While Teenage Fanclub don’t present anything startling here on Shadows, it is a bright step in the continuation of their formulaic sound, one that weaves its way into listener’s souls, delivering harmonics, both vocal and instrumental that are nearly billowy, full of life, laced with acoustic crispness and an energetic force that comes at you like dark clouds parting after a delightful summer rain.Certainly Fanclub hark back to their 70’s inspired roots, flashing images of Neil Young, The Beach Boys and of course those shimmering guitar goodies one instantly recalls from Roger McGuinn of The Byrds. Yet by no means is the band beholden to these groups, as the visionary wonder they lay down belongs to them and them alone. Having said that, I might suggest that you retune your ears for what Big Star once attempted, where what Fanclub rolls out here is penetrating, in almost a tributary manner, hint at the dynamics Bell and Chilton might have achieved, had they not so hated each other. Even though it’s been twenty years since the genesis of Teenage Fanclub, they’ve lost none of their charm, where at this point the band seems to have stabilized itself, with its members happy to be working and playing together. Shadows highlights one thing their previous albums have not, and that’s to accent the band’s strong points, their entirely simple yet empowered melodies, where you’re left holding an album that is entirely fulfilling, almost to the point of being surprised. See, despite the name, like the Beach Boys who developed to be men, Teenage Fanclub are far from being teenagers at this point, matter of fact, they’re not even looking back at those years, more focused on being a group of matured musicians who will never sit at the head of the table, though at this juncture, that seat is hardly relevant, as the band’s only desire seems wholeheartedly to be directed at making first rate memorable albums that will stand the test of time.Of course, there are those who are not fond of the changes Fanclub made here, desiring that the band should have retained more of their original sound, where comparisons could still easily be made to Nirvana. Some have professed a profound unhappiness that nearly all of the songs ride the same sonic current, with an aligned pace and mid-tempo laidback style, claiming that this breezy music is all and all fine, though doesn’t cut it twelve times in a row. These same folks go on to imply that Fanclub has gotten lazy, forgotten their roots and become irrelevant, exemplified by a disconnect between the vocals and the lyrics, where all sense of passion, emotion and surprise have been lost.To those listeners who feel so let lost and downtrodden, I can only say that Shadows is intoxicatingly fulfilling, and while perhaps not sincerely couch-bound, it is filled with more melodic arranged scripted harmonic passion and consideration than any of their previous albums, and for this listener, I was entirely pleased. Honestly, Fanclub have done something too few bands have managed or even envisioned doing, and that’s to venture far afield of those albeit gloriously sloppy grunge pop sounds, shake off the frenziedness and settle into a setting of coalesced beauty, where the music isn’t impulsive, rather rises, hovers, blossoms and blooms with an unexpectedness, where texture and construction lead to the core of their art, rather than adrenaline inspired walls of sound that were simply there for the moment, then gone.In short … Shadows with all of its simple bopping pop pleasures, layered and interwoven harmonies, the album took me exactly where I so wish Surf’s Up by the Beach Boys had taken me.  I realize that I’m making a rather outrageous statement, but a true one nonetheless.  Even with the album sounding easygoing and off the cuff, there’s an underlying complexity, dynamic breezy lush atmosphere created here that's unshakable.  Teenage Fanclub has created something more than some sort of hypnotic drug induced expression, Shadows is full of tight musical meanderings that would sound cliched, were they not so wonderfully executed and brilliantly delivered.Go out to your car for lunch, drop this in the stereo, and you just might not make it back to work ... not that that would that be such a bad thing?Review by Jenell Kesler

Not sure about other copies but the vinyl on mine when bought new looks like someone played fetch with it bfr sleeving. I assume other 1st pressing will have similar defects. It is crackly in places and not able to clean off marks.