THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Month: April 2023 (Page 6 of 7)

MAINEEAXE – Going For Gold

April 8, 2023 /

Hailing from York in England, this is MainEEAxe’s second album and for anyone with a good memory they used to be called Trans Am. MainEEaxe are one of those bands that should have done a lot more, as this album kicks ass.

The music is driven hard by the twin guitars of Zeff Stewart and Grant Kirkhope, obviously taking on board the success of US bands like Van Halen. Rock Is The Word gets things under way in fine style with a riff heavy rocker and a superb guitar sound very high in the mix. The Score gets guitar heavy right from the get go and it is my favourite track. Going For Gold is more melodic rock, but again that killer guitar sound hits hard. Big double kicks pound hard before the VH style guitar intro blows in for the arrival of Infatuation. Great tune! Side 1 comes to a close with Ride The Storm, a big fat chord riffing melodic rocker.

Those high gain guitars rip into Side 2 with stomp rocker Get Up Get Down; a great fist pumping tune. Alone Again is next and it’s power ballad time, but at least the guitars are still set to crunch, especially on the solo. Normal service is resumed with Gimme Your Love, an uptempo NWOBHM sounding groover. The album close out with The Best Is Yet To Come, a big Kiss style anthem.

They didn’t do a whole bunch after this and disappeared. Shame, as this a great record.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

THE FOUR HORSEMEN – Nobody Said It Was Easy

April 7, 2023 /

Other than the original EP, which is included as a bonus within this release, Nobody Said It Was Easy is the only album the original band put out. With deaths due to drugs, being sent to jail, and car accidents The Four Horsemen were haunted by tragedy. If you like your your Rock n’ Roll whisky soaked and striped bare then these guys will just hit the sweet spot.

The first two tracks were singles. The first was the title track which gained some great reviews, but the follow up and my favourite track Rockin’ Is Ma Business is the one that got them a lot of attention. A superb four to the floor groovin’ dirty rock n’ roller to get the feet stompin’. I can best describe the band’s sound as something like this: if Rose Tattoo, Status Quo, and AC/DC had a child and it was born down in the backwoods of Tennessee drinking a bottle of JD listening to the Rolling Stones, you might get the picture.

Can’t Stop Rockin’ is a simple alcohol soaked boogie, it’s just a fun song to listen to. Let It Rock is the same groove and chords as Ain’t No Fun by AC/ DC but with added bite. Lookin’ For Trouble is the type of high octane rock n’ roll that you wish DC would still do, but they haven’t done for years. 

Rick Rubin has that knack of getting these type of records to sound so freakin’ awesome it’s as though they are playing in your own home, superb and crystal clear. We need bands like this to come along once in a while when music gets a little top much in love with itself and overblown, just to remind everyone that simple stripped back rock n’ roll is all you need.

9.5/10 from The Grooveman.

SCORPIONS – Tokyo Tapes

April 6, 2023 /

Another killer double live album from the 70’s, this one came out in ’78. I’m a huge fan of this version of the Scorpions due to Uli Roth being on guitar. I know the band became mega huge after Uli left before the recording of the Lovedrive, but this version of the band just appeals to me as they have that classic sound that I love.

If you are guitar nut it’s worth buying this album just for Polar Nights as Uli is on fire. Yep, he’s a big Hendrix nut but it’s the way he interprets those sounds. The band are cooking on this performance and it’s basically a best of all the early albums, including two tracks co-written with Michael Schenker: the very trippy In Search Of The Piece Of Mind, and Fly To The Rainbow. My favourite tracks (yes I have two) are the quite prophetically titled He’s A Man She’s A Woman which has a simple riff, hook, and chorus; and Speedy’s Coming just for the pure joy of Uli’s guitar.

There’s just something about 70’s live albums.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

RAINBOW – Down To Earth

April 5, 2023 /

Down To Earth is the album where Ritchie went pop, if you believe what was read in the music rags of the time. That slur was mainly due to the hiring of Graham Bonnet on vocals, who had perviously had been in a pop band called The Marbles. It was also due to the more commercial direction on a couple of the album’s tunes, namely Since You’ve Been Gone, and All Night Long both of which did extremely well in mainstream charts all over the world.

Other than the Rainbow live album, this has become my favourite record by the band. Ritchie is still in fine form on tracks like Eyes Of The World which has that old Rainbow feel from the earlier albums, and Lost In Hollywood where the notes fly far and wide in the solo spot. It’s the less well known tunes like No Time To Lose and Danger Zone that shake my tree the most. Mainly because I like the simple riff and groove of these tunes, and Bonnet’s voice is killer. My favourite track however is Love’s No Friend. An old blues riff and groove with a killer vocal and a snappy solo from Ritchie.

I thought with the success of the singles from the album that this record would have sold quite well, but it’s only their fourth best with Rising at the top.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

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