THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Tag: blog music (Page 5 of 40)

HUEY LEWIS AND THE NEWS – Sports

May 28, 2022 /

If anyone deserved a taste of success it’s Huey Lewis. He’d been banging around for a few years without anyone paying much notice, then boom, this album was unleashed on the world. It’s quite sad to see that he’s not doing too great at the moment and has had to give up performing.

I don’t care who you are or what your tastes are, this is a superb record. Equal parts old school RnB and rock n roll – I love it. I’ve had this album since it came out in one version or another, and I’ve only just realized that Heart And Soul was written by Chapman and Chinn – the same team that gave Sweet, Suzy Quattro and a million others their hits in the seventies. If you ever want a blueprint on how to do the perfect pop rock album, then pull this one out of the collection.

10/10 from The Grooveman.

BAD ENGLISH – s/t

May 27, 2022 /

This project existed after Journey took an indefinite break. If you ever wanted to know what a full Journey/Baby’s collaboration sounded like, then this is for you. A very similar band to Journey but with a more gutsy sound.

The album opens up with an absolute monster of a tune with Best Of What I’ve Got. Killer riff and groove and a superb hook and chorus. Man what a great tune. As usual it’s the ballads that get all the attention as When I See You Smile was a huge hit for the band, and there are 5 more on the record. I don’t mind one or two, but 5?! It’s a shame, as this band can rock like on the opening track, Ready When You Are, and on Forget Me Not, Rockin’ Horse and Lay Down – they are all crowd pleasers.

As we all know, Neal Schon is a great player, and he lets loose all over this record. I would have bought this album just for Best Of What I’ve Got – even with ballad overload it’s still a great album.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

LED ZEPPELIN – Coda

May 27, 2022 /

This is basically a bits and pieces album of leftover tracks throughout their career, and was released two years after they disbanded. It consists of eight tracks and two covers, the first of which, We’re Gonna Groove by Ben E King, is superb and this is what they did best – taking an old standard and making it their own. Poor Tom is killer just to hear that floor tom groove by Bonham, and you realize what a great drummer he was. I Can’t Quit You Baby is a tad sloppy, but Plant’s vocals are on the money. Walter’s Walk is all about the groove and the backbeat. Ozone Baby is a very average tune, and I can see how it was a leftover. Darlene is a good tune with a great groove, and is the only full band composition on this release. Bongo’s Montreux is a drum solo?! I think another track would have been more worth it here than a drum solo. The album closes out with Wearing And Tearing, and it’s a fun little fast blues groove and riff. It’s an ok album but nothing special.

7/10 from The Grooveman.

HALFORD – Resurrection

May 26, 2022 /

Having left Priest to pursue other musical adventures (namely Fight, a very Pantera influenced groove metal combo, and 2wo an electronic industrial unit), Uncle Rob thought it was the right time to comeback as the saviour of heavy metal with Halford.

This is the first fruit of those labours, Resurrection released in 2000. To be fair, it’s a really good album and it’s Priest 2.0. I’m sure if he’d have sat down with the Priest guys and said, “do you mind if I did some side projects and stayed the singer of the band?” I’m sure that would have been a goer. Instead, it all got weird and ugly.

There is not a bad song on the record – it’s an old school metal record on steroids. From killer uptempo monsters like the title track, Made In Hell, Cyberworld, and Drive, to the more traditional head groovers like Locked And Loaded, The One You Love To Hate, and stompers like Temptation – this is the best Judas Priest album they never made – it was only a matter of time before the inevitable reunion happened.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

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