THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Category: Vinyl Reviews (Page 477 of 492)

REX BROWN – Smoke On This

January 27, 2021 /

This is the debut solo album from the former Pantera bassist. Yes, I know there was Kill Devil Hill, but that was a band – and this isn’t. For those of you expecting a clone Pantera album are going to be disappointed – this is a very melodic hard rockin’ album, well Side 1 is. This is the limited edition on brown swirl smoke vinyl.

Things start off nicely with Lone Rider, with a very southern feel and a fat riff which sees Rex not only playing bass, but also rhythm guitar, and singing with a smokey tinge to the vocals. Great song to start! Next up is Crossing Lines, with a very southern feel with some cool slide. Then its Buried Alive, with a nice acoustic intro that builds into a very southern groove. Up next is the best song on the album, Train Song, with its huge swinging groove of a riff. If this doesn’t get you up and movin’ then you’re gonna need a transplant of your groove organ. Get Yourself Alright is next, which is very autobiographical for Rex with all the health issues he has gone through. Side closer, Faultline, is a ballad which has a country/blues feel to it.

Flipping the wax onto Side 2 and opener What Comes Around has a very laid back verse in to fat chorus. Another laid back tune in Grace follows, and all the good vibes from Side 1 are but a distant memory so far. Perhaps So Into You can lift spirits? It does, with its almost Sleeze rock beginning and again some nice slide playing. A very ordinary Best Of Me is next, and then into the last track One Of These Days, which is a big power ballad closer.

So there you have it – not a bad, but not a great album. It is let down by Side 2.

10/10 for Train Song as it’s a belter of a tune, but 6/10 for the album as a whole from the Grooveman.

RHINOCEROS – Satin Chickens

January 26, 2021 /

Well I guess it had to happen sometime…I don’t remember acquiring this record at all! It must have been lumped in with a batch that I bought. Anyhoo, here’s what I we know.

This was Rhinoceros’ first album released in 1969, and they were a band that was put together by Electra Records. Not sure if this is classed as a psych record or not, as there are elements to that genre in Monkee Man, which has a very jam-band vibe to it. Then again, tracks like Top Of The Ladder are pure RnB with a very laid back feel. Sugar Foot Rag is almost in chicken picking territory for the whole of the 37 seconds it lasts. You really have to wonder what was Electra’s brief to the band when they put them together – as the music really is all over the map – as Side 1 closer has an almost Free feel to it.

I’m having a good guess in saying they were probably stoned when they went into the studio, as the beginning to Side 2 with the farm animal impressions is weird. The only song that is mildly entertaining is the last track, Back Door. The most amazing thing is that after this they were asked to record another album?!

If anyone is missing this from their collection and they want it then hit me up.

4/10 from The Grooveman.

METALLICA – And Justice For All

January 26, 2021 /

It always amazes me the hate that this album gets amongst fans and non-fans. First it was the whole sell-out thing by doing a video for One, which was something they said they would not bow down to. But you know what? The whole scene had changed since they began, especially with MTV starting up and being such an influential medium. Then there was the whole “Where’s the bass?” thing. James did mention much later on that they were just messin’ with the new guy. Plus, you can here it anyway it’s just not prominent. Also Lars gets some grief over his drumming skills on this album as well, which is mind boggling to me as his playing is fantastic here. Anyway, I really like this album, so zero negative vibes from me. This was to be the last album produced by Fleming Rasmussen before they would go with Bob Rock and mega stardom.

Let’s get down to the tunes. We start with the epic Blackened, a nailed on textbook Metallica masterpiece. Huge fat riff, plenty of chugga-chugga and that change in pace awesome. Title track is next , and basically more of the same, no let up in the quality here. Next, and an epic slow fade into the beginning of Eye Of The Beholder, and we are off and running. This needs to be played LOUD!!! Then a bonafide ‘Tallica classic, One, is next with its very striking anti-war message about a soldier who has lost all of his limbs and nearly all of his senses. This was the one that made everyone pay attention – not just the metalheads.

So that’s disc 1 done, now onto disc 2 with Shortest Straw – with a groove change very early on in proceedings, with plenty of jun-jun’s to keep that head banging. It’s quite noticeable how the mood is becoming a lot more serious with the lyrics compared to their earlier albums. Monster track, Harvester of Sorrow, is next with that sooooo doomy beginning that fits the subject matter perfectly. Then one of my favourite Metallica tracks ever, The Frayed Ends of Sanity, which starts with an almost funky choppy groove with a huge riff. The middle section and the ending is killer. If this doesn’t get you bouncing round the broom cupboard then nothing will. Flip over onto the last side and straight into the acoustic intro to Live Is To Die, an almost instrumental that was about as mellow as Metallica got at the time. Which brings us to album closer, Dyers Eve, which is very early ‘Tallica, and the only song that has thrash written all over – superb ending.

So there you have a fantastic album that doesn’t deserve all the hate.

9.5/10 from The Grooveman.

ZZ TOP – First Album

January 25, 2021 /

This is a million miles from what they would become after Eliminator. As The Rev Billy G would say himself “we are just a ‘lil ole blues band from Texas”, and ladies and germs that is exactly what we get here! A good, honest, no bells and whistles record. It has its high points and low points, namely Squank, but we’ll stick with the high ones.

First track is Somebody Else Been Shakin’ Your Tree, a great opener with a groovey blues swing, and some nice lead from Billy G. Then we get the really bluesy Brown Sugar, which starts with just guitar then grows into a cool boogie. Goin Down To Mexico is next another up-tempo groover, and then Side 1 closes with a blues/country ballad, Old Man.

Flip over to Neighbour Neighbour, a typical ZZ Top shuffle groove, and into Certified Blues again with that swinging groove and cool guitar. Next up the dirty boogie of Bedroom Thang, with a very suspect lyric and a killer close out instrumental break. Now onto the two close out tracks, Just Got Back From Baby’s, and Back Door Love Affair – both co-written by producer Bill Ham. Both of these tracks are traditional style blues, and have been covered by a variety of artists over the years – and both have some great guitar from Gibbons.

The band had only been together about six months before they went in and recorded this, so the songs were quickly put together. I’ve always loved three piece bands as there’s no hiding in the mix. You can hear everything super clear, and every instrument has its place in the sound – and this is a good recording! Not their best album, but a good representation of where they were at at the time.

7/10 from The Grooveman.

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