THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Tag: blog music (Page 10 of 40)

CINDERELLA – Heartbreak Station

May 17, 2022 /

I’ve always looked on this album as the runt of the family. Initially, it didn’t shake my tree as the first two did. The vibe was a lot more rootsy and blues, and the glam took a back seat. The album was still platinum selling, and the two singles, Shelter Me, and The More Things Change, did quite well. This album feels a lot more at home listening to it today than it did upon the release, as the whole retro thing is big right now.

The More Things Change gets things off and grooving, and there is a big Steve Earle feel to it. Love’s Got Me Doing Time has a great funky vibe, and is very reminiscent of Aerosmith. Shelter Me starts with a stripped down country blues groove that leads into an almost gospel chorus. Heartbreak Station is a ballad with a rootsy blues vibe with some nice slide playing. Sick For The Cure feels like I’m listening to a beefed up version of The Faces. One For Rock And Roll is pure barn burning country.

Side 2 kicks off with Dead Man’s Road, and we are still deep in country blues territory. Make Your Own Way is about as glam as this album gets, but with a big country rock feel. Although Electric Love starts like the Byrds, but the groove is seventies with a hint of RnB. Loves Gone Bad has a very seventies classic rock feel with a killer hook and chorus. We close out the album with Winds Of Change, a big production ballad with a heavy Americana vibe.

I still feel as though the album is a poor relation to the first two – it’s like listening to a different band but with the same singer. The obvious change in style from hair rock to a rootsy blues band was maybe a wrong move, but a year later grunge would wipe out most bands anyway, so I guess you go with what you feel.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

HELLOWEEN – Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part 1

May 16, 2022 /

Helloween were passed off as an Iron Maiden clone band in the British music press back in the day, mainly due to Michael Kiske’s vocals being close to Bruce’s. The band have made some killer records, and they were big on the concept element. Somewhat ironically, they are now part of the Sanctuary Records group set up by Maiden manager, Rod Smallwood.

This magnum opus was the band’s second release back in ’87, and basically gave birth to the European Power Metal scene. There’s not one bad track on the record and it’s only their second album and they produced one of the classic metal albums of the eighties. Stand out tracks for me are Twilight Of The Gods, which pounds along at a fair lick with killer guitar, soaring vocals, and superb harmonies, Future World, with a fast four to floor groove and trouser tightening vocals, and the 13 minutes of pure awesome that is Halloween – an absolute monster of a tune that has everything a drooling metal fan could wish for. It has a huge imposing evil intro with max riffage, and plenty of groove changes to fill many albums.

The band actually recorded parts 1 and 2 at the same time wanting to release them as a double album, but the record label refused. Anyhoo, a great metal album.

9.5/10 from The Grooveman.

THE BLACK KEYS – Attack & Release

May 16, 2022 /

This is the band’s fifth release from 2008. Getting their influences from American blues, folk, and country, they were influential in being at the forefront of the retro roots boom in the US.

I love the band in their more groovier moments and tracks like Strange Times, the simple retro riff and uptempo beat really shake my tree. They can go from that to the stripped down porch country folk of Psychotic Girl, which is like listening to a different band. Dan Auerbach’s vocals are what make the band for me, he has such an emotive feel to his voice, that in tracks like Things Ain’t Like They Used To Be, you can really feel the song come to life.

This is a perfect chill out and relax album for me, and perfect for summer nights out in the deck. This album is a lot more laid back than some, but still a cool record.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

KILLER BE KILLED – s/t

May 14, 2022 /

Metal supergroup time as this is the reissue of the band’s first album. Featuring Troy Sanders from Mastodon on bass and vocals, Greg Puciato from Dillinger Escape Plan on vocals, Max Cavalera on guitar, and Ben Koller from Converge on the pots and pans.

There are some killer metal grooves here. Face Down feels like Slipknot but with a fat chugga groove. Dust Into Darkness has a very Anthrax vibe to the intro, and with Troy’s vocals it has that Mastodon undertone, but it’s the opening track, Wings Of Feather And Wax, that really floats my boat. Monster riffage with a mix of clean and scream vocal and a ripping groove.

This is a really cool collaboration of metal muso’s, and the follow up is really good as well. For metal heads only.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

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