MP3 Real Life Games - ROCK: Arena Rock

Great hooks, catchy anthemic melodies that are sure to get you rockinâ out.

11 MP3 Songs
ROCK: Arena Rock, POP: Pop/Rock

Details:
The Band:
Shayne - Lead Vocals & Guitar
Odee - Rhythm Guitar
Jon - Bass Guitar
Natt - Drums

Shayne Malone are a four-piece rock band from Hamilton that are setting themselves apart from their counterparts with their music, appropriately described as anthem rock, full of great guitar riffs, melodic tunes and a bit of hard rock thrown in there to keep audiences on their feet. Labeled as âNew Zealandâs answer to Bon Joviâ via sites like YouTube.com, Shayne Malone have received a ton of fan e-mail enquiring as to when they will be touring their countries. One fan writes âjust listening to âTouch My Soulâ, what a revelation manâ¦.itâs all there! Nice fat sound, the melody is amazingâ¦..great vocal, convictionâ¦.if the rest of the album is this good then youâre onto a real winner!â.

Shayne Malone released their first album titled Real Life Games in August 2007. Real Life Games has been appropriately described as âclassic guitar-driven rock with a modern biteâ. The album displays a powerful, full-on rock style with strong hooks and melodies, setting the bar a lot higher for New Zealand music. Shayne Maloneâs videos, mostly acoustic versions, have been exploding on YouTube.com, with over 200,000 listens and an outpouring of positive comments. The video for the first single, Touch My Soul, has received over 335,000 views to date which makes them one of the most viewed videos of all time in New Zealand.

Shayne Malone write great songs about real things that people can relate to. The tracks are tight, punchy and feel good. This band is bringing back the rock that has been lost â and thrives on putting on a polished and exciting live show. They are explosive, melodic and crowd driven and you will find that thereâs no other rock band in New Zealand, quite like this.

ALBUM REVIEW: Shayne Malone - âReal Life Gamesâ

Review by Richard Anderson songwriter/lyricist and rock addict.

Introduction & Overview

They say first impressions count, well my first impression was that here was someone fresh to listen to and given that i could relate to a lot of Shayneâs musical influences i figured that i would find something of merit within the confines of his silver platter. Usually i allow (or it allows me) time to grow and melt into the consiousness, music can be a bit hit and miss sometimes in whether you can really connect with itâ¦.thankfully i found myself listening and loving what i was hearing, so much so that i played this disc 3 times before i found myself having to step back and come down from my high. As someone who has listened and lived with a lot of rock music over my years i felt that perhaps i would be able to offer up some sort of critique that might have a little bit of merit, finding little things to be nice aboutâ¦afterall as a songwriter myself we know we want some people besides ourselves to dig what we are doingâ¦.and i do digâ¦I can assure you that i am sincere in my comments within and wish Shayne and his band all the best well into the future, New Zealand needs another class act to shine above them allâ¦..we might just have found our Springsteen.

Not one to be merely a copycat of anyone elses style, Shayne has his own mojo working for himâ¦.and work it does. What youâll hear here you will be able to identify with for sure, massive hook-laden rockers and some dignified tender moments. I donât personally like to make comparisons but the world always wants to know who an artist sounds like, so to my mind think Bon Jovi meets The Feelers with a good old kick in the balls and you are on a good track to gathering up a vision of where Shayne Malone is coming from in regards to songwriting and bringing those visions to life on disc.

Song By Song:

A Story

- Kicking off the album with some balls musically, âA Storyâ sets you up for a feast. Prepare yourself for liftoff as theres no turning back now!

Masquerade

- A rock ânâ rolling primal orgy of fantastic melodiousnessâ¦â¦this song has a nice fat main riff, and that chorus is delivered with some wicked punch. Lyrically its serious but with a pinch of humour too. I really like the production tricks that stop what could have easily have been a pop song, but thankfully isnât.

Better

- The killer hook is here on this one tooâ¦.many a courting could be done with this as the soundtrack to the journey. I can relate to this one lyrically as much as anything on this disc.

Touch My Soul

- My first taste of Shayne Maloneâs music was this hearing this song (and his great acoustic renditions of this and other treats on youtube where the feedback has been great). I always have a soft spot for the first song i hear of an artist that i like, this song is melodic rock ballad personified..everything a heartfelt rocker could need is there. Love the slide guitar and the strings, check out the accompanying video on youtube too!, i also love those soaring vocals! This song needs to be on heavy rotation on every decent radio station around the worldâ¦it oughta be a huge hit!, now as this song is telling a story i wonder if it turned out well for all concerned?, i could use every cliche in the book but will say that my soul has indeed been touched by this track.

Edge Of A Broken Heart

- Another of this discs many highlights, knowing that Shayne is a huge Bon Jovi fan i figured this might have been a cover of one of their tunes by the same name (in fact Vixen had a title the same), but not so (thatâs good really), although vocally this is probably the closest youâll get to a Bon Jovi tune hereâ¦.the grungy guitars deliver the blow required to hit home the message, Shayne lets the music do the talking as much as the singing on this oneâ¦.a treat, check out the change of pace mid-way through this trackâ¦genius! and fantasic drumming there Natt (like bodyblows). Sebastian Bach or Brad Delp would be pleased to hear that scream too, an awesome touch.

Cowboy Rides

- Iâm a sucker for cowboys turning up in rock songs (see âWanted Dead Or Aliveâ), shades of Bob Segar in the intro with the slide guitar (and the theme too i woulda thought). After the heaviness of the last track it was a nice song to slow down a lil toâ¦someone needs to make a western and use this as the main title song.

Whoâs Your Hero

- Another of the first tracks i heard from this album, i knew that once i got the disc i would be playing this song over and over (not wrong), this song is delivered with utter conviction, a great lyric too (one of the best on the album). Clever uses of production take this out of being just a grungefest musically, i would compare this favourably to some of the heavier tracks by The Feelers (a favourite kiwi act of mine) with a bit of a Bono vibe going on vocally there (although i donât think Bono could hit those high notes). Bliss!

Sinner vs Saint

- Rock rebels unite! im sure i am not the only one who will be able feel as if this song was written about them or something. Carrying on from the previous song in terms of the production fun, love the pounding drum/bass combo breaks.

Wild Wind

- Wild Wind and Sinner vs Saint were well placed together, its as if they were Part 1 & Part 2 of a themeâ¦..too cool. And best of all theres a sign of a guitar solo that shows of Shayneâs real lead guitar abilities (my only advice is that on CD #2 we hear more Brian May or Gary Moore style lead breaksâ¦.please). The penny has dropped that in places vocally Shayne reminds me of Robin Zander (Cheap Trick), a huge compliment i can assure you.

Candy âN Rain

- This is a nice track, clearly the aim was to deliver up a different change of pace to highlight that Shayne is not a one-trick wonder.That all said it is a lovely song with a sweet lyric which i am sure was written with someone in particular in mind, very heartfelt sung and nice acoustic guitar and vocal harmonies abound.

Take The Lead

- What a helluva song to finish a CD with, has ya panting and aching for another dose of Malonemania ! If you donât feel like you have been rocked after hearing this song then you need to get yourself into a bodybag because youâre obviously dead. Iâve not heard a song delivered with this amount of conviction in a long time as far as solo artists are concerned, kudos for that alone (let alone for the rest of the albums efforts). Ably backed up by his brother Natt on the drum stool (not overtaking the songs, but supporting them in fine style!), drummers donât get enough credit for lending their craft to the cause, so i hereby throw my hat off in respect, its a masterclass in how to play just right for the benefit of a song.

Conclusion:

âReal Life Gamesâ has something for everyone, songs that take you into a headspace that makes you want to break out the air guitars and rock out til the cows come home.

Not content to just amble through the motions, some clever production techniques have been applied to bring this album into the current climate of rocking/pop. This album is well produced from go to woah and will get more than a token spin in my household, and should in yours too.

You will find yourself singing along (once you learn the words). These songs belong on the radio and not just with token airplay, heavy rotation is whats called for here especially with the big ballad âTouch My Soulâ, if i were a radio programmer i would be salivating over this discâ¦in fact you donât need to be oneâ¦salivate away and be sure to come back for another bite when an album #2 gracious your consciousnessâ¦i canât wait!

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Great hooks, catchy anthemic melodies that are sure to get you rockinâ out!
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Thereâs nothing bad about this collection of songs, just buy the CD already and play it loud for best effect!

Credits:

Produced & Engineered by Shayne Malone

Tracks 3 & 7 Produced & Engineered by Stuart Stuart, Chartsong Productions, Brisbane, Australia, Remixed by Shayne Malone

Mastered by Chris Winchcombe, York Street Studios, Auckland, New Zealand

Released: 2007

Label: Enola Music

Shayne Malone - Vocals, Guitars, Bass & Keyboards

Natt Malone - Drums

Stuart Stuart - Additional Bass & Keyboards

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