THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Category: Vinyl Reviews (Page 350 of 492)

TROUBLE – Manic Frustration

December 2, 2021 /

It’s great to see these albums reissued from these doom/stoner metal pioneers. They obviously take reference from classic era Sabbath as their blueprint, even with a heavy groove thrown into the mix as well. Eric Wagner also influenced a lot of vocalists in the way he sang, and I’m sure Chris Cornell and Eddie Vedder had Trouble records in their collection.

I’ve always loved this album as they were on fire at this point. Come Touch The Sky is a great opening tune, but the following track Scuse Me is absolutely epic and grooves hard with a monster riff. Then you get smashed with The Sleeper which is as groovy as hell, and is a contender for best track on the album. A big mention to Rick Rubin for a stellar production and Brendan O’Brien as engineer. The album does go a bit trippy and psych on tracks like Rain and Tragedy Man which is interesting, but its when they bring the heavy that this band really excels. A lot of these roots rock bands would have died for the riff in Hello Strawberry Skies and is the definite highlight of Side 2.

Psalm 9 is still (IMHO) the best thing they did, but there are some definite killer moments on this album.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

MOTORHEAD – Aftershock

December 2, 2021 /

This is studio album Number 21, and the the penultimate one at that. They probably will keep wheeling out live recordings and endless substandard things just to cash in on what was (at their height) a killer band. I thought this album and the two before (Motorizer and Kiss Of Death) were really good albums and a return to that old spirit, mainly thanks to a great production by Cameron Webb. Let’s be honest here, there are a bunch of mid period albums that aren’t that good and the band suffered because of these. I don’t think you can beat the Lem, Phil and Eddie days as they were untouchable. I’m glad I got to witness that line up numerous times. However, in Mickey Dee, Lemmy had found the best drummer he had, and he is a great driving force on this record. Phil Campbell’s contribution to this record are probably the best in terms of riffs and leads.

As well as the usual double kick sledgehammer songs, there is a bit of subtlety as well with tracks like Lost Woman Blues, which starts off as an almost traditional blues standard but ends in ZZ Top style boogie. End Of Time could have been a classic line up tune – it’s a belter. One of my favourite modern Motorhead songs is Going To Mexico. It’s a killer track which has Phil playing his ass off and a typical desperado lyric from Lem. The close out track, Paralyzed, is one of the heaviest tracks the band had done at this point.

The sad thing about this is that you can hear Lem struggling on some of the songs. On the album after this, Bad Magic, you can tell the end is not far away. If this album would have been the last album, I think it would have been a fitting end as they would have gone out on a high.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

INTRONAUT – Valley Of Smoke

December 1, 2021 /

It’s cool to look back on bands to see how they have evolved in a relatively short space of time. This album was released in 2010 and is full of polyrhythmic goodness, fat grooves and riffs, and delicate pieces that the band would take and evolve into the monster outfit they are today. I always look forward to new music from these guys.

Elegy kicks things off and is crushingly awesome with enough going on to keep mere mortal metal bands in ideas for their whole careers. Danny Walker is a phenomenal drummer and it’s sad that he is no longer in the band, but his indiscretions could not go unpunished. His drumming on Above lifts the song from what could have been a normal type of track, well normal for these guys anyway. Sunderance turns the heavy up to max with unreal drumming and some fat riffage to go with their trademark vocal melodies.

I know I keep going on about originality and how I’m drawn to bands with their own sound, but these guys are a one off and are just awesome to my ears. Core Relations and Past Tense have some great off time grooves with epic rhythms, but it’s the instrumental title track that is the most intriguing. It’s based around drums with a drum solo, and a guest appearance from Tool’s Justin Chancellor on bass.

Not their best album, but still better than most bands.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

THUNDER – The Greatest Hits

December 1, 2021 /

I have always been astonished that Thunder never cracked America as their brand of blues rock is absolutely tailored for American audiences. This album is perfect for the likes of myself, as it says on the label “All Killer No Filler”. Thunder have been responsible for writing some of the best melodic rock songs ever, it’s just that they have never managed to write that perfect record and there was always at least one track that didn’t quite cut the mustard for me. So to get a package like this with all the classics spread over a triple album is perfect for me.

From the first single, Dirty Love, to The Thing I Want, this it a stunning selection of songs that I think I am safe in saying that everyone should own one of these. There are so many classics here, but my favourites are The Thing I Want, River Of Pain and I Love You More Than Rock N Roll. Those three alone, if released as singles to American rock radio, should have done it for them. Was it bad management or just plain bad luck? Who knows!

10/10 from The Grooveman.

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