Shining band history

After the demise of the Verve in 1999, founding bassist Simon Jones resorted to hiding out in his London flat. Ex-Stone Roses guitar man John Squire botched that in 2000 when he called on Jones to create some new material. Squire was also reeling from the breakup of the Seahorses and had an itch to make music. He, Jones, and fellow Verve guitarist Simon Tong joined forces with drummer Mark Heaney and vocalist Duncan Baxter and tagged themselves the Shining after the Stephen King novel and the ultramodern Stanley Kubrick film. The association with Squire didn't exactly form as planned, so he and Jones amicably split early on. Guitarist Dan MacBean was added to the group and the Shining developed a rough-edge pop sound. Debut singles "Quicksilver" and "Wonder How" emerged in early 2002 as well as an American deal with Epic. The band's studio full-length, entitled True Skies, was scheduled for an early 2003 release. The Shinning lost their recording contract.

Amazon.co.uk review:

Those impassive, multicoloured faces, gazing from the artwork of True Skies may lead prospective purchasers to conclude--somewhat optimistically--that the Shining's debut album is some kind of post-millennial Brit-rock stab at psychedelia. Unfortunately, the truth--and, therefore the music--is a lot less polychromatic than the sleeve-designer and the bands' radiant moniker would have us believe. Heralding the welcome return of ex-Verve men Simon Tong and Simon Jones, the Shining have the occasionally handy way with a stadium-enhancing tune but, regrettably, give every indication that they inhabit a world where the only true gods are Noel Gallagher and Jimmy Page, two deities whose rhymester platitudes and Richter-troubling riffology must be worshipped and replicated at every turn. Indeed, the sort of idolatrous Led Zeppelin fixation that permeated the Stone Roses' lazy second album is all too apparent and may just be--conjecturally speaking--the lingering influence of John Squire's inceptive involvement with the band. While the persuasive, chiming mandolin of "Crest of an Ocean" and the excellent, consumer-friendly "Young Again" augur well for the future, True Skies does lack what description-seeking police officers commonly refer to as "distinguishing features". --Kevin Maidment

Back to Simon Tong biography
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