THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Category: Vinyl Reviews (Page 176 of 492)

LAW AND ORDER – Guilty Of Innocence

May 18, 2023 /

Appearing out of nowhere in ’89, although being tagged with all the hair bands around at the time, Law And Order’s sound was anything but. Coming across as more of a modern take on that classic Aerosmith sound, but when grunge hit they were thrown to one side like the rest of the 80’s crowd. They were probably ahead of the curve really, as that whole retro thing is hot news right now.

Opener We Don’t See God is a beast of a tune and you feel that Aero vibe right from the get go. Dawg follows and has a great hook and chorus with a hint of barroom sleaze thrown in. Your Sister Does is next up and the vibe and groove slow somewhat and vocalist Shane reminds me of Eddie Vedder on this one (of all the people). It’s favourite track time next with Say You Love Me. Killer slide opening and that whole dirty rock n’ roll swagger and groove of this tune is awesome.

We are off to Zeppelin 4 territory next with I Think It’s Gonna Rain Today, and that acoustic sounds so familiar. Kick ass riff to open up with on Possession Of Control, a great uptempo groover. I love the opening vibe to No Love Lost with those killer blues licks and that driving bass underneath. The fast blast that is Needle And The Spoon closes out Side 1.

In The Shelter opens up Side 2 with more of that acoustic Zeppelin feel. Back to the riffs with next track Love Reality, a quick fire dirty rock n’ roll romp. Next up is Soul Inside which was released as a single. Layers of 12 strings give way to some nice riffage, and for some strange reason the band Yes pop into my head. Delta Prison Blues does what it says on the tin. An acoustic blues with some nice slide played underneath. Back to the dirty rock n’ roll swagger with Downtown Suicide, I love the chorus and hook on this one. We close out the album with Whiskey, it takes a while to get revved up but when it does this baby beasts its way to the end of the record.

Cool record!

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

BATTLEAXE – Power From The Universe

May 18, 2023 /

A second wave NWOBHM band from South of the River Tyne for a change. This album was released in ’84 and was the band’s second album, and ultimately their last until 2014 when a reunion of sorts happened.

You can see and hear why they never made it out of the lower divisions, so to speak, as they do have some decent tunes but overall this album is lacking that one killer track to sell the album and lift it above the ordinary. The two best tracks are Chopper Attack on Side 1, and (my favourite) Power From The Universe from Side 2. Other than that, it’s pub rock all the way.

6/10 from The Grooveman.

NESTOR – Kids In A Ghost Town

May 17, 2023 /

Not the type of band I expect Napalm Records to have on their roster that’s for sure. Nestor are a hard rockin’ melodic rock band from Sweden and they sort of came out of nowhere for me. To be fair, it shouldn’t be that much of a surprise as Sweden have been responsible for some of the best in rock music since the great grunge unpleasantness. I think this is their first album although they were around in the late eighties and released a few singles in Sweden.

Anyway on to the album, and I can safely say this one of the best albums of 2022. The tracks are all superbly written and the production is stunning. The emphasis here is on the melody and the ability to write songs that just stick in your brain and you will be humming them for days. The title track does exactly that, a superb hook and chorus and the musicality is incredible. The big surprise on the album is a cover of Whitney Houston’s I Wanna Dance With Somebody. The original is iconic but they have managed to rock it up and make it their own without straying too far from the original. Favourite track goes to the uptempo grooves of Firesign. Yet again, they deliver the big hook and chorus coupled with a great riff and pounding groove.

If you are a fan of melodic rock then this is a must own.

9.5/10 from The Grooveman.

TKO – In Your Face

May 17, 2023 /

There was such a long period between TKO’s first and second albums. Five years to be precise, and a lot changed. The first album Let It Roll was okay, but not a patch on this record. But then again, a whole lot happened musically between ’79 and ’84.

The majority of the songs on the album were written with main man Brad Sinsel and young hot shot Adam “Bomb” Brenner who would leave before this album was recorded. The overall sound and vibe is an overdriven glam rock masterpiece, which the band would never match again. You listen to what came after them, and you’ll find that TKO were an influence for that whole late eighties scene.

Although, this band could metal it out with the best of them and tracks like End Of The Line keep the pedal to the metal and double kicks blasting from the get go with epic riffage to match. Chock full of cracking rockin’ tracks and if you’re  a lover of huge, fat, dirty riffs then why isn’t this in your collection already?

Run Out Of Town, Give Into The Night, Working Girl, All I Want To Do, man the whole goddam album is one big riff fest and one that I love dearly. Favourite track is a difficult one as I love it all, but today I’m going with So This Is Rock N’ Roll. The guitar sound alone is epic but couple that with an Aerosmith style swagger and it’s bonafide contender.

Without a doubt their best effort, and a classic of its time.

10/10 from The Grooveman.

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