THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Month: December 2022 (Page 7 of 11)

JOAN JETT and the Blackhearts – Glorious Results Of A Misspent Youth

December 10, 2022 /

This is the third album with The Blackhearts, it was released back in ’84 and this version was from RSD in 2014. Since leaving the Runaways Joan has done exactly what she wanted to do: recording fun, down and dirty rock n’ roll records with that attitude-edge.

A mixture of originals and covers, this album didn’t sell that well originally. I guess there is no obvious choice for a single to push the album with. I think they released the Gary Glitter cover I Love You Love as a single, which scraped the lower end of the charts.

Her punk rock attitude is still there with tracks like Long Time, which includes the 1,2,3,4 Ramones-style count in. I’m a sucker for a souped up rock n’ roll cover, and New Orleans is my favourite here. If it’s good enough for Joan and Ian Gillan, it’s bound enough for me. This record is not gonna change the world, it’s just a fun rock n’ roll record.

7.5/10 from The Grooveman.

ANNIHILATOR – Set The World On Fire

December 10, 2022 /

This is the band’s third album, released back in ’93, and more line-up changes were incoming. The most notable of which is future Dream Theater drummer, Mike Mangini occupying the drum stool.

The opening tune and title track is awesome. The fade in guitars with that killer riff is a total winner. Mangini is earning his money with the second track No Zone, as the pounding commences right from the off. Jeff Waters is the technical riff king!!! Bats In The Belfry has a killer eerie intro, and the riff and groove in the hook is superb. Knight Jumps Queen is my favourite track as the riff is just superb, in fact the whole song has a great vibe. Don’t Bother Me is so Hot For Teacher by Van Halen, but sped up. Brain Dance is a speed metal masterpiece, and math metal before it was a thing. It has so many differing tempos and grooves.

Annihilator are one of those bands that should have been bigger than they were. Just can’t put your finger on why not!

9/10 from The Grooveman.

FEAR FACTORY – Genexus

December 9, 2022 /

This is the band’s ninth studio album, released in 2015 and it was also Burton C Bell’s last one with the band. Fear Factory seem to have so much internal turmoil with their band members I am amazed they actually record anything. Demanufacture is one of my favourite albums of the whole industrial metal scene. The riffs are simple and seriously heavy, and that appeals to my simple metal brain. Tons of palm muting riffage mixed with the pounding relentless double kicks and I’m sold. Dino Cazares’ style of guitar is all about the riffs and chunk with zero leads played.

I’ll go straight to the songs that really float my tree. Anodized is the first, it has the aforementioned guitar riffage and you get the clean side of Burton’s vocals mixed with the anger. Dielectric is near enough a carbon copy in execution. Soul Hacker has to be the heaviest sounding piece they have done, and that is saying something. The very low-tuned groove with the anger is so effective. My favourite track is Regenerate. The groove is very heavy and yet the vibe is cool, plus the hook and chorus are so not Fear Factory. The whole album follows a similar pattern as does most FF records. The production is super clear and precise as well.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

THE CREEK – Storm The Gate

December 9, 2022 /

I’m sure if you were a rock and metal fan living in the UK in the eighties, you were well aware of Music For Nations. They released some of the best albums of that period including albums by Metallica, W.A.S.P, and Manowar. However, toward the end of the eighties they did lots of licensing deals with obscure labels from the US. The product of one of those deals is this long forgotten gem by The Creek. They are from North Carolina and were originally called Sugarcreek but changed their name in ’86.  Metal they are not, but they are a great melodic band. Emphasis on the melody and the musicality.

Storm The Gate is a great opening tune with a killer riff and rockin’ groove. Rock Me Tonight is firmly in Journey territory with the big hook and chorus. Foxy is pure LA big hair rock n’ roll with a cool riff and a great Friday night is party night vibe. Nice guitar sound on this one too. Girl Is Crying starts with the Van Halen “Your No Good” bass sound, and it’s my favourite track. It has a big hook and melody, and the solo is really good. I Love closes out Side 1 and it’s ballad #1.

Side 2 kicks off with Hanky Panky, an old cover that has been boogied up and it’s just pure cheese, but at least the solo is killer. Passion is up next and when acoustic guitars open up the song it usually means a ballad is not far away. That is part correct here, as the hook and chorus are really cool with a nice riff thrown in and a short killer solo. The Climb is a short acoustic instrumental interlude, which is quite cool. It segues into Fountain Of Youth, a cool uptempo groover with a choppy funky riff and a superb bass line. Bad Light is pure eighties-US-radio-pop music with its big rock chorus. On My Way closes out the record with an opening big keyboard intro that also feels very eighties-radio-friendly-pop-rock. Not a bad album at all.

8/10 from The Grooveman.

« Older posts Newer posts »

Archives

© 2025 THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑