THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

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LITTLE ANGELS – Young Gods

August 11, 2024 /

For about five years Scarborough’s finest, Little Angels, were riding high in the UK, and all in the face of the grunge onslaught. This the their second album, and it is their finest moment.

It’s not just a melodic rock album, there is a lot going on here to expand the basic rock sound and the differing grooves within the songs. There are so many different styles to get your teeth into from the opening blues of Back Door Man, the killer funk of Boneyard, the country/americana vibes of Young Gods, and the Elton John feel of I Ain’t Gonna Cry; and that’s just on Side 1.

I truly believe that this album was way ahead of the game and if they appeared with Young Gods now, the band would be heralded as geniuses. My favourite track is the short but sweet Love Is A Gun. A great uptempo rocker with a great honky tonk piano just below the surface and that harmony and chorus are soooo cool.

Great album and it deserves way more credit.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

XYZ – Hungry

August 5, 2024 /

XYZ are a late 80’s rock band originally from France but later relocated to LA. Originally, they only released two great albums, of which this is the second. They went out on tour to support with Foreigner and then, goodbye. In their short existence as a recording band they sure had a few members pass through, and (I think) the great Marc Diglio plays guitar on the album, although when playing live I think it was Tony Marcus.

Yup, this is another band where if they had been five years earlier they would have been huge. They had all the tunes and boy, could they play. The only song here that’s not their own is a cover of Free’s Fire And Water, and it’s the weakest track on the album. That’s not to say it’s a bad version, it’s not, it’s just all the originals are so good.

I play this album a lot and the CD is in the car right now. Favourite track? That’s a tough one…Face Down In The Gutter, Don’t Say No, When The Night Comes Down, Feels Good, Shake Down The Walls, and HH Boogie are all bonafide genre classics but I’m going for the full on double kick blast of The Sun Also Rises in Hell where Terry Ilous shows off his Ronnie Dio side and the guitar just rips.

Great record if you can find a copy, go get one.

9.5/10 from The Grooveman.

NEW FRONTIER – S/T

August 5, 2024 /

A great AOR album that would go down a treat on AOR Sunday, but I’m guessing not a whole lot of people have heard of them. This album came out in ’84 and was built around the talents of multi instrumentalist Monty Byrom who had previously been in Big House and Billy Satellite. There was another EP that appeared in ’88, but that was it.

New Frontier were on a small label (Mika Records). whom I guess never had much of a promotional budget to push the band. It’s a shame really because there are some great commercial pop rock songs that given the right push could have done really well. Under Fire, American Dream, and the superb American Blues are killer songs. American Blues is my favourite on the album with its killer groove and beat very reminiscent of Don Henley; how this wasn’t a smash, I do not know. Love the horns!

There are so many of these bands that flew just below the surface of awareness. If you like a good AOR album then seek this one out it’s really rather good.

8/10 from The Grooveman.

INTERVALS – Memory Palace

August 5, 2024 /

It’s great to see the upturn in interest of Intervals. They are getting endorsement from Wolfgang Van Halen with a support slot on some of his headline shows.

This is album number five for the band and Aaron Marshall has knocked it way out of the park on this one. Super cool use of keys, samples, sound design, and programming alongside the heavy grooves and Aaron’s killer playing. I love every second of this masterpiece and I have probably played this more than any other album in a long while.

Mnemonic has to be one of the best tunes I have heard in forever. It’s like listening to a dance song but for metal tech kids. The grooves and rhythms are just epic and the playing is so melodic but insanely good. Galaxy Brain is very similar but with added depth and chunk to the mix. I was trying to get my head around this whole concept of Memory Palace and the thing that keeps popping into my head is “if music was a video game.” Not sure if that makes sense, but it’s the best my aging brain can do.

Go and listen to this on iTunes or Spotify and then go and buy a physical copy from those nice people at Sheet Happens. It will be the best decision you will make this year.

10/10 from The Grooveman.

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