THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Tag: music review (Page 323 of 482)

SAVATAGE – Power Of The Night

February 2, 2022 /

This is the second album, released in ’85, from one of the most influential bands in the progressive metal scene. Formed by brothers, Jon and Criss Oliva, as Avatar back in ’79, they have always tried to push themselves to produce metal that was slightly different from the norm. Originally produced by Max Norman, this reissue has been remastered specifically for this release and sounds awesome.

Power Of The Night starts things off nicely with a nice fat riff and a really cool melody. Unusual (as the title says) does have a different feel to the metal normal groove with a really cool instrumental section. Warriors is a straight up metal assault with an earworm chorus. Necrophilia is up next, and I think you’ll agree, its something we all talk about around the dinner table, and carries on from where Warriors ended. Washed out closes out Side 1 and its an all out double kick fest speed assault.

Hard For Your Love starts Side 2 with a Judas Priest style groover and a very commercial sounding chorus. Fountain Of Youth is up next and is the weakest track on the album. Skull Session on the other hand has a killer riff and groove that makes it my favourite track on the album. Jon Olivia sounds remarkably like Russel Allen on this track, plus the bonus of great guitar from Criss Oliva. Stuck On You has a wicked groove and riff to the intro with a Trampled Under Foot vibe. The album closes out proper with the anthem, In The Dream. For this edition there is a bonus demo track of No More Saturday Nights.

The band’s masterpieces would follow later with Hall Of the Mountain King and Gutter Ballet, but this is still a solid album.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

VAN HALEN – Balance

February 1, 2022 /

Before we get started, I’ll just put this out there: if it ain’t Roth, it ain’t Van Halen!

The first six albums are untouchable, and are all classics in my book. Yes, even Diver Down! I’m not the biggest Sam The Sham fan for reasons that I wont mention here. This is the only VH album with him singing that I really like, and that’s because Ed’s guitar sound is incredible.

5150 must have been shaking when this album was recorded, as the guitar tone and sound is just mean and angry. Seventh Seal opens the album and the groove and feel is epic, and the guitar…jeez! The riff and tone to Don’t Tell Me What Love Can Do is off the scale. What a killer sound and the solos…damn! The groove, feel, and tone to Amsterdam is killer, and Reverend Al’s drum sound is huge. Aftershock is on the money musically, and the riff and groove are killer, but I’m pretty sure the vocal line is from some old rock n roll tune. Great to see a full instrumental track on a VH album, and I’m pretty sure there are a lot of those in the VH vaults.

I wrote this on Ed’s birthday, and its still hard to believe that he is no longer with us, but he sure left is a great body of work. It’s the best Hagar era album.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

ECLIPSE – Wired

February 1, 2022 /

This is the latest release from Sweden’s finest exponents of melodic rock. It still amazes me that this band are not more well know. I know I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m not sure why they don’t get a mention on a radio show like Eddie Trunk’s, as they are head and shoulders above some of the bands he has on there – I guess he doesn’t do his own research.

It’s more of the same from Eclipse here, basically great rock songs with big hooks and melodies and a killer production. I’d be interested to know how big they are in Sweden, if at all, or is this just a project that comes together so Frontiers can release an album.

There is a bonus track for vinyl only, Ain’t No Fun, which believe it or not is one of the best tracks on the album. It has a great melody and hook plus a superb solo. I was having a conversation with a friend and he mentioned that he doesn’t like the band as they sound too “Eurovision Song Contest”. I sort of get that, but surely a great song is a great song right?

Anyway, I love them and I think this is a great record. My favourite track is Bite The Bullet, which has a huge monster riff, a massive guitar sound, and an awesome melody. If you like your rock with big hooks and melodies, then give this a try.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

ALANNAH MYLES – s/t

January 31, 2022 /

So is this a one song album? When you get a song as good as Black Velvet, which won a Grammy for best single that year, its going to be looming over the rest of the album like some giant monolith.

It is the best song on the album for sure, but this is a very strong pop/rock album with that typical late eighties sound. Superb crystal clear production make this a great listen. Alannah has that slight country tinge to her voice, and one of the songs does go in that direction. But its tracks like Love Is that have a cool funky rock vibe to them that do it for me. Rock This Joint is a close second for best track on the album category as it really smokes.

She also goes full on rock with Kick Start My Heart, which has a very sleazy groove to it. I would have released Just One Kiss as a single just to show the harder edge to her music. Overall, this is a really strong record and is fun listen. For a dollar, which is what it cost me, it was a real bargain.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

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