REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Day: April 30, 2021

RECKLESS – Heart Of Steel

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

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.