THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Month: March 2022 (Page 1 of 14)

ULTRAPHONIX – Original Human Music

March 31, 2022 /

A teaming together of Living Colour’s Corey Glover, and George Lynch may not be the a partnership you would think of ever happening, but George has been very active in working with a ton of different musicians over the last few years and this one is one of my favourites. I had this vision of a huge funk rock band with George ripping on every song. The reality is quite a lot different. This is a very cool mature record that covers all bases from Prog to Jazz, and RnB to Rock – blurring all the joining lines.

Baptism is a superb opening with an up-tempo groove, and Corey’s voice is pure gold. Another Day has a very RnB feel that’s been slightly rocked up, and George’s solo is so good! Walk Run Crawl has a riff reminiscent of Dokken and is one of the heavier tracks on the album. Counter Culture is a hard track to pin down with echos of psych/jazz and funk, but it’s one of the coolest tracks on the album. Free is a reggae masterclass with a fuzzed out Led Zep style. This is a track that you hope a project like this will come up with.

Wasteland opens up Side 2, and again, new things are tried with different sounds and effects – the overdriven guitar in the chorus is superb. Take A Stand is the highlight of the record with a very Living Colour funky vibe and groove, a superb vocal from Cory with an awesome chorus and harmonies, and George giving it plenty. The groove on Soul Control is seriously cool and Corey’s vocals are wonderful. What You Say is the dark horse of the album, and has a great swing to the groove with George riffing underneath. The album closes out with Power Trip, and the main riff reminds me of King Crimson.

A killer record, and the title “Original Human Music” couldn’t be more on point.

9.5/10 from The Grooveman.

CANEDY, FEINSTEIN, BORDONARO & CAUDLE – Hollywood

March 31, 2022 /

If you look at the cover for this you could mistake this for being a Rods album. In ’86 they added a keyboard player in Emma Zale, and a killer vocalist in Rick Caudle, and they called the project Hollywood. That meant Dave “The Rock” Feinstein could concentrate on ripping on the guitar. What the additions did do however was change the whole vibe and sound of the band. The Rods were supposed to be this raw ball of energy rock n roll band, and now they were trying to be this slick melodic rock band. I bet we can all name bands that we thought were good, but they never quite had the songs to make it – well this is one of those albums.

The intros are all really good, and the riffs are there, but the songs just aren’t striking enough. Rick Caudle is a killer vocalist, but the melodies and hooks aren’t quite there. Rock Feinstein is a killer player and he rips in small doses here, but you can’t polish a turd as they say. I guess that’s a bit unfair as it’s not that bad. Ironically, the best track on the album is a cover of Mississippi Queen.

6.5/10 from The Grooveman.

ELECTRIC BOYS – Groovus Maximus

March 30, 2022 /

This the band’s 2nd album released back in ’92. At the time, mainstream rock bands (especially all the hair bands) were about as popular as Hitler in a kindergarten. Funk rock, however, was flavour of the month and Electric Boys were riding high after the success of their first album – why they waited 4 years to record a follow up is mind blowing.

The title track gets things under way and it’s where we left off from the first album – a great groovy funked up rocker. Knee Deep In You is a sleazy grooved up monster of a tune with tongue firmly in cheek lyrically. Mary In The Mystery World has a hook that would not be out of place on Sgt Pepper, and the instrumental middle eight is killer. Fire In The House has a nice riff and grooves hard. The Sky Is Crying follows, and it’s more of the same, with a real heavy funky vibe. Side 1 closes out with Bed Of Roses and is a change of pace and sound as we could be in the mid-west of the US with the Beatles as companions.

Great opening to Side 2 with She’s Into Something Heavy, with a great funky sing a long chorus. Dying To Be Loved is a sleazed up LA style ballad. Back to our normal programming with Bad Motherfunker – a full on Friday night party tune. Next up is When Love Explodes – possibly my favourite on the record. A great funky riff and groove, and I love the hook and chorus. Tambourine doesn’t quite work for me and is a bit of a filler track. Tear It Up is pure LA sleaze complete with the harmonica intro. The instrumental March Of The Spirits closes out the album, and although it’s good, it sounds as though it’s from a different band.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

BE BOP DELUXE – Live In The Air Age

March 30, 2022 /

This live album was released in ’77. I think it was recorded during the touring cycle for the Sunburst Finish album. Even though it’s a double album, Side 1 and 4 are the album but Side 2 and 3 are a live EP. No idea why it was done this way, but it makes it all a tad confusing. Also included are two never before released tracks, one from way before the first album, Mill Street Junction, and a new track at the time, Piece Of Mine.

I was a huge fan of the band, and it was a big shame that the band did not carry on longer before Bill went on his merry way. They were a great live band and Bill is a killer guitar player with a superb voice. There are four tracks from Sunburst Finish, which was their most successful album at the time – mainly due to the hit single Ships In The Night. Sister Seagull and Made In Heaven are two of my favourite Be Bop tracks and are on Side 2 of the EP – these tracks are just superb Live. Adventures In A Yorkshire Landscape is one of my favourite tunes by any band ever and I love this version. The instrumental Shine is included, and Bill shows what a killer player he is as the track is one big jam. Killer band and a great live album.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

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