THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Tag: music review (Page 348 of 493)

SAMANTHA FISH – Faster

December 10, 2021 /

Although only 32 years old, this is Samantha’s 11th release and is up there with one of her best. Often pigeonholed as a Blues artist, she is way more than that. Numerous genres and vibes appear on this album, which is an awesome collection of tunes that will get everyone up and groovin’ at some point.

Opening track, Faster, is a modern pop monster of a tune with a great vibe and really catchy chorus. The same can be said of All Ice And Whiskey, which has a great RnB/Country crossover groove and would have made a great single. Twisted Ambition is a superb Blues/Country groovefest, and by this point its a contender for album of the year with it’s killer opening! The vibe slows down with the seriously groovy and modern Hypnotic, until the Blues makes a rockin’ appearance in the middle section. This is what makes Samantha such a great artist, her willingness to take chances within a very tired and worn genre. A very modern do wop/Motown arrangement to Forever Together keeps the surprises coming. Side 1 closes out with Crowd Control which starts with a slow electronic rhythm and has a modern country vibe.

Over to the flip side we go with Imaginary War and the quality keeps on coming – this time we get funky undertone to the grooves. Loud is up next which starts real slow and explodes occasionally with a big Country/Rock blast, but the big surprise to this track is the mid section rap from Tech 9. Better Be Lonely has a killer melody and hook, and for some reason it reminds me of old ZZ Top. So Called Lover is such a good song and I’ll just put this out there, if this was Taylor Swift the pop world would be in raptures. Like A Classic is another really cool pop tune, which then takes us to the album closer, All Time Words, and it’s all about the power and beauty in Samantha’s voice.

An awesome album and I suggest you all run out and get one.

10/10 from The Grooveman.

JUNKYARD – s/t

December 9, 2021 /

Released in ’89, the band were put together from a mixture of different LA bands to form a group with a similar attitude to Guns & Roses – or so the press wanted us to believe. Definitely a barroom vibe to the whole band with that hint of sleaze and southern groove. In fact, Molly Hatchet’s Duane Roland plays on one song.

It’s on the up-tempo numbers that gets my interest, like opening track Blooze and the excellent Shot In The Dark which is a real feel-good-its-Friday type of rocker. In fact, you can add Motorhead to their influences, as Side 2 opener Life Sentence seems to steal a very familiar riff.

Nothing groundbreaking here, just good old good time rock n roll.

8/10 from The Grooveman.

STRATOVARIUS – Polaris

December 9, 2021 /

I didn’t realize these guys had been going so long, but they released their first album back in ’89. This is their 12th album which came out back in 2009. They have managed to go through a seemingly revolving door of members, the most famous of which would be guitarist Timo Tolkki. The sound has evolved somewhat over time and they are now a very melodic power metal outfit. Taking the melody of say Europe, and the metal of say other Euro Metal bands such as Edguy. The emphasis here being on the vocals and guitar. I’d even say that going further back that early Rainbow would have been an influence as well.

This is the first album after the departure of founding member Tolkki. In fact, he actually disbanded the band but agreed to let them continue with the name. This album is not as heavy as previous efforts as Winter Skies and Forever Is Today are the only tracks that really bring the heavy, but the album is still an impressive release. My favourite track is the two part Emancipation Suite, which is epic. I really love the grandiose overblown nature of the beast. It’s these type of narrative tracks that are what the band are known best for.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

IRON MAIDEN – Live After Death

December 8, 2021 /

Confession time! This is the only Iron Maiden album I own with Bruce Dickinson on vocals. I loved the first two Maiden albums with Dianno on vocals as they were new and had that hard punky edge to them. Funnily enough, I don’t mind Bruce’s solo material though.

This was recorded on the Powerslave tour and Bruce was three albums in to his Maiden career, so there were still quite a lot of Dianno era tunes aired at this point. For someone like me, this a perfect album to buy as it’s an almost best of. Recorded part in London and part in LA, the band were really a tight unit and certainly on fire. My favourite tracks here are the older tracks Obvious and Phantom Of The Opera. I think the two guitar set up works better than the three they have now.

If you’re a Maiden fan you will all ready have this, if not and you want an introduction to the band, then it’s not a bad place to start.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

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