Silver Mountain's Shakin' Brains was originally released in March of 1983. Produced by the band themselves, it became a blueprint for the new "Classic Swedish Sound of the early to mid-80s", a style of heavy metal copied by many, but never surpassed. Being a huge fan of 1970s European hard rock, Jonas always felt that those bands had a distinct but somewhat limiting approach. "I liked being different and not sounding as anyone else," Jonas recalls. He first replaced the second guitarist with keyboard wizard Jens Johannsen. "Many bands started to have that dual guitars approach. I really wanted more dynamics and Jens, being the brother of Anders (who had been in the band for a year by then) was an easy choice to add that depth I was looking for." Jonas' influence by Ritchie Blackmore was certainly unmistaken on Shakin' Brains, but he craved to create his own divergent sound and managed this dazzlingly. Shakin' Brains introduced the band to an unsuspecting world hungry for new metal with a refreshing attitude, confident authority, and courageous song writing. Moving beyond the riff-oriented style of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal that still dominated the scene, Shakin' Brains impressed with its coherent shape, texture and sharp focus on intricate melodies without sacrificing heaviness. The band effectively managed to mold their unchained attitude with a disciplined, stunning melodious approach within their ambitious guitar and tenacious keyboard musical amalgam. A vibrant album, it quickly landed on many magazines' best of lists and opened the doors to many Swedish bands to follow. It easily reflects Silver Mountain's maturity as one of the era's most invigorating artists with an exceptional, undiluted thirst for ten elegant compositions that harked on hard rocks glory 1970s days but with new 1980s urgency and vitalism. The highlights? There are many! The up-tempo opener "1789" sets the tone with the galloping drumbeat and fist punching chorus. The lively "Always" impresses with a tingling keyboard intro and an almost commercial sensibility that could and should have been a hit. Finally, the epic "King of the Sea" is a prefect prelude to the stomping and dark closer "Keep On Keeping On", bringing this razing album to an exciting and satisfying end. Out of print for nearly 15 years, SILVER MOUNTAIN's now legendary debut Shakin' Brains will at long last see a worldwide reissue on all formats. REGAIN CLASSICS (distributed & marketed by REGAIN RECORDS) is proud to present this historic SILVER MOUNTAIN legendary debut album, Shakin' Brains, on CD and vinyl LP formats. Experience it, now!
