THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Tag: music review (Page 405 of 493)

PAT TRAVERS BAND – Crash And Burn

July 28, 2021 /

This is the album where the blues took a backseat, and slick production gloss took over. It was also the last album to feature drummer Tommy Aldridge, who would later join Ozzy’s circus, and guitarist Pat Thrall. Pat would later join Glenn Hughes in their short lived partnership, and he left Pat with just Mars Cowling as his ever present bass player.

Travers is known for his guitar playing skills, so it was a bit of a surprise when the lead off track, Crash N Burn, was keyboard driven. Now it’s a great track with a killer groove, but if you have heard this done as a three piece with the keyboard parts now being played by a guitar, it sounds awesome. Snorting Whiskey has become a PT classic, with some killer guitar playing – it’s such a good tune. There is a sleazy groovy version of Booker T’s Born Under A Bad Sign, which I really love. My favourite track on the album is the final track, Material Eyes, with its multiple layered guitars and effects that lead into a very big fade out. I don’t think PT ever made a bad album and this is no exception. It’s good to see him still up and playing.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

OPETH – Blackwater Park

July 28, 2021 /

How very clever of the randomizer to pick this today – it’s the 21st anniversary of its release. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the album that brought death metal to the masses. Now, I know a lot of people don’t like death metal because of the deep screams, but when they are done to emphasize the light and dark within songs, then it makes perfect sense. Opeth have always been more than an ordinary death metal band. The musicality has always been above any other band, and in this album, everything came together perfectly.

The Steven Wilson production and mix lifts the music and puts the spotlight on the melody and intricacies of the band (that were somewhat lost before). Make no mistake, this is the finest album of the genre and tracks like The Leper Affinity, The Drapery Falls and Blackwater Park are genre defining tracks. Take away Mikael’s growls, and you have an amazing progressive metal band – in fact – now the screams have gone completely and the band are just a great progressive band. The twelve minutes plus of the title track is as good as it gets. The twists and turns within the music, and the groove and rhythmic changes – you will not hear better.

There is no other band like Opeth. They are unique and instantly recognizable, which is a very hard thing to be in today’s music flooded world. I heartily approve this addition to everyone’s collection, and you should acquire it immediately.

10/10 from The Grooveman.

BULB – Moderately Fast, Adequately Furious

July 27, 2021 /

For anyone who does not know, Bulb is the alter ego of Periphery main-man, Misha Mansoor. I have been a fan of Bulb since the file sharing days pre-Periphery, and it’s been amazing to watch the growth of himself and the band. A lot of the earlier ideas ended up being in the first two Periphery albums. Everything here has either been in demo format, or they didn’t have homes stylistically.

I am so blown away by this record – it is just outstanding. This is an album of extremes, both in sound and in style. The opening track, Unleash The Pwnies Redux, is so extreme in rhythm, groove, and riffage your jaw hits the floor in wonderment. Echo Teuffel is a complete extreme to the previous track, as the ambient sounds and chill groove are sublime – and Bulb’s playing is so good. Breeze Redux is an old demo, but the riffing and djentyness is epic, and again, a killer solo – I love the feel and groove. Maximum rhythm and djent for the start of the next track, Parabolica. The low end to this song is nuts – no one plays these grooves like Bulb. Two Brothers sounds as though it’s a backing track to a game or a manga cartoon – a very dramatic piece. Far To High is a collaboration between Misha and his brother Axel, and is the only track with vocals. It’s the most laid back piece on the album with a killer solo. Fuf Redux is another a really old Bulb piece and a personal favourite. It’s so heavy and insane with the grooves and extreme djentyness – especially towards the end. Did I say this was EPIC??? Press Enter Redux is another older piece with fat riffage, and an ambient under groove with some really melodic leads. Upload Apathy is the first electronic piece that opens with a piano and feels sort of Kraftwerk with attitude. Download Happiness is electronic piece number two, and I love the vibe and feel of it. Last track, And Yet, This Man Will Soar, is very atmospheric and orchestral – it would not be amiss on a film score. Quite a diverse album that delivers to the max and highly recommended.

9.5/10 from The Grooveman.

GUNS N’ ROSES – Appetite For Destruction

July 27, 2021 /

There is no denying that this album is one of the best debut albums of all time. I think it’s also common knowledge that the start of the band was the coming together of Axl Rose’s band, Hollywood Rise, and Tracii Guns’s band, LA Guns. In true Axl style, he proceeded to fall out with all of the members from LA Guns, and replaced them with the rest of the Hollywood Rose guys. The rest they say his history, except it nearly wasn’t, as the band went on a west coast tour which nearly killed them and set new heights for what a human body could handle.

Geffen released Live Like A Suicide just before the band went into studio to record this – just to keep the buzz going. I don’t think anyone was expecting the quality of songs on Appetite to be as good as they were, and I think a big part of that was producer Mike Clink. He managed to capture the car crash nature of the band, and yet, at the same time was able to bring out the all of the awesome in the songs. Five singles were released from the album and they were away and running. The band would never release anything near as good as this piece of work. Sure, they had some great songs, but nothing that would come close to Appetite.

I think you will agree that this is a definite 10/10 from The Grooveman.

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