THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

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ECLIPSE – Megalomanium 2

March 10, 2025 /

This is melodic rock’s best kept secret. This is Eclipse’s eleventh album. They are close to celebrating their 25th anniversary and yet, they still don’t mean a whole bunch over on this side of the pond.

They have released ten albums over the past 25 years and they have carved their own niche in a genre which sometimes seems tired and repetitive. They have their own sound and as soon as you hear the music, you know who it is.

Consistently releasing high energy, uplifting, catchy songs seems effortless for these guys and long may they continue to do so. I’m glad to report this is another top quality release chock full of memorable songs. My favourite of the bunch is the heavier groove of The Spark. Killer riff and groove with a huge hook and chorus.

Superb band that should be in everyone’s collection.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

JUDAS PRIEST – Turbo

March 4, 2025 /

I think it’s safe to say that amongst hardcore Priest fans, this is the most hated album of the bunch. The media especially made a big deal of the fact that Priest had gone new wave, as there was too much use of the dreaded synthesizer on this labum. The intro to Out In The Cold is all synth and indeed, Turbo Lover has a fair amount of the “dreaded” keys, I think they manage to squeeze some into every song. But, does that make it a bad record?

Now, Turbo Lover has become a fan favourite live because the guitars are turned to stun and it has a great groove to the song. Locked In has a superb main hook and chorus, and I would say this is a classic Priest song. Sure, Private Property is super commercial but so was Livin’ After Midnight. Rock You All Around The World is prime time anthemic Priest. The one thing that is missing is a pedal to the metal rocker – it’s all mid tempo.

It’s not the best Priest album that’s for sure, but it’s far from the turkey it’s made out to be.

8/10 from The Grooveman.

BLUE BLUD – The Big Noise

March 4, 2025 /

From the ashes of the NWOBHM band Tresspas, sprouted Blue Blud who released two albums – this is the first. By the time they recorded the second album however, they had returned to a more traditional spelling of Blue Blood.

I always associate Music For Nations with metal and I forgot how widespread their musical releases were. A more harder edge melodic rock/AOR is on the menu here and not a bad effort it is, with a great bright in your face production.

I still think that British bands don’t do the AOR/Melodic Rock as well as other countries because the harder stuff seems to be more in their DNA. This album however, does have its moments especially the opener One More Night with its loud crunchy main riff and really good catchy hook and chorus.

A quite an enjoyable romp through the 11 tracks here, I haven’t heard this in a long while.

7/10 from The Grooveman.

TORINO – Rock It

March 4, 2025 /

I think these guys were originally from Liverpool and called Strangeheart, but I may have the wrong band. Anyhoo, this is Torino’s second album that came out in ’89. They produced it themselves and that’s the first thing that bothers me. The vocals sound as though they are coming from next door and it feels almost like a demo.

It’s all very competent AOR and ticks all the right boxes, but it just doesn’t light the fire, it’s missing that big hook. Dance All Night is the one song where it all comes together and if the whole album was like this then we would be on to a winner, but one song does not make a great album.

6/10 from The Grooveman.

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