THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Month: November 2021 (Page 2 of 13)

ROBIN TROWER – Caravan To Midnight

November 27, 2021 /

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

November 27, 2021 /

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.

KING KING – Exile & Grace

November 26, 2021 /

Born out of the Scottish band The Nimmo Brothers, this band were formed in 2008 with guitarist/vocalist Alan Nimmo and bassist Lindsay Coulson. They are a classic blues rock band in the Free/Bad Company/Whitesnake tradition. When you see the band Live you will see how amazing Alan Nimmo is as a performer. He’s a superb vocalist and a killer guitar player, and the band revolve around the talents of this remarkable performer. Nimmo has that warm treacle running off a spoon type of voice that just oozes. Other than Thunder, you just don’t hear bands doing this type of rock anymore with big hooks, big melody, and fat blues rock riffs.

Opening track, She Don’t Gimme No Lovin;, is straight out of the Bad Company songbook – what a great opening! Broken is a superb song that you wish radio would play – if it did, this would be a hit. Where Nimmo’s voice really does shine is on a big power ballad, as the emotion and power in his voice is just amazing, listen to Betrayed Me to see what I mean. My favourite track is the boogie shuffle of I Don’t Wanna Lie, which has a great melody and sing-a-long chorus. I managed to catch them playing in a small hotel bar in Toronto a few years ago and they were great.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

HAWKWIND – Levitation

November 26, 2021 /

Hawkwind are not a band you would associate with technological advancements, yet this album was the first full digital recording. I remember hearing it at the time and being wowed with how clear it was, and it still sounds great today. Also of note, the great Ginger Baker is on drums adding some groove to proceedings. This is my favourite Hawkwind album, I love every inch of this record. The stock space rock they earn their beans with has an added musicality to it this time around. This version, as well as the original album, has a bonus Live at Lewisham double album.

The lead off and title track is one of the best Hawkwind tracks imho with Bakers’ pounding groove, superb bass playing from Harvey Bainbridge, and coupled with Dave Brock’s superb lyrics…winner, winner chicken dinner! The secret weapon on this album is the guitar playing of Huw Lloyd Langton who adds some great leads to all tracks. World Of Tiers steals the Peter Green riff from Oh Well with added spacey keyboards. The very Pink Floyd sounding, Who’s Gonna Win The War, is the big anti war message for this album and it sounds great on the live album. It’s says on the cover “A Headphone Album” and indeed it sounds superb with all the electronic interludes and the instrumental Space Chase sounds superb. Dust Of Time closes out the main album, and like so many Hawkwind songs, it is such a simple arrangement but it’s all the layers that have been added that make this such a cool track.

The live album is from the Levitation tour which I attended, and is a great document for Live Hawkwind at this time. It might be hard to find this version, but just the Levitation album by itself should be easy to find.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

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