THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Month: May 2022 (Page 6 of 13)

THE END MACHINE – s/t

May 19, 2022 /

This is my 800th review!

This is the first album from The End Machine, which is basically Dokken without Don. We have Robert Mason on vocals, Mick Brown on drums, Jeff Pilson on bass, and George Lynch on guitar. This is a very cool melodic hard rock record, that for anyone doubting are still being made today.

Leap Of Faith opens up with a killer little guitar intro before the songs settles into a superb slow brooding groover. Hold Me Down as a sweet picked riff from George, with a four to the floor groove, some killer guitar from George, and I’m really loving Robert’s voice on this one. Bulletproof starts with an old blues sat on the porch style groove. The hook and melody are awesome on this track. Superb tune! Ride It is an uptempo Dokken style groover that rolls along at a fair pace. I love Jeff Pilson’s harmony vocals! Alive Today has a huge hook and chorus with a superb melody, the riff and groove are a little left-field on this one. My favourite track is the close out track Life Is Love Is Music. It has a very old school sounding riff with a killer chord pattern, and with nearly every song on the album, the chorus and hook is superb. Hopefully there will be a third instalment as these guys make great music together.

10/10 from the Grooveman.

ORION THE HUNTER – s/t

May 19, 2022 /

Orion The Hunter are an offshoot from the band Boston. Featuring Fran Cosmo on vocals, Barry Goudreau on guitar, and Brad Delp wrote four tracks on the album. I know there were a few problems around Tom Scholz’s controlling nature around Boston. He never gave as much credit to other members of the band as maybe he should have done, as they all contributed to the band’s sound.

This album is a lot more laid back and is more of an AOR sounding record than the Boston records, but it’s still a very classy record with a superb production. You Ran has those beautiful harmonies and melody that you associate with Boston – I’m assuming they are making a point here. Dreamin’ is a monster tune that reminds me of a heavier Styx and is a very dynamic rockin’ track with an awesome hook and chorus. Fast Talk is the most straight up rockin’ track on the record with a very simple riff and driving beat. I know they toured with Aerosmith and then they seemed to just disappear, which is a shame as they were a great band in their own right.

8.5/10 from the Grooveman.

OZZY OSBOURNE – Blizzard Of Oz

May 18, 2022 /

For all of us mere mortals who lived outside of Southern California this was the first any of us had heard of Randy Rhoads. He came out of that same Pasadena scene that EVH and George Lynch came out of, albeit a couple of years later. He played on the first two Quiet Riot albums, but they just slipped by without gaining much attention.

As soon as you heard the opening to I Don’t Know, you knew you were hearing something special. A killer tone, sound, and a great band around him made all the difference. This and Diary Of A Madman are Ozzy’s best albums and that’s all down to the band with great playing and great songwriting. The only dodgy moment on this record is Goodbye To Romance, which is alien to everything else on the album, the rest of the album is just killer and it revitalized Ozzy’s career that’s for sure. Crazy Train, Mister Crowley, and Suicide Solution are all bonafide classics in their own right and a guitar hero was born. The solo in Suicide Solution, especially live, was a sight and sound to behold. Randy is sadly missed and we only have a small body of work to enjoy but he left was killer.

9.5/10 from the Grooveman.

PRONG – Zero Days

May 18, 2022 /

I’m a huge fan of the album Cleansing, which was released back in ’94. So how have the years treated this industrial metallic groove machine? This is the band’s last release which came out in 2017. On this album, main man Tommy Victor is joined by Mike Longworth on bass, and Art Cruz on drums – although I believe they now have left the band.

I’m pleased to say the groove is alive and well on tracks like the opener, However It May End, and Operation Of The Moral Law where the riffs and grooves just make you want to bounce. The overall vibe is more of a straight up metal record with hard fast beats and evil riffs. I have always heard a Killing Joke vibe on some of their tunes, and this continues on with this record on the tracks Blood Out Of Stone. On this track Tommy’s voice and delivery remind me of Jazz Coleman’s and even more so on Compulsive Future Projection, which has a great groove and a crunching riff. It’s great to see Tommy Victor still putting out great records that still mean something.

9/10 from the Grooveman.

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