THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Category: Vinyl Reviews (Page 104 of 492)

SAVATAGE – Sirens

February 10, 2024 /

This was the first album released by Florida’s finest Prog metallers. Although this version of the band was more straight ahead metal, a few of the west coast thrash bands cited them as an influence. It’s quite funny to look at the sleeve notes because instead of saying what instrument they play they gave themselves titles like Shrieks Of Terror, Metalaxe, Barbaric Canons, and The Bottom End.

This was a strong a metal release, and it holds up surprisingly well. The Oliva brothers are grasping the chance they were given with both hands. The production (especially for drums) is not that great. The snap is not there but the riffs and Chris Oliva’s playing is exceptional throughout. I’m going for Rage as my favourite tune because the riffs are  huge and the beat pounding lays it down hard.

8/10 from The Grooveman.

GIRL – Wasted Youth

February 10, 2024 /

This was Girls’ second and last album, released back in ’81. After this, Phil Collen would go on to join Def Leppard and Phil Lewis would join LA Guns. I loved their first album, but when I first heard this I wasn’t too taken with it. I think that’s because the band were trying different styles and grooves, and in the UK in ’81 that was not the order of business.  

The album kicks off in fine style with Thru The Twilight, a great uptempo groover that carries on from the first record. Then you get Old Dogs which is essentially a rock-reggae tune. Then Ice In The Blood follows, which has more in common with Sly Stone than NWOBHM. There are also Faces-style tunes like Nice N’ Nasty which is a bit all over the place style-wise and not too focused, which may be its main problem. My favourite track is the already mentioned, Thru The Twilight.

It’s not a bad album and it’s an interesting listen all these years later.

7/10 from The Grooveman.

THE B52’s – S/T

February 10, 2024 /

I think the first time I heard the B52’s was in a clip on the Old Grey Whistle Test. This was back in ’79, the fall over from punk was still in place and we all thought they were part of that movement. If you listen, you can hear the surf rock influence with a punk attitude but with added 50’s sci-fi B- movie schtick. The UK had something similar with the Rezillos, but they were way more comic book. What set these guys apart from the other punk bands was the killer production from Island Records’ boss Chris Blackwell.

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past 45 years, I’m sure that most people will have heard at least Rock Lobster from this record, as it’s now ingrained in pop culture. This was and is such a fun record to listen to and they had such a great sense of humour with it. I’m going to pick one of the lesser known tracks as my favourite: 6060-842. Such an off the wall track that just rings my bell. The guitar riff that repeats over and over is so cool and it sounds superb.

I don’t care for much else the band did after this. It’s definitely a time and place album for me.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

WASP – Helldorado

February 6, 2024 /

The one thing about Wasp is that they have continued to put out albums when all others fell by the wayside. Sure, there have been a few hiccups and line up changes along the way but Blackie is still fronting the machine. This was album number eight and was originally released in ’99, which was past their prime years but nevertheless it is still a solid hard rockin’ record.

This is a reissue through the Madfish label and the mix isn’t the best if I’m honest, especially the drums. They sound a tad muffled, like they are coming from the next room. As well as Blackie, OG member Chris Holmes was still in the band at this point, although he would depart after the next release. Out of the ten tracks on offer here my favourites are Damnation Angels, Can’t Die Tonight, and Saturday Night Cock Fight. All of which are good enough to be classed as prime WASP tunes.

Once you get behind the shock rock gimmicks of blood and cheese graters, Blackie is not bad at writing a good tune.

8/10 from The Grooveman.

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