THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Tag: music review (Page 340 of 493)

THE HOAX – Big City Blues

January 20, 2022 /

The Hoax are one of the best British blues bands to have ever existed. They released their first album, Sound Like This, in ’94 and after ’99’s Live Forever they would call it a day, until this comeback album in 2013. An absolute killer band led by vocalist Hugh Coleman, twin guitars of Jesse Davey and John Amor, and rhythm section with Robin Davey on bass and Mark Barrett on drums. They tread a line between modern blues and a more traditional sound and vibe.

Opening track, Hipslicker, is just superb with a great hook and groove, and some killer guitar playing. The title track has a more traditional feel, but grooves along great with a fast shuffle. The big fuzz of Let It Shine follows with a killer groove and hook. Stick Around is an evil sounding shuffle with a great vocal from Hugh Coltman – one of the best blues vocalists you will hear. The superb, Give Me A Drink, closes out Side 1 with a wonderful swing to the groove and some killer guitar from Jon and Jesse.

Two Steps Back is in the great tradition of blues story telling, a very slow blues with a really stunning vocal from Hugh. Keep Messin’ is more traditional in arrangement, and even complete with some great harp playing. A very dirty slow fuzzed up riff to Talk Is Cheap is next up, and that leads into the boogie of Can’t Do Right For Doing Wrong. The traditional shuffle of Roll On Up is next, and the album finishes with Tes Nuits Insolits, a slow jazz blues crossover sung in French. A really awesome band that deserved so much more than they got.

9.5/10 from The Grooveman.

TYGERS OF PAN TANG – Wildcat

January 19, 2022 /

Tygers are definitely one of the more influential bands from the NWOBHM. A lot of metal bands that came after, especially in America and Germany, call the Tygers a major influence. Metallica’s Lars and James especially love early Tygers and this album in particular. This is the only album to feature Jess Cox on vocals, as after this album he was replaced by John Devarall, and a second guitar player was added with John Sykes being brought in. The band’s label, MCA, heavily interfered after this release and it slowly went downhill after. Spellbound was the highlight after this album, and there is not one bad track on this record. From the opening riff of Euthanasia, to the close out of Insanity, this album encapsulates everything that was great about NWOBHM.

I remember buying the Don’t Touch Me There single and just loving the power and the riffs. My two favourite Tyger’s tracks are on this album: Slave To Freedom and Susie Smiled, which are both killer tunes with big riffs and a great groove. Tygers are still out there and still rockin’.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

VAIN – No Respect

January 19, 2022 /

Vain were one of the most hyped bands of the late eighties glam/sleaze scene, at least they were in the pages of Kerrang and Sounds magazines. Every week one of their hacks was waxing lyrical about the band, and I was very interested to see if the tunes lived up to all the hype. Ultimately you can wear all the fancy clothes and have the biggest hair on the block, but if you ain’t got the tunes, all the hype in the world won’t save you.

It’s a good album, but was it worth all the hype? I would say not. Don’t get me wrong, it’s an enjoyable listen, but is it the first Van Halen album? Davy has a decent voice and the band can really play. On tracks like 1000 Degrees it all comes together really well, and when the they play it really sleazy on tunes like Aces, this seems to be when they are most comfortable. The emphasis is all on Davy’s vocals, well it is his band after all, and on the slower tunes like Without You, it works.

My favourite track is the last track, Ready, as the pace picks up several notches and the album ends on a high. Special mention to guitarist Danny West as he adds some great licks to all the songs. The band are still going after fading in and out a few times, and that sort of sums this album up really.

7.5/10 from The Grooveman.

TESTAMENT – The Legacy

January 18, 2022 /

What we have here ladies and hemorrhoids, is a wonderful reissue of Testament’s first album which was originally released in ’87. Metallica had released 3 albums and were huge by the time Testament had recorded this, and they both came out of that same Bay Area scene. Chuck Billy had replaced Steve Zetro Souza in ’86 on vocals, who went on to replace Paul Ballof in Exodus, making him, along with Eric Peterson, the only two members to appear on all albums.

In my opinion, Testament had the best twin guitars of any of the early thrash bands, as both Skolnick and Peterson can really shred. The band always write killer tacks that you can groove to that’s what makes the band great. Highlights for me are Burnt Offerings, which does borrow heavily from the Metallica school of riffing but is a killer track, just for the sheer insanity of the how fast can we actually play a riff is C.O.T.L.O.D, which puts a big smile on my face, and the final track, Apocalyptic City, which along with the insane thrash riffage has some killer guitar.

They slow down somewhat for their next album, The New Order, which for me is their best album.

8/10 from The Grooveman.

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