Welcome To The Madhouse - 1992 (Granite Records 1992, Phonix 2001)

Shy were on the road again, and having recorded Welcome To The Madhouse, toured to promote this latest release on Granite Records.  Wardi was now on vocals and the band seemed to be a tightly knit unit again.  Wardi was in his element live, and was a breath of fresh air to the band.  The album was packed with great catchy choruses and had got generally excellent review, even getting a 4k review out of Kerrang!  The band got mixed reviews about their new sound. With Wardi on vocals the band sounded more rock n roll than before and obviously Wardi sang in a completely different vocal range than Tony Mills. The important thing was that the whole band seemed to be pulling in the same direction or singing from the same rock sheet. I had a chat with Roy at Madhouse Rehaearsal studios and he commented that you could say that the while the Madhouse album was very satisfying to record, you wouldn't say it was Shy album.

The material played was a mixture of the new album, Misspent Youth tracks like Money and classics like Reflections.  New songs that stood out included Crazy Crazy,  I don't know why I like you but I do, and the single release cover "It's only Rock n Roll". Wardi is a frontman who knows how to work an audience and I think he was what the band needed at this point in their career.

Some reviews were mixed, but the fans turned up and the response to the bands tour was very good. Shy played a stadium gig in Russia and went down a storm.  This show was put out on television to nearly every country other the U.K. This doesn't surprise me, as Shy seem to have a bigger fan base in Germany and Japan than here.   Shy returned to the U.K to do yet more touring. The single It's only rRock n Roll was released and one rock magazine said it was great "Given the autograph treatment" .  At least Shy had made the cover of The Rolling Stones record their own so to speak, and made an excellent tongue in cheek video. Check it out if you can, it's well worth a watch.

The album wasn't well distibuted. In the U.K it was released on Granite Records, a new Birmingham based record company. A large quantity was stuck in the managements offices.  In 2001 Roy got the album re-released through his own lable Pheonix Records in 2001.

This had a new cover and extra tracks. The cover was of 10 Downing street, which with the title of "Welcome To The Madhouse", which , well wasn't far wrong.  I personally prefer the origianl cover of Wardi/Clown , but the extra tracks were most welcome. While the album didn't get a major release in the U.K, the album did get released through Phonogram in Japan. Which wasn't bad as the band had self funded the recording of the album. They had confidence in the material and I think it's a shame it didn't get a real push, like Excess All Areas.

In the words of Steve Beebee (Kerrang 92) " With by far their best album to date, Shy are slowly unscrewing the nails to their coffin lid".

I still think Excess All Areas is still the best album to date, but Madhouse was a definative return to form.

Next Stop : Regeneration 1999