HAPPY 15th ANNIVERSARY TO “SHE”! 👉 CELEBRATE THE ICONIC ALBUM LISTENING TO THE EXCLUSIVE “SHE” ALBUM NON-STOP MEGAMIX!
Yes, 15 years already gone. But great music is timeless. And the “She” album, which came out in 2006, is made of some really great songs.
Always considered one of the best Ray’s album ever, “She” was many things.
First thing first, It was the return of the Stiltskin brand, but in a complete different new version. If initially Stiltskin was Pete Lawler and Ray, now there’s a new band, were Wilson himself and touring keyboardist Irvin Duguid (who later left the line-up) were the only members from the original line-up. That’s mostly because the original Stiltskin disbanded in 1996, during the recording of their uncompleted second album, for which James Finnigan had been replaced on bass by Aubrey Nunn, who later worked with Faithless. As Peter Lawler didn’t renewed the patent for the Stiltskin brand rights, Ray simply bought it. He also had a chat with Peter asking if he wanted to be involved in the project, but preferred to not getting back into “rock business”.
Second (funny) thing, “She” could be consider a "Jäger Wilson” album, a thing that came up because - as Ray confessed in many interviews - most of the album was written drunk, during the now gone Jägermeister period. Probably a reason why the songs ended up in a so hard-rock way.
And this leads us to the third important thing: “She” is really rock. Maiden Wilson? Raytallica? Rayrvana? Yes and no. If the album is constantly associated by many to the metal world (even because at the time a lot of metal magazines reviewed it), the truth is Ray wasn’t new at releasing some strong and powerful material (check “Millionairhead” or some “The Next Best Thing” moments - even early stuff like “Gouranga”). His “Iron Maiden” roots (as funny celebrated on “Taking Time”) had always been right there, as Ray loves to show his “dark side” here and there. As for that “grunge” approach already experienced during the “Mind’s Eye” period (something that inspired many ones in 1994 - did you felt “that mood” when listening to Cranberries’ “Zombie”, a great song released some months after the smashing hit “Inside”?). Rather than defining “She” a metal album, we can consider its music a fusion of diverse influences including Daft Punk, Phil Lynott, Audioslave, Metallica, David Bowie and Radiohead. Undoubtedly, it's the most "hard-rock" oriented release by Ray.
Earlier releases of the album were released in early spring 2006 with free digital downloads of album cuts "Lemon Yellow Sun", which became a radio hit, and it was supposed to be the title track. When “She”-song came out as second single (and became the album title too), both singles were also released on rare cd singles, including the non-album track "Keep On Believing”. Finally, the album was commercially released in October 2006 in Eastern Europe, and then in the UK and Europe in 2007. The new incarnation of Stiltskin toured Europe, promoting the album for two years: a long journey celebrated in a live album entitled "Stiltskin Live" - also known as "She Live" - recorded on 25 October 2006 in Bonn, released in April 2007.
“She” is iconic. If “Lemon Yellow Sun” became one of the most successful and well-known songs of his entire career, this album received positive reviews everywhere, thanking the incredible sound production, some amazing musicians, and mostly, a bunch of perfect songs. The beautiful rock ballad “Constantly Reminded” and the Coldplay-dye “Show Me The Way” came from this album. As well for some other beloved tracks like the nu-metal experience of “Sick And Tired” featuring a rap by Adonis Star (a Miami rapper), or the unconventional structure and rhythm of “Summer Days”.
A timeless album, we celebrate today with an amazing non-stop megamix, where we had fun In mixing all the album tracks together creating a 20 minutes rock sound experience. A way to discover the album, or simply getting back to your collection and give it a new listening after so many years.
#raywilson
#stiltskin
#she
Post and megamix by Blu Kaos
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