Artist: Shades of Rhythm
Album: Shades of Rhythm
Producer: Shades of Rhythm
Release date: 01/11/10
Label: ZTT via Union Square Music
Catalogue no.: SALVODCD214
Format: double CD box set
Website: www.ztt.com

Extacy Edition of S/O/R’s classic rave-defining album expanded across 2 CDs / 29 tracks… remixes by X-Press 2 and Joey Negro, introduction by Judge Jules includes the hits Extacy / Sweet Sensation / The Sound of Eden

Salvo – Union Square Music’s collector’s label – announces the definitive, deluxe edition of one of the rave era’s definitive albums, Shades of Rhythm’s eponymous début, on the eve of its 20th anniversary.

In the “golden age of hardcore,” Shades of Rhythm were as at home headlining genre-defining raves as they were in the Top Of The Pops studio. The singles included here – The Sound of Eden, Sweet Sensation, Homicide/Exorcist and the top 20 hit Extacy – are bona fide gems of the bygone era of a happy face, thumping bass and loving race. C/D/2 adds a stack of unreleased and hard-to-find tracks and promos, legendary in the history books of old school DJs.

Live, the band were a force to be reckoned with and headlined every major rave of the era – Technodrome, Fantazia, Raindance, Sunrise, Amnesia House – with audiences often topping 10,000. In demand as remixers, they’ve delivered the goods for everything from N-Trance’s Set you Free to Si Begg’s 2009 The Bleeps. Returning the favour, this new release features X-Press 2 and Joey Negro remixing Shades of Rhythm.

To quote Judge Jules in his specially-written introduction for this reissue, “After being the exclusive domain of Chicago-based house merchants and some early Italo-house producers, Peterborough’s Shades of Rhythm were arguably the first UK act to truly cement their place in the record boxes of global dance DJs. They were an ‘act’ in the conventional rock ‘n’ roll sense. As adept on stage as in the studio, it was no surprise when
they were welcomed into the big league, signing to Trevor Horn’s ZTT Records.”

“Anthem after anthem followed, and I was lucky enough to remix Sweet Sensation in the early nineties. The band’s biggest hit, The Sound of Eden, remains one of the defining dance tracks of a hugely important musical decade, sounding up to date in the noughties, and having influenced countless producers in the years that followed. Enjoy a slice of seminal dance music…”