THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Tag: music review (Page 324 of 482)

MEANSTREAK – Roadkill

January 31, 2022 /

If any of you were wondering what Mrs. Portnoy, Mrs. Petrucci, and Mrs. Myung were doing in a previous life, then you need to look no further. Marlene and Rena provide the twin guitar attack, and Marten’s plays the bass in this, the band’s only release on Mercenary Records back in ’88. For any who may be interested, Rena still plays in a band called Judas Priestess.

So what is it like, I hear you cry? Well its not bad at all if I’m honest. The influences are what was around at the time – Anthrax and Overkill definitely spring to mind, but with a tad more melody in the tunes. The riffs are all there, and Bettina France has one hell of a set of pipes – boy can she hit the high notes! For an album that was recorded in just 8 days, this is really good. The production is a bit flat, but I’m surprised they never recorded a follow up. The best songs are the thrashier speedier tunes like the title track, which is killer, and I also love Nostradamus. Not a bad attempt.

8/10 from The Grooveman.


EDGE OF PARADISE – The Unknown

January 29, 2022 /

This band were described to me as a rockier version of Halestorm with Lizzy Hale. Now I’m sure Miss Hale is a wonderful person, but that cold-manufactured -in-a-studio Rock does absolutely nothing for me. I thought this band were new on the scene, but this is their fourth album and I have to say I am very impressed. Big fat huge riffs wrapped around the three octave vocals of Margarita Monet. It’s very commercial sounding as tracks like Digital Paradise and My Method Your Madness would have made great tracks to release to the rock charts. I actually thought they were European as they have that sound, but nope, they are from California.

The track, False Idols, has a Metallica vibe to the riff and intro, and you have to wonder if their biggest asset is also their biggest drawback. Margarita has an unreal voice, but when she goes really high it can be quite off-putting. Dave Bates is a really good guitar player, his riffs and leads sound killer, but they seem to have a revolving door of drummers and bass players. They are on their sixth of both and you wonder if this is a band or a project. The best track by quite by a mile is My Method Your Madness. This is when it all comes together. The song and the melody are so strong, and Margarita’s vocals seem to be tailor made for tracks like this.

I hope they do find the niche they are looking for, as when it works, it’s really good.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

MANZANERA – K-Scope

January 29, 2022 /

I guess Phil is mostly known for being the original guitar player in Roxy Music, but he has done a few solo things as well as a ton of collaborations. He is also a very successful producer having worked with Dave Gilmour among many.

This is his second solo album released in ’78 and is a mixture of instrumentals and vocal tracks. Tim Finn from Crowded House supplies the vocals. It’s very of its time as there is a punk-new wave vibe to a lot of the tracks, but also mixed with a heavy dose of Prog. I remember buying this at the time as I loved his 801 project and I was looking forward to seeing this live, but if I remember rightly Roxy Music reformed not long after and Phil went back to them.

Musically the whole album is all over the map reflecting Phil’s many influences like the wild King Crimson style tracks like the intro to Hot Spot, and the pure reggae of Cuban Crisis, to the very indie sounds of Remote Control. You even get a bit of Roxy Music with Slow Motion TV. My favourite track is N Shift as I love all the layered guitars with echo used to great effect.

Another artist that is off most people’s radar, but if you like weird and wonderful records then this could be for you.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

LIZZY BORDEN – Give ‘Em The Axe

January 28, 2022 /

Thanks to Metal Blade Records for putting these great early reissues out as the originals are going for ridiculous money.

Other than a demo, this is the band’s first recording, a four track EP. Very influenced by NWOBHM bands of the time, especially Iron Maiden, as you will hear on Kiss Of Death which is a ringer. I remember thinking at the time that all the American bands had taken the whole NWOBHM thing as an inspiration and improved on it.

For a first EP, this is pretty impressive, and No Time To Lose is a really great track with awesome twin guitar leads. I have to say I was surprised (and still am) that they put a cover as the last track on a four track EP, but at least it’s a good one with Rainbow’s Long Live Rock n Roll. Although they never quite made it per say, they had a decent career in the eighties.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

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