REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Day: November 27, 2021

ROBIN TROWER – Caravan To Midnight

The first seven Trower albums are peerless and wonderful, they are a lesson in soul, tone, and groove. This is the sixth, and was released in ’78. I bought this on its day of release and I still play it regularly.

There are no Day Of The Eagle moments on this album as it’s quite laid back. The attention is more on the songs, the feel, and the vibe. My Love opens up the record and is a typical Trower song with a killer vocal from James Dewar. Second track in is the title track and is an instrumental. The slow funky soulful groove is just a joy, and Trower’s playing is just sublime. I’m Out To Get You follows and why this was not released as a single just blows my mind. Such a cool funky song with a killer melody and vocal from Dewar, and again, Trower’s playing is off the charts for me. This is one of may favourite Trower tracks from all of his catalogue. Lost In Love closes out Side 1 and it’s a really chill song with a slow funky blues groove. Another awesome vocal from Dewar.

Side 2 is up and running with Fool, and in a similar vein to how Aide 1 started. One of the most heartfelt beautiful love songs Trower released is up next with Its For You. Dewar’s vocals and Trower’s guitar compliment each other so well on this song. Birthday Boy is another slow moving piece with lots of emotion and feel. King Of The Dance is probably the most up-tempo track on the record, and has that killer soulful funky rock groove. The album closes out with Sail On, and it sums this album up perfectly . It’s a very soulful beautiful piece with loads of feel from both Dewar and Trower.

Another album that I adore and it’s 10/10 from The Grooveman.

SCORPIONS – Animal Magnetism

Believe it or not, the Scorpions have been around since 1965. It was not until ’79 that they started become popular as a world wide mega group. This is the second album to feature Matthias Jabs on guitar – after the departure of Uli Roth. There were hints at a more commercial approach with the last album, Lovedrive, but this album was the one when they realized they could make money from a formulaic song.

There are moments on here where the band rock out, especially with Don’t Make No Promises, which follows the same path as Another Piece Of Meat. It was the singles, Lady Starlight and Make It Real, that made the biggest impression – especially in North America. There are still elements of euro rock, especially on Hold Me Tight and Twentieth Century Man. Hands down the best track on the album is the simple but very effective, The Zoo. This is what this version of the band did best – making sure that the most people possible could get into their music.

The three albums that came after would make the band bigger than the biggest thing you can think of: Blackout, Love At First Sting, and Savage Amusement. To think that this band played at The Outlook club in my hometown is mind blowing. Not a bad album but definitely not their best.

8/10 from The Grooveman.