About
Produced and engineered by William Brown
Recorded at First Wave Digital, Box of Armageddon Studios, and Outpost Studios
All songs written by Tony Garone except The Ribbon Pilots, Johnny Monkey, and Aftermath which were written by John Sergio and Tony Garone. The Four Moons of Shadowland written by William Brown and Tony Garone. All songs © 1988 and 2025 by Tony Garone.
Cover art work by the most awesome Marie DiCastro
Cover art work by the most awesome Marie DiCastro
So, you might be asking, what is Shadowland about? How did it come to be? What is the story?
Well, without giving too much away, Shadowland was inspired by a television program from the 1960s called The Prisoner. The Prisoner starred Patrick McGoohan, who also wrote and directed some episodes. The show followed a secret agent who decided to resign from his life of espionage but was kidnapped and taken to an island where other high-level government officials were imprisoned. Apparently, their valuable knowledge concerning government secret service operations prevented them from leaving the system.
Upon waking in a flawless replica of his apartment, the identity of McGoohan’s character was erased and given a number - Number Six, and subsequently found himself in what was called, “The Village.” He didn’t know who kidnapped him—his government or someone else. The island and its prisoners were highly symbolic, and the final episode, “Fallout,” left viewers angry because it didn’t provide answers but only raised more questions. The show’s symbolic nature and cerebral themes led to hostile protests, forcing McGoohan to leave London after the final episode aired. Shadowland was inspired by this program, but that’s not what it’s about. Like The Prisoner, Shadowland is cerebral and symbolic. It’s not so much a place, like The Village, as it is a state of mind. The meaning of Shadowland and its cast of characters has changed for me over the years, as I, too, have changed. Initially, it was about any ideology that imprisons people—whether they are cognizant of their imprisonment or not. I’ll be delicate here and leave it at that. Over the years, the idea has transformed to reflect my own inner transformations. When William Brown called me back in 2014 and suggested we re-record and resurrect Shadowland, I had to rethink my perception of what it meant to me, both from 1988, 2014, and over the years until its completion in 2025. Over that period of time—thirty-seven years later, I realized that Shadowland meant something entirely different to me, and as such, I rewrote some of the lyrics and created new sections of songs to reflect newer perspectives and beliefs. What I can tell you is that Shadowland is a prison, much like The Village in The Prisoner, but it is entirely of the mind. It is a prison that we, as human beings, build day by day. Its construct is fear, self-ignorant grasping, and misperception, and its cast of characters—like Dr. Deadbrain, the Swarm, and the Red Beast—are archetypal representations of these prisons. If you are familiar with certain Eastern philosophies, you may recognize which specific ideology to which I subscribe and it might help those of you who care to derive deeper meaning from my efforts. But if not, that's okay too. I hope you find it entertaining enough to simply enjoy the music. In any case, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for listening, and I’m even more grateful to those of you who actually purchase this music. But most of all, I hope it helps those who are trapped within their own thoughts break free from the prisons of their own Shadowland. — Tony Garone
Upon waking in a flawless replica of his apartment, the identity of McGoohan’s character was erased and given a number - Number Six, and subsequently found himself in what was called, “The Village.” He didn’t know who kidnapped him—his government or someone else. The island and its prisoners were highly symbolic, and the final episode, “Fallout,” left viewers angry because it didn’t provide answers but only raised more questions. The show’s symbolic nature and cerebral themes led to hostile protests, forcing McGoohan to leave London after the final episode aired. Shadowland was inspired by this program, but that’s not what it’s about. Like The Prisoner, Shadowland is cerebral and symbolic. It’s not so much a place, like The Village, as it is a state of mind. The meaning of Shadowland and its cast of characters has changed for me over the years, as I, too, have changed. Initially, it was about any ideology that imprisons people—whether they are cognizant of their imprisonment or not. I’ll be delicate here and leave it at that. Over the years, the idea has transformed to reflect my own inner transformations. When William Brown called me back in 2014 and suggested we re-record and resurrect Shadowland, I had to rethink my perception of what it meant to me, both from 1988, 2014, and over the years until its completion in 2025. Over that period of time—thirty-seven years later, I realized that Shadowland meant something entirely different to me, and as such, I rewrote some of the lyrics and created new sections of songs to reflect newer perspectives and beliefs. What I can tell you is that Shadowland is a prison, much like The Village in The Prisoner, but it is entirely of the mind. It is a prison that we, as human beings, build day by day. Its construct is fear, self-ignorant grasping, and misperception, and its cast of characters—like Dr. Deadbrain, the Swarm, and the Red Beast—are archetypal representations of these prisons. If you are familiar with certain Eastern philosophies, you may recognize which specific ideology to which I subscribe and it might help those of you who care to derive deeper meaning from my efforts. But if not, that's okay too. I hope you find it entertaining enough to simply enjoy the music. In any case, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for listening, and I’m even more grateful to those of you who actually purchase this music. But most of all, I hope it helps those who are trapped within their own thoughts break free from the prisons of their own Shadowland. — Tony Garone