THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Category: Vinyl Reviews (Page 4 of 492)

VICTORY – S/T

July 8, 2025 /

Album number one from one of Germany’s most underrated rock bands. I always thought that their albums sounded a bit like Saxon, especially the riffs with the twin guitars. Having ex-Ted Nugent vocalist Charlie Huhn on vocals seemed an odd choice for a German band, but I have to say it works really well. Also having a slightly controversial cover did help the, as well.

Overall though, it’s the songs that make this one of my favourite Victory records. Very catchy hook laden songs with patented heavy loud riffs is always a winner for me, giving the band that commerciality that was a must have in the mid eighties. A great production by Ric Browde and a Michael Wagener huge mix gave this album every chance. The Hunter, On The Run, Chicks On Display, Don’t Count On Me, and Wreck Man are all banging tunes and you can pick any of these as a favourite track. The only down point is the pointless inclusion of a cover of the Bealtles’ song I’m Down. If you going to do a cover on your debut, at least make it one that’s relevant to your talents.

Overall, I do like this album.

8/10 from The Grooveman.

REVEREND – World Won’t Miss You

July 6, 2025 /

So, after Reverend’s awesome self titled EP that was released in ´89, they were picked up by Charisma America and released this – their debut album one year later. I’m going to refine my original assessment of the band’s sound that I wrote in the review of their first EP by saying that if you put Anthrax and Overkill in a blender, then out would pop Reverend.

I was going to say it’s something in the water, but Reverend are from the west coast. Yup, this is a good old thrash record that delivers from front to back. The title track World Won’t  Miss You is the pick of the bunch for me. Although the fat huge chugga riffage of Rude Awakening is a close second.

Cool record!

8/10 from The Grooveman.

ANTIX – Get Up, Get Happy

June 29, 2025 /

Another short and sweet five track EP from another hopeful 80’s rock band that maybe you wouldn’t give a chance to other than the fact that it was produced by Don Dokken and Jeff Pilson. They also managed to get it released in the UK through Heavy Metal America, which was a relatively new label at the time.

This EP is really quite good and they would go on to release two full length albums after this. It’s not your usual straight up and down mid eighties sound as these guys have some cool grooves and breakdowns in the tunes to make them different, I get what Dokken saw in them. The opening to Caroline has a killer funky bass intro that leads into an awesome riff with an huge guitar sound. Add the big hook and killer harmonies, and it’s a sure fire banger.

Five tracks and I love them all. If you come across a copy, grab it as it’s definitely a diamond in the rough.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

SAVAGE GRACE – After The Fall From Grace

June 29, 2025 /

This is the Savage Grace’s second album that came out in ´86, even though they were formed back in ´81 one year before Queensryche started. I mention this because there are huge similarities between both of their early sound and geography, as they are both from the pacific north west area. Whereas Queensryche went on to add a more melodic and progressive edge to their music, Savage Grace continued down a more power metal path with this release and unfortunately, this would be their last record until a comeback album in 2023.

As with a lot of bands around this time, they sound quite good and had some decent ideas but they went with the “let’s produce ourselves” option where maybe spending a few extra dollars on a producer would have been more beneficial. I actually quite like the album because you can see they are trying to have that edge and there is even a track that early Venom would have been proud (Trial By Fire).

However, it’s the more Maiden inspired We Came, We Saw, We Conquered that I like the best, and this is what they should have concentrated on a bit more. Of course thrash was king at this time and there a few tracks like Age Of Innocence that have a foot and some double kicks in that camp. As I mentioned, I quite like the record and if you’re a lover of 80’s metal in general you may like it too.

7.5/10 from The Grooveman.

« Older posts Newer posts »

Archives

© 2026 THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑