REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Day: May 17, 2023

NESTOR – Kids In A Ghost Town

Not the type of band I expect Napalm Records to have on their roster that’s for sure. Nestor are a hard rockin’ melodic rock band from Sweden and they sort of came out of nowhere for me. To be fair, it shouldn’t be that much of a surprise as Sweden have been responsible for some of the best in rock music since the great grunge unpleasantness. I think this is their first album although they were around in the late eighties and released a few singles in Sweden.

Anyway on to the album, and I can safely say this one of the best albums of 2022. The tracks are all superbly written and the production is stunning. The emphasis here is on the melody and the ability to write songs that just stick in your brain and you will be humming them for days. The title track does exactly that, a superb hook and chorus and the musicality is incredible. The big surprise on the album is a cover of Whitney Houston’s I Wanna Dance With Somebody. The original is iconic but they have managed to rock it up and make it their own without straying too far from the original. Favourite track goes to the uptempo grooves of Firesign. Yet again, they deliver the big hook and chorus coupled with a great riff and pounding groove.

If you are a fan of melodic rock then this is a must own.

9.5/10 from The Grooveman.

TKO – In Your Face

There was such a long period between TKO’s first and second albums. Five years to be precise, and a lot changed. The first album Let It Roll was okay, but not a patch on this record. But then again, a whole lot happened musically between ’79 and ’84.

The majority of the songs on the album were written with main man Brad Sinsel and young hot shot Adam “Bomb” Brenner who would leave before this album was recorded. The overall sound and vibe is an overdriven glam rock masterpiece, which the band would never match again. You listen to what came after them, and you’ll find that TKO were an influence for that whole late eighties scene.

Although, this band could metal it out with the best of them and tracks like End Of The Line keep the pedal to the metal and double kicks blasting from the get go with epic riffage to match. Chock full of cracking rockin’ tracks and if you’re  a lover of huge, fat, dirty riffs then why isn’t this in your collection already?

Run Out Of Town, Give Into The Night, Working Girl, All I Want To Do, man the whole goddam album is one big riff fest and one that I love dearly. Favourite track is a difficult one as I love it all, but today I’m going with So This Is Rock N’ Roll. The guitar sound alone is epic but couple that with an Aerosmith style swagger and it’s bonafide contender.

Without a doubt their best effort, and a classic of its time.

10/10 from The Grooveman.