THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Day: March 7, 2022

THE SEA WITHIN – s/t

March 7, 2022 /

For those of you who don’t know, The Sea Within are a Prog supergroup – or collaboration – whichever you want to call them. If you’re thinking old school Prog then forget it – these guys are in the tradition of Transatlantic which also feature Roine Stolt. Anything with Marco Minneman on drums always gets my attention and this album is superb.

The writing, performance, and composition of the songs is incredible. The song takes more of a focus than rambling instrumentals that is usually associated with these types of project – although there are a couple of those. The track Broken Cord weighing in 14.20 mins is epic, with nods to all old and new influences – a true masterpiece. I love Roine’s vocal style on this track as it feels as though I am being personally told a story. As well as songs that you can immerse yourself in musically, there are also quite beautiful pieces like Denise, which closes out the album.

A wonderful record and I still play it a lot nearly four years after it’s release.

9.5/10 from The Grooveman.

MSG – Built To Destroy

March 7, 2022 /

Michael Schenker has more personnel changes than any other living musician. The list is endless. I won’t go into the reasons why, but Michael was not the easiest of people to work with. After ditching Gary Barden and bringing in Graham Bonnet for the excellent Assault Attack, and all that falling to pieces with great acrimony, Barden was asked to rejoin for this album – and would be his last for sometime.

The first thing you notice is how dominant the keyboards are on this album. The sound seems to have been watered down somewhat. Michael adds his usual touches here and there to lift what is quite a flat recording. Barden’s vocals aren’t the best and he seems to really strain on some of the tunes.

Side 1 passes by with not too much to shout about, and it’s not until we get to the lead off track, Red Sky, where things get a little better. Captain Nemo is the best track on the album and it’s an instrumental with a great melody and some great playing from Michael. When I hear him do things like this I wonder what would have been if he had gone down the Satriani route. The only vocal track I like is the last track, Still Love That Devil, which has a nice riff and groove.

I still find this quite a disappointing album and my opinion has not changed over time.

6.5/10 from The Grooveman.

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