REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Category: Vinyl Reviews (Page 13 of 462)

TRIXTER – New Audio Machine

Coming right at the tail end of all things melodic, just before the dark and gloom of grunge, descended Trixter. They made a loud splash with a killer first album and a couple of big radio friendly singles in One In A Million and Give It To Me Good. They have continued sporadically releasing new music and playing shows. This vinyl album was released on CD in 2012 but this version came out in 2022.  

The band revolves around the amazing talents of guitarist/vocalist Steve Brown and bassist/vocalist PJ Farley. The one thing about this record is that it is as though the dark days of gloom never happened and this could have been a follow up to their first album, it’s just a great fun positive vibe record. They say class always shines through and this record oozes it from every pore. So many great songs like Drag Me Down, Dirty Love, Ride, Physical Attraction, Save Your Soul, and my personal fave, Machine.

These guys are just great songwriters. When they perform live, they give it everything, and Steve Brown is one hell of a player. Great album!

9/10 from The Grooveman.

GALACTIC COWBOYS – Machine Fish

Another band that existed in the strange kind of town, just like KingsX and Atomic Opera, are Galactic Cowboys. In fact, they were very close to the mighty X with members guesting on each other’s projects and indeed, basing themselves in the same town.

After being on a major label for their first two albums, they were dropped by Geffen and no one at the time seemed to take much notice of the demos they had for this, their third album. Along came Brian Slagel from Metal Blade, who gave the band a lifeline and signed them on the strength of the demos and let them make the album they wanted to.

At times, this record is very angry and the band were obviously pissed off at the misfortune at the hands of the majors, so all their frustrations came out in the songs. There are still elements of those great vocal melodies and harmonies, but mixed with the heavy guitar and low end groove, is one heavy record indeed. Red Sun is the one track that really sets me alight. Very heavy riffing throughout and the vocal harmonies are so good. They actually do sound just like a Seattle band in places, which is ironic because that’s why Geffen dropped them.

Good album from a band flying against the groove.

8/10 from The Grooveman.

BLACK ROSE – EP

Now it’s quite unusual for a rock band from the North East of England in the early 80’s to not release at least a single on Neat Records, but Black Rose are just that band. Although, the track Red Light Lady was recorded at Impulse studios which was Neat headquarters.

Nice and raw with no frills is what this period of music was all about and Black Rose are giving it their best shot here. Sure, it has a few bum notes here and there but I love that just go for it attitude.

We’re Gonna Rock You opens up that album and it does what it says on the tin. Used And Abused is a nice mid-tempo high energy groover. Red Light Lady is a full tilt hard rockin’ blast, almost punk in its execution, but a whole bunch of fun to boot. Stand Your Ground closes out the EP and it has hints of Thin Lizzy and early Rush, mixed with that raw NWOBHM vibe.

A great little EP.

8/10 from The Grooveman.

NITRATE – Real World

Nitrate are from Nottingham and have released three albums to date, all on different labels. I think their last album came out through Frontiers. This is their first effort and it was released on Melodic Rock Records back in 2015 on CD. This vinyl edition came out in 2021.

I thought the wombat had bitten the dust a long time ago, but I guess not. I bought this after hearing the track Crank Up The Weekend, which is a great tune with a nice fat crunchy guitar, a great groove, and not a bad hook and chorus. The rest of this album is AOR 101, a very pleasant happy vibe with melody and harmony at the top of the agenda.

Although, they are missing that one killer tune to glue it all together.

7/10 from The Grooveman.

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