REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Day: June 23, 2022

BLUE OYSTER CULT – Agents Of Fortune

It’s amazing how one song can define a band and how they are perceived. Don’t Fear The Reaper is undoubtedly one of the best songs of the 20th century, and yet, before that they were just another rock band playing the halls and theatres of America. Their first three albums were quirky hard rockin’ albums that had been called punk (before it was a thing), biker rock, and everything in between, but when Agents was released everything changed.

This album is still a quirky beast of a thing, and its still very hard to pin down. The vibe is all over the place and yet it’s still a very accessible album. Other than Reaper, I love Tattoo Vampire with its rockin’ riff and groove, Morning Final with that slightly evil main riff and angelic hook and chorus, and the very cinematic Revenge Of Vera Gemini. The most hard rockin’ track on the album is ETI, which has a great riff and killer solo from Buck Dharma.

It’s a weird album for the band as it’s not their best, but it’s the one that everyone remembers.

8/10 from The Grooveman.

THE DARKNESS – Last Of Our Kind

This is the band’s fourth album, and the second after their comeback. They have a knack for writing some seriously catchy rock songs and that seems to be dying art these days.

The album kicks off with Barbarian which was a lead off single, and has is typical Darkness – a nice fat riff with catchy hook and chorus. Open Fire starts off with a picked chord that sounds like early Cult, before an AC/DC straight rocker takes over. The title track follows with an acoustic intro that sounds a bit Eurovision until the middle eight. Roaring Waters has a very nice funky riff to start with a very unusual hook and chorus. Wheels Of The Machine is a slow acoustic driven piece. Mighty Wings kicks off with a keyboard intro that’s very reminiscent of Buggles, until normal service is resumed with a floor to the floor riff and groove. Then we change it up again with a very Queen hook and chorus. This is the best track so far! Mudslide has an Aerosmith sounding riff with a straight up groove. Sarah O Sarah is the weakest song on the album for me. Hammer And Tongs starts with a straight up Quo like boogie and stays for the whole song. Conquerors close out the album and is a lighters-in-the-air type of tune.

This is not a bad album, but also it’s not a great album.

7.5/10 from The Grooveman.