Dark Heart’s superb debut album from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal days in the mid-1980s gets a 40th anniversary reissue and remaster in a very fine double CD set which includes various demos and on the second CD a live performance of the album along with some demos which the band did when called Tokyo Rose a couple of years before becoming Dark Heart.
Back in the mid-1980s, Dark Heart didn’t last much longer after Shadows of the Night – perhaps surprising given the quality of the album – though did make a surprise return with a self titled album in 2021 which is a cracker too. I reviewed it here.
Back to Shadows of the Night….it is a solid album of thumping yet refined rock with snappy riffs, soaring vocals, lots of catchy hooks and melodies and very fine guitar work indeed. Quite the recipe overall.
The title track, Dangerous Games and No Time for Turning make chunky trio to get things moving. Then the storming instrumental of Teaser hits home hard.
Don’t Break the Circle is a pleasing melodic rocker with a flowing bass and a nice bite before the big one of Shout it Out. A glorious seven or eight minutes of a song. The extended intro builds slowly from the drums and guitar for an engaging couple or three minutes until the riff and drums set the controlled pace throughout along with an earworm of a chorus and spectacular, measured guitar breaks through to the big finish. Her it is:
Giving it all for Love has a hook and melody which screams radio friendly hit single – it’s so catchy. Coming Home and Turn of the Tide close the album out in fine style.
But there’s more…..with this re-issue you get a lot of music for your money.
Two demos follow from 1985 and a song taken from an old compilation from 1986 making another nine songs. All good stuff.
Then on the second CD we have a live version of Shadows of the Night which the band did for the record company. The tale of how that happened is in the booklet which has an interview with band member Alan Clark.
And then two demos from the pre-Dark Heart existence as Tokyo Rose recorded in 1982 and 1983 for another eight songs. The name change a bit Spinal Tap Originals/New Originals. Another one you’ll read about in the Alan Clark interview.
Such a pity Dark Heart back in the old days became another of those “one album and out” NWOBHM-era bands who had all the talent to go far yet did not enjoy the breaks to make it happen.
That being said, with Shadows of the Night, Dark Heart recorded a fine, fine album before fading away towards the latter half of the 1980s. Perhaps a comparison of styles might be say Demon and Angel Witch with a touch of Thin Lizzy?
This 40th anniversary release with all the other demos, live version and Tokyo Rose demos does it all justice and a welcome opportunity to enjoy it again and top marks to Cult Metal Classics for yet again finding more good stuff from the old days as they continue to do.
However as is usual with the Cult Metal Classics, this is a limited edition run of just 500 CDs Purchased my copy directly from them here:
https://www.sonicagerecords.com
Use your search engine of choice for other potential stockists.
And do check out Dark Heart’s “comeback” album from a few years ago as that’s superb also – review here.
As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.