THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Month: November 2021 (Page 7 of 13)

RANDY HANSON – s/t

November 16, 2021 /

Although he is known today as a Hendrix tribute act, back in 1980 when this album was released he was known as an originals artist. In fact, record labels were falling over themselves to sign virtuoso guitar players – and Randy definitely is that. He actually composed 17 minutes of music for the movie Apocalypse Now.

The songs on offer here have more of an old school RnB vibe to them, with a heavy dose of Hendrix histrionics. Opening track, Champagne and Cocaine, is a monster of an opening track with a killer chorus and melody, but it’s the guitar that’s the star of the show as the intro and solos are epic. Watch What You Say opens with a great riff again, and there is a soul undercurrent to the tune with a nice melody – but it’s the solo that steals the song. Time Won’t Stop is an attempt at delivering a pop song with a heavy guitar. For me it works, but I love the guitar solo and it’s almost two different songs. The Side closes out with an amazing version of Sly Stones’ I Want To Take You Higher, and I guarantee this is the best version you will hear. Great groove and some killer playing. Randy really lets go on this track.

Side 2 opens up with my personal favourite track, Millionaire, with a great spacey riff and cool chorus, but once again it’s Randy’s playing that blows your mind. He should have been a lot bigger than he was. Dancin’ With Me has a very old school Aerosmith vibe, with a funkier vocal and the obligatory killer guitar. The album closes out with Don’t Pretend, and it’s a total vibe killer. After the blitz of the rest of the album, this song shouldn’t have been on this record as it takes away from what would have been a bonafide monster record.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

BIOHAZARD – State Of The World Address

November 16, 2021 /

This is Biohazard’s third release, and the one that really broke the band, with their fusing of hardcore, punk, and metal. They were tagged as a white supremacist band early because of their subject matter and lyrics, but the band denied that accusation saying they were highlighting problems within society.

The songs here are short and to the point, with the emphasis being on groove and speed with fat riffs and chugga chord patterns. They were kind of pioneers of this sound and numerous hardcore bands have tried this formula since. There are some killer tracks on this album, namely the title track with its heavy metal punk crossover sound, Tales From The Hard Side with the very groovy funk/rap metal vibe, and Five Blocks To The Subway with its Warriors vibe and punk rap lyrics. My favourite track is Human Animal as I love the vibe and groove. It reminds me of fellow New Yorkers Anthrax as they turned to hardcore for inspiration.

The album sold over a million copies and I think is the most successful record they released. This is the only hardcore album I own, and to my ears is the best of the bunch.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

RADIOHEAD – A Moon Shaped Pool

November 15, 2021 /

Rightly (or wrongly) described by critics as the most depressing band in the world, I guess that’s up to the listener to decide instead of some dozen journo trying to make a name for themselves.

Their albums vary a lot and they are a bit hit and miss for me, but this one I really like as they do play around with ambient sounds for moods – I do like that. Burn The Witch is quite a joyful uplifting piece, whereas Daydreaming is quite a fragile piece with lots of nice ambient touches. Decks Dark has an underlying orchestral vibe to it, but I would say it’s a typical Radiohead tune with lots of experimenting with sounds. Desert Island Disks is a beautiful acoustic piece. Full Stop has a very trip hop feel to it, with Portishead’s Clive Deamer on drums. Glass Eyes sounds very melancholic, as are a lot of their tunes, and again, very orchestral sounding. Identikit has a really cool drum pattern and beat – it sounds so great. The production is fantastic on the whole album. The Numbers is a cool song based around a basic acoustic chord pattern. Present Tense is my favourite track, I just love the simplicity of it and it sounds amazing. Tinker Tailor is the weirdest sounding track on the album with lots of experimental sounds. The album closes out with True Love Waits, and it’s all about Thom Yorke’s superb vocal.

This band have recording down to an art form as it’s just an incredible sounding record. I would say this is my favourite Radiohead record, and this is a Prog album in the true sense of the word.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

CINDERELLA – Long Cold Winter

November 15, 2021 /

For a band that had such a following at the time, they only made 4 albums and only two of which are worth owning: their first album, Night Songs, and this beauty. This was a bit of a left turn for them at the time as Night Songs was a glam rock masterpiece, but this album has a much more bluesy roots feel to it. Sure, it still rocks hard, but there is a huge tip of the hat to bands like The Faces and traditional blues.

Don’t Know What You’ve Got (Till It’s Gone) was a huge single from the album and made them stars due to heavy MTV rotation. It’s the rockier tracks that are my favourites, namely Bad Seamstress Blues, Gypsy Road, and the superb Second Wind which is the big up-tempo track on the album. It was the title track that got every critics attention, as it’s a big nod to traditional blues and a flagship for the whole album.

Two slightly dodgy follow up records, health issues, and grunge unfortunately put an end to the band, as it did a lot of a others, but still they left behind two kick ass records.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

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