REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Day: April 29, 2021

CHIMP SPANNER – All Roads Lead Here

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

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.