THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Month: February 2025 (Page 3 of 6)

BLACK SHEEP – Trouble In The Streets

February 16, 2025 /

This is the one and only album Black Sheep released and it came out through Enigma records in ’85. The band revolved around frontman Willie Basse, who was one of the only black frontman in a rock band at the time. It’s the players that left the band that are of interest however, inlcuding a very young Slash, Randy Castillo, James Kottak, and Paul Gilbert (who does play on the album although he is not pictured on the cover).

The album has a very sparse, in your face, crystal clear production – which I do love. We go from cheesy anthem hair band material on tracks I Will Survive and What Can I Do 4 U, to out and out metal rippers like Love Is Not Enough, where PG gives it all the beans. It’s very reminiscent of early Racer X.

All songs are written by Basse only, except Trouble In The Streets which was co-written with George Lynch. The riff on that track sounds a bit like Turn On The Action by Dokken. It’s definitely my favourite song with lots of shredage by Mr. Gilbert.

I like this record a lot and yes, we’ve heard it all before but it’s fun and that’s what the 80’s were all about.

8/10 from The Grooveman.

ATTAKK – S/T

February 16, 2025 /

Yep it’s another “one and they’re done” band, but this time they only managed to record this 6 track EP, no album. The band scored a deal with a Japanese label because of their guitar player, Kuma who came from Japan, and thus the EP came out in ’89 in Japan first. Unfortunately for the band, it was not pressed anywhere else so they had to send boxes back to California. I guess this was a major factor in the band collapsing.

Strange thing is, this a really good record and they should have done a whole lot more. The EP opens up with Thunder In The Night, an anthemic gallop in true Maiden style with a ripping solo. Without A Word is more of a power ballad with the emphasis on the power. Not Your Man closes out Side 1 with a mid pace pounder, a nice riff, and a rip it up solo.

Never Apart opens up Side 2 and it’s a syrupy ballad, which as we all know has no place on a six track power metal EP showcasing you to the world. Ride The Dragon reminds us what we are here for with quite a commercial sounding rocker. Great riff and guitar sound. So, the last track all too quickly arrives and it’s the band’s signature tune: Attakk. Double kicks all the way and we go out with a bang.

They definitely should have hung around for another record because I think they had a lot to offer.

8/10 from The Grooveman.

IMMACULATE MARY – Through The Eyes Of Youth

February 13, 2025 /

If you’ve been following me for a while, you may have noticed I do have a lot of albums from unheard of rock and metal bands from the 80’s and early 90’s. For every band that managed to breakthrough, there were squillions that didn’t. It’s not that they were all bad, they just never got the breaks.

Immaculate Mary are from Rochester in NY state, and this album creeped out in ’89. Apparently their claim to fame was that they were entered into The Guinness Book Of World Records for being the loudest band in the world in ’98.

This is pretty standard heavy rock and metal with a very sparse production, but I do like that FU attitude and naivety. Side 1 is okay with a not too shabby version of a Wild Thing, but Side 2 is where this album kicks off with the song Once Bitten. This track opens up with some heavy chugga riffing that leads into a Keel style hook and chorus, and is my favourite tune.

Main songwriter and guitarist Tommy Brunett is obviously the main man here as he writes the majority of the album by himself, as well as ripping on the axe wherever possible. You should be able to pick this up quite cheap because there was plenty of cut outs available.

7/10 from The Grooveman.

L.A. Guns – Checkered Past

February 13, 2025 /

Has Phil Lewis ever done anything better than the Sheer Greed album by Girl? The first two L.A. Guns albums are good, but they didn’t quite beat the delights of that Girl album.

This album is the unlucky thirteenth release for the band, that’s if you count all the different versions of the group. It’s not half bad if I’m honest. It ranges from the totally awesome Bad Luck Charm, and the just downright “meh” of If It’s Over Now.

Bad Luck Charm has a late sixties Zeppelin ascending riff that is just too cool for school and it’s defo my favourite tune on the album. The only other track that really shines my shoes is the close out tune, Physical Itch. You can’t go wrong with rehashed Sabbath riffs and this is no exception.

There are better L.A. Guns albums to spend your money on I’m afraid.

7/10 from The Grooveman.

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