MAD AS A HATTER

Shadowland´s third album came in 1995 and sounds very different from its debut 3 years earlier. In fact, Mad As A Hatter seems to me a lot to be like a half finished latter day Arena album. Even Clive´s voice is strangely too similar to Rob Sowden´s. Maybe that´s the reason why they disbanded after this one (why two Arenas?). Anyway, Mad As A Hatter is not a bad album. It has its moments, like the excellent opener, U.S.I., a great epic that shows all the band members in top form. Also it has its share of really different, somewhat whimsical tunes, like Zuleika. Some songs just seem to not work, but none are hacks.

It looks like Nolan had no idea where to go with Shadowland, as Arena took more of his interest. I guess he tried to be different here and the results were not exactly what he had hoped for. Even then, it has some good stuff and I think Arena fans will be pleased, specially the ones who enjoyed their last 3 albums. I´d give this album 2,5 stars, but the playing is so good that they actually save even the weaker songs. So, 3 stars is actually a more accurate rate.