REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Day: March 26, 2022

RIVAL SONS – Feral Roots

It’s hard to believe it, but these original retro rockers released their first album in 2009, and this is album number six. They seem to hit the right spot between blues, rock, and groove for me that sets them above the rest of the copyists – and in Jay Buchanan they have one hell of a frontman with a great set of pipes.

The lead off track, Do Your Worst, was released as the first single and is a total banger. Sugar On The Bone has an old school blues swagger vibe with a killer vocal and really grooves along. The title track is an epic slow piece that reminds me of all the bands from the southern US in the seventies – it has such a great vibe. Too Bad is my favourite track on the record and one of their best – it has so much feeling and is such a powerful piece. Stood By Me has that Sticky Fingers feel with the groove and the vocal is epic. Imperial Joy is old school rocked up R&B. The big surprise for me on the album is The End Of Forever with the electronic intro before the most monster of riffs takes over. This track really swings. This band just get better and better.

9.5/10 from The Grooveman.

ALDO NOVA – Twitch

This is the third album by guitarist/songwriter/producer Aldo Nova , and was released in ’85. After having scored major success with his first album (and the hit single from it, Fantasy), the follow up album, Subject, didn’t do quite as well (even though I think it’s the best). So when it came to this album, the record company interfered big time and old Aldo was not pleased. There were two singles off the album that did ok, Rumours Of You, and Tonite, but Aldo would disappear after this for 6 years until his contact ended.

This album is very AOR and relies too heavily on syrupy ballads, but there are still rockin’ moments like on If Looks Could Kill, which has a great riff and cool chorus, Fallen Angel, which reminds me of Fantasy from the first album, and the Def Leppard sounding track Lay Your Love On Me. There are moments when Aldo shows what a great player he is, and the title track is a quirky electronic piece with him ripping over the top.

It’s not a bad album and it some great moments, but if the record company hadn’t interfered it would have been a whole lot better.

8/10 from The Grooveman.