THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

IRON MAIDEN – Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son

February 18, 2025 / / 0 Comments

Surprise surprise, if you hadn’t guessed already, this is album number 7 for Arry’s Army. Is this Maiden’s entry into the progsphere? We have lots of extended tunes (what’s new there then), synths, and a much softer production, so sure sounds like it to me.

This is a million miles away from that raw Dianno fronted band that I loved so much, and you have to really dig deep to find anything like that here. You get a super radio friendly single in Can I Play With Madness, which I tolerate. The opener Moonchild is not too shabby once you put those awful sounding synths in a dark place in your mind, but the only song here that has that old Maiden feel is The Clairvoyant which gets my vote as favourite tune.

I know they are know for their “gallops” but there are too many on this one, and this album cries out for something heavy and different. As you can tell, it’s not my favuorite Maiden album but it’s a solid effort nonetheless.

7/10 from The Grooveman.

HARLOW – S/T

February 18, 2025 / / 0 Comments

Another one and only. This time, it’s a very slick sounding arena rock band from LA. Harlow features one Tommy Thayer on geetar, Todd Jenson (who was in Hardline), Pat Regan (who was a member of the killer Eyes project with JSS), and is fronted by powerhouse female vocalist, Teresa Stanley (who wrote every song).

You should always open the album with a banger, and that’s what you get here with Chain Reaction. Superb song with a great riff and a massive hook and chorus. Silence is a very moody and brooding track with a killer vocal. Don’t Say We’re Over is a full on ballad with a superb production. In fact, the whole album sounds huge and clear.

Empty ups the tempo somewhat with a four to the floor groove, a kickin’ riff, and a big hook and chorus – this just pips it for my favourite track. When You Love Someone is a slick 80’s groove with a hint of old Zeppelin. Side 2 kicks off with Cry Murder and it’s an okay rocker with that “I’ve heard it a million times before” vibe.

We have a cool acoustic groove to the opening of No Escape, which builds and builds to a cool Americana vibe. Beyond Control has a very similar feel with those Zeppelin vibes reappearing. Pictures could be a mirror image of the previous song because that vibe continues throughout Side 2. The album closes out with Edge Of Love and we go out with a whimper.

Side 1 rules and Side 2 struggles to keep the vibe going somewhat, but it’s still a really good record.

8/10 from The Grooveman.

BLACK SHEEP – Trouble In The Streets

February 16, 2025 / / 0 Comments

This is the one and only album Black Sheep released and it came out through Enigma records in ’85. The band revolved around frontman Willie Basse, who was one of the only black frontman in a rock band at the time. It’s the players that left the band that are of interest however, inlcuding a very young Slash, Randy Castillo, James Kottak, and Paul Gilbert (who does play on the album although he is not pictured on the cover).

The album has a very sparse, in your face, crystal clear production – which I do love. We go from cheesy anthem hair band material on tracks I Will Survive and What Can I Do 4 U, to out and out metal rippers like Love Is Not Enough, where PG gives it all the beans. It’s very reminiscent of early Racer X.

All songs are written by Basse only, except Trouble In The Streets which was co-written with George Lynch. The riff on that track sounds a bit like Turn On The Action by Dokken. It’s definitely my favourite song with lots of shredage by Mr. Gilbert.

I like this record a lot and yes, we’ve heard it all before but it’s fun and that’s what the 80’s were all about.

8/10 from The Grooveman.

ATTAKK – S/T

February 16, 2025 / / 0 Comments

Yep it’s another “one and they’re done” band, but this time they only managed to record this 6 track EP, no album. The band scored a deal with a Japanese label because of their guitar player, Kuma who came from Japan, and thus the EP came out in ’89 in Japan first. Unfortunately for the band, it was not pressed anywhere else so they had to send boxes back to California. I guess this was a major factor in the band collapsing.

Strange thing is, this a really good record and they should have done a whole lot more. The EP opens up with Thunder In The Night, an anthemic gallop in true Maiden style with a ripping solo. Without A Word is more of a power ballad with the emphasis on the power. Not Your Man closes out Side 1 with a mid pace pounder, a nice riff, and a rip it up solo.

Never Apart opens up Side 2 and it’s a syrupy ballad, which as we all know has no place on a six track power metal EP showcasing you to the world. Ride The Dragon reminds us what we are here for with quite a commercial sounding rocker. Great riff and guitar sound. So, the last track all too quickly arrives and it’s the band’s signature tune: Attakk. Double kicks all the way and we go out with a bang.

They definitely should have hung around for another record because I think they had a lot to offer.

8/10 from The Grooveman.

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