THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Tag: album review (Page 79 of 470)

POISON – Look What The Cat Dragged In

February 20, 2024 /

From the sublime to…well, the album I reviewed before this one was by Plini, so from one end of the spectrum to the other.

Now, a lot of not very nice things a have been written and spoken about Poison, some of them justified I may add but people do forget that they sure know how to write a catchy rock song. Cry Tough, I Want Action, and Talk Dirty To Me all have that something that appealed to a huge section of the rock community in the late 80’s. Their albums sold in the squillions and a heavy rotation on MTV made Poison a household name. If you don’t take it all too seriously, then it’s just rock n’ roll right?

Well, I like my rock with a bit more substance but occasionally when there’s a full moon and wolves are howling I will play this just for the hell of it. The thing is CC is not a bad guitar player and I always thought he was too good for them. On that note, I’m going for Play Dirty as my favourite tune because CC riffs it up and plays a nice solo.

7.5/10 from The Grooveman.

PLINI – Finnvox Sessions

February 20, 2024 /

Here is another fine release from the ever prolific Plini. This time it’s the Finnvox Sessions released in 2023, well that’s what it says on the cover anyway. This is just a three track EP, and only one sided, Side 1 is blank. Wasteful? Quite possibly, but the music in those three tracks is wonderful.

First track Electric Sunrise is a mix of atmospheric ambient guitar tones with some serious low end groove that sound so clear, if you close your eyes you could be in the room with them. I’ll Tell You Someday follows a similar pattern with more of a slower Prog fusion vibe. Killer playing from the whole band here. Things end oh so quickly with Cascade, the heaviest sounding track of the three. I don’t mean that in a fast way, but the riffs and runs are played over a deep heavy groove. I would say the third track is my favourite of the three.

I could listen to all of Plini’s recordings on an endless loop, I find them so inventive and uplifting.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

ELEGANT WEAPONS – Horns For A Halo

February 20, 2024 /

It’s so good to see Richie Faulkner outside the confines of Judas Priest and joined by a killer band. We’ve got Ronnie Romero on vocals, Rex Brown on bass, and his JP band mate Scott Travis on drums, at least on the album anyway. This is definitely an old school metal album, and is arguably better than anything JP have put out recently. It’s great to see melody and groove in a modern metal album and this album has it in spades. Add to that, some huge fat riffage and killer solos and my dear friends, we have a one hell of a record.

From the opening crunch of Dead Man Walking until the closing crunch of Downfall Rising, not a groove is wasted. I have so many favourite on here it’s hard to pick. Do Or Die is crushingly wonderful, with pounding beats, killer riffing, solos, and Ronnie sings his ass off. More tea vicar?

The riff and groove of Blind Leading The Blind is superb and you will hum that riff all day long. Richie’s playing on Ghost Of You is just fantastic, it’s a much slower song but so good. If I’m really pushed I will go for Bitter Pill as favourite track because it has an absolutely crushing riff, an evil groove, and the soloing is epic. This is what modern metal is missing.

I do hope this is not just a one off album as this is killer, and it was a close second for my album of last year.

10/10 from The Grooveman.

BLUE OYSTER CULT – Some Enchanted Evening

February 20, 2024 /

I’m a huge fan of Blue Oyster Cult, especially the early albums. And, the live album On Your Feet Or On Your Knees is one of the best and is a very under appreciated album, I love the rawness of it.

I really like the fact that this album opens with one of my favourite BOC tunes, Dominance And Submission, it’s one of four early tracks represented on this set. In fact, Cites On Flame rips in straight after it with that oh so cool riff. Godzilla is a classic that has been covered by many but it’s the original that’s the best, and there is plenty of room for audience participation. Burning For You is such a good song, it’s from my favourite later period album Fire Of Unknown Origin.

On Your Feet is still my favourite BOC album, but this is close because it still has that raw live feel.

8/10 from The Grooveman.

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