Hi Alador and welcome to JPF.

I listened to "Only My Shadow Knows"

First off most people would post a song on the MP3 forum for feedback but as a newbie it is no prob posting in the wrong place this time.

The overly long intro has already been mentioned. As far as intros are concerned it would all depend on the market you are aiming at. Country is very strict about getting to the chase whilst others like in rock generally length of intro does not matter that much. That said whatever genre a song is the intro must capture interest and keep it. I have heard music with very long intros that I would not cut down and I have heard short intros that I would scrap altogether. Your intro does not really capture or maintain my interest. The general chord progressions and melody is nothing new and has been used in any number of songs. There does not appear to be any great hooks either musicslly or lyrically. I felt some bits of the song felt jerky and slightlly out of sync. Did you use a click track? It seemed to lack in arrangement and some of the sequences did not really mesh or flow well. I could not fault the actual playing but felt it lacked dimension and was a bit mish mash in the mix. The vocals were very muddy and too far back in the mix which left me wondering what the song was about as I could only make out the odd word.
There is no doubt from this one song you have talent but it needs a bit more work. I kept waiting for a rise, a change in direction or pace, something exciting to happen but sadly it never quite did. The chorus is too similar to the verse and there is not enough light and shade for me. I felt te song drag maybe upping the tempo a few BPMs might mprove things.
I hope you do not find this too harsh as I tend to concenrate on the negs rather than picking out the few positives or giving false praise. You have potential but have a way to go.

Best of luck

JIM

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/songInfo.cfm?bandID=687727&songID=5238055