THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Month: December 2021 (Page 3 of 6)

IRON MAIDEN – Live After Death

December 8, 2021 /

Confession time! This is the only Iron Maiden album I own with Bruce Dickinson on vocals. I loved the first two Maiden albums with Dianno on vocals as they were new and had that hard punky edge to them. Funnily enough, I don’t mind Bruce’s solo material though.

This was recorded on the Powerslave tour and Bruce was three albums in to his Maiden career, so there were still quite a lot of Dianno era tunes aired at this point. For someone like me, this a perfect album to buy as it’s an almost best of. Recorded part in London and part in LA, the band were really a tight unit and certainly on fire. My favourite tracks here are the older tracks Obvious and Phantom Of The Opera. I think the two guitar set up works better than the three they have now.

If you’re a Maiden fan you will all ready have this, if not and you want an introduction to the band, then it’s not a bad place to start.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

CHEAP TRICK – All Shook Up

December 8, 2021 /

I’m not a Cheap Trick collector by any stretch, but I’ve just noticed that I own 15 Cheap Trick albums. Out of those 15, there is only one of those that I would call sub standard, the rest are all great records. This is album number 6 which came after the awesome Dream Police. It’s full of Beatles nuances (as are all their releases) as all the band are big Beatles fans.

Not a bad moment on this album and the highlights are many. The opening one two of Stop This Game and Just Got Back are pop rock at its finest. Robin Zander has the ability of sounding like McCartney and Lennon at the same time which is uncanny. Love Comes A Tumblin’ is as rockin’ as this album gets with a stock almost NWOBHM riff. If I was to recommend just one Cheap Trick album for noobs it would be Standing On The Edge, but this is still a good record.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

TREVOR RABIN – Wolf

December 7, 2021 /

Ever wondered what guitarist Trevor Rabin did before he saved Yes from a slow painful death when he joined for the mega selling 90125, and the huge single Owner Of A Lonely Heart? Well, after being a member of South African band Rabbit, he relocated to London in 1980 and recorded this fantastic piece of hard melodic rock.

Opening the album with an over the top solo piece, Wolfman, and then it leads into the great Looking For A Lady, which has a superb hook and chorus – you can almost hear Owner in there. The power pop of Do Ya Do Ya Want Me is next and is about as far removed from Yes as you could get. The very American sounding Heard You Cry Wolf is next, and shows the direction he was taking with his songwriting. I think my favourite track on the album is Lost In Love as it has a killer riff and some great playing. The one thing that Mr. Rabin really does well is write a good tune and Stop Turn is a definitely great tune with a great hook and chorus! A good old fashioned boogie is next with Take Me To A Party, and is a fun is the buzz word here. The album closes out with Open Ended and it’s the big production number of the album.

After his stint in Yes and affiliates, he has done a lot and spent most of the rest of his career doing movie soundtracks.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

GYPSY ROSE – Prey

December 7, 2021 /

I guess it’s hair metal week as the old Discogs randomizer seems to be favouring these albums. Gypsy Rose are an almost forgotten about Canadian band that were discovered “cough” by Gene Simmons, and this was released on his Simmons Records imprint of BMG. The timing was all wrong as they were swimming against the grunge tide, which is a damn shame as this is a really kick ass record!

Opening track and single, Poisoned By Love, is a very strong opener with a killer hook and groove. Borderline is a killer track with a heavy chord progression and some great guitar, add to that a great sing-a-long chorus and it’s winner winner chicken dinner. The very Def Leppard sounding Make Me Do Anything You Want opens up Side 2. I’m a big fan of the twin guitars in rock bands as the sound is so much bigger, and Brian Joyce and Craig Gaver are a kick ass pairing. Shiver Then Shake reminds me of first album Cinderella – in a good way of course. Wild Reaction sees vocalist Michael Ross give us his best Steven Tyler impression and is the most sleaziest track on the album. A rather forgettable ballad follows before we get to album closer, Highway One Way, and it’s a fast shuffle boogie.

One album and gone – until 2012 anyway. So many good bands bit the dust because of fickle record company involvement. They looked for the new thing and good bands were ignored, just so some angst ridden youth can bleat on how life sucks.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

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