THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

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SAM MILLAR – Virtual Summer

November 3, 2024 /

It still blows my mind that Earache Records have started signing acts as commercial as Sam Millar. I mean, back in the day they were the go to for extreme metal music and nothing else. This album is about as far removed from extreme metal as it gets. Feel good pop rock is the order of the day with Sam Millar. He’s an uber talented guy, he wrote and played all instruments on the album.

The overall vibe that comes to mind when listening to the album is 80’s American radio bands like Toto, Journey, and a million others but there is something else that latches itself on to the grooves and sounds of that period. Sam has the knack of writing pure pop hooks and melodies wrapped in that AOR rock feel. When Summer Ends is the most perfect AOR song I have heard in eons. The chorus and hook are perfect with that feel good pop melody that just drives itself into your brain.

The track that got me hooked was The Killing Floor. It’s quite a dark themed title but the music is totally the opposite; a superb example of how to write an eighties FM radio smash. Chardonnay takes me back to the late eighties it’s just pure pop rock perfection.

This is one hell of a fun record and I’m amazed that Escape or Frontiers never snapped him up. Great record! Well done Sam Millar.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

OVERKILL – I Hear Black

November 3, 2024 /

I have to say I’m loving these half speed masters reissues from Overkill. For all the audiophile snobs who say it’s pointless to give metal music the audiophile treatment can do one.

I Hear Black was the Overkill’s sixth release and it came out in ’93 right in headlights of prime time grunge and yet it was one of the band’s best sellers. I’m sure I read somewhere that the title was a nod to Black Sabbath, hence the songs were also inspired by the band.

This album is definitely more groovier than thrash but that was the climate back in the early nineties for metal bands, and I love this album. The title track is worth the price alone. A killer heavy groove with matching riffing that just turns the groove muscle to 10.

The whole album is a killer heavy groovy beat down and I can’t recommend it enough.

9.5/10 from The Grooveman.

KING KOBRA – We Are Warriors

November 3, 2024 /

King Kobra are another band that pops up occasionally to release a record. It has been ten years since the last one, and there was a gap of 23 years between the third and fourth album. They were a working touring band for the first three albums but then they became a project band that filled a gap in between the schedules of its members.

The only guy who played on all the albums is Carmine Appice. He is joined here by guitarists Carlos Carvazo and Rowan Roberson, Johnny Rod on bass and Paul Shortino on vocals. So, what does this rendition of the band offer us mere mortals this time around? Well, for fans of the heavy blues groove all your boxes will be ticked. All original songs apart from Love Hurts, this is quite a solid album although the production is a bit muddy in places.

Music Is A Piece Of Art opens up the album with a heavy Zeppelin groove, very reminiscent of Badlands. That groove continues with Turn Up The Music and I really like the hook and chorus on this one. Favourite track time next with Secrets And Lies. A nice change of pace changing through the gears and I really like the solo. Drownin’ follows and the hook and chorus are superb, I love the main melody. One More Night ends Side 1 and it’s a straight up and down blues rocker.

I could have done without Love Hurts but I guess Shortino’s raspy style suits the song. Dance has a very deep heavy low end groove with those Zeppelin drums again. If I played you Darkness before the vocals kick in, you would swear this was a Zeppelin outtake. We Are Warriors is the best song on Side 2 because it sounds like them. A nice riff, with a great guitar sound, a cool driving tempo, and a catchy hook and chorus. The album closes out with Drive Like Lightning and it’s a return to the Bonham drum sound.

8/10 from The Grooveman.

WILDSIDE – Under The Influence

November 3, 2024 /

This album on vinyl is one of the rarest hair metal albums out there, and if you actually come across a copy then it will set you back between $500-$600. Crazy eh? This is an unofficial copy and brings me nicely into the subject of counterfeit records. Now, bootleg live recordings have always been part of the scene as fans of bands want to hear live recordings from their heroes and it didn’t affect the companies too much. However, this sudden proliferation of counterfeit records is becoming out of control. Of course, if labels would do runs of these hard to find records then this problem would decrease, but I guess they don’t care because they want everyone to stream as it costs them jack.

This cost $60, and for that, you get a poorly printed cover and the labels on the records are mixed around the wrong way. Even the friggin’ counterfeiters can’t be arsed to do a good job. As far as it sounds, well it’s a very strong record. Hang On Lucy is a bonafide classic of the genre, plus the band are killer.

If you come across an OG, then snag it because you may never find it again. As for a counterfeit well…

9/10 for the music, 5/10 for the copy, from The Grooveman.

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