Shades Apart resurfaced in 1995 with a collection of straightforward punk songs. As far as hardcore rock goes, this isn't a bad album; it's angry, menacing, and full of blistering guitar riffs. As a band,
Shades Apart might have one of the tightest rhythm sections in rock, but it's all very one-dimensional.
Shades Apart's aural assault rarely lets up, which is fine when the songwriting is strong enough to support that wall of noise. In the case of
Save It, however, it isn't, and the album tends to get a tad tedious by the end -- the end being, in this case, a punked-up cover of
Soft Cell's "Tainted Love." The remake provides some much-needed melody, but it also highlights some of the songwriting inadequacies elsewhere on the disc. ~ Jonathan Lewis