THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Month: December 2022 (Page 2 of 11)

GOJIRA – L’Enfant Sauvage

December 22, 2022 /

This is album #5 from France’s finest tech metal groovers. This band are just off the charts heavy and soooo good!

The second track and the title track is everything I love about this band. Huge massive ripping riffage, insane grooves and beats, and killer weird interludes. I want to say they are the future of metal, but they have been around for over twenty years doing this. Liquid Fire has such a wonderful beast of a groove and sounds so simple in its execution, but it’s huge!!! Favourite track is Mouth Of Kala because of its relentless pounding of the double kick groove that leads into a slow grinding beast of a tune. They have their “beautiful moments” like Born In Winter, a toned down gem of a tune.

I know this type of sound is not for everyone and this album is blisteringly heavy at times, but the groove and tone just grabs me.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

HOUSE OF LORDS – Sahara

December 22, 2022 /

This is the second album from these keyboard-led melodic rockers, and it was released back in 1990. The only member that survives today from this line up is vocalist James Christian. Produced by Andy Johns, this album has a killer crisp sound, and your stereo will love you for playing this album.

The album kicks off with Shool and a big keys intro that drops into a great melodic rocker. Chains Of Love has a big hook and chorus with a short snappy solo. The list of guests on this album is huge, and exactly what they do other than bv’s I’m not sure. Steve Winwood’s Can’t Find My Home, the song he wrote for Blind Faith, is next and I think this was released as a single. It’s nearly the same take as the original, at least until the band explodes in. Heart On The Line is up next and is my favourite track on the album. Written by Rick Neilson, it has a huge Cheap Trick vibe and really pounds along. Laydown Staydown closes out Side 1. It’s a classic melodic rock stomper that reminds me a tad of Foreigner.

Pounding drums announce the arrival of Side 2 opener and the title track, Sahara. It has a massive grandiose intro that leads into a classic hair metal anthem. It Ain’t Love is next and it’s super power balladarama, and that is closely followed by soft balladarama Remember My Name, and don’t forget to get those lighters fuelled up. American Babylon is a return to normal service, a kick ass rocker with a big fat riff, just how we like em’. The album closes out with Kiss Of Fire, an over the top rocker, by far the heaviest tune on the album. An improvement on its predecessor but it loses some appreciation for the extra some ballad.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

GODSTICKS – Faced With Rage

December 21, 2022 /

This is the welsh Prog metallers’ fourth studio album, released in 2017, and it’s the one I love the most. Huge deep riffs and epic grooves, and I love Darren Charles’ vocal phrasing. The Prog metal world is a very crowded place and you have to be pretty amazing for people to take notice. I think Godsticks have quite a unique sound and vibe, and this album just tweaks my groove muscle in all the right ways.

Open Your Eyes just blows me away, the choppy ascending riff and groove before the softer vocal melody kicks in is just wonderful, and is one of my favourite tracks the band have done. There are beautiful softer moments like Revere where an element of funk is even added to the mix. Superb band and album, I suggest this is an album you should acquire.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

BLOODGOOD – Rock In A Hard Place

December 21, 2022 /

So does the devil have all the good tunes? Well, he did until the early 80’s when the success of Stryper a lot of the Christian rock bands seemed to appear out of the woodwork. This is Bloodgood’s debut album, released in ’86 on the independent Frontline records. Even the majors thought this was a passing phase, as not many took a chance on signing a band aligned to god. Musically, this is a kick ass record that any hair metal band of the period would have been proud of.

Shakin’ It is a kick ass opening track with a killer riff and groove, and Michael Bloodgood’s vocals remind me of a heavier Steve Perry. In fact, The Presence could have been a Journey tune, one of the uptempo ones that is. This should have been a single as it has all the elements that rock radio were eating up at the time – a great snappy tune with a great hook and chorus. What Have I Done is pure AOR heaven, and fans of the softer side of rock will lap this up. Heaven On Earth closes out Side 1 with a straight up rifftastic rocker, that has some killer guitar.

Side 2 opens up with Do Or Die, a full on double kick metal anthem, and the heaviest track in the album. A very dramatic acoustic intro to She’s Gone and it’s the big  power ballad of the album. Very tasty solo on this one.  Next up is The World Keeps Movin’ Around. This is my favourite track as I love the simple huge beat, and the hook and chorus are really good. I must be getting soft in my old age. The album closes out with Seven, the most overtly religious track on the album which references the importance of the number seven from a religious context. I really like this album and it’s stands up really well to its contemporaries of the time.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

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