THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Category: Vinyl Reviews (Page 433 of 492)

ZOETROPE – A Life Of Crime

May 13, 2021 /

I admit to not knowing a whole bunch about these guys, other than the fact that guitarist, Louie Svitek, ended up playing in funk-metal combo Mind Funk way later. Other than their three self financed cassette release,s this was the band’s second full length album released in ’87. They described themselves as hardcore street metal, and that about sums it up. The album even comes with a cheesy wanted poster where they are looking as tough as possible. I can’t quite make up my mind if they are joking or not.

They were maybe about four years too late, as by then, this type of thrash was old hat. All the songs are very much the same, peddle to the metal from the get go. The drummer probably needed hospitalization after the recording, as it’s played as fast as humanly possibly – and this was recorded in the days before triggers. When a song like NASA comes along, it’s a breath of fresh air – the pace slows down and the song is really good. Great riff and groove! In fact, when they change it up, they are really quite a decent band. Pickpocket is another really cool song that changes pace and grooves a few times, it has a nice bass line and riff. Side 2 is definitely the best side. Side 1 is all hardcore, and Side 2 is the metal side. Anyhoo, two songs do not make a great album.

6/10 from The Grooveman.

LOS LOBOTOMYS – s/t

May 12, 2021 /

Who or what are the Los Lobotomys I hear you cry?! Well basically they are a bunch of muso friends that jammed together in an around LA whenever they were in town. Steve Lukather was the main guy and driving force behind it all. It’s just guys having fun, and with him is his Toto bandmate Jeff Porcaro on drums, David Garfield on keys, and Will Lee on bass, plus a host of guests on percussion and horns. Along with a couple of covers, the rest are just fleshed out jams, which in my book is just fine. I love hearing great musicians just going for it and bouncing off each other. These type of jams happen a lot, and I wish more would get released as they are great to listen to.

Other than the fusion vibe going on, there is also that Toto sound to proceedings as they were all session guys as well. I love the funky fusion of Dismemberment, and Oozer with some great percussion grooves. Big Bone is very Toto in sound with a great solo from Luke. Lobotomy Stew is a great jazz/rock crossover piece with some killer playing. The big rock out track on the record is Smell Yourself, and I would have bought the record just for this track – it smokes! Killer playing by all especially Luke, and that’s why everyone and his dog wanted him for sessions. Remember, apart from the solo on Beat It, he played all the guitar on Michael Jackson’s Thriller.

I appreciate that this is not for everyone, but if you like hearing musicians just having fun with great playing then you can’t go wrong.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

MANSUN – Six

May 12, 2021 /

This album is a bit of anomaly. I know at the time all of the trendy journo’s from the likes of the NME (and other pop rags) were a bit confused by this record. Mansun were seen as indie Brit pop darlings, mainly due to the success of the first record, Attack Of The Grey Lantern – and specifically their single Wide Open Space. So everyone was waiting to hear what they came up with as a follow up. I think it’s fair to say a lot of people were surprised when they came up with a modern Prog masterpiece.

Now, you may think that a band would have committed commercial suicide by doing this, but there were still some very poppy commercial sounding tracks to release as singles like Negative, and Being A Girl. Ironically, this would be the beginning of the end for the band, as internal squabbles would end up with them trying to replace front man Paul Draper behind his back.

Anyway, at least they leave behind two totally great albums and two good albums. Stand out tracks on this album are the title track, Six (a great tune), and Pink Floydisms of Shotgun which is a personal favourite. Not sure a record company would accept something like this from a pop act today, but I guess you can look on this as their Sgt Pepper. If you like an album that keeps on giving and still sounds fresh years later, than this would be the album for you.

8/10 from The Grooveman.

BADLANDS – s/t

May 11, 2021 /

This killer line up and band were formed in ’88 after Jake E Lee’s removal from Ozzy’s band. He teamed up with ex-Sabbath vocalist Ray Gillan, Eric Singer on drums, and Greg Chaisson on bass. The band recorded three albums of which this is the first, and one was released after Gillan’s untimely death in ’93 from AIDS. This band should have been huge as everything was there: great songs, great band, and a killer front man in the vein of Robert Plant. Critics said at the time that Zeppelin was the blueprint for the band, and part of me agrees with this but I think this album rocks harder than any Zeppelin album.

From the opening riff of High Wire, this album rocks your face off. Killer playing from all involved. If you want to hear Gillen out-Plant Mr. Plant then check out Winters Call, what a smoking track. Everything is awesome and then some on this tune. A more straight ahead rock track is Dancing On The Edge with a cool riff and solo, but once again, the vocal is full on rock god in its execution. Epic stuff!!!

A great drum intro and face melting riff to Hard Driver is a great opening to Side 2 and pounds along nicely. Rumbling Train is a slow blues with a different low range vocal from Gillen, showing that he could sing the phone book and would still sound killer. The production on this track is top notch – everything is in your face and crystal clear. Devils Stomp could have been on Zep 4, until the riff kicks in and it’s pure Peter Green on steroids. There were rumours at the time that Mrs. O was putting up roadblocks for the band, and it wasn’t long after the release of the second album, Voodoo Highway, that Jake disappeared from the scene for a very long time.

9.5/10 from The Grooveman.

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