THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Day: September 9, 2022

MOTLEY CRUE – The End

September 9, 2022 /

When is the end not the end?  They have been peddling this around for way too long. I guess someone needed another alimony payment or had a lawsuit to pay. The tour that’s going around North America this summer has been doing great business and was some spectacle, but Posion blew both of the headliners off stage every night.

We get a nice coloured pink marble vinyl, and the songs are near enough the same set they have been playing for a while now, Opening up with Girls Girls Girls. I’m not sure if Vince has touched his vocals up after the event, but he does sound better on here than he does now. All the hits are here, plus all the songs you know, so it turns out to be a pretty cool Greatest Hits package.

My favourite Crüe song ever is Live Wire, but on this set my favourite is Shout At The Devil – it’s sounds quite shambolic and I love Mick Mars guitar sound. I guess you either love ‘em or hate ’em. I usually sit in the hate ’em side, mainly due to the crap that surrounds them, but I admit that this is quite a fun listen.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

JOURNEY – Escape

September 9, 2022 /

Is this the greatest AOR / Melodic rock album ever made? Journey were floundering until the arrival of Steve Perry. They were this great bunch of muso’s who could jam with the best of them, but they were lacking in the songwriting department. With Perry’s arrival, the songs became shorter and more melodic, and with his voice they were onto a winner. It was not until the departure of founding member, Gregg Rolie, and the arrival of Jonathan Cain from the Baby’s, that everything finally was in place. So the answer to the initial question is, YES!

Every moment on this record is pure gold – and that includes the ballads! The band could live off of the royalties from Don’t Stop Believin’ alone. It’s such a huge song that has been used so many times on various tv shows, movies, and commercials, but it’s not the best song in the album. I’m not sure any vocalist out there can put as much feeling and emotion into a song as Steve Perry can, but with Open Arms he puts his everything into that song. On Mother Father he reaches his peak for pure emotion alone, and its my favourite track on the album – and I hate ballads.

Schon has been reeled in somewhat on this album, so there is not so many of his rambling shred style solos (I love Schin’s playing by the way). The emphasis is on total melody, and the album is lifted because of that. Yet another in the series of every home should have one.

10/10 from The Grooveman.

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