THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Month: August 2021 (Page 7 of 13)

PRIMAL FEAR – 16.6 (Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead)

August 16, 2021 /

Now for me, the whole Euro Metal scene has become very stagnant. Every band sounds the same, and it’s hard to tell the bands apart, but these guys are a step above. Early on in Primal Fear’s career, they were labelled as the German Judas Priest, which is quite ironic, as Ralf Scheepers auditioned for the singer in Judas Priest when Halford split with the band. Scheepers was in Gamma Ray, and he teamed up with Matt Sinner (from the band Sinner), to form Primal Fear.

This is the band’s eighth studio album, and produced by the band and Matt Sinner. In fact, the production on this album is the best I have heard them sound. Six Times Dead sounds absolutely huge. The guitar sound is vast and deep, and the vocal is epic. There are so many good moments on this album, so I will just highlight a few. 5.0/Torn has a killer riff and groove, and Scheepers’ vocals just flow over the track. The very heavy sounding, Soar, is killer with the electronic start. Night After Night is more JP than JP themselves, and I still find it incredible that Priest never hired Ralph. The Exorcist is pure pounding metal and has a huge guitar sound. Even the bonus track, Scream, is a killer tune.

Primal Fear don’t make bad records and this is no exception.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

RADIOHEAD – Ok Computer OKNOTOK 1997-2017

August 16, 2021 /

As of now, this album is coming up to its 25th anniversary. This version is the all singing, all dancing version from 2017. This was the band’s third full length album, and is now considered one of the best albums in popular music. Even though the guitar is obvious throughout this record, this was a departure from the previous album (The Bends), which was totally guitar centric. The main theme that flows through the record is dealing with alienation brought on by consumerism.

There were four singles released from the album: the brilliant Paranoid Android, Karma Police, Lucky and No Surprises. I have this on CD also and I find it a hard listen, but the record is a lot better – I find 20 minute chunks a lot easier to absorb. This album has more in common with Prog than Pop, as the arrangements lean more in that direction, and old Pink Floyd comes to mind on a lot of the tracks. Tom Yorke’s vocals and delivery are the driving force of the band, and again, the music is quite basic – it’s how it’s layered together that makes it unique. The production and mix on this version is incredible, and if I were to recommend any version – it would be this. As I have already mentioned, it’s a tough album to get through in one sitting, but if you manage it it’s very rewarding.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

LYNCH PILSON – Wicked Underground

August 14, 2021 /

Fun fact (and controversial comment): Don Dokken wasn’t the best singer in Dokken, Jeff Pilson was.

People have called this project Dokken without Don, and that is very unfair, as the music is a lot harder and stranger than Dokken ever did. George has been super active of late, and has released a ton of projects – some of them great, others not so. This is definitely one of the awesome ones. I am a huge fan of George’s playing, and I think Jeff is a great singer and bass player – so it’s a winner all the way for me.

Opening track, Breath And Scream, is a monster of a tune and is really heavy in places but never loses the melody. Beast In The Bo is a freakin’ amazing tune, complete with a killer riff and a stunning melody and chorus. Add some blinding licks from George, and we have a winner. When You Bleed closes out Side 1 and it’s fat riff D-tune city with a superb solo that only George could play.

Side 2 opener, Vaccine, is one of the best melodic tracks I have heard in a very long time. This song has all the ingredients in all of the right places. Monster riff and groove, a superb melody and chorus, and a great breakdown. If this was 1985, this would top the charts for sure. The acoustic vibes of Ever Higher are next up, and Jeff’s voice was made for tunes like this. He has such a great voice and the song really takes off around the middle. Zero The End is the first song I would say resembles Dokken, especially the opening main riff. Again, the melody and hook are fantastic.

Side 3 kicks off with The Evil That You Are, and the quality of the tunes just keeps going. Again, the main riff and groove are superb, plus the melody and hook are top drawer. You’d think that this was their first album they had ever recorded. Definitely not short of tunes here – awesome stuff! Awaken is the slow chill track of the album. It has some cool atmospheric effects from George, and has the big rock fade out. Cromanic is next up and it’s an instrumental – it’s all about George. Very heavy D-tuned riffage with George employing all the toys from his toolbox. Goodbye Utopia is the last track on Side 3 and the riff is so freakin’ cool. The songs are so strong throughout this album that tucked away at the end of Side 3 is something this good.

Side 4 here we come with Inner View. It is an acoustic based track and lower on the intensity, but there is a lot going on musically within the song. Closer To None is the penultimate track and starts with an almost 60’s hippy vibe, until the power is turned on and the riffs are applied. Top Of The World is the last track on the record, and is also a bonus track for the vinyl.

This is one of the best rock albums I have heard in a while, and I have to say it – Dokken doesn’t even come close to this.

10/10 from The Grooveman.

ALDO NOVA – s/t

August 14, 2021 /

To show you how good I am at predicting how good artists are going to be, I thought that good old Aldo here would be bigger than Bon Jovi – I thought at the time that this album was better than Bon Jovi’s first album. Yep, I know, I have no idea what I’m talking about.

Aldo had an initial burst of three albums in the early eighties. They were great melodic rock albums with great catchy songs, but then he all but disappeared, then reappeared, sporadically releasing albums right up until last year. Of course he didn’t totally disappear. He was in demand as a songwriter, and he also was in demand as a producer – he received a Grammy for Celine Dion’s Falling Into You.

The opening track, Fantasy, was such a good song. He should have been guaranteed success and mega stardom, but the music business being the music business, he didn’t fit the profile at the time. Hot Love is next up and another great track with a catchy as hell chorus and melody. It’s Too Late has top forty written all over it if maybe Cindy Lauper had recorded it. Ball And Chain is the predictable ballad for Side 1 and gets the usual thumbs down from me. Heart To Heart closes out this Side, and is a up-tempo rocker. Listening to it now, it does sound very eighties.

Side 2 opens up with Foolin’ Yourself, and it’s a classic pop/rock ditty. The Top 40 would have been loaded with this type of song at the time. Under The Gun is next up and it’s the big production number of the album. It has the same chord progression as Fantasy – not a bad tune though. You’re My Love, to me, is the weakest song on the album. It just sounds rather weak, and the melody doesn’t seem to go anywhere. The solo is really well put together though. Ballad warning #2 as Can’t Stop Lovin’ You is one too many for me. The album closes out with See The Light, and again, if some pop bod of the time had sung it, it would have been huge.

Age has not been to kind to this album and it gets a 7/10 from The Grooveman.

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