,752 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

From Grove Press Guide to Blues on CD
Gregg Allman's wear 'n' tear voice is forthright and his organ is unrepentant. Betts's guitar rips with hair raising voltage. The drummers cannonade as though Fort Sumter were theirs for the taking. The new hands further acclimate themselves to their roles. If only their collective imagination rivaled their fervid spirit. The top displays of kith-and-kin sincerity are "Get on with Your Life" and an acoustic interpretation of Robert Johnson's "Come on in My Kitchen," the latter featuring Betts's slide guitar. -- © Frank John Hadley 1993

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Their best '90s album, July 31, 2003

By	John Alapick (Wilkes-Barre, PA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Shades of Two Worlds is the best album the Allman Brothers Band would release in the '90s and is among their best work. Their previous album Seven Turns was their comeback album and is very good. But Shades of Two Worlds has a stronger set of songs and is a more diverse collection.

Dickey Betts writes most of the tracks on this album, contributing his strongest set of songs since the Brothers and Sisters album. Tracks such as "Bad Rain", "Desert Blues", and the epic "Nobody Knows" are all strong tracks. "Nobody Knows" may be their best track of the '90s, featuring some of Gregg Allman's best vocals and Butch Trucks' and Jaimoe's best drumming ever on a studio track. Dickey Betts and Warren Haynes' guitar playing on this track is also very impressive. The instrumental "Kind Of Bird" is also very strong, more owed to jazz since any instrumental they've recorded since "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed."

Gregg Allman only co-writes two tracks here, but they're both very strong. "Get On With Your Life" is an excellent slow blues that the band has always excelled at. The introspective "End Of The Line" is the album's most well-known track and is among their best recent work. The band also do a cover of Robert Johnson's "Come On In My Kitchen" which is a pleasant surprise. Allman's vocal over Haynes' steel guitar intro and the gospel tinged background vocals help make this song all their own. The only misstep on the album is the track "Midnight Man", which while decent, pales in comparison to the rest of the album. I'd give this album 4 1/2 stars if available. This is a great album which will appeal to all Allman Brothers Band fans. Inexplicably, this album is now out of print. This should be remastered and released once again as this is one of the band's 5 best studio albums.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The most underrated album in the Allmans' catalog..., June 18, 2007

By	Grigory's Girl "Grigory's Girl" (NYC) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

In talking with my amazon friends Finulanu and Ol' nuff n' den sum we are amazed that this album, The Allman Brothers Band's follow up to Seven Turns, is out of print. It's just as good as Seven Turns, and in many ways better, as the playing on it is much more intense. Here, Gregg Allman really shines, not only vocally, but as a songwriter (co-writing the great End of the Line and sole writer on Get On With Your Life). His keyboard work is very good, too. Johnny Neel played keyboards on Seven Turns, while Gregg stayed on organ. Here, he does all the keyboard work for the first time since Duane was in the band. The song Nobody Knows is one of the Allman's greatest songs, a killer epic track (running nearly 11 minutes) with great vocals by Gregg, amazing guitar work by Dickey Betts and Warren Hayes, and some amazing percussion by Jaimoe and Butch Trucks. Despite the lengthy running time on many of these songs, they are remarkably tight, and show that the Allmans know how to jam and jam intensely. They never wander around like the Dead (at least in concert) and Phish would do.

This album needs to be back in print, now! If Seven Turns and Where It All Begins are in print, why not this?

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Allman Brothers best since Brothers and Sisters, November 27, 2002

By	kireviewer (Sunnyvale, Ca United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

For some reason, this album is out of print. It is only available on the used market. If you find it, you should snap it up while you can get it. It is the best Allman Brothers album since Brothers and Sisters.

Every track on this album is strong. There is a lot of good jamming. Some tracks are 10 to 12 minutes long. The album has 8 tracks and is 52 minutes long. The only complaint is that some of the tracks sound too much like classic Allman Brothers, as if Jessica was only slightly modified.

In 1990, the Allman Brothers reunited again, adding Warren Haynes on guitar and Allen Woody on bass. This group put out three studio albums and two live albums. This CD is the second album. The first, Seven Turns is almost as good. The third, Where It All Belongs isn't quite as strong. The live albums, An Evening With the Allman Brothers are great, especially volume 1.

In 1994, the Haynes and Woody left the group to concentrate on Gov't Mule (their With A Little Help album is fantastic). Unfortunately, Woody died last year. Haynes has been playing with the Grateful Deads' Phil Lesh. He also put out a new Gov't Mule with a different bass player on each track, including Cream's Jack Bruce.

Prior to Seven Turns, the Allman Brothers hadn't released a studio album since 1981. The group did tour a lot in the eighties, using different guitarists. As always, their live shows were always very good.