THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Category: Vinyl Reviews (Page 410 of 492)

AVENGER – Blood Sports

July 14, 2021 /

Release number 18 on the Neat Records roster, this band were only around for two years and this was their first release. Part of the NWOBHM scene, although they were not part of the first wave, they just made the tale end of the second wave. There was lots of incestuous changing around of band members between. Blitzkrieg, Satan, and Avenger were all disbanding, then forming, and then reforming again – it all got a bit confusing if you were trying to follow these bands.

Anyhoo, the music is pretty standard fare for the genre with the usual stock riffs and grooves, but guitarist Lee Cheetham was a bit special and lifted the band from the norm. Opener, Enforcer is a decent tune, but the follow up track, You’ll Never Take Me Alive, is just sped up Sabbath with a decent solo. Matriarch is a different type of tune as it’s quite slow paced and un-metal, until the middle section kicks in then we’re off to Maiden gallop territory. Side 2 is more of the same, plenty of the usual riffs played with lots of enthusiasm. I guess my favourite track would be the bleed out track, N.O.T.J.

I will give this 7/10 for the nostalgia.

AUDIOSLAVE – s/t

July 13, 2021 /

Now there is no denying the fact that Chris Cornell had one of rock’s most amazing and powerful voices. I wasn’t the world’s biggest Soundgarden fan as I found them too depressing, and musically they were not that good. Sure they had a few good songs, but that was it for me. In fact, I felt the same about most of the whole grunge movement. Now, Rage Against The Machine were a different beast all together. Anger and protest in rock has always produced good music, and they were no exception. When I heard of Cornell joining the musical part of Rage, I was very intrigued indeed, as the potential was there for something amazing. Well, in 2002 it felt very fresh and familiar at the same time, mainly due to that underlying blues DNA in the music, and the brilliance of Cornell’s voice.

Stand out tracks (and there are a few) are: Cochise, it’s a killer opener with plenty of power and groove – a great way to tell the world this is who we are. Gasoline with its monster heavy riff and groove, Like A Stone, which shows the beauty and range to Cornell’s voice as well as the invention of Morello’s approach to guitar. Exploder with its off funky groove and monster riff, and epic vocal from Cornell – this is close to my favourite on the album, as is Hypnotize with its hip hop drum groove. Then we have The Last Remaining Light, which starts off quite normally, but grows into the most amazing vocal performance I have ever heard on any record. When you know how he died, this song takes on a whole new meaning. It sends shivers down my spine and brings tears to your eyes. It is the most incredibly powerful song you will ever hear. For this song alone, this album is in the everyone should own it category.

10/10 from The Grooveman.

WHITESNAKE – Ready An’ Willing

July 13, 2021 /

Other than the two solo albums by Coverdale, this is the third album by Whitesnake – by this album they were flying. To me, this is what Whitesnake were all about, not the the big hair ensemble that Coverdale and the record company turned them into when they sacked nearly all the band because they weren’t pretty enough. This is a great classic British blues rock record. It’s well written, well played, and has a great production. It helps if you have a killer band with Paice and Lord from Deep Purple on drums and keys, Neil Murray on bass, and the twin guitars of Bernie Marsden and Micky Moody. Bernie was a great foil and song writing partner for Coverdale and doesn’t get enough credit for his contribution to the band.

Fool For Your Loving opens the album and what a great track to open with. This was a hit all around Europe and is such a great song. Sweet Talker is the next track and the groove keeps flowing. Ready And Willing is next and is another superb blues rock tune that this band could write in their sleep. Carry Your Load shows Coverdale’s love for all things Free. Blindman closes out Side 1 and, again, the Free vibes are strong as it’s a beefed up version of Heavy Load – at least it sounds like that to my ears.

Side 2 kicks off with Ain’t Gonna Cry No More, and it sums up what this version of Whitesnake were all about, a heavy deep blues rock groove with a great vocal and melody. Love Man is next and this is Coverdale’s attempt at writing a true blues tune – it works really well and has a nice riff and groove. Black And Blue is more of the same but with more of a Faces vibe going down. She’s A Woman is a nice up-tempo rocker and is another co write with Bernie. It really highlights how good they were as a writing partnership.

There is a bonus track on this version that wasn’t on the original, Love For Sale, and is a rocked up classic boogie woogie and it reminds me a bit of Bad Company. So there we have it. I think you’ll agree this is a great album. I still think it’s really shitty what Coverdale did to Bernie. He almost tried to ignore the fact that Bernie was a huge part of Whitesnake’s early success.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

VOLA – Witness

July 12, 2021 /

Vola are another band I discovered whilst late night Bandcamp surfing. They had just put up digital tracks from their first album (which I devoured eagerly), and when they made the album available as a physical product by making it available on CD, I invested in that as well. The lovely people at Mascot Records also thought the band were amazing as they snapped them up to a deal. This is the third album for the group that we have here today. While they were heavily influenced by the djenty sounds earlier on, they have expanded that sound more and added beauty and melody to the heaviness – and even pop moments – and that makes this band one of the most unique bands around today in the Prog-metal sphere.

The opening track, Straight Lines, has that incredible heaviness and groove that made me fall in love with them – a killer opening track. Head Mounted Sideways is just insanely good, and the low end groove makes your internal organs dance with joy as the vocal pop melody short circuits your brain as it struggles to fit the two together. This is just a monster of a track!!! The beauty of 24 Light Years is next, and the ethereal vocal sits over the very busy drum groove. You feel as though this is the soundtrack to some dystopian space movie until the more normal choppy Prog metal chords kick in. These Black Claws brings to a close this side of awesomeness, and again we are going in an different direction. The riff is so heavy it will crash through your floor, then there is a rap section with a guest spot from rapper Shamen, and then it’s back to riff and groove heaven. Another freaking awesome track.

Over to Side 2 we go with Freak, and band leader Asher Mygind shows the beauty and melody in his songwriting as the heaviness takes a backseat to a more traditional Prog feel. Napalm gets us back to combining the beauty and the melody with a heavy choppy riff and groove, which is a definite signature sound for the band. Future Bird actually reminds me of Steven Wilson with that light ethereal texture to the vocals and the ambient background electronics. Stone Leader Falling Down is an anti-Trump song, at least that’s what I get from the lyrics, and the anger in the music does reflect that. The riff and groove are very choppy, djenty, and heavy. The album closes out with Inside Your Fur and it’s the Vola signature melody that ends proceedings.

I admit to being biased as I love this band, but this is a great record. If you are interested in this type of music, you should definitely BUY THIS RECORD!!!

10/10 from The Grooveman.

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