THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Category: Vinyl Reviews (Page 275 of 492)

MR. BIG – s/t

June 30, 2022 /

Superb album!!! Not a bad note played, and for a debut album it’s up there with the best. On paper, great musicians make great records, and that is definitely the case here. Paul Gilbert was known for being a shredder both for his solo work and with Racer X, Billy Sheehan was fresh out of the David Lee Roth band and he plays bass like a guitar, Eric Martin is blessed with a set of pipes that you could only wish for, and Pat Torpey who sat on the drum stool for way too many people to mention here.

First up is Addicted To That Rush, and Billy is resurrecting that Shyboy fast bass groove thing with Gilbert really giving it the beans. Wind Me Up is such a killer track with a superb riff, massive hook and chorus, and everyone plays their ass off. Merciless is next, it starts with a very busy, almost funky groove, and settles down to a funk/rock hybrid, and Paul Gilbert just rips it up. Had Enough is a Billy Sheehan composition that starts with a bass solo and settles into a slow brooding melodic groover. Side 1 closes out with Blame It On My Youth, and what a killer sounding riff. Great vocal from Eric!

Side 2 opens up with Take A Walk, and it’s the best track on the album with a ripping riff and groove; Paul just rips it up and Eric is singing his ass off. Superb song!!! Big Love is an Eric written tune, and I love the swing and vocal to this track. How Can You Do What You Do follows, and was co-written with Eric and Jonathan Cain. Nope, t’s not a ballad – it’s a great uptempo pop/rock tune with short snappy Paul solo. Anything For You is the only ballad on the album but it’s a good one. The album closes out with Rock & Roll Over with a heavy blues rock groove. Great band, great album!!!

10/10 from the Grooveman.

QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE – Era Vulgaris

June 30, 2022 /

Born out of the ashes of Kyuss (I love Welcome To Sky Valley), this is the band’s fifth release produced by Masters Of Reality’s Chris Goss; it does sound like a hybrid of Kyuss and Masters.

Turnin’ On The Screw opens up the album, and it’s an ok track but nothing special. Now Sick Sick Sick is a different beast altogether, a very simple repeating riff and groove that just gets in your brain. I’m Designer is a quirky offbeat oddity and Josh Homme’s vocals make the track. Into The Hollow has an old school blues vibe with an indie melody over the top. Misfit Love is fuzzed up weirdness and it seems to be going nowhere until the vocals kick in. Running Joke closes out Side 1 and it reminds me Chris Cornell in his darker moments. Battery Acid kicks off Side 2 with an almost punk riff and beat; it is an ok track. Make It Wit Chu follows, this could have been on any Masters album, and is a very groovy blues piece. 3’s & 7’s is all Nirvana strumming and again, if it wasn’t for the vocal it would be quite forgettable. Not a patch on Songs For The Deaf, it’s just an ok record.

6.5/10 from The Grooveman.

GIUFFRIA – Silk & Steel

June 29, 2022 /

This the band’s second album, released in ’86. By the time they got around to recording this album, original guitarist Craig Goldy had jumped ship to join Dio, and he was replaced by Lanny Cordola. Of course by now Journey’s Escape was mega huge everywhere, and all the record companies were after their own version, and in David Glen Eisley they sure had a power house vocalist who could sing the ass off anything; especially the ballads.

Check out Love You Forever, this could have been on any Journey album. For some reason the format of putting all your best tracks on the first side is reversed for this album, as all the best tracks are on Side 2; which is quite apt as it is called Side Steel. Side 1 is overloaded with ballads and slower AOR style tunes, except for opener No Escape which rocks hard with a killer solo. Side 2 kicks in with Radio, and a fat riff opens things up instead of the usual keyboard intro. Lethal Lover is the standout track on the album, with some great guitar histrionics in the intro, as well as a huge hook and chorus. The very Def Leppard sounding Dirty Secrets closes out the album with a bang. There were demos made for a third album but they were dropped by MCA, and a lot of these demos would end up on the first House Of Lords album.

8/10 from The Grooveman.

STEELY DAN – Can’t Buy A Thrill

June 29, 2022 /

This was their first album released way back in ’72, and since then I believe they have sold in excess of 40 million albums over all formats. I mean, you have to be doing something right with figures like that. The format is pretty simple; write what we want to write and get the best session guys around to record it.

They sort of hit the ground running with the singles Do It Again (which opens the album and was a smash) and the sublime Reeling In The Years, with its ear-worm hook and chorus, and a great solo from Elliot Randall. As would be their trademark in all later albums, this record is super slick, well written, and perfectly recorded. As well as the already mentioned Reeling In The Years, which is such a great a tune, my other favourite is Fire In The Hole with Donald’s great piano playing – and I love his word play in his lyrics. They just don’t make albums like this anymore and the seventies brought out some brilliantly recorded albums, of which all Steely Dan output from this period are in there.

8/10 from The Grooveman.

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