THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Category: Vinyl Reviews (Page 266 of 492)

LONE STAR – Firing On All Six

August 11, 2022 /

This is the 2nd album by the Welsh rock/Prog combo released in ’77. Mainly of note for being the home for both future UFO guitarist, Tonka Chapman, and Uriah Heep vocalist, John Sloman. It’s very hard to pigeonhole this band, as they don’t sound like anyone else.

Opening number, The Bells Of Berlin, is a pomp rock tour de force with a huge arrangement and a very epic feel. On the other hand, The Ballad Of Crafty Jack is more straightforward at the beginning, then the huge vocal harmonies take over – as sort of a cross between Led Zeppelin and Styx. Time Lays Down is next, and the man riff of which is very funky, with John Sloman ding his best Robert Plant impression – I love the middle eight section. Side 1 closes out with Hypnotic Mover. which has an odd groove with a heavy vibe and some nice melodies.

Side 2 kicks off with Lovely Lubina – and another weird time signature that leans on the funk somewhat. Seasons In Your Eyes is a ballad – this was before they became a necessary evil on everyone’s albums. Rivers Overflowing is a glorious over the top groove fest with the band (again) turning to the funk with a great main riff – this is my favourite track on the album. The album closes out with All Of Us To All Of You, which is a really good track, but the main opening is a straight lift from Deep Purple.

I loved this band at the time after seeing them on Whistle Test.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

VANDENBERG – Alibi

August 11, 2022 /

This is the third and final of the original albums before Adrian would jump ship and join Whitesnake full time. The album failed to dent the charts in all major markets. It’s not a bad album, it’s just lacking that killer track.

Opener, All The Way, is a decent enough track with a nice riff and hook. Pedal To The Metal has quite a strange groove, but I really like it. Once In A Lifetime is quite a weak ballad. Voodoo has a riff that you will have heard in various forms on a million tracks before. Dressed To Kill is a great up-tempo groover and is my favourite track on the album. Fighting Against The World has quite a busy riff with a straight up 4/4 beat. Back to ballad city with How Long. A short classical acoustic instrumental follows, before the title track bursts into life, and its a straight up AOR melodic groover with a big hook and chorus. The album closes out with Kamikaze – a very keyboard heavy track with a nice chugga riff underneath. I

f you were to have only one Vandenberg album, then my choice would be their first self titled album.

8/10 from The Grooveman.

QUIET RIOT – s/t

August 10, 2022 /

I have been looking for the first two Quiet Riot albums for some time. They were only released originally in Japan, and when they came up anywhere they went for big money. So a big thank you to No Remorse Records in Greece for finally putting these albums out. There is an extra bonus with this the first album, as the original three track single, Suicide Show, from ’75 is also included.

There have been a few things said in print from Randy’s mom alluding to EVH copying things from Randy’s sound, and it should be Randy getting more credit than Ed did. I think things have been well documented that Randy was at Mammoth and VH shows, and the fact that George Lynch was blown away at how good Eddie was.

This album came out in ’78, the same year as VH’s first album, and I think you will agree that the band’s are light years away from each other. The songs aren’t that good on this album – it sounds very mid-seventies. Randy does play some mean solo’s on this album for sure, and if you’re a fan of his, then I guess this is a must have. My favourite track is Get Your Kicks. The bonus track, Suicidal Show, is interesting as in reverse its Crazy Train by Ozzy, which would appear two years down the line – Randy would be unrecognizable from these recordings.

7.5/10 from The Grooveman.

BONFIRE – Don’t Touch The Light

August 10, 2022 /

This is the band’s first album as Bonfire released back in ’86. Recorded at Dieter Dierks’ studio (as were a lot of Scorpions albums) – vocalist, Claus Lessman, does sound like Klaus Meine at times. It has a pretty standard mid-eighties hard rockin’ sound with a decent production, although the snare drum sound is very annoying at times. The band didn’t do a whole bunch in the UK, but in mainland Europe they were huge, and towards the end of the eighties they had some success in the US.

I’m a sucker for big overblown intro’s, and that’s what the band deliver here before kickin’ into Starring Eyes, which is a straightforward rocker. Hot To Rock is the best track on the album – a nice uptempo rocker with a great sing a long chorus. You Make Me Feel is a typical euro ballad – a la Winds Of Change. Side 1 closes out with Longin’ For You – with its riff heavy groove, it’s almost NWOBHM in feel.

The title track opens up Side 2 and it is a mid-tempo plodder with a simple riff, and a very melodic chorus that almost sounds as though it belongs to a different song. SDI follows and is quite slow with a chugga riff – it’s quite basic in its make up. No More is next up and is a straight up fat riff groover with a nice melodic chorus. The album closes out with L.A, and I guess it’s the band’s homage to their favourite city. Sure, it’s quite cheesy, but it’s a a great fun track.

Not the best album by the band, but it’s cool to go back and see how it all came together.

7.5/10 from The Grooveman.

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