THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Tag: album review (Page 9 of 467)

OPETH – The Last Will And Testament

January 12, 2025 /

There has been so much hype surrounding the release of this record, and it all centres around one thing: the return of the growl. Now, depending on which clickbait metal site you read, you may be forgiven for thinking that this was a return to Blackwater Park era Opeth. Well, it is not! But, it is a damn fine album.

I love the whole imagery around this new album, from the sepia toned black & white cover art, the subject matter of the gathering of a family for the reading out a will, and best of all is the music. I can see why Mikael brought back the screams for this one as it fits the narrative perfectly. Yes, it’s heavy at times and it’s equally as progressive, especially with the inclusion of Ian Anderson as a type of narrator.

This is the album that keeps on giving. I’ve played it through about 15 times as of right now and I keep picking up on new things with each listen that just blow me away. It’s tough to pick a favourite track because I love it as a whole piece, and the flow of the album is superb.

My copy has disappeared into the void due to the postal strike, so I had to bite the bullet and Amazon came to the rescue .I couldn’t wait any longer. Has Mikael out progged his buddy SW? I would say yes, especially on the back of the last two SW solo albums.

Great album and very worthy of…

10/10 from The Grooveman.

RICHIE SAMBORA – Stranger In This Town

January 8, 2025 /

This is Richie’s first solo album, released back in ’91. The one thing that this album showed is that he could step out of the Bon Jovi shadow and have his own voice and sound.

There is a lot more R’n’B and gospel vibes here than on any BJ record, as the title track shows. I would say there is not much rock n’ roll here at all really. Ballad Of Youth is the only song that remotely sounds like Bon Jovi. My favourite track is Church Of Desire. A super smooth classy chunk of AOR with Richie flexing his chops.

This is a Music On Vinyl reissue, it sounds superb and is a great record to test out the old hi-fi.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

PAT TRAVERS – Live N’ Loaded 84

January 8, 2025 /

I’m not sure if this has been out before because the original date is 2003 and as with a lot of Cleopatra’s releases, they are rehashes of previous things. All I know is that this is licensed from PT himself, so it looks legit.

I’m a big fan of PT after seeing him back in the late seventies after he relocated to the UK. Great old school player with plenty of feel and a great sound.

It was recorded in ’84 at West Palm Beach in Florida just after Pat’s contract with Polydor ended. I’m guessing this has been edited down so it fits on one disc because there are some quick fade outs on some tracks, but that doesn’t detract away from the quality of the recording.

8 originals and 2 covers is what you get for your your money on this release. The best track is Stevie, which has always been a high point of any PT show, and Born Under A Bad Sign which is a killer rendition with plenty of fretboard histrionics to keep you happy.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

VOLA – Friend Of A Phantom

January 8, 2025 /

Album number four from Denmark’s finest low end prog metal groovers, and maybe their most accessible album yet. Even though they exist in the Prog metal world they have a very unique vibe and sound. They get pigeonholed with all the other “djenty” bands but there is way more going on than the low end breakdown chunk.

The angelic vocals of Asger Mygind seems at odds with the music, but they compliment it so much that I would say this is the thing that makes them stand out above the others. Asger also contributes the huge monster riffs that define this band so much, but the secret weapon is keys wizard Martin Werner whose soundscapes and intricacies are superb. They can be supremely heavy on tracks like Cannibal, which grooves hard then so delicate and ethereal on tracks like Glass Mannequin.

Out of all the bands that are around at the moment in this genre, Vola are truly the one progressive band who are pushing and welding musical boundaries together. Bleed Out is one such track and my favourite on the album. It is so melodic and beautiful and then crushingly heavy with that low end groove.

This album would have been in my top 3 from 2024, but due to late arrival it missed the boat. Killer record and band.

10/10 from The Grooveman.

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