THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Tag: music review (Page 268 of 479)

VAN HALEN – Diver Down

June 17, 2022 /

The album of the first six that everyone hates on. The only thing that bugs me is it is the shortest album ever, at just a tad over 29 minutes. One of the biggest criticism is there are too many covers. Well, the record company forced them into the studio to record an album when they thought they were going to get some downtime so, covers was a good way of coming up with a quick album. The covers that they chose weren’t obvious and you have to admit they are great renditions.

The band’s first single was a Kinks cover so, a return to them with Where Have All The Good Times Gone was an inspired choice and they made it their own. Hang ‘Em High is a monster uptempo track with an awesome riff and groove. Cathedrals is Eddie playing around with swells, a chorus peddle, and his volume control for a neat solo piece. Secrets is one of my favourite tracks on the album with a really cool groove, and Eddie gives it the beans with a superb solo. Intruder was added to Pretty Women as the song itself was too short for the video they shot, and it’s Ed just torturing a guitar – you have to admit this version of Pretty Woman is killer. Dancing In The Street was a Dave choice for a cover, and it shows the band could play anything and make it their own. Little Guitars is a superb original, and again the band are  really stretching out here taking their sound off piste. Big Bad Bill is a traditional swing standard, and Eddie and All get to play with their dad who plays the clarinet. The Full Bug is Van Halen doing what they do best: a full on boogie with plenty of swagger and a ripping solo from Ed. We close out with Happy Trails, which the band used to do acapella live.

I love this album just as much as the other Dave era albums and it gets 10/10 from the Grooveman.

TRIXTER – s/t

June 16, 2022 /

I’m sure you’ve all noticed that there are a lot of counterfeit releases of original albums doing the rounds at the moment, and believe me there are a lot of them. This Trixter record is hard to find an original copy in the wild, and when you do it goes for stupid money so I thought I would try one of these knock off copies to see what it’s like.

First off, the cover is pretty poor as it’s just a scan of the CD. It’s been enlarged to fit the LP size, it’s slightly out of focus, and slightly pixelated. The quality of the record is really good heavyweight vinyl. The recording itself is just a rip from the CD and sounds a bit flat. You can’t take away from the music however, as this is a really good album, always was and always will be. I’m a big admirer of Steve Brown as a guitar player and his playing is outstanding on this album. Of course they have the songs to match his talents and Line Of Fire is a great opening track with a killer hook and chorus. Heart Of Steel is high on the melody with a killer solo. Highlight of the album is Side 2 opener Bad Girl, which starts with some guitar gymnastics and flows, into a killer sleazy riff and groove, with a super catchy hook and chorus. You’ll Never See Me Cryin’ should have been a huge single, great song with super catchy beat and groove. Ride The Whip is a killer rock night special guaranteed to get the toe a tappin’.

So do you want to fork out a fortune for an original or get an affordable copy?

9/10 from The Grooveman.

H.E.A.T – 2

June 16, 2022 /

This is the bands 6th studio album and the last to feature vocalist Erik Gronwall, who jumped ship to join Skid Row. For those who maybe are unaware, H.E.A.T are a Swedish melodic rock band that write super catchy tunes with massive hooks and hands in the air sing-a-long choruses. Yet again, another band that would have been huge in the eighties.

Rock Your Body gets things up with a massive ear worm hook and chorus. Dangerous Ground follows is even better and quite possibly the best song on the album. Huge monster riff, a killer hook and melody, and superb middle solo. Phew – and thats only track 2!!! Come Clean opens up with a dual keyboard and guitar riff, the emphasis for this track is the huge melody. Victory is next with a great choppy opening riff and a very Eurovision vibe to the melody and hook. Side 1 closes out with We Are Gods, the intro is very dramatic and epic with a huge vocal and evil riff until the main melody kicks in. Coverdale wishes he sounded this good!

Adrenaline opens up Side 2 and it’s more of the same big riff, big hook, and massive chorus – they seem to churn these out with ease. One By One follows and this sounds just like eighties US hair band heaven. It’s a relentless bombardment of hooks and melody. Well I guess it had to happen, it’s ballad city with Nothing To Say. A return to normality with Heaven Must Have Won An Angel. This feels like if ABBA were a metal band this is what they would come up with. Next up is the best track on the album: Under The Gun – what a killer riff!!! If you only listen to one track on this album then please let it be this one, I guarantee you’ll be hooked. The album closes out with Rise and it’s basically where we came in, big riff and all the melodic trimmings! Any rock fan would love this.

10/10 from The Grooveman.

JOE SATRIANI – Not Of This Earth

June 15, 2022 /

Other than his previous solo band Squares, who he recorded one album with, this is Joe’s second album released back in ’86. Joe opened  the door for all guitarists to release solo instrumental albums and brought them into the mainstream.

Not as commercial sounding as Alien, as there are moments of what I call fusion, this album is still a huge leap forward in terms of style. Joe has a great sense of melody to his playing which really appeals to me, and on tracks like Rubina (which I think is dedicated to his wife) the emotion he creates is jaw dropping. Then again, on The Enigmatic he is channeling his inner Robert Fripp, as this reminds me of King Crimson. Driving At Night is superb with its very eighties drum machine, keyboards, and killer guitar. Hordes Of Locusts is more of what we’d get on the next album with the same vibe and sound, and some serious fretboard gymnastics. Of course Joe is now at the top of the tree but this was a huge gamble when it first came out.

8/10 from The Grooveman.

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