THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Month: July 2021 (Page 7 of 14)

BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION – BCCIV

July 17, 2021 /

This is the album that brought them back together, after Glen threw his toys away when Joe wouldn’t make BCC his priority band. Would you if you had a super successful solo career? Nope, and neither would I! Kevin Shirley always said he would have loved to have produced Zeppelin, and I guess this is as close as he will get. Except, this is Zeppelin with keyboards and a better singer.

Opening track, Collide, is Joe trying his best Jimmy Page impression – even the tone is super close – and Jason’s drum sound is so close to his dad’s. Over My Head feels like a song that would be on a Hughes solo album with a slight funky undertone. The Last Song For My Resting Place starts with Jo Bo on lead vocal, and sounds as though it’s his solo album. I’m not sure why there is a Keyboardist to be honest, as they just use him as strings substitute in the most part. Sway shows this perfectly, again, we have that big rock sound with the funky undertone – and the keys seem to be an after thought. Sons Of Apollo is next and that’s how you use Derek Sherinian.

Now, you may be getting the impression that I don’t like this album. But that’s wrong – I do – it’s just that I think this project may have run it’s course. I don’t think they have an identity of their own, and they just sound as though they are paying homage to what’s gone before. However, Glenn is an unbelievable vocalist, and Joe is a killer guitarist, and both Jason and Derek are at the top of their games also. They could have mixed the old with the new and come up with something of their own. The production is great and delivers that stripped back old late seventies classic rock sound that Shirley is so good at.

I think the first album is the best and this gets 8/10 from The Grooveman.

BILLY SQUIER – Don’t Say No

July 17, 2021 /

Unless you live in the US, its hard to describe just how big Billy boy was in the early eighties. It wasn’t just the MTV crowd that lapped him up, but Squier’s track, The Big Beat, was one of the most sampled drum grooves in rap music. Billy actually wanted Queen’s Brian May produce the album, but he was too busy so he got Queen’s producer at the time, Mack, to do it instead. It was probably the best decision for young Billy’s career as this album went through the roof.

I think five singles were taken from this album. The Stroke was played everywhere and catapulted young Billy into mega star status. It’s a good song, but album opener In The Dark is the better tune as it has everything that a pop rock anthem should have. A great melody, big sing-a-long chorus, and simple catchy music. In fact, this is the perfect pop rock album, it’s very commercial to keep the pop kids happy, and yet rockin’ enough to keep the rockers groovin’. Lonely Is The Night is the albums heaviest moment as the song shifts though the gears, until the big Led Zep moment towards the end. In fact, Side 2 is the better side, even though it has the least popular songs, but IMHO it rocks harder.

This is a really good album and gets the thumbs up from me.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

INTRONAUT – Habitual Levitations (Instilling Words With Tones)

July 16, 2021 /

This is the fourth album from the amazing Intronaut – the most groove-tastic of all the Prog metal bands. The band have brought more melody to the table since the early days, and to me, are now the complete band. The songs are quite simple in structure, but it’s the layers that are added to fill out the sound, and the amazing rhythms, riffs and grooves that make them one of the most unique bands of the genre. They have their own sound and you know you are listening to Intronaut, which is great thing as they are able to stand out from the crowd.

Killing Birds is a monster opening track with all the trademark sound and tones. The Welding is just unbelievably awesome with its use of differing time signatures for nearly all of the instruments, plus the riff is so fat and huge, and the rhythm section is so tight. Steps is big, fat, and low with the riffage, and grooves hard – I love the harmony vocal. There is no widdly-flash-bastard soloing here, just superbly crafted pieces of modern metallic Prog goodness. A Sore Sight For Eyes is a beautiful piece with a perfect split of heavy and melody. Holy polyrhythms Batman!!! Milk Leg will have your brain scrambling for the abacus to keep time. Monster tune! The wonderfully named Harmonomicon is next, and is the most chill tune on the album. Back to monster riffage with Eventual, which does have a hint of Sabbath at the beginning. Blood From A Stone is all about the harmonies and melody. Close out track, The Way Down, is my favourite on the whole album. Lots of fat off time grooves and monster riffage to keep the toe tappin’ and the head a’ bangin’. The album that came after was perfect, and I love the way they keep growing and progressing as a band.

9.5/10 from The Grooveman.

U.K. – s/t

July 16, 2021 /

When all of Britain were going nuts for punk and ditching all that was melodic and musical, EG put out this masterpiece by an often overlooked classic Prog rock band. This was the best album U.K. put out – after this, the line up changed and so did the chemistry. The line up here is stellar with Alan Holdsworth on guitar, Bill Bruford on drums, John Wetton on bass and vocals, and Eddie Jonson on keys and weirdness. I’ve always loved John Wetton’s vocals – I think he has that tone for a Prog band.

The album kicks off in perfect Prog style with In The Dead Of Night, which is in three parts. The drum pattern is recognizable to Crimson fans as it’s the same as Elephant Talk, which would bring back Crimson from the dead with the amazing Discipline. It’s a very expansive piece with oodles of keys, weird drum patterns, and guitar – a Prog lovers wet dream. The Side 1 close out piece, Thirty Years, is a fantastic Prog workout with a killer drum groove by Bruford, and lots of widdly keys from Jobson. In fact, I would say that Jobson is the dominant force of the whole album as each track is very keys driven.

Alaska opens up Side 2 with another Jobson driven piece, before we get to Time To Kill – its the most up-tempo track on the album, and has a fusion vibe going on until the vocals kick in. The last two tracks, Nevermore, and Mental Medication, are the only tracks on the record that Holdsworth had a hand in writing – and it shows. Nevermore opens with an acoustic guitar, and the whole song is more guitar driven – some of the leads are breathtaking. Mental Medication is Prog widdle overload and doesn’t disappoint. It’s a shame it all imploded after this as they make great music.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

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