THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Month: September 2022 (Page 9 of 11)

PANTERA – I Am The Night

September 6, 2022 /

I wish the surviving estates of Dime and Vinnie would get together and get these four early albums to come out as remasters, and stop the endless bootlegging of these titles. The market is definitely there for them. I love these early albums as it shows the influences they had, and man they could play anything. This was the last album to feature Terry Glaze on vocals before Phil would sing in Power Metal.

Hot And Heavy is just wild and Dime’s playing is incredible – see if you can spot the Van Halen riff he throws in. I Am The Night is pure Judas Priest, and we know how much the brothers loved them. Killer descending riff from Dime and pounding kicks from Vinnie. Onwards We Rock is next up and has a super cheesy lyric, but Dime is the saviour with an amazing solo. D.G.T.T.M is a Dime showcase instrumental. Side 1 comes to an end with my favourite track, Daughters Of The Queen. It’s all about the riff and Dime’s guitar sound. Quite a simple song but that guitar sound!!!

Down Below opens up Side 2 and it’s pedal to metal double kicks all the way. Oh and lots of Dime! Come On Eyes is not that great lyrically but who cares when Dime is just ripping it up. Right On The Edge has a huge pounding beat with Dime riffing Priest style. Valhalla has a killer riff with double kicks all the way but the vocals are a bit weak on this track. There is a Primal Concrete Sledge feel to the middle section. The album closes out with Forever Tonight. I guess this is as close as Pantera gets to a ballad, but which Ozzy track does it remind you of? I do love these early albums, I’m biased in that way, but they are a fun listen and Dime was such a great player.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

DEEP PURPLE – Made In Europe

September 6, 2022 /

When a band gets huge success with an album, and I’m talking Made In Japan here, some hack at the record company will have the bright idea of trying to replicate it. Made In Japan is probably the greatest live album of all time, and to try and equal that is not realistic. Now of course we have a different front man in David Coverdale which, if we’re honest, was not even the best vocalist in the band as we all know Glenn Hughes’ voice is just phenomenal.

The opening track is Burn and in my opinion it is the best track from this live set, and Blackmore is at his supreme best, in this recording anyway. Mistreated was always a bit of a showstopper with the emphasis being on both guitar and vocals. I’m not sure we’ll ever hear Ritchie play like this again. Lady Double Dealer is a standard Purple rocker, and both Blackmore and Jon Lord have their little showpiece. You’ll Fool No One is all about Jon Lord and boy do we miss that sound. Of course Blackmore gets to riff it up and take over the song completely. The set closes out with Stormbringer and it’s a fairly straight forward take on the best song on that album. So it is a short live album from a once great band, and no it’s not as good as Made In Japan.

8/10 from The Grooveman.

BLACK MOUNTAIN – IV

September 5, 2022 /

Now I’ll admit to avoiding anything that has psych in its description, but I would argue this has a much deeper stoner groove. This screams early Sabbath in places, and it’s only when the trippy vocals kick in that you get that post rock vibe.

Love the opening track Mothers Of The Son. The serene vocals of Amber Webber mixed with that heavy guitar just hits the spot. Florian Saucer Attack on the other hand has that annoying tinny indie sound that just doesn’t do it for me. Defector has a very early seventies Prog vibe to its proceedings, mainly due to the melotron at the intro. You Can Dream just has that repeating huge guitar with Siouxsie vibes a plenty. Constellations has that big post rock vibe going on and I would say this is my favourite track. Line Them All Up has the biggest psych sound on the album and is very late sixties in feel. Cemetery Breeding is early nineties Pulp. Over And Over has a Saucerful Of Secrets vibe all the way through it. Crucify Me is a beautiful acoustic piece that could have been born in Laurel Canyon. The Pink Floyd vibes are strong with the close out track, Space To Bakersfield. Not a bad album and it’s one that I would call a mood album.

7/10 from The Grooveman.

H.E.A.T – Force Majeure

September 5, 2022 /

This album sees the return of original vocalist, Kenny Leckremo after the departure of Eric Gronwall to Skid Row. I don’t really see the logic in that decision as Skid Row are just a legacy band just treading water, whereas H.E.A.T just keep on releasing really great rock records and their popularity keeps rising.

Ripping opening tune with Back To The Rhythm. It has a killer riff and groove, and a great hook with some epic guitar. Nationwide follows and the pace is increased somewhat with a monster riff and groove; man what a production. Tainted Blood opens up with a fat riff that I’ve heard before somewhere but it didn’t sound this good. Leckremo’s vocals do remind me of Joey Tempest on this track, and the drums just sound huge. Superb solo by the way! Really cool intro to Hollywood. The groove has that LA sleaze feel to it, and as usual a monster hook and chorus. Harder To Breathe closes out Side 1 with what sounds like an old Accept riff at the intro, but it builds into a really great melodic rock song with huge harmonies.

Side 2 opens up with Not For Sale and it’s more of the same, huge riff, massive groove, and killer hook and chorus. They make it look so easy, every song has a great melody and they that sing-a-long hands-in-the-air thing down to a T. It’s power ballad time next with One Of Us, and you’ll know by now I’m not a fan of said ballads but this does sound bigger than a big thing on a big train to big town. A trip to funky town is up next with Hold Your Fire, and I really like that Blackmore style riff at the intro that leads into huge funk rock groove. Paramount starts with a Styx style pomp keyboard intro and is very Eurovision in its style.

I could pick any number of these as my favourite track, but today it’s Demon Eyes. The fastest and heaviest track on the album and again I’m getting the Blackmore vibe for the main riff. Killer tune. The album closes out with Wings Of An Aeroplane and it’s fitting that we finish on a huge anthemic track with the hands-in-the-air vibe. I’ll go out on a limb here and say it’s their best album and one that you should acquire at your earliest convenience.

10/10 from The Grooveman.

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