THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Month: January 2022 (Page 11 of 12)

PRETTY MAIDS – Red Hot And Heavy

January 7, 2022 /

This is the debut album released back in ’84 from Denmark’s leading exponents of metal. Lead by the superb Ronnie Atkins on vocals, I’ve always had a soft spot for this band. I’m also a sucker for the twin lead guitar sound, and in Rick Hanson and the delightfully named Ken Hammer, Pretty Maids have got it down to a T.

Opening track, Fortuna, is a take on Carmina Burana, before a real fast paced opening on the track Back To Black kicks in, and the title track follows with the band channeling their inner Judas Priest. Waitin’ For The Time To Come sounds like a different band as the vibe is more melodic rock, and parts of this song remind me of Def Leppard. Side 1 closes out with Cold Killer, which I think is about aliens out in space on their way to wipe out the human race.

Battle Of Pride kicks Side 2 into gear and is one of my favourites on the album with a nice up-tempo ditty that gets the foot a tappin’ and the head a bobbin’. Night Danger is another contender as the double kicks are pounding on this one. The more melodic side returns with A Place In The Night, and I have to say it reminds me of Runaway by Bon Jovi. Nice tune! The opening to Queen Of Dreams is pomp at its finest and something Styx and Angel would have been proud of. The album closes out with Little Darling with the chugga’s really drivin’ the song along.

Big fan of The Maids, and they would go one to release some killer records.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

EVERY MOTHERS NIGHTMARE – s/t

January 7, 2022 /

Hard Rock/Glam/Sleaze from Memphis Tennessee. If Motley Crüe and Faster Pussycat had a love child, EMN would be the offspring. They released two albums right at the beginning of the 90’s, of which this is the first. I think you’ll agree that it was not the best time to be putting out a glam rock record, but hindsight is a wonderful thing.

This one passed me by back in the day and I remember reading great reviews in Kerrang about it, but for some reason I never pulled the trigger. Happy to say that the reviews were pretty spot on as this is a great kick ass record to brighten up anyone’s day. I really love the opening two tracks, Hard To Hold, and Ez Come Ez Go – these guys can really groove and Steve Malone is a killer guitar player.

The brooding opening to Walls Come Down gives way to the sleaziest groove and riff you will hear anywhere – this was rightly was released as a single. They channel their inner Guns N Roses on Side 2 opener Listen Up, as the fast spoken vocal line really reminds me of Axl. Dues To Pay and Lord Willin are the speediest tunes on the album, and they both rock along with a great groove. The album closes out with Nobody Knows, and it has the sleaziest vibe of the whole record.

Happy I have this in the collection and if your a fan of the whole glam/sleaze thing then this is for you.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

ERIC MARTIN – Sucker For A Pretty Face

January 6, 2022 /

This was released as The Eric Martin Band back in ’83, and there were three “solo” albums released before he formed Mr. Big and released their debut back in ’89. This is a really good melodic rock record with a very large dose of power pop thrown into the mix.

The first two tracks are bonafide classics, namely the title track and the superb Don’t Stop. Each track is the prefect way to write a rock song in the early eighties, big hook and chorus, great melody, and throw in a great guitar break and it’s winner, winner, chicken dinner. Unfortunately it’s hard to keep the quality as high as that, and there are a couple of tunes that fall short – even a voice as amazing as Eric Martin can’t quite lift them, but I still have a soft spot for this album. Add One More Time and Catch Me If You Can to the first two tracks, and you have four really cracking tunes on this album that I would have bought the record for alone.

8/10 from The Grooveman.

MASTODON – The Hunter

January 6, 2022 /

This is the band’s fifth album released in 2011. This is the second non-concept album and the title is a tribute to Brent Hinds’ brother who tragically died while the band were recording the album. The big single from the album was Curl Of The Burl which reached 15 on the rock singles chart. The songs are a lot shorter on this album as the majority clock in under 4 minutes, but that does not take away from quality of the tunes. The riffs are here in great quantities, in fact there are more of them as there are extra songs.

Mastodon have the gift of being the most melodic band on the planet, but within the blink of an eye become crushing. The quick burst of a Blasteroid making my point perfectly in fact – parts of this song remind me of Kyuss. Most bands in the progressive metal genre seem to either go down that overblown Dream Theater avenue, or drift down Meshuggah lane with the off time weirdness. It’s nice to hear Mastodon occupy their own little street of awesome where melody, crunch, and superb lyrics are their forte.

The tunes that I love the most here are the aforementioned Blasteroid, All The Heavy Lifting with its slightly demonic feel, The Hunter with its heartfelt lyrics from Brent to his lost brother, the pure metal onslaught of Spectrelight, and the superb mainly instrumental Sparrow, which closes out the record. I’m glad I’m around while bands like Mastodon are pushing there own boundaries every album.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

« Older posts Newer posts »

Archives

© 2025 THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑