REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Day: November 7, 2023

MUSHROOMHEAD – The Righteous And The Butterfly

It’s hard to believe that this album is nearly ten years old, I remember picking it up like it was yesterday. I don’t usually care for Nu-metal, but I have a man crush on Mushroomhead. Mainly due to the fact that groove is at the heart of the music they make. A lot of bands put groove at the bottom of their needs list around this time, so basically I just switched off. However, I find Mushroomhead very intriguing. Their stage imagery is quite cool, I dig that whole schlock horror thing they do and it fits really well with the tunes.

They’ve been around since ’93 and have managed to release eight albums, this is number seven. There are lots of good things on this record but the outstanding track is We Are The Truth. Joined on vocals by Jackie Laponza from Unsaid Fate, this tune goes down varying paths including funk, rap, and of course metal with hints of Rage Against The Machine. Great tune! Just to prove that they can do it old school, Out Of Mind is a close second for my favourite. It’s big, fat, d-tuned goodness all the way.

I know this won’t float everybody’s boat, but I really like it.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

21 Guns – Nothings Real

This is a criminally underrated album that seemed to disappear without trace at the time. I think this is mainly due to RCA not believing in them because hard rock albums were hard to come by in the late nineties and it’s amazing that their second album actually saw the light of day. Formed by Scott Gorham in ’90 after the death of Phil Lynott in ’86 it was obvious Scott still had a lot of music in him and needed a vehicle to do it. For me, this is the better of the two albums they put out and if it was released today it would be hailed as a classic.

There are not many nods to Lizzy here but the one song that has Lizzy stamped all over it is Kings Vengeance. It’s an awesome tune with Scott playing his ass off adding that dual guitar stamp that Lizzy fans know so well, this is my favourite track. Other highlights are album opener No Soul. What a great uptempo rocker with a great riff, and I really love Solli’s voice on this one. Nothings Real has a slight Zeppelin classic rock vibe to it with Scott again giving some killer fretboard histrionics. As well, Moving On has an even deeper 70’s classic rock groove with a superb hook and chorus.

If you see this around pick it up, you won’t be disappointed.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.