THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Tag: music review (Page 262 of 493)

BRITNY FOX – Boys In Heat

August 24, 2022 /

This is the band’s second album that came out in ’89. Very similar in style to Cinderella, and that is mainly due to the gravelly vocal style of Tom Keifer and Dizzy Dean Davidson. In fact, Dizzy Dean would leave the band after this album to form Blackeyed Susan.

On to the tunes, and this album is a step up from their self titled debut. Opening track, In Motion, is a killer tune with a great groove and riff, and is slam-glam-thank-you-man. Standing In The Shadows follows and is more of the same with a cool hook and chorus. Hair Of The Dog is a cover of the Nazareth classic, and it’s pretty hard to cover a classic like that and improve on it – the original is better. Livin’ On A Dream is up next, and a deep heavy blues vibe starts things off before they sleaze things up nicely. She’s So Lonely has a sleazy main riff and a great hook and chorus, and if you close your eyes you’d think this was Cinderella. Dream On has the same vibe as Poison’s Every Rose, mainly due to the acoustic guitar. Long Way From Home closes out Side 1, and if anyone’s counting, that’s 7 tracks on Side 1. Short and to the point my friends. Very Bon Jovi in vibe and would have made a great single.

Side 2 rolls in with Plenty Of Love – a great fat riff and groove and it’s hair metal 101. Great track! Stevie is the second of two tracks that Dizzy Dean shares writing duties, and it’s quite a simple riff but heavy on the sleaze. Shine On starts with huge chords and has a slow vibe and groove. Angel In My Heart has monster chords, and they are trying their best to channel their inner Springsteen. Left Me Stray is AC/DC homage time, and then the album closes out with Longroad – it’s ballad time with that hint of country thrown in.

My favourite track is opening tune, In Motion. Don’t think Britny Fox got the credit they deserved, and things would change after this album.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

CALIGULA’S HORSE – Rise Radiant

August 23, 2022 /

The Prog metal world is a deep dark world where there are so many bands vying for your attention that it’s easy to miss killer releases that just fall by the wayside. This album had been out two years before I managed to hear a tune whilst bandcamping one night. So I dived in and bought the whole album.

First song in The Tempest reminds of djent royalty Tesseract, especially with the heavy groove and melodic vocal. The solo is really cool by Sam Vallen. Killer opening track!!! Slow Violence has a very busy main riff and a wicked groove. I love crazy time signatures! Salt leads you into a false sense of security with a very delicate piano intro, and then insanity ensues with a crazy drum pattern and heavy riffs aplenty. That then subsides into a beautiful delicate vocal. WOW!!! Resonate is a beautiful atmospheric piece with a delicate soft vocal. Oceanrise has a superb choppy main riff, and the drum groove is wonderful. Valkyrie has an insane riff and groove at the intro; this is my favourite track. Freaking awesome!!! Autumn is another beautiful melodic piece driven by the main acoustic guitar. The Ascent is technically the last track on the record proper, and it’s crazy riff city. The track is full of dynamic light and shade moments.

On the vinyl you get two bonus tracks, which are both covers. The first is a great version of Peter Gabriel’s Don’t Give Up, and the next is a cover of Split Enz’ Message To My Girl. Both oversee the band putting their stamp on each of them. It’s worth going down the rabbit whole on bandcamp as there are some amazing bands out there.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

THE POLICE – Around The World

August 23, 2022 /

If any of you have seen the documentary of The Police that this album comes from, then you know what a killer band The Police were at this time. They were all still friends and hungry for success, as this was recorded at various venues throughout the world just after the release of their second album, Regatta De Blanc.

There are nine tracks on offer here and the band are just smokin’. All Sting compositions apart from Daethwish which was a whole band tune, and Can’t Stand Losing You which was written by Sting and two outside writers. I won’t go through the tracks here as I’m sure you’re all familiar but I will say this: there is no one else like The Police either before or after. I saw them on their first tour and this one, and they were freaking awesome. Side 2 of this release is one of the best live recordings you will hear. On this recording my favourite track is Bring On The Night; such a killer version.

10/10 from The Grooveman.

TESLA – Psychotic Supper

August 22, 2022 /

This is the band’s third album, released in the dark days of ’91 (well, at least for rock bands anyway). But that didn’t stop Tesla from releasing one of their best albums and going out and doing good business on tour. I mean, eventually it did have an effect on them as after the next album (Bust A Nut), they would not release an album until 2004. This is a 2016 reissue and it still has Man Out Of Time listed on the cover but crossed out.

The opener, Change In The Weather is a killer opening track with a very raw rock n’ roll vibe. Edison’s Medicine kicks off with some guitar histrionics and leads into one of the best on the album. What a killer tune, great hook and melody. Don’t De-Rock Me is a serious up tempo monster with an epic riff, and sees the band rocking faster than they ever have; it is my favourite on the album. That middle eight!!! Call It What You Want follows, and is a classic hair rock anthem. Song & Emotion is a tribute to their friend Def Leppard’s Steve Clark, and is quite a heartfelt piece. That twin guitar attack of Frank Hannon and Tommy Skeoch is one of the best in the business, and on Time they are giving it their inner Aerosmith with a superb dirty groover.

Government Personnel is a good old country/folk Americana piece. Freedom Slaves starts off real slow before that massive guitar hook kicks in. Had Enough has a very simple riff in the same vein as Judas Priest, but is a great fun tune. Another country infused track is next in What You Give, and just like Poison, every band knows that a little country goes a long way.

Onto the final side now, Stir It Up starts with a psychedelic vibe and as the volume goes up that little bit of country creeps in. Can’t Stop has a killer intro that just builds the anticipation into a great rock song and hats off to the wonderful middle section. The album closes out with Toke About It; again, that Aerosmith vibe is strong with a hint of funk thrown in. Tesla don’t make bad albums and it’s good to see them still cranking out great tunes.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

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