THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Tag: album review (Page 67 of 469)

TURKISH DELIGHT 2 – Khalil Turk and Friends

April 14, 2024 /

Not satisfied with having one volume celebrating his 30 years involved in music, Escape head honcho Khalil Turk thought why not make it two. Again, it’s a who’s who of the rock community guesting on a collection of original songs and like its predecessor, it kicks big time. I’m assuming this was recorded in bits and pieces all over the world and big props to Frederick Folkare who not only wrote the majority of the songs here but did a great job mixing the album.

So many great songs and performances on the album but the stands outs are No One Knows Your Name with Ralp Scheepers on vocals showing he is not just a screamer rockin’ the album into gear, my personal favourite Crazy with Mr. Jeff Scott Soto on vocals and some kick ass guitar from Mr. Folkare. This one rips along at a great pace. James LaBrie delivers a good performance on Hold Your Future, not too far out of his wheelhouse. It’s great to see a Dan Reed song with Future, adding some groove and swing to proceedings.

These albums are fun to listen to but must be a nightmare to put together. Very enjoyable listen.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

TNT – X111

April 14, 2024 /

I find TNT the most strange band. They had huge success with the Tony Harnell line up, the melodic rock vibe, and the darker metal overtones. Then, there was the Tony Mills period, which I really loved because Tony was a perfect match, but sadly Tony passed on. Then, there is the line up that recorded this album ,which was released in 2018 and is the only album to have Baol Bulsara on vocals, because we all know now that Harnell has returned again for the 4,000,000th time (slight exaggeration).

I have to say this feels more like a Ronni Le Tekro solo project, much akin to a Vagabond release than a TNT album as the music does tender to wander. Now, that’s not a bad thing as I find this to be a very interesting and cool record with some great arrangements and melodies. A perfect example of this is Its Electric. A brilliant song with a quirky riff and groove, but with a hook and chorus to die for. I’m sure Ronnie is a big Brian May fan as the main sound of the intro to Where You Belong is pure Queen, and that’s not the first album he has done that.

My favourite track is the hectic People Come Together with its monster intro riff and groove that really swings along. 17th Of May is just awesome, that killer dirty riff and vocal line is sooo cool and you could pick this also as a favourite tune. It’s tunes like this with that quirky vibe that no else does that makes me love this band so much. Of course, if it’s meat and potatoes melodic sing alongs like on Intuition, then Tears In My Eyes should make you more than happy.

Ronni is a rare talent and there are not many of his kind around. Long may TNT make records.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

THE BOW WOW – S/T

April 7, 2024 /

As well as Loudness, Earthshaker, and EZO, the other great Japanese metal band were Bow Wow. This is a compilation that was released in ’79. Putting together the best bits of the band’s early years when they sounded more like early Scorpions and UFO – the metal would come later.

It does sound very dated listening back now ,but that’s why I like it. I don’t know too much about the scene in Japan before the early eighties so it’s a cool time capsule for mid to late 70’s heavy music. My favourite tune is the instrumental track, Signal Fire. You can hear the beginnings of a much heavier sound developing, plus they are great musicians to boot. The production isn’t the best and it does sound rather flat, but that all adds to the vibe.

For connoisseurs only.

7.5/10 from The Grooveman.

Riverdogs – S/T

April 7, 2024 /

So, in between having left Dio and had a brief dalliance with Whitesnake and joining Def Leppard, Vivian Campbell put together this rootsy melodic rock band. I’ve always liked Rob Lamothe’s vocals and I’d forgotten how good he his on this album. Another plus is that Vivian gets to be himself and show what a great tasty player he is.

If you were used to him giving it the beans in his time with Dio then this will be a revelation. No heavy metal shapes and tones here, just great playing and cool songs. Holy War is my favourite of them. It’s a killer track with a great melody and hook line, with some very cool leads. Baby Blue is a slightly softer in groove and vibe but that hook and chorus is so good. Rain Rain has a great bluesy groove and swing, and is a close second for favourite tune.

They were never going to be a charting band as they never had that one commercial song to push them, but the album as a whole is one solid piece of work, and it would be a good addition to the collection.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

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