THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Day: January 15, 2024 (Page 1 of 2)

DIRTY HONEY – Can’t Find The Brakes

January 15, 2024 /

This is album number two from California’s latest exponent of retro rock grooves. Now, Dirty Honey has class oozing through every note and in Marc Labelle they have one of the best rock n’ roll vocalists around.

Don’t Put Out The Fire has a Stones feel to the proceedings with a very simple riff and that voice drifting over the whole piece. Won’t Take Me Alive is a funk tinged beauty, with hints of old school Aerosmith. That funk continues (albeit with a slower groove) with Dirty Mind until the hook and pre chorus rip it up. Roam is essentially a blues ballad and I love just the hint of a Hammond in there to add to the atmosphere of the song, and the clean tone solo is cool. Get A Little High is taking a lot of pointers from a few Zeppelin tunes, but that voice just makes them their own. A total change of vibe with the acoustic Coming Home that closes out Side 1.

The title track opens up Side 2 and it is my favourite tune. The tempo is high and the groove is rockin’. Satisfied is next up and I’m feeling a touch of the Steve Marriott and Humble Pie vibes here. Ride On has a cool, loose mid-seventies rockin’ groove that reminds me of so many bands. You Make It All Right has huge Zeppelin vibes, and the fade out track Rebel Son is pure old school rockin’ R’n’B.

Now, when you play this old school retro music it’s inevitable that songs trigger memories and nods to other bands and that’s not a bad thing, it shows respect to what came before. Very cool record!

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

VICTORY – Temples Of Gold

January 15, 2024 /

This was album number five for Germany’s melodic metallers and was released back in ’90. This version also has a bonus live in LA EP included.

I do love some twin lead guitars, and Herman Frank and Tommy Newton are a great combination. And with Fernando Garcia on vocals, this was Victory’s best effort.

What a killer opener with Rock N’ Roll Kids Forever. It has a big fat riff, a pounding groove, and an anthemic chorus, it’s a winner all the way. A killer mid tempo groove opens up Backseat Rider and the hook and chorus make this a real party rocker. Standing Like A Rock has another variation of THAT riff and pounds along at a fair pace. All Aboard kicks off like a Montrose tune, but it’s the monster hook and chorus that make this track fly. Hell And Back is a close second for my favourite tune on the album. It has a killer riff, massive hook and chorus, a great middle eight, and it pounds along at a fair old lick. Great stuff! The title track closes out Side 1. It’s got a slow pounding beat with a matching riff that sounds massive.

If you’re not jumping up and grooving to Take The Pace then you need an adjustment to your groove muscle. This is definitely my favourite tune on the album. Killer track! The quality just keeps on coming with Rock The Neighbours . Another great  party anthem. I love the nice and fat guitar sound on this one. Mr. President is a Hot  For Teacher inspired tune that really rips along and is just a whole bunch of fun. An epic riffage and killer groove to Break Away. Every song is just top drawer and all with a chorus that sticks in your head.

The inevitable happens with the arrival of the power ballad Fighting Back The Tears. It does manage to redeem itself towards the end when the groove arrives however. The album closes out with The 9th Of November and we return to the crunch and the big riff. The 6 track EP is more of the same: a very loud mix with a killer guitar sound.

How the hell did this band not become huge? They’ve got great songs that you just hum along to and are very radio friendly. It would have been a 10 were it not for the ballad.

9.5/10 from The Grooveman.

JASON BECKER – Perpetual Burn

January 15, 2024 /

Jason was a busy boy in ’88. He recorded this his first solo album, the second Cacophony album with Marty Friedman, and he also appeared on Marty’s solo album Dragons Kiss. One year later in ’89, he was diagnosed with ALS. Jason would undoubtedly have gone on to be an absolute legend of the instrument. But through the albums he recorded before his illness, he was without doubt the finest shredder of them all.

The title track and Mabel’s Fatal Fable are just insane. The technique and chops for someone so young are incredible. And to show Yngwie how it’s done, Hopus Pocus is a fine mash up of classical and metal.

I get that this type of guitar album does not appeal to all, but if you love all things guitars like me then this is a must have.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

ARCH ECHO – Final Pitch

January 15, 2024 /

This is album number three for Arch Echo and it sees them continuing to expand their grooves and sound down the ever expanding progressive/metal/fusion path. I think I’m right here by saying that they met at Berkeley College, as did a certain other band nearly forty years earlier. (Not that they sound like DT at all, even though Jordan Rudess does appear on a track, they operate in different spheres of the same universe.)

Arch Echo are all instrumental and incorporate varying styles, sometimes all in one tune. Angry Sprinkles opens up the album and blows my mind immediately. Killer grooves with some low end grunt, delicate textures, and superb melodies all wrapt in one juicy parcel. Aluminosity is the track Rudess plays on and again, jaw hits floor time at the complexity and beauty of the piece. If this had arrived in time for 2023 it would have been my album of the year.

Red Letter starts with a very positive and uplifting vibe as well as a very deep under groove that changes to some smooth fusion before those deep bowel moving riffs attack you. Superb! To contradict myself, the next tune Final Pitch does have vocals, albeit heavily doctored and pitch tuned that sounds weird but ultimately fits the track.

Did anyone mention heavy jazz? I love the delicate beginnings to Cloudsplitter before the intricacies take over, and that low end rumble gets me every time. Battlestar Nostalgica is seemingly quite a laid back piece but if you listen closely the time signatures and keyboard patterns are killer, then the boom takes over. Bet Your Life is way cool with its heavy fusion vibe, and the groove is just awesome. Gold Dust sort of carries on that feel with added low end and some epic guitar. The last track and my favourite is Super Sudden Death. Try counting time to this one.

A friend of mine says Arch Echo remind them of Snarky Puppy, but I find that’s just in very small moments as they are way heavier than The Puppy. I love this band and I must see them at the first chance I get.

10/10 from The Grooveman.

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