THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Tag: music review (Page 280 of 486)

KING KING – Reaching For The Light

June 3, 2022 /

This is the third album from Scotland’s finest blues rock quartet. The main feature of the band is the amazing vocal and guitar skills of Alan Nimmo, that’s not to take anything away from the rest of band it’s just that Alan is visually and sonically front and centre.

Hurricane is a nice opener with a great groove and riff, with a killer vocal. You Stopped The Rain is as near to a ballad as this album gets. Waking Up has an almost country vibe to add to the mix. A really killer tune with a very tasty solo. Rush Hour starts with a picked riff and just Alan’s superb vocal. The dynamic just builds into a monster tune with a huge guitar sound and epic ending. Crazy is all squealing feedback until the funky groove takes over and the middle eight is awesome. Lay With Me is old school RnB. A Stevie Wonder keyboard vibe starts Just A Little Lie with a very funky under groove. Take A Look is power ballad territory with a superb melodic solo. Stranger To Love closes out the album and it’s the best track on the album. Superb vocal, killer groove and riff, man this track just hits the spot.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

SAXON – Denim And Leather

June 3, 2022 /

This is the third of Saxon’s golden period releases. I remember being a tad disappointed at the time mainly due to the title track, which I thought was pandering to the masses somewhat.

The album opens with prime Saxon with Princess Of The Night. An ode to Biff’s love of steam trains and this is what they did the best. A great riff coupled with a very memorable hook and chorus, and a superb groove. Never Surrender follows, a superb simple riff with a few nice key changes, and that huge hands-in-the-air sing-a-long chorus. They manage to combine early Whitesnake with their own sound with Play It Loud, where the lead riff is very Bernie Marsden. The best single on the album is And The Bands Played On, which is a tribute to the first Donnington and what an awesome day that was. Fire In The Sky is my favourite tune on the album. A great fast paced rocker with plenty of guitar histrionics. I still feel as though it’s the weakest of the four, that’s not to say it’s a bad album, it’s not, it’s just that the other three are so good.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

RICK SPRINGFIELD – Tao

June 2, 2022 /

Everyone is familiar with the housewives’ favourite Jesse’s Girl, that made Mr Springfield a star. This album is quite removed from that sound, a very eighties album that embraces the technology of the day to create imho a pop/rock masterpiece.

The first two tracks Dance This World Away and Celebrate Youth are great opening tracks, with a very high tempo groove and beat with very catchy hooks and melodies. The lead off single however is a return to the tried and trusted ballad format with State Of The Heart. There is no doubt that the guy can write a hit song. He wrote everything apart from the opening track by himself, and if you get some killer musicians to play the tunes you write then it’s winner winner chicken dinner. I’m sure your familiar by now that ballads aren’t my go-to format, so it’s the rockin’ tunes that appeal the most so, Dance This World Away and Stranger In The House are my favourites on the album.  

Rick is still making music and I think he is on to album # 5000 or something. Very prolific.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

RAVEN – All For One

June 2, 2022 /

Where would metal be without the NWOBHM? Interesting question that I have had many a discussion about. Raven are one of the bands that seem to get missed off the influenced list, and I’m sure their brand of athletic power metal was an influence to some American bands for sure. They were a whole bunch of fun Live and never took themselves too seriously that’s for sure. Maybe that was one of the reasons they never made it in the big leagues.

This is the third album and the last before on an independent. Their best album will forever be Rock Until You Drop. I don’t think they will ever beat that, and who can forget Tyrant Of The Airwaves? My favourite tracks on this album are Hung Drawn And Quartered, and Seek And Destroy – they are the two tunes that could sit happily on the first album with huge amounts of energy and head banging grooves that put a big smile on my face. The rest of the album is standard NWOBHM stompers to keep the diehards happy.

8/10 from The Grooveman.

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