THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Tag: album review (Page 13 of 456)

DIAMOND – S/T

October 28, 2024 /

I literally don’t know a whole bunch about Diamond other than the fact that they are from Long Island in New York. Built around the talents of guitarist Mitch Diamond they released this, their only self titled album back in ’86.

Melodic hard rock with big crunchy guitars is what dragged me in, having heard only the track Lonely In Love. Great song with the appropriate heavy riff and vocalist Matt La’Mour hitting all the notes. They are all decent enough songs but there is that special something missing that makes them great songs.

There are three stand out tracks: the already mentioned Lonely In Love, Rock The Nation (a very familiar kick ass riff with a groove that powers along, and a hands in the air chorus), and my favourite The Inatome.  An instrumental track that is a sort of a hybrid Michael Schenker/Iron Maiden blast with a very metal groove.

There were tons of these bands that released records on obscure labels back in the day, just like a million bands on bandcamp today. It’s. a fun listen.

7/10 from The Grooveman.

FLOTSAM & JETSAM – Blood In The Water

October 28, 2024 /

For some reason I have not paid much attention to Flotsam & Jetsam since I bought their first album, Doomsday For The Deceiver way back in the mists of time. So, when I purchased this after hearing a track online it was like listening to a completely different band. Today’s version of Flotsam is more akin to progressive metal, as opposed to the thrash universe they came from, although Brace For Impact is total thrash heaven. 

It’s interesting to see Ken Mary blasting the hell out of the pots and pans because I first heard of him on TKO’s In Your Face, and I didn’t think of him as this heavy machine-like  beast of a drummer, but he pounds the hell out of this record. Blood In The Water is pure dual guitar heaven as both Michael Gilbert and Steve Conley are just riff machines. In fact, it’s drums and guitars that make this a stellar album. Every song is a pounding groovefest. To pick a fave track is hard but I’m going for The Wicked Hour. Superb heavy pounding groove with matching riff and the cherry on top is a great vocal from Eric Knutson.

I think I might have to explore more of their catalogue.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

VAIN – Disintegrate Together

October 27, 2024 /

Before we start, I bought this direct from Davy and waited an eternity for it to ship (I actually forgot I ordered it). It eventually came by UPS and was whacked with a $60 customs charge. Not only that, when it arrived the package looked as though it had been through five rounds with Mike Tyson. The cover is not in great shape but luckily the vinyl is okay. Artists: if you are shipping your own stuff, make sure it’s packaged right. Rant, over!

Glad to say this is a great record and glam/sleaze is alive and well, and Davy can still write a great tune. Don’t You Think is prime time Vain and it’s one of my favourite songs ever by the band. Great groove to the song and the melody is killer. The Flowers runs it very close, however it has a more slow funky groove but again, the melody and harmonies are superb. The title track is high on the dramatic. A slowed down blues based epic where Davy’s voice just carries the whole piece. So many great songs here!

Davy and Vain have always been that little bit different to all the glam bands they came up with. I haven’t heard all of Vain’s albums, but this is the best of the ones I have.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

RAVEN – The Pack Is Back

October 27, 2024 /

This is the album where Raven went as close to being a hair band as possible. They had to have been under pressure from the record company to come out with such a radio friendly record as this.

With the first two tracks, The Pack Is Back and the cover Gimme Some Lovin’, you’d swear that you were listening to Gary Glitter. I haven’t played this in a long while, and unfortunately it doesn’t get any better with age. It’s not bad it’s just weird when you know what came before.

Occasionally, they are allowed to be themselves (sort of) with songs like Young Blood (favourite track) when a hint of Raven frenzy materializes, but mostly it’s ordinary pop rock and in one case with Hyperactive, just embarrassingly bad.

Raven with Horns anyone? Nope, it’s just wrong. 

5.5/10 from The Grooveman.

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