THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Month: September 2021 (Page 3 of 13)

AEROSMITH – Done With Mirrors

September 25, 2021 /

So this is the so called comeback album for Aerosmith, as Joe Perry and Brad Whitfield rejoined the band after their short lived solo careers and Aerosmith’s declining fortunes. This album did not do a whole bunch commercially either, and they were at the last chance salon until the Run DMC collaboration saved the band – the rest is history.

Ironically the opening track, Let The Music Do The Talking, was the title track from Joe Perry’s first solo album. Tyler loved it so much he wanted to put his stamp on it, and acknowledging Perry had made some great music away from the fold. This album is what critics say “the last true Aerosmith record”, as after this the band used a whole bunch of outside writers to come up with the hits. My Fist Your Face is a typical simple rocker that the band could write in their sleep. Shame On You has an off-funk vibe and groove – it’s a great tune. There are not many Brad Whitford tunes, but Sheila is a cool one with a great repeating riff. She’s On Fire is quite an interesting song as the band would revisit this vibe albeit in a different song on Pump with Monkey On My Back. The Hop is the only full band contribution on the whole album and is an up-tempo blues shuffle.

Not the best album they ever done, but nowhere near as bad as people make out.

8/10 from The Grooveman.

METALLICA – s/t

September 25, 2021 /

This is the best selling metal album of all time is 30 years old – having sold in excess of 37 million copies! Yeah I know, it blew my mind as well! Metal fans are a funny bunch, and I remember the outcry that the band had “sold out”, and gone – heaven forbid – corporate. The main difference to me is it’s the first time they had worked with a real producer in Bob Rock, who brought the best out of the band and brought out that huge live sound.

You can’t put this album on and tell me it’s not heavy! Just because every song is not 100 mph does not mean it’s not heavy. Just listen to Sad But True – the tone alone is crushing. The God That Failed is as heavy as too much cheese on your burger. The drum sound is epic, and mix that with the huge sounding guitars and the in your face vocal, it’s the sound the band were looking for all along. What a killer tune Enter Sandman is – every musician wishes they could write something as good.

I love this record and so should any fan that says they like metal. Every band evolves and Metallica are the same. Sure they made some wrong turns along that path, but I think they are back to their best.

10/10 from The Grooveman.

TEXTURES – Phenotype

September 24, 2021 /

Hailing from the flatlands of The Netherlands, this was the band’s fifth and final release and was the follow up to the successful and super awesome, Duality. I am a huge fan of this band and was lucky enough to see them Live once. They are the purveyors of the finest technical metal with huge amounts of D-tuned riffage that hits the perfect spot for me. Since Daniel de Jong joined the band in 2010, they evolved in huge strides and I was super disappointed that they called it a day.

If first track, Oceans Collide, doesn’t shake your tree then their brand of awesome is not for you. After the brutal onslaught of the first track, the beauty of the New Horizons intro is just sublime, before we hit warp 10 and the main riff and groove kicks in. Brutally heavy and epic! A huge sounding choppy riff and groove announce the arrival of Shaping A Single Grain Of Sand. The ending of this song is just freaking insane!!! I love the dark and shade of the vocals that change in a blink of an eye. Don’t be fooled by the aggression, as there is so much melody on this record. Side 1 closes out with Illuminate The Trail, and the intensity continues – this is the band at their heaviest.

Some epic drumming is the intro to Side 2 instrumental opener, Meander. The supremely heavy returns with Erosion, and I love the middle section that leads into maximum riffage to the outro. The Fourth Prime has an evil riff and groove with an odd time signature that screws with your brain at the beginning. There is a whole albums worth of material and riffs in this one song alone. Absolute monster track! The second instrumental piece, Zman, follows and is a keyboard atmospheric chill, before album closer, Timeless, assaults your senses again with a choppy riff and beat that ends in epic style.

It took me a while to fully appreciate this album as I thought previous effort Duality was the beans. Upon reflection I think Duality was more immediately accessible, whereas Phenotype is a lot more complex and it took time to sink in. Now I love it wholeheartedly, and I am totally bummed out that they have called it a day.

10/10 from The Grooveman.

VANDENBERG – s/t

September 24, 2021 /

This is the fantastic first album by this very British sounding hard rock combo from Holland. That’s obviously what Coverdale heard as well before recruiting old Adrian into the Whitesnake camp. The single, Burning Heart, did really well in the US as it reached number 39 – surprisingly better than the UK. Named after mainman and guitar whizz, Adrian Vandenberg, the band play superb hard rock with great melodies, hooks, and some superb playing.

The opening track, Your Love Is In Vain, sums the band up in one song really: fantastic melody and hook, coupled with a killer riff and superb playing with that very British blues approach. Adrian does show his EVH style chops on the intro to Wait with the acoustic solo intro. The aforementioned, Burning Heart, has that Whitesnake vibe and I can see how it did well in the US. A slight homage to Hendrix at the intro, to the uptempo rocker Ready For You is really cool. The blues is alive and well in the track, Too Late, with its fast shuffle groove and nice riff as the speed increases as the track develops. Nothing To Lose reminds me of Down To Earth-era Rainbow with the melody and chord progression. A great riff to Lost In The City is up next, before we get to album closer, Out In The Streets, which is the fastest track on the record with a killer drum intro and riff.

Well that’s the lot campers, and they would release another 2 studio albums and that was it. Shame really, as they were a great band.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

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