REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Day: May 7, 2022

Y&T – Mean Streak

The best three Y&T albums are Earthshaker, Black Tiger, and this – ironically, the three worst selling of that classic period. I know they are a band, but it’s all about Dave Meniketti who has a superb voice and is a killer guitar player.

The title and opening track is trademark Y&T, with that huge voice monster riff and a great hook. Straight Through The Heart has a slight funk feel to the groove and main riff, but what a solo and vocal! Lonely Side Of Town has single written all over it, but I don’t think the record company released it as single. Side 1 closes out with Midnight In Tokyo, which was released as a single and is a superb track. The intro alone is worth the money paid for the album.

Breaking Away opens up Side 2 and it’s the weakest track on the album. Hang ‘Em High is an uptempo groover in the same vein as Hurricane. Take You To The Limit starts slow, but boy what a riff and groove when it kicks in! Sentimental Fool was the second single released and has a nice chorus and hook. The album closes out with Down And Dirty, a typical Friday night rocker with the big sing-a-long chorus. It’s two tracks away from being a ten.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

VEGA – Anarchy And Unity

Since the collapse of most of the melodic labels in Europe, it seems as though Frontiers have now cornered the market with only Escape Music who is left of the originals. On this, their latest release, it’s nice to see they wrote all of the songs this time – I think on the last album outside writers had been brought in. My only gripe with this album is that the mix sounds very quiet and I have to really crank it.

If you’re new to Vega, they write super catchy hard rock belters. Beautiful Lie kicks things off nicely with a great groove and a super catchy hook. Sooner Or Later is even better with a killer groove and melody. End Of The Fade starts with a slow brooding vibe, and then normal service is resumed with another great hook and chorus. You get the picture right? This is the whole album!

I will give a special mention to Bring The Riot which brings the melody in spades, but is done in a very modern sounding way. I also love the sleazy barroom vibe of C’mon. Vega are a great band who deserve to be heard, and in this market how does a band like them actually break through? Frontiers – over to you.

9/10 from The Grooveman.