THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Month: September 2023 (Page 7 of 11)

BLUE OYSTER CULT – Tyranny And Mutation

September 16, 2023 /

This is the band’s second album, which came out way back in ’73. Yup, fifty years ago!

A far different beast from what they came to be. This album is more in line with what the MC5 and the Amboy Dukes were playing, rather than the slick machine that put out Imaginos. They were even called punk rock four years before that became a thing.

Yes, it does sound dated that’s for sure but tracks like The Red & The Black, Hot Rails To Hell, and my favourite 7 Screaming Diz Busters still sound great. It must have been the producer’s favourite as well as it’s a lot louder than everything else, especially the intro riff.

BOC are a very intriguing band and they have a great body of work that is worth investigating.

7/10 from The Grooveman.

ROXY BLUE – s/t

September 16, 2023 /

Another resurrected band from those dark days of the early 90’s. They put out Want Some on Geffen in ’92, then nothing until 2013 when they put out two self financed CD’s, and then nothing again until this appeared on Frontiers in 2019. This is a new Church Of Vinyl reissue that came out early in ’23. They come across as a raw version of GnR mixed with Ratt and early Aerosmith.

Silver Lining is a stripped down almost barroom rocker but Rockstar Junkie is a kickass rock n’ roller that should have opened up the album. Scream keeps the grooves a comin’ with a near funky riff and groove, and a killer hook and chorus. Collide strips things down to acoustic guitars and ballad city. Nice hook and chorus and play out solo. Outta The Blue closes out Side 2 and that descending riff is cool, otherwise it’s straight up sunset strip.

Todd Poole can sure write a good tune and Side 2 opener Blinders has a cool Americana vibe. It’s favourite track time with The Well Runs Dry. A simple crunchy riff, a pounding groove, a simple football chant and we a have a winner. Human Race has a very nineties raw sound that reminds me a little of Alice In Chains. How Does It Feel is about as basic as it comes. A simple muted riff, a simple beat, and bare vocal with harmonies makes this quite an emotive little tune. Back to the crunch with What It’s Like. A killer riff that I’m sure I’ve heard before is the bedrock of this beauty. We close out the  album with Overdrive, a low-fi sounding punkish tune that puts a bit of a downer on what is otherwise an enjoyable album.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

JUDAS PRIEST – Sin After Sin

September 15, 2023 /

I was glad when this popped up today, as I have been meaning to play the 180g version to compare it to the the OG copy I have. Roger Glover did a great job with the production way back in ’77, but I always thought Simon Phillips was a bit low in the mix. I’m not sure who did this remaster, but it sounds a lot brighter that’s for sure.

Killer opening track with Sinner. It has become a Priest metal classic that we all love, but just to show that they wanted to keep a foot in the rock camp, a cover of Joan Baez’ Diamonds And Rust was included. They always came across better live as they sound a bit like Styx, here especially with the vocal harmonies. If you listen to Starbreaker, Halford’s vocals are so good. He was metal way before the band. The track is just a straight forward hard rock romp, whereas the vocal is totally metal. The only two tracks that you could call metal today are the aforementioned Sinner and my favourite track Dissident Aggressor, which would be a perfect launch pad for what came next.

Not their best album, but it’s cool to see how the band developed their sound.

7.5/10 from The Grooveman.

TWELVE FOOT NINJA – Vengeance

September 15, 2023 /

It feels as though Australia is the flavour of the month in the basement of doom because the randomizer has yet again thrown up another antipodean delight in the form of the awesome Twelve Foot Ninja and their latest album. Tinged with a bit of sadness it has to be said that they are on indefinite hiatus. To call them a metal band does not remotely do them justice, as every genre known to man is put in the mixing bowl of delights and the most amazing combinations are dished up.

This album is a concept album. It is a companion piece to fantasy novel The Wyvern And The Wolf. If one track on this album sums them up, it’s IDK. You go from crushing metal riffs and grooves to Hip Hop, reggae, funk, and pop all wrapped up in one little parcel. One of the reasons this works so well is the vocalist, Kim Etik. He has a unique tone to his voice where he can basically sing the phone book and it would sound amazing, and that suits this band so well.

The track Gone starts like a smooth jazz pop tune and explodes into a killer track that would sit well in any top ten pop charts. I’m really struggling to pick a favourite tune from this stunning piece of wax but for today (and maybe just today) I’m going with opening tune Start The Fire. Lots of low end chunk and groove mixed with electronic pop beauty. You’d think that wouldn’t work but it’s so good and an epic way to open the album.

I love the album and I love the band. And yes, everyone should own one.

10/10 from The Grooveman.

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