THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Month: November 2021 (Page 3 of 13)

PAUL GILBERT – Behold Electric Guitar

November 25, 2021 /

Paul Gilbert is one of my favourite guitar players. He can shred with the best of them, but his feel and tone are incredible, and he can play any style effortlessly. Mostly known for his playing with Racer X and Mr. Big, Paul has released 18 solo albums and tons of collaborations. This album is from 2019, and if you love guitar this could be your wet dream album. This album has lots of varying styles and has become one of my favourites.

Opening track, Havin’ It, has a fusion feel to it and boy Paul is really ripping it up. I Own A Building starts off in the same vein, but sees Paul playing slide in a way not many others do, and he plays with a great sense of melody. Everywhere That Mary Went starts like a Soft Machine track with Holdsworth playing, then turns to a jazz funk vibe with killer playing. Love Is The Saddest Thing has a Shyboy/Hot For Teacher fast shuffle groove and the playing is just exceptional. My favourite track is A Herd Of Turtles a great funky groove and vibe and see Paul’s sense of humour to the fore with him reciting the lyric in what sounds like a Ringo Starr impression.

All of Paul’s albums are great and they all differ in style and substance, but they all have killer playing and any guitar freak should own at least one.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

BLACK SABBATH – 13

November 25, 2021 /

I’m guessing this record will prove to be the final Black Sabbath recordings as Iommi and Osbourne’s health is not the best. Don’t worry, there will be a million live recordings and demo tracks that have been unearthed in some ex roadies toilet that will come out over time, but for me, this album would be a fitting ending for a once great band. The only sour point with this is the omitting of Bill Ward from proceedings over a contractual situation. You think after all these years that they would have gone out as equal partners, but the great evil one rears her ugly head again. Rick Rubin has done a fine job of keeping the original sound and vibe with updated production, even though it sounds very loud. Brad Wilk is also killer on the pots and pans.

End Of The Beginning sounds as though it’s from those early recordings, and that it was written the day after the sessions for the first album were over – a great track! The single, God Is Dead, follows and is in keeping with Sabbath’s trademark dark subject matter, but this feels more like an Ozzy solo track to my ears, until the mid section where old school Sabbath comes to save the day – this track goes out with a bang. Loners seems to be a rewrite of older material by the rearranging of chord sequences, but it does work well – I’m loving the sound of Iommi’s guitar. Zeitgeist is this album’s Changes, where the vibe and tone go to chill mode. Age Of Reason is a return to normal proceedings as its driven by Wilks’ pounding of the kit and an Iommi monster riff. You think the guy would have been all riffed out after being the creator of some of rocks most iconic moments, but he keeps on pumping them out, and long may he do so. The originators of the doom sound and groove keep their hand in with the riff and vibe to Live Forever which I really like. Damaged Soul has a killer riff and groove – this feels really old school. The album closes out with Dear Father and is the most evil sounding of all the tracks on the album.

I’m sure Rick Rubin had a big hand in the way this album sounded, and I thank him for that as I’m not sure it would have worked if it had been all modern sounding. Anyway, if this is the last Sabbath album then at least it was a good one.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

WARRANT – Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich

November 24, 2021 /

It’s not too shabby when your debut album ends up going double platinum, and a single from said album went to number 1 in the charts. That’s just what happened to this album. In fact, the two albums after this (Cherry Pie and Dog Eat Dog) did really well against the tide of grunge that they were swimming against. There was a lot of talk at the time that the band was put together just to make money and all of the music was contrived. I think that could have been jealousy amongst other bands who were struggling at the time. I do remember Dave Reynolds in Kerrang giving a very average review.

The opening three tracks are a pretty solid opener for any band with 32 Pennies, Down Boys, and Big Talk, all rockin’ tracks that are well played and written. The title track is prime time party rock, as is In The Sticks and Tiding High. There are too many ballads for me on this album to get my full attention though, as that is when I usually zone out.

8/10 from The Grooveman.

LED ZEPPELIN – Physical Graffiti

November 24, 2021 /

This is the sixth album from the band, and I think I mentioned when I reviewed Led Zep 2, that they are not my favourite band in the world. I only really like two of their albums and this is the second. I actually bought this on its first week of release as the hype surrounding it was off the charts, and this was way before social media. I remember feeling slightly underwhelmed after playing it through for the first time.

Side 2 is probably the best side of Zeppelin music out there with tracks like Houses Of The Holy, Trampled Under Foot, and Kashmir, it doesn’t get better than that in Zeppelin heaven. In My Time Of Dying is really cool as they sort of go back to their roots and visit the blues. The Wanton Song does it for me also with the simple riff and that big drum sound that only Bonzo could get. It’s all a bit too rambling if I’m honest, and I think this could have been a stellar single album, but what do I know right?

8/10 from The Grooveman.

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