THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Tag: music review (Page 352 of 493)

THUNDER – The Greatest Hits

December 1, 2021 /

I have always been astonished that Thunder never cracked America as their brand of blues rock is absolutely tailored for American audiences. This album is perfect for the likes of myself, as it says on the label “All Killer No Filler”. Thunder have been responsible for writing some of the best melodic rock songs ever, it’s just that they have never managed to write that perfect record and there was always at least one track that didn’t quite cut the mustard for me. So to get a package like this with all the classics spread over a triple album is perfect for me.

From the first single, Dirty Love, to The Thing I Want, this it a stunning selection of songs that I think I am safe in saying that everyone should own one of these. There are so many classics here, but my favourites are The Thing I Want, River Of Pain and I Love You More Than Rock N Roll. Those three alone, if released as singles to American rock radio, should have done it for them. Was it bad management or just plain bad luck? Who knows!

10/10 from The Grooveman.

DIANNO – s/t

November 30, 2021 /

We are all aware of Dianno’s past with Maiden and his numerous solo outings. which are most definitely on the heavy side of town, but I’m not sure everyone is aware of this attempt at doing a melodic rock album in a very American Journey style. Well, this is it, and straight from the off, with the keyboard intro to opening track, Flaming Heart, you know this is no heavy metal album.

It’s not a bad album, but his voice does not suit this type of music. To hear him sing on a very Styx style track like Here To Stay is very odd indeed, especially when he puts in the whoah woahs in true Maiden style. Tales Of The Unexpected is the big number on the album but it falls short, as do most of the song really. That is the main problem here, the material is just average – not bad – just average.

I’ve never heard of any of the band as I guess they were just hired in for this project. The only people who would be interested in this are Maiden completists.

6/10 from The Grooveman.

FEAR FACTORY – Demanufacture

November 30, 2021 /

As far as extreme/industrial metal goes, this album is classed as royalty in that genre. Their second album in, and it’s an absolute classic of the genre. It’s tough to follow that, and they have had a very turbulent time with line ups to emphasize that point. Fear Factory are all about the groove and riff, no guitar solos or any of that nonsense here. The recipe is machine gun double bass mixed with fat chugga riffs. At times brutal in its execution, but very effective, as the head most definitely wants to bang.

Self Bias Resistor is what this band are all about, supremely heavy and unrelenting, yet very groovy at the same time. This is a great reissue and sounds killer with the extra bonus disc live at Ozzfest in ’96. Side 2 of this set is my favourite side. The awesome chugga of Replica kicks things off with a rather melodic but heavy chord pattern, and Burton C Bell sings his best Tommy Victor impression. Quickly followed by the joint best track on the album with New Breed. This is just freaking awesome with the unreal pounding grooves and the most fattest and evil of guitar tones. Dog Day Sunrise on the other hand is the most melodic that this band gets, mixing indie tones with metal grooves and Burt singing clean vocals. Quite possibly the bands finest hour.

If you are into this genre then you should already own this beast, but if not, get on down to your local music emporium and acquire a copy.

10/10 from The Grooveman.

OVERKILL – The Grinding Wheel

November 29, 2021 /

How can you not love a metal band that is named after a Motorhead album? Overkill are the one thrash band that have stuck to their guns and consistently put out great records without compromising. Along with Anthrax, Overkill were the East Coast’s answer to what was happening over in the bay area.

This is the band’s 19th studio album and it is an absolute monster of a record. Mean Green Killing Machine gets things going at a pace and has multiple changes and grooves to keep the most picky of thrash fans happy. Blitz’s vocal on Goddamn Trouble is just epic with the fast delivery to match the groove of the song. The pace and intensity continues with Our Finest Hour, and old school thrash is alive and well and living in NYC. Dudes and dudettes…this album is killer all the way through, and puts one huge smile on your face from beginning to end. You even get the bonus track which is a cover of Thin Lizzy’s Emerald. I really like this band and this is definitely one of the best thrash albums I have heard in eons.

10/10 from The Grooveman.

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