THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Tag: music review (Page 266 of 493)

RAINBOW – On Stage

August 15, 2022 /

What was it with the seventies producing so many great live albums? There are a ton of them, and all (for the most part) are killer recordings. Mr Blackmore himself appeared on possibly the greatest of them all – Made In Japan. This album came out in ’77 and draws from the band’s first two albums – plus a cover of Purples Mistreated.

I’m not the biggest Dio fan as I never really connected with the whole swords and sorcery thing, but he does sing his ass off in this recording. It’s great to hear Cozy Powell pounding the crap out of his kit here – you forget how good he was.

Here’s one for the trivia fans. It is rumoured that Phil Taylor from Motorhead drew inspiration for the track “Overkill” from Cozy’s performance on Kill The King from this album.

You don’t get the chance to hear Ritchie rip it up on the guitar much these days, but back in the day he never missed an opportunity as nearly every track gets the treatment – especially on the Blues showcase. They were not afraid to flesh out the tunes in a live setting, as Catch The Rainbow is at 15.40, and Mistreated is at 13.04. They are the real highlights of the album, but my favourite is Kill The King as this song rips along and is better than the album version.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

METALLICA – Master Of Puppets

August 13, 2022 /

We all know the Black album sold in its squillions (still does to this day), and it is a great album. It is the one Metallica album that everyone knows, but is it their best? The albums after the Black album contain some memorable songs, but they never reached the heights.

St Anger is a bit of a stinker if I’m being honest. And Justice is a good album, but lacks in the production department and that just leaves the first three. All are classics of the genre, and I’ll never forget hearing Kill Em All for the first time – it was a total game changer, and Ride The Lightning is its twin, but Master Of Puppets is an outright masterpiece and possibly the best thrash album, period. It would also be the last appearance of Cliff Burton before his tragic death.

You can tell they stopped to think about this album and made it as crushing and as awesome as they possibly could. What an opening with Battery – such a killer tune that just melts your face with the riff and speed of the thing. How heavy is The Thing That Should Not Be? Sabbath would have wet themselves if they had come up with that! It’s quite fitting that Orion is on this album – it’s a great tribute to a one off character as Cliff was.

This is the best Metallica album and also is the best thrash album to boot.

10/10 from The Grooveman.

TREAT – The Endgame

August 13, 2022 /

Having achieved some moderate success in the mid-to-late eighties, the band disbanded in the early nineties, only for Frontiers to resurrect the band in about 2010. This is the fourth release of the comeback, and for me it’s one of their best.

As with all Swedish bands, they know how to write great melodies with riffs and grooves that matter. Freudian Slip opens things up and its classic Treat, with the big hook and riff driving along. Rabbit Hole is more of the same, with a killer middle eight that reminds me of classic Talisman. Sinbiosis is up next and starts with a nice keyboard guitar duel before a cool chugga riff drives the tune along, and just to rub it in, the hook and chorus are top drawer as if they do this in their sleep. Home Of The Brave is just one big anthem – hands and lighters in the air here peeps! Nice acoustic intro to Both Ends Burning – its the most commercial track on the album – until we get to the killer heavy instrumental section – an awesome tune! My Parade is next and it’s ballad time I’m afraid…

Wake Me When It’s Over has a superb guitar intro and the vocal melody is really infectious. Jesus From Hollywood starts with a very busy guitar riff with church choir vocals over the top, and then it’s normal service with the massive hook and chorus. It’s ballad number two with Magic, which does remind me of something else – but I guess it’s just one of those melodies. I guess somebody had a bad experience with a Carolina Reaper to name a song after one, but the song is far from down – it’s a very uplifting melody and hook. Dark To Light has the heaviest main riff of all the songs and is my favourite on the album. The album closes out with To The End Of Love, and this is the one song that reminds of Journey. It’s a big AOR monster of a tune. A great album that has great songs with melody and groove.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

SCALE THE SUMMIT – Carving Desert Canyons

August 12, 2022 /

Progressive Technical Metal is a weird little sub-genre that popped up after Dream Theater became popular – then the media wanted a table to put all these bands in. This was released in 2009, and is the band’s second album, which I think was the same year that they appeared on Dream Theater’s Progessive Nation tour. I first heard of them a bit before when they were on a three band bill with Fair To Midland and Periphery.

I love heavy instrumental music the more technical the better and this ticks all the boxes for me. Opener, Bloom, is a wonderful exercise in how many riffs and grooves can we put into one song and keep it very melodic. Sargasso Sea is a lot more of a laid back tune and feels almost like a soundtrack to a movie. The Great Plains follows and has these huge sounding picked arpeggios that repeat over and over that slowly change and evolve into a more laid back vibe. Giants closes out Side 1 and is the heaviest piece yet with some killer drums from Pat Skeffington.

Age Of Tides kicks off Side 2 and has a very busy opening with the riffs and picked chords dominating everything. Glacial Planet starts with the most serene peaceful opening, and quickly turns heavy with a complete contrast. City In The Sky has the most normal riff and beat on the whole album, until they get bored and make it very complex. The album closes with Dunes, and it’s a return to the ever repeating picked notes that underpin the whole song, while differing melodies play over the top. I appreciate this is not everyone’s cup of tea, but I do get off on albums like this as I find them challenging and very rewarding.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

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