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> Login to your account > RegisterRoger Chapman
From page 88 of Classic Rock Magazine October 2003
Cover of October 2003 issue.
Reissues (Mystic)
Further slices of the ex-Family singer’s 25-year back catalogue. ‘The Shadow Knows’ (★★★★★) is Chapman in 1984, a relatively fallow period for him, with his initial burst of solo energy having passed. Typical was his cover of Paul Brady’s ‘Busted Loose’, a song that everyone seemed to be lining up to cover. Chapman’s version is good, solid but not exactly imaginative.
A bonus four-track package, ‘Live In Berlin’ (★★★★★), represents a superb snapshot of Chappo live in 1989, and includes his own take on Mike Oldfield’s ‘Shadow On The Wall’ on which he’d supplied guest vocals.
Three years later, on ‘Techno Prisoners’ (★★★★★ ), Chapman linked with the Boland Brothers in emulation of Quo and ‘In The Army Now’. Some liked the results, most didn’t. It now sounds mired in the 80s. Mystic Records crediting Chapman with writing the Temptations’ Motown classic ‘Ball Of Confusion’ is a touch sloppy.
Despite the addition of five superior demo tracks recorded in Alvin Lee’s studio which redress the balance, give this a swerve and instead go for ‘The Shadow Knows’ for the live content.
Michael Heatley
