THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Category: Vinyl Reviews (Page 347 of 492)

JUNKYARD – s/t

December 9, 2021 /

Released in ’89, the band were put together from a mixture of different LA bands to form a group with a similar attitude to Guns & Roses – or so the press wanted us to believe. Definitely a barroom vibe to the whole band with that hint of sleaze and southern groove. In fact, Molly Hatchet’s Duane Roland plays on one song.

It’s on the up-tempo numbers that gets my interest, like opening track Blooze and the excellent Shot In The Dark which is a real feel-good-its-Friday type of rocker. In fact, you can add Motorhead to their influences, as Side 2 opener Life Sentence seems to steal a very familiar riff.

Nothing groundbreaking here, just good old good time rock n roll.

8/10 from The Grooveman.

STRATOVARIUS – Polaris

December 9, 2021 /

I didn’t realize these guys had been going so long, but they released their first album back in ’89. This is their 12th album which came out back in 2009. They have managed to go through a seemingly revolving door of members, the most famous of which would be guitarist Timo Tolkki. The sound has evolved somewhat over time and they are now a very melodic power metal outfit. Taking the melody of say Europe, and the metal of say other Euro Metal bands such as Edguy. The emphasis here being on the vocals and guitar. I’d even say that going further back that early Rainbow would have been an influence as well.

This is the first album after the departure of founding member Tolkki. In fact, he actually disbanded the band but agreed to let them continue with the name. This album is not as heavy as previous efforts as Winter Skies and Forever Is Today are the only tracks that really bring the heavy, but the album is still an impressive release. My favourite track is the two part Emancipation Suite, which is epic. I really love the grandiose overblown nature of the beast. It’s these type of narrative tracks that are what the band are known best for.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

IRON MAIDEN – Live After Death

December 8, 2021 /

Confession time! This is the only Iron Maiden album I own with Bruce Dickinson on vocals. I loved the first two Maiden albums with Dianno on vocals as they were new and had that hard punky edge to them. Funnily enough, I don’t mind Bruce’s solo material though.

This was recorded on the Powerslave tour and Bruce was three albums in to his Maiden career, so there were still quite a lot of Dianno era tunes aired at this point. For someone like me, this a perfect album to buy as it’s an almost best of. Recorded part in London and part in LA, the band were really a tight unit and certainly on fire. My favourite tracks here are the older tracks Obvious and Phantom Of The Opera. I think the two guitar set up works better than the three they have now.

If you’re a Maiden fan you will all ready have this, if not and you want an introduction to the band, then it’s not a bad place to start.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

CHEAP TRICK – All Shook Up

December 8, 2021 /

I’m not a Cheap Trick collector by any stretch, but I’ve just noticed that I own 15 Cheap Trick albums. Out of those 15, there is only one of those that I would call sub standard, the rest are all great records. This is album number 6 which came after the awesome Dream Police. It’s full of Beatles nuances (as are all their releases) as all the band are big Beatles fans.

Not a bad moment on this album and the highlights are many. The opening one two of Stop This Game and Just Got Back are pop rock at its finest. Robin Zander has the ability of sounding like McCartney and Lennon at the same time which is uncanny. Love Comes A Tumblin’ is as rockin’ as this album gets with a stock almost NWOBHM riff. If I was to recommend just one Cheap Trick album for noobs it would be Standing On The Edge, but this is still a good record.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

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