Critic's Review
Backroads Music/Heartbeats, All Music Guide
This power-packed new release uses rock music as a springboard and then balances the dynamic elements with a composer's sensibilities and maturity to deliver an appealing album that should fly across all genre borders and musical categories. Half of this team should be very familiar, as Paul Speer was the key part of the best-selling single in new age music, "Behind the Waterfall" from Natural States, by Speer and David Lanz. Paul Speer also produced Cristofori's Dream, Lanz's number one hit. On Shades of Shadow, Speer joins forces with Larry Quintana, who composed all the music and plays synthesizers, percussion and piano. The combo definitely hits it off, soaring into rhythm-propelled spaces with an array of catchy hooks and solid delivery, adding occasional sax here and there, drums by brother Neal Speer, and piano by David Lanz on the title cut and one other. Central to all of the pieces is Paul's trademark guitar and rock orchestration, utterly enjoyable throughout.
