THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Tag: album review (Page 65 of 469)

HEARTLAND – S/T

April 14, 2024 /

There are not many British AOR bands out there, but Heartland are the one that should have been huge. If they were American and were around five years earlier then they would have been a gimme, but alas that’s not the case.

Does anyone remember a band called Virginia Wolf? Well, that was Chris Ousey’s previous outfit before forming Heartland. After this album, A&M dropped them and they were eventually picked up the by UK label, Escape Music which is still their home today.

Chris has one of those one in a million voices with such a great tone and feel that no matter what he sings it sounds awesome. Carrie Ann is such a great song it has to be my favourite on the album. It has a superb melody and groove and the vocals are great. The production on the album is fantastic and super clean, it makes every song pop.

Every AOR junkie should own a copy of this record.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

MORDRED – The Dark Parade

April 14, 2024 /

Mordred are one of the original funk/metal crossover bands. They released two great albums in Fools Game and In This Life until they disappeared in ’94 only to make a surprise return with this release in 2021.  Well, after all this time, have they still got the groove and hunger?

The groove? Not so much, but they’ve got hunger for sure. They come across now as a full on thrash band, very reminiscent of prime time Anthrax. The only track with that groove I mentioned is the title track and this is my favourite song on the album. It’s got a great off-kilter riff and groove that is so cool.

It’s a cool concept for an album. It’s about a travelling freak show circus and the front cover is really good. They sort of preceded themselves as the vibe and sound are about 87/88, and the album feels as though it was recorded back then. They also go completely against nearly every album ever recorded in the fact that they have made Side 2 better than Side 1. The other killer tune is the close out track Smash Goes The Bottle with its weird mash up of blues, Thin Lizzy, and a traditional Irish folk song.

Not a bad comeback, but could do better.

7.5/10 from The Grooveman.

VYPER – Prepared To Strike

April 14, 2024 /

There are a couple different covers for this record so some people think they released two albums, but originally this was the only version, plus an earlier independent EP release.

I am a sucker for any band with a killer guitar player and back in the day I would buy albums on this criteria alone. Although, I’m not sure who plays what parts on this record, whether it be Jacky Foxx or Robbie Saint, there are some killer leads laid down on this album.

Varying from melodic hard rock to metal, this record is a whole bunch of fun with influences varying from NWOBHM to Diamond’s prime time hair like on Cold As Stone, and my favourite track Dealer with that full on metal assault. Vyper should have done more songs like this because they do it quite well. Double kicks blasting away, high pitch screaming, and max riffage with the inevitable ripping solos.

If nothing else, this album is a whole bunch of fun.

8/10 from The Grooveman.

TALISMAN – S/T

April 14, 2024 /

This is album number one from the mighty Talisman, released back in ’90. The band were put together by the super talented bassist, Marcel Jacob who is sadly no longer with us. The only ever present member (I think) is Jeff Scott Soto. It’s cool to hear how Jeff’s voice has changed throughout his career. He is singing in a much lower register now than he was when this came out. There again, he was just a puppy when this beauty was released.

I’m not sure if this was considered just to be a project originally, as there is just a photo of Marcel and Jeff in the insert. There have also been some great guitar players that have blessed the grooves of Talisman releases namely Frederick Akesson who is now with Opeth, Pontus Norgren who has played with Hammerfall, and Christopher Stahl who played on this one.

This band has been responsible for some of the finest melodic rock, released mostly when this type of music was about as welcome as a fart in a space suit. Honestly, there is a not a bad moment throughout this whole record and frankly it’s a blueprint for how to write killer rock songs with groove, killer playing, and huge hooks with infectious stick in your brain choruses. It’s tough to pick a favourite as I love all the songs on this album, but today I will pick Dangerous. It has everything I mentioned above and the solo is killer.

It’s great to see Jeff still releasing high quality material and long  may he do so.

9.5/10 from The Grooveman.

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