I've always loved Shades Of Rhythm. Those dudes released several of my all time favorite songs, and if it were up to me, they would've gotten much much much more props, and a helicopter and diamonds and pet alligators and whatever they need to be happy (as long as it doesn't mess with the music). I think every old skooler remembers them (of course) but the band is kinda stuck in the pool of "oh, do you remember that band?" old skool hardcore acts, and that's not fair, you know? The thing is that they were much more like 808 State or Future Sound of London (sorry for those examples, I guess they're stuck in my head after reading about the comparison fifteen times in the last ten minutes) in that they made electronic music, instead of being stuck in a genre.

But, I'm not gonna write a bio, it's too easy to find anywhere online:
- Shades Of Rhythm on myspace
- ZTT Records bio (with chart info)

I heard most of their stuff in 1991 when it was properly released (instead of hard-to-get white labels): 'Sound Of Eden', 'Sweet Sensation', 'Armageddon', 'Summer of '89' (which was released in, yep, 1989). That's when I bought their self titled album, the 1991 release which has a different tracklist from the 1992 release. Mine doesn't have 'Armageddon', but I do own that single, so I'm good and happy.

Anyways, I loved them so so much. It's funny to think that I always felt that their releases spanned a few years but most of their classic stuff was released the same year (1991, remember?). Actually, the exact same thing goes for The Prodigy: 1991 was the year they released 'Android' (pre-Prodigy to me), then 'Charly' , 'Your Love', and 'Pandemonium' (which I've always felt belong to yet another era), and then 'Everybody's In The Place', 'G-Force', 'Rip Up The Sound System', and all the Experience-stuff, which to me is more "newer" Prodigy, you know? More technical in a way, I don't know, something like that. But oh my lord, what happened to The Prodigy? Some ravers in their forties with their cat-contacts and...sigh...it's too awful to think about...

So, back to Shades Of Rhythm, they were my favorite band until they released 'Extacy' and...I don't know. I didn't really like it back then, and I still don't like it today. And to be honest I wasn't a huge fan of whatever they released later in the 90s.

But that doesn't matter, because early in their career they released these lovely lovelies:

Shades Of Rhythm - Sound Of Eden
Listen / Buy: GEMM / eBay / Amazon.com

One of my all time favorites song in the world. Ever.

I don't know how many times I've listened to it since I heard it from the first time from a shiny 12" in Fjörgyn.

It's so beautiful and dancey and perfect.

This version is a bit different from the instrumental (which really isn't an instrumental, but more like a different edit) which is on the 12". If you really want it, you can buy it.

Then there's this:

Sweet Sensation

Classic.

Emotional bonus:

Ómar Friðleifsson is a legend in Iceland. Back in the day he hosted an unbelievably wonderful radio show where he played the songs I've mentioned songs plus a gazillion other soon-to-be classics. He had a tremendous influence on my music liking. I still remember from 16 years ago (!) when he mixed 'Lies' by Shades Of Rhythm into Kariya's 'Let Me Love You For Tonight'. The bassline in 'Lies' made Kariya's song sound so different from what I had heard. I spent a long time trying to find that version, before I realized that it was only his genius all along.

Kariya - Let Me Love You For Tonight (Original 12inch)
Listen / Buy: GEMM / eBay / Amazon.com

Come to think of it, the basslines aren't that different. Clever.