THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Category: Vinyl Reviews (Page 261 of 492)

CALIGULA’S HORSE – Rise Radiant

August 23, 2022 /

The Prog metal world is a deep dark world where there are so many bands vying for your attention that it’s easy to miss killer releases that just fall by the wayside. This album had been out two years before I managed to hear a tune whilst bandcamping one night. So I dived in and bought the whole album.

First song in The Tempest reminds of djent royalty Tesseract, especially with the heavy groove and melodic vocal. The solo is really cool by Sam Vallen. Killer opening track!!! Slow Violence has a very busy main riff and a wicked groove. I love crazy time signatures! Salt leads you into a false sense of security with a very delicate piano intro, and then insanity ensues with a crazy drum pattern and heavy riffs aplenty. That then subsides into a beautiful delicate vocal. WOW!!! Resonate is a beautiful atmospheric piece with a delicate soft vocal. Oceanrise has a superb choppy main riff, and the drum groove is wonderful. Valkyrie has an insane riff and groove at the intro; this is my favourite track. Freaking awesome!!! Autumn is another beautiful melodic piece driven by the main acoustic guitar. The Ascent is technically the last track on the record proper, and it’s crazy riff city. The track is full of dynamic light and shade moments.

On the vinyl you get two bonus tracks, which are both covers. The first is a great version of Peter Gabriel’s Don’t Give Up, and the next is a cover of Split Enz’ Message To My Girl. Both oversee the band putting their stamp on each of them. It’s worth going down the rabbit whole on bandcamp as there are some amazing bands out there.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

THE POLICE – Around The World

August 23, 2022 /

If any of you have seen the documentary of The Police that this album comes from, then you know what a killer band The Police were at this time. They were all still friends and hungry for success, as this was recorded at various venues throughout the world just after the release of their second album, Regatta De Blanc.

There are nine tracks on offer here and the band are just smokin’. All Sting compositions apart from Daethwish which was a whole band tune, and Can’t Stand Losing You which was written by Sting and two outside writers. I won’t go through the tracks here as I’m sure you’re all familiar but I will say this: there is no one else like The Police either before or after. I saw them on their first tour and this one, and they were freaking awesome. Side 2 of this release is one of the best live recordings you will hear. On this recording my favourite track is Bring On The Night; such a killer version.

10/10 from The Grooveman.

TESLA – Psychotic Supper

August 22, 2022 /

This is the band’s third album, released in the dark days of ’91 (well, at least for rock bands anyway). But that didn’t stop Tesla from releasing one of their best albums and going out and doing good business on tour. I mean, eventually it did have an effect on them as after the next album (Bust A Nut), they would not release an album until 2004. This is a 2016 reissue and it still has Man Out Of Time listed on the cover but crossed out.

The opener, Change In The Weather is a killer opening track with a very raw rock n’ roll vibe. Edison’s Medicine kicks off with some guitar histrionics and leads into one of the best on the album. What a killer tune, great hook and melody. Don’t De-Rock Me is a serious up tempo monster with an epic riff, and sees the band rocking faster than they ever have; it is my favourite on the album. That middle eight!!! Call It What You Want follows, and is a classic hair rock anthem. Song & Emotion is a tribute to their friend Def Leppard’s Steve Clark, and is quite a heartfelt piece. That twin guitar attack of Frank Hannon and Tommy Skeoch is one of the best in the business, and on Time they are giving it their inner Aerosmith with a superb dirty groover.

Government Personnel is a good old country/folk Americana piece. Freedom Slaves starts off real slow before that massive guitar hook kicks in. Had Enough has a very simple riff in the same vein as Judas Priest, but is a great fun tune. Another country infused track is next in What You Give, and just like Poison, every band knows that a little country goes a long way.

Onto the final side now, Stir It Up starts with a psychedelic vibe and as the volume goes up that little bit of country creeps in. Can’t Stop has a killer intro that just builds the anticipation into a great rock song and hats off to the wonderful middle section. The album closes out with Toke About It; again, that Aerosmith vibe is strong with a hint of funk thrown in. Tesla don’t make bad albums and it’s good to see them still cranking out great tunes.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

SAMSON – Survivors

August 22, 2022 /

One of the very earliest albums of the whole NWOBHM scene, released in the first part of ’79. Bruce Dickinson is credited on the album but doesn’t actually appear on the record, as he joined after the album was recorded. Guitarist Paul Samson handles all vocal duties, and there are guest appearances from Gillan’s John McCoy on bass and Colin Towns on keys. So, it’s not really heavy metal at all, and is really just a classic blues rock romp. They attached themselves (as did a lot of bands at the time) to NWOBHM to get themselves noticed.

There are a couple of tracks that lift themselves above the norm here and that’s the epic Tomorrow Or Yesterday, which starts off nice and slow, then builds into a really great track with a killer instrumental section. As well, the big ending number Wrong Side Of Time, which is the same format as Tomorrow with a killer middle section. But my favourite is the instrumental Koz, which grooves along nicely with a great riff and groove. I remember buying this when it first came out just like yesterday; they were such good times. Happy Days!

8/10 from The Grooveman.

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