THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Day: January 28, 2022

LIZZY BORDEN – Give ‘Em The Axe

January 28, 2022 /

Thanks to Metal Blade Records for putting these great early reissues out as the originals are going for ridiculous money.

Other than a demo, this is the band’s first recording, a four track EP. Very influenced by NWOBHM bands of the time, especially Iron Maiden, as you will hear on Kiss Of Death which is a ringer. I remember thinking at the time that all the American bands had taken the whole NWOBHM thing as an inspiration and improved on it.

For a first EP, this is pretty impressive, and No Time To Lose is a really great track with awesome twin guitar leads. I have to say I was surprised (and still am) that they put a cover as the last track on a four track EP, but at least it’s a good one with Rainbow’s Long Live Rock n Roll. Although they never quite made it per say, they had a decent career in the eighties.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

LOUDNESS – Disillusion

January 28, 2022 /

A mind blowing fact to start with is that Loudness have released 26 studio albums and at least 9 live albums. This is album number four (which was also recorded in Japanese) and was released in ’84. Of course the main interest for me in the band is guitarist Akira Takasaki who is the EVH equivalent in Japan.

This album is very NWOBHM in style and sound, with a little bit of thrash thrown in – but with insane guitar breaks on every song. The first two tracks, Crazy Doctor and Esper, blast by with some ripping guitar. The third track, Butterfly, is a bit of a left turn with a funky guitar pattern and choppy riff that seems totally out of place, until the instrumental section where the song almost goes Prog, and then we get a Maiden gallop. A totally weird arrangement! Side 1 ends with a full on metal assault of Revelation.

Side 2 opens with Exploder, which is Akira’s Eruption moment as he entertains us with this little shred fest. Dream Factory is next and is my favourite track on the album. It has killer guitar throughout, and I love the picked chorus effect guitar in the verse. Milky Way has a nice riff with an odd drum pattern to change things up and a killer middle eight. Satisfaction Guaranteed has a stock Judas Priest riff and groove. The album closes out with Ares Lament, which I would describe as a metal ballad…and we all know how I love those. This is my favourite of the early albums.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

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