REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Month: March 2023 (Page 4 of 11)

HOUSE OF LORDS – New World, New Eyes

This is album number twelve from these veteran melodic pomp rockers, released in 2020. The only surviving early member is vocalist James Christian, and he is joined here with killer guitarist Jimi Bell, bassist Chris Tristram, and BJ Zampa on the pots and pans.

The title track opens up Side 1 and it is a slick, well produced, killer tune. Great vocal and melody, and as usual Jimi Bell brings the rock. Changes sounds epic right from the get go with the orchestral keyboard intro and we are dipping our toe here in progressive waters. Melodic Prog indeed! One More is up next and this a straight up kick ass rocker. Mr. Bell provides the right amount of riffage, and I love the swing of this one. Ballad number one is next with Perfectly (You And I) and as usual with ballads, the solo is the high point for me. Side 1 closes out with The Both Of Us. Nice riff and a four to the floor groove.

Chemical Rush opens up Side 2 in fine rockin’ style at the intro with a nice fat riff, and I have to say this song feels so familiar. We’re All That We Got follows and is a slick aor melodic monster, with a great hook and chorus. Better Off Broken starts with the usual killer riff and the hook and chorus are really cool, plus it’s my favourite track. $ Bucks Of Gasoline follows and is the only track to have Tommy Denander on guitar. A nice busy riff and groove, with an added earworm chorus. The Chase feels like Aerosmith at the intro and the verse for sure. The album closes out with The Summit and gets the award for most rockin’ track on the record.  

A good album that has been spoiled somewhat by a very noisy pressing.

8/10 from The Grooveman.

KILLER DWARFS – s/t

Yet another Canadian band that did okay within Canada, but struggled to scratch the surface elsewhere. Formed in Oshawa in ’81, this is Killer Dwarfs’ debut album released in ’83. I caught the band live a few years ago and it was a good show with a healthy dose of humour thrown in. Vocalist Russ has a similar vibrato to Geddy Lee, but the music is straight up hard rock.

Are You Ready kicks things off with a nice heavy groove, a simple riff, and a catchy hook and chorus. Can’t Lose follows and the vibe and groove are very different, with a great swing to the riff and beat. Drifter has a slow build up which is cool, but the song is quite average and is the weakest on the album.  A definite improvement with Prisoner. The main riff and groove is NWOBHM to a T and those Geddy vibes are very evident in this song. Great solo as well! Heavy Mental Breakdown closes out Side 1 and the riff is old school for sure, it reminds me of early Budgie.

Side 2 opens up with Read Between The Lines and again, it’s a decent enough song but the production is seriously lacking. The tunes all sound empty and need filling out. I’m going to move onto my favourite track, Time To Move On. The riff we’ve all heard a million times before, but the sound on this one seems louder than the rest, and the groove of the song is cool.

Not a bad first album and they got way better especially with Big Deal.

6.5/10 from The Grooveman.

ELEGY – State Of Mind

Who remembers the good old days when rock was rock and pop was pop? Now, everything is split into a myriad of sub genres. Elegy for example, are listed as progressive power metal. This Dutch band were formed back in ’86 but it took them until ’92 to issue their first studio album.

State Of Mind is their fifth release, which came out in ’99. This copy is a reissue from those wonderful people at Night Of The Vinyl Dead. After the epic Disney Princess intro we jump straight into Visual Vortex. A great full on melodic metal masterpiece with Ian Parry showing what a huge set of pipes he has. Next up is Trust, also my favourite track. Superb, choppy, off-time riff with a nice hook and melody. Beyond slides on in next and it’s a fully penned Ian Parry tune, and the melody is high on the agenda on this one with a big shoutout to Henk Van De Lars for a killer solo. A nice, big, fat chord intro to Shadow Dancer before chugga’s drop in to drive the song along. The hook and chorus are superb and this is about as commercial this album gets. Side 1 closes out with Aladdin’s Cave. The intro and main riff have a very Arabic vibe and is quite dramatic. I would bet my last dollar that Dio-era Rainbow were a huge influence on these guys.

Over to Side 2 we go and the title track awaits. It’s more of the same, that’s really not a bad thing as the songs are very strong, well written, and well executed. Destiny Calling follows and it’s a showcase for Parry’s vocals. A dramatic power ballad intro before we get to the big hook and chorus. The short instrumental track Resurrection follows, and I would have just made it part of Loser’s Game. The beginning of which reminds me of Awake-era Dream Theater, in fact the whole groove does. Suppression is next up and this is more of a straight up hard rock song with a simple chugga riff. Last track Sweet Revenge is a bonus track for this version and you wonder why it wasn’t included on album. A nice fast driving groove, and the main vocal melody reminds me of early Alcatrazz.

Cool record.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

SAGA – Marathon

Another one of the Saga CD period albums that the band have put out recently on vinyl. This time it’s Marathon from 2003, the band’s fifteenth studio release. If any of you bought this on CD when it was originally released, it came with a surround sound version which sounded amazing. It’s good to see this release has been remastered just for this vinyl release. Glad to report it sounds amazing. SAGA are another Canadian band that just seemed to bubble under and not quite make it to the top. Which is a travesty really, because all their albums make the listener think, there was always a lot going on to keep you entertained.

Okay, so which tracks float my boat on this one? Well, I would say How Are You? is typical Saga with that choppy, quirky riff style that they do so well with some epic guitar from Ian Crichton. The vocals and melody are always superb and this track is no exception. Return To Forever is my favourite track. The musicality is just superb and the guitar is off the charts. The only other band that do this is Toto. You Know I Know is a close second for me as the playing is exceptional.

I definitely recommend you owning this one because it sounds superb.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

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