REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Tag: music review (Page 180 of 479)

KILLER DWARFS – s/t

Yet another Canadian band that did okay within Canada, but struggled to scratch the surface elsewhere. Formed in Oshawa in ’81, this is Killer Dwarfs’ debut album released in ’83. I caught the band live a few years ago and it was a good show with a healthy dose of humour thrown in. Vocalist Russ has a similar vibrato to Geddy Lee, but the music is straight up hard rock.

Are You Ready kicks things off with a nice heavy groove, a simple riff, and a catchy hook and chorus. Can’t Lose follows and the vibe and groove are very different, with a great swing to the riff and beat. Drifter has a slow build up which is cool, but the song is quite average and is the weakest on the album.  A definite improvement with Prisoner. The main riff and groove is NWOBHM to a T and those Geddy vibes are very evident in this song. Great solo as well! Heavy Mental Breakdown closes out Side 1 and the riff is old school for sure, it reminds me of early Budgie.

Side 2 opens up with Read Between The Lines and again, it’s a decent enough song but the production is seriously lacking. The tunes all sound empty and need filling out. I’m going to move onto my favourite track, Time To Move On. The riff we’ve all heard a million times before, but the sound on this one seems louder than the rest, and the groove of the song is cool.

Not a bad first album and they got way better especially with Big Deal.

6.5/10 from The Grooveman.

ELEGY – State Of Mind

Who remembers the good old days when rock was rock and pop was pop? Now, everything is split into a myriad of sub genres. Elegy for example, are listed as progressive power metal. This Dutch band were formed back in ’86 but it took them until ’92 to issue their first studio album.

State Of Mind is their fifth release, which came out in ’99. This copy is a reissue from those wonderful people at Night Of The Vinyl Dead. After the epic Disney Princess intro we jump straight into Visual Vortex. A great full on melodic metal masterpiece with Ian Parry showing what a huge set of pipes he has. Next up is Trust, also my favourite track. Superb, choppy, off-time riff with a nice hook and melody. Beyond slides on in next and it’s a fully penned Ian Parry tune, and the melody is high on the agenda on this one with a big shoutout to Henk Van De Lars for a killer solo. A nice, big, fat chord intro to Shadow Dancer before chugga’s drop in to drive the song along. The hook and chorus are superb and this is about as commercial this album gets. Side 1 closes out with Aladdin’s Cave. The intro and main riff have a very Arabic vibe and is quite dramatic. I would bet my last dollar that Dio-era Rainbow were a huge influence on these guys.

Over to Side 2 we go and the title track awaits. It’s more of the same, that’s really not a bad thing as the songs are very strong, well written, and well executed. Destiny Calling follows and it’s a showcase for Parry’s vocals. A dramatic power ballad intro before we get to the big hook and chorus. The short instrumental track Resurrection follows, and I would have just made it part of Loser’s Game. The beginning of which reminds me of Awake-era Dream Theater, in fact the whole groove does. Suppression is next up and this is more of a straight up hard rock song with a simple chugga riff. Last track Sweet Revenge is a bonus track for this version and you wonder why it wasn’t included on album. A nice fast driving groove, and the main vocal melody reminds me of early Alcatrazz.

Cool record.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

SAGA – Marathon

Another one of the Saga CD period albums that the band have put out recently on vinyl. This time it’s Marathon from 2003, the band’s fifteenth studio release. If any of you bought this on CD when it was originally released, it came with a surround sound version which sounded amazing. It’s good to see this release has been remastered just for this vinyl release. Glad to report it sounds amazing. SAGA are another Canadian band that just seemed to bubble under and not quite make it to the top. Which is a travesty really, because all their albums make the listener think, there was always a lot going on to keep you entertained.

Okay, so which tracks float my boat on this one? Well, I would say How Are You? is typical Saga with that choppy, quirky riff style that they do so well with some epic guitar from Ian Crichton. The vocals and melody are always superb and this track is no exception. Return To Forever is my favourite track. The musicality is just superb and the guitar is off the charts. The only other band that do this is Toto. You Know I Know is a close second for me as the playing is exceptional.

I definitely recommend you owning this one because it sounds superb.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

QUIET RIOT – QR

This album does not feature Kevin DuBrow who was replaced by Paul Shortino when DuBrow was fired before the recording sessions began for this album due to him running his mouth off all around town. Nothing new there right?

The only single released was opening track Stay With Me Tonight, which dented the lower regions of the charts. Truth be told the vibe and groove is totally different on this album, with a much more mature blues rock feel. Shortino is a great vocalist and they played to his strengths, but that wasn’t what the fans wanted. I really like this album, the songs are great just not very commercial.

Calling The Shots has a great groove and Carlos Cavazo plays some great guitar, and the hook and chorus are really cool. King Of The Hill is my favourite track. Killer riff and groove, and Shortino sings his ass off. This should have been a single! The Joker has a slow stomp groove and would have been great live with that call and repeat vocal. If the record company wanted to release a big commercial track they should have released Don’t Wanna Be Your Fool. Put a big video to that and winner winner chicken dinner.

I think the problem was that it wasn’t the guy with the big mouth fronting the band and the sound was just too different. Great album though!

8/10 from The Grooveman.

« Older posts Newer posts »