THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Day: February 3, 2023

MANOWAR – Hail To England

February 3, 2023 /

It’s everyone’s favourite metal band to hate. Death to false metal! Did they ever mention what false metal was?

This is my favourite Manowar album. I definitely remember seeing them on this tour and thoroughly enjoying the show. I started to loose interest after this as it all got a bit silly. I mean, if Conan The Barbarian was put to music then this album would be the soundtrack.

They are at their best and worst on this album. The best would be the opening track, and my favourite, Blood Of My Enemies. It’s a great track that sets the mood perfectly for the whole album. The worst would be Bridge Of Death, which despite the great title and subject matter is just amateur hour. Notable mention goes to Hail To England where the band pay tribute to their fans there. Basically, at the time no one else cared that much and how can one forget all the crowd singing Hail To England. Black wind indeed!

This is the one album where that whole medieval vibe actually worked. As you can probably tell I blow hot and cold with this album, but it’s still entertaining.

8/10 from The Grooveman.

LONERIDER – Sundown

February 3, 2023 /

This is Lonerider’s second release, and again it appears on UK label Escape Music. For those who don’t know, the band are Steve Overland from FM on vocals, Bad Company and Free drummer Simon Kirke, Chris Childs from Thunder on bass, and Steve Morris from Heartland on guitar and keys. They do come across as a lighter version of Bad Co but with a killer production, this is a very classy melodic rock album. I’ve always been a fan of Steve Overland’s voice and this band is a perfect vehicle to show how good he is.

The album starts with Fantasyland and the riff and groove of the whole song is classic rock 101. Cross The Border has a very west coast feel to it and the Eagles do come to mind here and on next track, Undefeatable. Harder Love is the first ballad we get to and there are Paul Rodgers’ tones to Steve’s voice on this one. When You Got Nothing has a riff that Mick Ralph’s would have been proud. The Side 1 closer Any Way The Wind Blows is ballad number two, and this time country vibes are added to the smooth west coast sound.

Side 2 opens up with Yesterday’s News and I’m going with this as my favourite track. A really cool hook and chorus, and there is an harder edge to the guitars on this one. Great track! Badlands follows, it’s basically a boogie with a killer hook and chorus. Wild River has a big southern rock groove with just a hint of country, and the melody and chorus are superb. Next up is Criminal Mind and aor fans will be dribbling at this one. A great riff but it’s the melody and harmonies that are the big stand out here. Love To Love could have been on any Bad Co album and you would not know it wasn’t them. It’s that close! A really nice swing to the groove and as usual with these guys, the melody is huge. So we get to the last track Long Time Gone, and it’s a return to that super smooth west coast sound.

I love this album a lot as the sound is crystal clear and crisp, plus the songs are really well written and performed. If you want a modern classic rock record then you could give these guys a try.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

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