THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Month: August 2021 (Page 11 of 13)

VANDEN PLAS – The God Thing

August 6, 2021 /

This is one of my favourite releases from the last 25 years, and it’s nice to see it get a release on vinyl, having originally only being available on CD. However, they have now swapped labels from Inside Out to Frontiers. Try to think of Judas Priest mixed with Images and Words era Dream Theater, and you would be close. The production on this record is exceptional, and it always amazes me how full and huge the instruments sound. The guitar sound is bigger than the biggest thing you can think of, and the drums sound so full and massive. They certainly know how to make a record.

The opening salvo of instrumental piece Fire Blossom that leads into Rainmaker is a freakin’ awesome opening to a record – it really sets the scene for the rest of the album. Every song sounds epic and grandiose, and vocalist Andy Kuntz sings for his life on every track. The ending of Day I Die is so huge and monster sounding that it will send goosebumps down your body. They definitely have a sense of the dramatic, and it can be heard in the opening to Garden Of Stones. It has a slow almost operatic build up, with a beautiful guitar lead in to the fat monster riff of the main song – it is really well put together. This is the format for the whole album, and the quality of each piece is off the charts.

If I’m pushed for a favourite track (and believe me, it’s so hard as they are all awesome) I would go for We’re Not God. The guitar tone alone is just unreal, coupled with the melody and the composition of the tune – its incredible. The band are huge in their native Germany, and I am at a loss why world domination has a eluded them.

This is 10/10 all day every day from The Grooveman.

H.S.A.S – Through The Fire

August 6, 2021 /

The only album ever recorded by this supergroup of the time. It’s always listed as a studio release, but the only thing that was studio was all the guitar overdubs. If you listen closely, you can still hear the crowd in certain songs that they couldn’t remove. This was recorded when Steve Perry was having voice problems, Schon was obviously bored and needed an outlet, and Sam The Sham would do anything to lift his profile at the time.

A very weird choice for the single with a Whiter Shade Of Pale, I get that it’s a cover and everyone has heard of it, but surely Missing You and Top Of The Rock would have been better choices as these are great tunes. Schon, as usual, plays his ass off and is obviously enjoying stepping out of his day job. Some of his playing is on a different level here, especially on Animation where he really lets loose, and on album closer, My Home Town, where it’s definitely welcome to the Neal Schon show! To be honest, he really rips throughout the album. Awesome stuff!

This is one of the few albums I can actually tolerate Hagar, and Valley Of The Kings is a definite highlight of the album. Everything is held together by a killer rhythm section of Michael Shrieve on the pots and pans, and Kenny Aaronson on bass. As a one off project, it’s pretty killer and it gets 9/10 from The Grooveman for Schon’s brilliance.

ARCHITECTS – For Those That Wish To Exist

August 5, 2021 /

This is the ninth album by the British metal core outfit, and the first that topped the metal charts on release. The band’s leader and main songwriter, Tom Searle, died in 2016 from skin cancer, and its great to see the band carry on and reach new heights. The album is a loose concept album based around the battles that rage each day between the negative and positive, and the way we treat things around us – especially Mother Nature.

I personally would love for social media to be taken away from the human race for a year to show them what an amazing thing it is. Anyhoo, to the music. And it’s a typical huge expansive piece from the band with a lot of bases covered musically and vocally – from the screamo, to the clean and beautiful. Some track highlights for me are Black Lungs, which has a great under groove and tone, Discourse Is Dead, which changes from supremely heavy to the beautiful and melodic, and the unbelievably epic and huge An Ordinary Extinction, which is my favourite on the record. It has a great riff and huge groove and vibe – a big shout out to drummer Dan Searle. Animals, with its big pounding intro and the subjective matter is really dark, a message for all. The almost pop metal of Meteor is as catchy as an un-named virus – this is what the band are really good at.

It’s nice to see a band that are this far into their career still trading to evolve and grow.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

MAMMOTH WVH – s/t

August 5, 2021 /

I’ve been living with this album since release, and I’ve avoided listening to any of the released tracks (other than Distance), as I wanted to hear the whole album in its correct running order. I assume most people will have seen and heard the video for Distance. It’s such a moving and heartfelt tribute to his dad, and I defy anyone to watch it and not feel emotional and tear up.

So let’s address the elephant in the room! This album sounds nothing like Van Halen the band, no members from Van Halen (other than Wolf) appear on the album – in fact, Wolfgang plays all the instruments and sings all the songs and he wrote every single note and melody. Now, there is no denying the VH DNA is in his veins, and he is a seriously talented individual. This album is a great modern rock record, and if you’re looking for comparisons I would mention Shinedown as a reference point.

There are so many good songs on this album I won’t do a track by track, I will pick out my favourites. Opener Mr. Ed is a great opening track that really tells you what Mammoth WVH are all about. Horribly Right has a killer riff and groove, as does Don’t Back Down which really grooves – both have a great vocal and melody. Resolve is such a beautiful piece with a very soulful vocal and groove, and could be the sleeper on the record. You’re To Blame has a huge fat riff, and the vocal does remind me a tad of Pearl Jam. The slow build of Stone is a great ending, before the bonus track of Distance. If you come at this record with an open mind you will love it. It’s good to see that rock music is in good hands.

9.5/10 from The Grooveman.

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