I don’t know a lot about this band. I do know that vocalist Randy O was in Odin, and guitarist Jeff Duncan was also in Odin and Armoured Saint. Musically, it’s your typical hair/glam metal of the time and you either love Randy’s vocals or you don’t. He has a distinct gravelly scream that is more familiar in the LA sleaze bands of the time.
This album was released in ’90 and it’s another one and they’re done record. As I mentioned earlier, musically it’s quite good and Jeff Duncan is a great guitar player who gives delightful flourishes all across the album. Highlights for me are the opening of Cryin’ Out and Right On Track, both have a cool riff and groove. Cool Me Down with its Hot For Teacher vibe and some killer guitar from Jeff. My favourite track is the pure party rock of In The Middle. A great groove and riff that really swings.
There are some really bad reviews of this album in various dark corners of the interweb, but they obviously couldn’t get passed the vocal style of Randy and yes, on some tracks like Lonely Man when they are isolated his vocals do sound rough. For me, the vocals come last as I always latch onto the riff and the groove first.
5/10 vocals and 8/10 everything else from The Grooveman.
