THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Day: May 10, 2021

THE JOE PERRY PROJECT- Let The Music Do The Talking

May 10, 2021 /

The Joe Perry Project were actually formed whilst Perry was still a member of Aerosmith. At the time, the Aero ones were all off their relative faces on all sorts of exotic substances, and the record company were at loss to know what to do with them. The label CBS openly encouraged Perry to do this project hoping it would give Tyler a boost to get him up and rockin’ again. With Perry being on the same label, it would be easy to bring him back when the time was right.

As you would expect, the music does have the same vibe as the Aero ones – but with a lot more Joe. The first and title track is such a great song, that when Perry went back to Aerosmith, Tyler could not wait to sing it live. Vocalist Ralph Morman has a great voice and suits these songs perfectly. Conflict Of Interest could have been a Smith outtake – it’s that close. Discount Dogs has a real funky swagger until the cool time change for the chorus – with some killer Joe guitar. Shooting Star has the real big riff to start and could have been a Smith song. Side closer, Break Song, is an instrumental, and is one of my favourite Aerosmith related tunes – this bad boy is all groove and plenty of Joe. Freakin’ awesome tune!

Side 2 kicks off with the funky tones of Rockin’ Train – a seriously groovy tune. Next up is The Mist Is Rising, and with the very dissonant guitar sound it comes over as a very sleazy song. Ready On The Firing Line seems to be missing a lead off riff, and is a bit jumbled until the funky chorus. Life At A Glance brings the album to a close, and is just a short sharp fun rock and roll song that wouldn’t have been out of place on Toys In The Attic. There were two more project albums after this and they had some good tunes, but this was the best by a mile.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

LOUDNESS – Thunder In The East

May 10, 2021 /

Even though every rock band under the sun went to Japan and seemed to be huge, there weren’t that many Japanese bands coming the other way for their chance at world domination. The best metal band to leave the land of the rising sun were Loudness and this is not open to debate. Mainly due to the extraordinary talents of guitarist, Akita Takasaki, who formed the band in ’81. They were the first Japanese metal act to sign a record deal outside of their own country. This is the 5th studio album released after the mighty Disillusion, which did really well around the world.

The first thing that you notice when opening track Crazy Nights kicks in, is how similar they sound to Accept – who also have that hard edged sound. Huge riff and killer solo. Like Hell follows, and again, as soon as the riff starts there is a very European approach to the sound. Heavy Chains is all about Akira right from the intro to the Manowar riff and the killer solo. Get Away has a very NWOBHM opening riff and vibe to the whole song. We Could Be Together closes out Side 1 and the opening riff is very reminiscent of Randy era Ozzy.

Side 2 starts with Run For Your Life with a really cool guitar heavy intro, and stands out as the most unusual track on the record as they are trying something a little different, which in my opinion, works really well. Clockwork Toy is fat riff city with double kicks and is the heaviest track on the album. No Way Out is very Schenker era UFO in sound, and a big mention to producer Max Norman for a killer production, and gave the band the huge sound that lifts the whole album. The Lines Are Down is back to NWOBHM territory with the riff and the Iron Maiden gallop. Album close out track, Never Change Your Mind, has an intro that is a near lift from Closer To The Heart, and to be honest, is a disappointing end to what is a pretty good album with its cigarette lighter feel. Remember this is 1985, and for the time it’s a good album, but listening to it now it still feels like I’m in a time warp.

7/10 from The Grooveman.

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