REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Day: January 5, 2023

Turkish Delight – Various Artists

This compilation has been put together by Escape label boss, Khalil Turk, to celebrate his thirty years in the buzz and head of Escape Music. The participants are a who’s who of the underground melodic rock/aor scene. Of course some of the players you will have heard of, as they have played with some of the biggest names in the genre. There are 13 tracks on offer here and I will go through some of the best.

Live Again opens up the album after the intro and is sung by Kansas vocalist, Ronnie Platt. A superb melodic rock gem with a great hook and chorus, and some killer playing, it was written by Steve Newman. Crazy Days is an absolute monster of a tune with all aspects of melodic rock represented, with titbits of prog thrown in. Epic vocals from Jerome Mazza and killer guitar from Joel Hoekstra on this one. Another Kansas member, Billy Greer takes lead vocals on Bad Enough, another killer tune that will have you humming the hook and chorus, and again Joel provides the crunch.

Harder They Fall is my favourite track on the album and a freaking monster track with Jeff Scott Soto on vocals, and again Joel ripping on the guitar. The tempo is grooving on this one and there is a slight Deep Purple feel with the keys. Belly Of The Beast sees Chris Ousey singing his ass off with a killer aor monster. This is a must have album if you are remotely interested in aor/melodic rock. Escape have been releasing albums for over thirty years and helping keeping the genre alive.

10/10 from The Grooveman.

CIRCUS OF POWER – Vices

This is Circus of Power’s second album, released in 1990. It was awarded 5 K’s in Kerrang magazine. Dirty biker rock n’ roll was how they were tagged, and they certainly played to that image. I think they supported Sabbath on a tour, and that was possibly the best tour for them to be on.

The opening two tracks, Gates Of Love and Desire/ Fire In The Night is a perfect one two punch of groovy metal/stoner vibes. Two River Highway is a heavied up Southern rock ditty, with a hint of Nashville thrown in to make sure all bases are covered. You can just taste the JD. The title track follows and has a wicked riff with heavy stoner vibes. Don’t Drag Me Down has the band deep in Americana territory with a very rootsy feel. Last track on Side 1 is Last Call Rosie, and it is deep in DC territory with an infectious little toe tapper.

Side 2 kicks off with Doctor Potion. This is my favourite track and its just a straight up rocker with a simple dirty riff and groove. Los Angeles has a Butcher And Fast Eddie feel with a slow dirty blues groove. Got Hard is a simple straight up boogie with added southern vibes, and a big dose of slide. Back to the heavy biker grooves with Temptation and simple AC/DC main riff. Junkie Girl has that barroom vibe with a big dose of the south added for flavour. The album closes out with Simple Man/Simple Woman, a killer uptempo boogie and a fitting end to the album.

8/10 from The Grooveman.