THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Month: February 2023 (Page 7 of 9)

LAMB OF GOD – Ashes Of The Wake

February 7, 2023 /

Lamb of God are one of the best heavy groove metal bands around. These guys know that keeping the groove and swing in their tunes is what keeps metal interesting. A lot of modern bands just don’t know how to do that. It helps when you have an outstanding drummer like Chris Adler. Man, this guy is not human! I don’t mind the Cookie Monster vocals when the grooves and riffs are good, and musically, these guys are on the money.

This album actually came out in 2004, and this is the 15th anniversary edition with four extra tracks. Laid To Rest blows your brains to one side with an epic riff and groove to swing your head to, or if you getting old like me, use a cushion. Hourglass has an old school heavy metal feel to it, but it’s the groove and guitar that get you on this one. What an opening riff and groove to Now You’ve Got Something To Die For. Big Pantera vibes! The ending is both old school thrash and huge fat chugga grooverama. Monstrous tune! This gets the votes for favourite track. The Faded Line closes out Side 1. Just listen to the double kicks! Nuts or what!?

Omertà opens up Side 2 and the pace is slow but this sounds so damn heavy. Killer guitar tone! Blood Of The Scribe is breakneck speed thrash with superb riffage. Maximum chuggas at the intro to One Gun. The double kick frenzy gives a false impression of the speed of the song. It is soooo heavy! The onslaught continues with Break You and closes out the first disc.

What I’ve Become blasts into Side 3 with maximum old school thrash riffage. Ashes Of The Wake is up next and is a kick ass instrumental with guest soloists, Alex Skolnick, Chris Poland, Mark Morton, and of course Willy Adler. Lots of shred with epic heavy grooves. The main album closes out with Remorse Is For The Dead. After a really chill intro, the heaviness drops like a bomb with lots of groove changes and monster riffs.

The first of the bonus tracks is Another Nail For Your Coffin which was a B-side to a single. Deep staccato chuggas mirrored with with the drums, it’s intense. The last three tracks are demos of Laid To Rest, Ashes Of The Wake, and Remorse Is For The Dead. A lot better than those pointless etchings.

Great band great album.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

CHEAP TRICK – Next Position Please

February 7, 2023 /

I think everyone has a favourite Cheap Trick album, don’t they? Everyone in my circle of friends does anyway. I think the point I’m trying to make is the huge crossover appeal of the band. Mainly due to the fact that they know how to write a good and catchy pop song.

My favourite track on this album wasn’t a single, just an amazing album track: I Don’t Love Her Anymore. It has a superb and infectious guitar hook, a groove and beat with a great swing, and the chorus is earworm central. Simple! Younger Girls has that Stones riff that sits underneath the vocals, it’s just genius songwriting. It’s hard to believe that Invaders Of The Heart wasn’t even considered for a single. In ’83 this type of song was all over MTV.  

A great and very underrated band.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

LONE STAR – s/t

February 6, 2023 /

This album came out at the end of ’76, just as punk was beginning to explode. You can say there never is a right time to put out an album, but to be in a classic/progressive rock band at that time in the UK wasn’t easy. This band came out of nowhere, the first I’d heard of them was when they appeared on Old Grey Whistle Test, and I bought the album that weekend.

An amazing rendition of The Beatles’ She Said She Said opens up the album and what killer cover it is, it’s my favourite track. You would never know this was a Beatles tune, and the instrumental section is off the charts. Kenny Driscoll’s vocals remind me of Paul Rodgers. Epic stuff! You’d think you were listening to Led Zeppelin with next track Lonely Soldier, at least that’s the vibe I get. A very laid back piece until the Hammond kicks in with a musical representation of a battle, then the groove picks up leading into an uplifting ending. Side 1 ends with Flying In The Reel, a huge sounding intro that falls into a rock n’ roll boogie.

Spaceships kicks off Side 2, it’s quite a simple song until we get to the middle instrumental section and then the song takes off. These guys would have made a great jam band. A New Day is a good old southern rock romp complete with a slide guitar. A Million Stars has a killer intro with guitar and drums blazing. You would swear that’s Robert Plant singing, and Paul Chapman’s solo sounds so good on the track. The album ends with Illusions, a beautiful delicate piece with just a vocal and guitar until the waves crash in at the end.

This band should have been huge but everything went against them.

8/10 from The Grooveman.

CRIMSON GLORY – s/t

February 6, 2023 /

Long before Ghost’s Tobias Forge was but a twinkle in his nameless ghoul’s eye, Crimson Glory’s Midnight was wearing the mask for full theatrical affect. Hailing from the state of humidity, Florida, this is their first album and was released back in ’86. They were often called Queensryche-like by certain sections of the rock press, mainly due to the vocal similarities between the two singers. I know I’m in a minority, but I actually prefer these  guys to Queensryche as they were not afraid to call themselves what they were: a metal band.

Valhalla opens up the album and that voice just hits you straight away. Amazing range and those high notes are just insane. Dragon Lady is a great tune and owes more to Iron Maiden for influences than the big Q. Then we get the big power ballad Heart Of Steel, and the Geoff Tate comparisons are there for all to see. Hints of what were to be known as Prog metal are all over this track, and the instrumental section is killer. I love the guitar harmonies! Azrael close out Side 1 and the word epic does not do it justice. A very atmospheric medieval intro that flows into those harmony guitars with that Holy Diver groove driving the song along.

Mayday blows the cobwebs away at the start of Side 2 and this is a full on metal assault. Double kicks and chuggas all the way, and I’m sure a glass broke with those high notes. Definitely my fave track. Queen Of The Masquerade follows, and when they played live this was the centrepiece with all the dramatics. John Drenning’s guitar sounds killer on this piece. Another medieval intro to Angels Of War. A simple choppy riff with amazing vocal harmonies, and another killer middle section. The album closes out with Lost Reflection. An amazing vocal performance on what is, for the most part, an acoustic ballad until the end where someone put a coin in the meter.

An enjoyable metal romp with added theatrics.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

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