THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Month: April 2021 (Page 1 of 11)

RECKLESS – Heart Of Steel

April 30, 2021 /

A Canadian band, from Ottawa, on a British record label called Heavy Metal America. Identity crisis or what?! I admit to not knowing a whole bunch on these guys as they had disappeared after this album was released in ’84. Style wise, I would describe them as glam/pop/rock. Somebody obviously saw the image of the band and thought they would be a great band – let’s sign them. The music is ok and they have some great ideas, they just needed a mentor as a producer and not just a knob twiddler to help them get their ideas on wax.

Songs like Feel The Fire and Need You Next To Me are good and would have been great with a little nurturing. In The Night does suffer from flat production, it needed dirtying up to give it some oomph! Only After Dark is quite an interesting song as they were willing to try a few different things, and Shadows Of You should be loud as hell and in your face, but it’s way too back in the mix. Anyway, it’s not a bad album, but with a little bit of love it could have been a whole lot better.

6.5/10 from The Grooveman.

LENNY WHITE – Venusian Summer

April 30, 2021 /

Lenny White was one of the founders of Jazz/Rock pioneers, Return To Forever. Other than the band and his solo records, he has been involved with squillions of recordings whether as a producer (Chaka Khan) or sideman (Stanley Clarke) – Lenny has been very prolific. This album was Lenny’s first solo outing away from Return To Forever, and I’ll admit, the only thing that drew me in was the involvement of guitarist Ray Gomez. Differing quite a bit from the fusion of his day job, this album goes from the out and out funk of Chicken Fried Steak, to the way out ambient Prog noodling of The Venusian Summer Suite. He, it was the seventies and anything was possible as record companies gave artists time to breath.

There is no doubt that Lenny is an absolute monster drummer and he has groove attached to his soul, and this a very interesting release for a drummer’s solo album. Definitely no extended drum solos, just killer grooves and beats that drive the tunes along. My favourite track is Mating Drive, which features Ray Gomez on guitar and is fusion at its finest. Everything about this track is awesome multiplied by ten. Lots of improv which I love. Special mention to Prince Of The Sea, which has Larry Coryell and Al DiMeola on guitar – another epic track. Fusion is way under the radar today, which is a shame, as the seventies guys open the door to a lot of great music.

8/10 from The Grooveman.

CHIMP SPANNER – All Roads Lead Here

April 29, 2021 /

Back in the mists of time in the early days of djent, and before anyone had released an album proper, there seemed to be just two bands that had gained notoriety through the internet. They were Periphery and Monuments, and at the time Mr, Spanner (or more commonly known as Paul Antonio Ortiz) was a member and played guitar of the fledgling, Monuments. He departed the band quite early as he had interests in producing.

This is his his third solo release on Basick Records, and believe me, they are all great, and this is sort of two EPs in one. I love instrumental metal music, and this fantastic piece is a great advert for the genre. Opening track, Dark Age Of Technology, is a monster track full of djenty goodness and killer playing of which Chimp played everything. The production is really good and is super clear, which can be a challenge with this type of music. Mobius parts 1, 2 and 3 is epic, and is a very technical piece but a joy to hear. I’m a sucker for this type of music and this album does not disappoint. Side 2 is 4 different mixes of the same piece, Superergation, done by Chuter, Timfy James, The Algorithm, and Tanuki. It’s cool to see how each mixer interprets the piece in their own way to be able to create four new tracks.

This gets a 9/10 from The Grooveman.

ANDY TAYLOR – Thunder

April 29, 2021 /

After being a member of the mega star pop combo, Duran Duran, Mr. Taylor wanted to be taken seriously as a musician in his own right. That’s the problem when you are in a teeny pop band, no one takes you seriously. Duran Duran’s popularity was slipping somewhat at the time, and Andy teamed up with ex-Sex Pistol Steve Jones to record this album. Now if you’re like me, you would be expecting a hard edged rock n roll album, but no. What you get is a very polished American 80’s rock album with tunes and melodies.

I Might Lie is a good rocking opening track, and Don’t Let Me Die Young could have been on any eighties soundtrack album. Life Goes On is a very syrupy cheesy ballad and not my favourite type of track. The last track on Side 1 (and the title track) is Thunder and it’s a sure fire ringer for Billy Idol.

Flipping over to Side 2 with Night Train, and it’s quite a limp track and has a weak chorus and melody line. Filler anyone? A very eighties keyboard driven Trembling is next, and it doesn’t seem to go anywhere – just round and round. Bringin’ Me Down is next and it fairs better as the chorus and melody are a lot stronger. See boys and girls, if you don’t have the skills to do a muso style solo record and you go down the tunes route, then you have to have strong material, or else what is the point? Broken Window again suffers from not being well written, and the last track, French Windows, is a rather pointless instrumental that again goes nowhere. So not a great record I’m afraid.

5/10 from The Grooveman.

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