THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Day: November 10, 2022

TOTO – Live In Tokyo 1980

November 10, 2022 /

There is no doubt (in my eyes anyway) that Toto are rock royalty. In much the same way that Steely Dan got together, a bunch of session guys getting together to make music they wanted to make and not being told what to play. This short five track live album is from Toto’s first visit to Japan in 1980, and was a a RSD release.

St George And The Dragon opens up the album and it was one of the killer songs from Hydra, it’s great to hear it played live and Lukather’s guitar is just beautiful. Mama is just incredible. A superb funky vibe and Luke’s really on the money. Tale Of A Man closes out Side 1, and what a killer track this is. Jazz, funk, and Rock are all covered here and it’s my favourite track as I love this rendition – killer playing by all.

Side 2 opens up with White Sister, one of my favourite Toto songs. Great playing and this is how it should be, all playing live no overdubs or miming to tape here. The album finishes with Runaway, which I don’t think has appeared on any album before, and is an old school rock n roll romp. Just five tracks isn’t an LP but an EP, I’m not complaining as warts and all recordings don’t exist anymore.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

DEAD END – Ghost Of Romance

November 10, 2022 /

I thought I was up on all the Japanese rock and metal bands, so when I saw this in a bargain bin and it was on Metal Blade I thought, why not? Dead End were formed in ’84 and this is their second album, released in the US in ’87.

Musically, it’s really on the money. Killer riffs and grooves, and I really like the guitar sound on You. The thing that really bugs me is I can’t understand a word that is being sung. I’m not sure if they are singing in Japanese or not. There is no lyric sheet, so I’m not sure. But, all the song titles are in English. Anyway, vocals are usually the last thing I hook onto so it’s no biggie.

The songs that really grab me are The Damned Thing which has a great groove and some killer guitar. Phantom Nation has an epic riff and guitar tone, it is my favourite. The intro to Godsend is epic and very eighties, it reminds me a bit of Killing Joke. The middle section of The Red Moon Calls Insanity is really cool and again, killer guitar tone and some of the lyrics are in English. The close out track Song Of A Lunatic starts like some 80’s goth band and is so out of place compared to the rest of the album, but the guitar playing is awesome. Well, it was worth the $3 I paid for sure.

7.5/10 from The Grooveman.

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