THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Month: June 2022 (Page 4 of 14)

URIAH HEEP – Return To Fantasy

June 24, 2022 /

I feel old listening to this album as I remember buying it the week of its release in ’75. Most people think of 70’s Heep as this big big rock/Prog crossover band – especially after the release of Demons And Wizards, and The Magicians Birthday with those fantasy Roger Dean covers and the big extended songs. In reality, through most of the 70’s the band wrote melodic hard rock albums with emphasis on vocal melodies and big harmonies.

This album is somewhere in between, as songs like Beautiful Dream and A Year Or A Day have that old Heep vibe with Prog very much in evidence. The title track shows the great vocal qualities in the band, with Dave Byron showing what an amazing range he was, while the rest of the band back him with killer harmonies. The band almost reach country/blues territory with Why Did You Go and shows how eclectic this album is. A solid album but not their best.

8/10 from The Grooveman.

RIOT – Fire Down Under

June 24, 2022 /

If ever there was a bad luck band, it just has to be Riot. If you consider how amazing this record is, Capitol records refused to release it after the band had recorded it saying it was “commercially unacceptable”. Capitol used Riot as a pawn to support Sammy Hagar on a UK tour, as they were popular with young fans in the UK, and he wasn’t. As soon as the tour was over, they dropped the band and held this album in their vaults refusing to release it. Finally, after pressure from the fans, the label sold it to Elektra who duly released it to world wide acclaim.

They played the first Donnington festival, and they were on the bill for the Port Vale Heavy Metal Holocaust. They should have been huge, and for that small window in time, hey had their shot. Vocalist, Guy Speranza, left after the tour cycle for this album saying he was disillusioned with the whole business and went to be a rat catcher. His replacement, Rhett Forrester, was shot after refusing to give up his car in a car jacking. Bad luck seemed to follow these guys around.

They managed to put out this monster of a record despite all of their troubles, and it still sounds great today. Definitely all killer no filler – great songs with awesome vocals, all the time keeping the melody with huge crunchy riffs and a groove that swings. Swords And Tequila, Fire Down Under, Don’t Hold Back, and Altar Of The King are all stunning tracks in their own right – all with superb riffs and grooves, but my favourite is Outlaw. This song grooves hard with killer riff, hooks, and chorus – with the added bonus of a great Mark Realle solo.

This is the Metal Blade reissue with two extra tracks, but like a lot of Metal Blade reissues, it’s a very noisy pressing. If you are lacking this album in your collection, then I suggest you track down an original copy.

10/10 from The Grooveman.

BLUE OYSTER CULT – Agents Of Fortune

June 23, 2022 /

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

June 23, 2022 /

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.

« Older posts Newer posts »

Archives

© 2025 THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑