THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Day: May 30, 2022

RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE – Renegades

May 30, 2022 /

This is the band’s 4th album released back in 2000. Other than Nirvana, I’m not sure of any other band that had such an explosive impact, especially after their release of Killing In The Name Of and their first album.

The album consists entirely of cover songs done in RATM’s own unique style. It’s the rap and hip hop covers that are the best for me. Microphone Fiend is seriously funky with a real heavy groove, and Pistol Grip Pump follows right along with the same epic vibe. It’s a toss up for my favourite track, it’s between Microphone Fiend and Renegades of Funk by Afrika Bambaataa.

This album actually came out after the band split, as three of them went on to form Audioslave. Not their best album, but it still grooves hard.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

THE PINEAPPLE THIEF – Versions Of The Truth

May 30, 2022 /

The Pineapple Thief are Porcupine Tree lite according to some Prog fans. I sort of get that analogy, especially now that Gavin Harrison is a member, and on this album he is the main co-writer along with main man Bruce Soord.

This is the band’s thirteenth album release, and along with Big Big Train, they are seen as trailblazers for modern Prog. The title and opening track, and general theme of the album, deals with the fact that in today’s social media driven world, it is increasingly difficult to define what is fact and what is a lie. It’s a superb piece of modern Prog that ebbs and flows all with an infectious groove. Demons is a fantastic track with a very hypnotic groove and an absolute earworm of a hook and chorus. Leave Me Be is another very commercial sounding piece, again, with that hypnotic groove, beat, and killer hook. My favourite track is Our Mire, which is the longest piece on the album. It goes from really low/quiet beautiful sounds to experimental guitar tones and textures, and Gavin’s sharp snappy grooves and beats.

A really enjoyable album, and is up there with Maganolia as one of their best.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

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