THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Month: July 2021 (Page 9 of 14)

AUDIOSLAVE – s/t

July 13, 2021 /

Now there is no denying the fact that Chris Cornell had one of rock’s most amazing and powerful voices. I wasn’t the world’s biggest Soundgarden fan as I found them too depressing, and musically they were not that good. Sure they had a few good songs, but that was it for me. In fact, I felt the same about most of the whole grunge movement. Now, Rage Against The Machine were a different beast all together. Anger and protest in rock has always produced good music, and they were no exception. When I heard of Cornell joining the musical part of Rage, I was very intrigued indeed, as the potential was there for something amazing. Well, in 2002 it felt very fresh and familiar at the same time, mainly due to that underlying blues DNA in the music, and the brilliance of Cornell’s voice.

Stand out tracks (and there are a few) are: Cochise, it’s a killer opener with plenty of power and groove – a great way to tell the world this is who we are. Gasoline with its monster heavy riff and groove, Like A Stone, which shows the beauty and range to Cornell’s voice as well as the invention of Morello’s approach to guitar. Exploder with its off funky groove and monster riff, and epic vocal from Cornell – this is close to my favourite on the album, as is Hypnotize with its hip hop drum groove. Then we have The Last Remaining Light, which starts off quite normally, but grows into the most amazing vocal performance I have ever heard on any record. When you know how he died, this song takes on a whole new meaning. It sends shivers down my spine and brings tears to your eyes. It is the most incredibly powerful song you will ever hear. For this song alone, this album is in the everyone should own it category.

10/10 from The Grooveman.

WHITESNAKE – Ready An’ Willing

July 13, 2021 /

Other than the two solo albums by Coverdale, this is the third album by Whitesnake – by this album they were flying. To me, this is what Whitesnake were all about, not the the big hair ensemble that Coverdale and the record company turned them into when they sacked nearly all the band because they weren’t pretty enough. This is a great classic British blues rock record. It’s well written, well played, and has a great production. It helps if you have a killer band with Paice and Lord from Deep Purple on drums and keys, Neil Murray on bass, and the twin guitars of Bernie Marsden and Micky Moody. Bernie was a great foil and song writing partner for Coverdale and doesn’t get enough credit for his contribution to the band.

Fool For Your Loving opens the album and what a great track to open with. This was a hit all around Europe and is such a great song. Sweet Talker is the next track and the groove keeps flowing. Ready And Willing is next and is another superb blues rock tune that this band could write in their sleep. Carry Your Load shows Coverdale’s love for all things Free. Blindman closes out Side 1 and, again, the Free vibes are strong as it’s a beefed up version of Heavy Load – at least it sounds like that to my ears.

Side 2 kicks off with Ain’t Gonna Cry No More, and it sums up what this version of Whitesnake were all about, a heavy deep blues rock groove with a great vocal and melody. Love Man is next and this is Coverdale’s attempt at writing a true blues tune – it works really well and has a nice riff and groove. Black And Blue is more of the same but with more of a Faces vibe going down. She’s A Woman is a nice up-tempo rocker and is another co write with Bernie. It really highlights how good they were as a writing partnership.

There is a bonus track on this version that wasn’t on the original, Love For Sale, and is a rocked up classic boogie woogie and it reminds me a bit of Bad Company. So there we have it. I think you’ll agree this is a great album. I still think it’s really shitty what Coverdale did to Bernie. He almost tried to ignore the fact that Bernie was a huge part of Whitesnake’s early success.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

VOLA – Witness

July 12, 2021 /

Vola are another band I discovered whilst late night Bandcamp surfing. They had just put up digital tracks from their first album (which I devoured eagerly), and when they made the album available as a physical product by making it available on CD, I invested in that as well. The lovely people at Mascot Records also thought the band were amazing as they snapped them up to a deal. This is the third album for the group that we have here today. While they were heavily influenced by the djenty sounds earlier on, they have expanded that sound more and added beauty and melody to the heaviness – and even pop moments – and that makes this band one of the most unique bands around today in the Prog-metal sphere.

The opening track, Straight Lines, has that incredible heaviness and groove that made me fall in love with them – a killer opening track. Head Mounted Sideways is just insanely good, and the low end groove makes your internal organs dance with joy as the vocal pop melody short circuits your brain as it struggles to fit the two together. This is just a monster of a track!!! The beauty of 24 Light Years is next, and the ethereal vocal sits over the very busy drum groove. You feel as though this is the soundtrack to some dystopian space movie until the more normal choppy Prog metal chords kick in. These Black Claws brings to a close this side of awesomeness, and again we are going in an different direction. The riff is so heavy it will crash through your floor, then there is a rap section with a guest spot from rapper Shamen, and then it’s back to riff and groove heaven. Another freaking awesome track.

Over to Side 2 we go with Freak, and band leader Asher Mygind shows the beauty and melody in his songwriting as the heaviness takes a backseat to a more traditional Prog feel. Napalm gets us back to combining the beauty and the melody with a heavy choppy riff and groove, which is a definite signature sound for the band. Future Bird actually reminds me of Steven Wilson with that light ethereal texture to the vocals and the ambient background electronics. Stone Leader Falling Down is an anti-Trump song, at least that’s what I get from the lyrics, and the anger in the music does reflect that. The riff and groove are very choppy, djenty, and heavy. The album closes out with Inside Your Fur and it’s the Vola signature melody that ends proceedings.

I admit to being biased as I love this band, but this is a great record. If you are interested in this type of music, you should definitely BUY THIS RECORD!!!

10/10 from The Grooveman.

WINGER – s/t

July 12, 2021 /

It was always a sense of annoyance for me that Winger were held in such derision by metal fans, it’s as though they were responsible for all that was bad about late eighties rock and metal. I’m sure a lot of this has to do with videos of Large Oilrig throwing darts at a picture of Kip Winger while Metallica were recording the Black album and muttering obscenities about the band. The truth is, that this album is a great album that is well produced, well played, and well written, and Ulrich was just being his usual egotistical self.

The band did not just appear from nowhere as they had been around the scene with bands like Alice Cooper, Dixie Dregs, and Aldo Nova to name a few, and they were great musicians. Opening track, Madalaine, is a great melodic rock track with a great chorus and melody. Hungry is, again, a great track with emphasis on the melody and the hook. Seventeen is a killer track with a great riff and a superb melody and chorus. It’s a bit like déjà vu as this band can sure write a rock tune, of that there is no doubt. The obligatory ballad is next with Without The Night, but it has a great solo from Reb Beach. It has to be mentioned that there were four singles released from this album in the US, and the album was certified platinum – so I guess they were doing something right. A very slick version of Purple Haze close out Side 1 and is a good attempt at adding something different to an all time classic.

State Of Emergency opens up Side 2 and is the most outright pop track on the album – it sounds very eighties. Time To Surrender follows and the opening riff is very Dokken in its execution (Reb Beach would actually play guitar in Dokken for a brief period). The middle eight is awesome, and is the heaviest sounding track on the album. Poison Angel is the up-tempo party rock track on the album, and grooves along nicely with some killer guitar. The very VH sounding Hangin’ On is next, and again it’s all about the melody and chorus. These guys have melody oozing through their veins and make it look so easy to write tracks like this. Headed For A Heartbreak was the last single released from the record, and is the big production track of the album. It’s a power ballad but not as we know it Jim. There is a bonus track on this Friday Music version of the album, Higher And Higher. This track appeared on the CD version and it has been added here. It is a nice rockin’ track with plenty of guitar to close out the album.

So contrary to what Large Oilrig thinks, this is a great late eighties rock record and is a worthy addition to any rockers collection.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

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