THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Tag: music review (Page 410 of 493)

INTRONAUT – Habitual Levitations (Instilling Words With Tones)

July 16, 2021 /

This is the fourth album from the amazing Intronaut – the most groove-tastic of all the Prog metal bands. The band have brought more melody to the table since the early days, and to me, are now the complete band. The songs are quite simple in structure, but it’s the layers that are added to fill out the sound, and the amazing rhythms, riffs and grooves that make them one of the most unique bands of the genre. They have their own sound and you know you are listening to Intronaut, which is great thing as they are able to stand out from the crowd.

Killing Birds is a monster opening track with all the trademark sound and tones. The Welding is just unbelievably awesome with its use of differing time signatures for nearly all of the instruments, plus the riff is so fat and huge, and the rhythm section is so tight. Steps is big, fat, and low with the riffage, and grooves hard – I love the harmony vocal. There is no widdly-flash-bastard soloing here, just superbly crafted pieces of modern metallic Prog goodness. A Sore Sight For Eyes is a beautiful piece with a perfect split of heavy and melody. Holy polyrhythms Batman!!! Milk Leg will have your brain scrambling for the abacus to keep time. Monster tune! The wonderfully named Harmonomicon is next, and is the most chill tune on the album. Back to monster riffage with Eventual, which does have a hint of Sabbath at the beginning. Blood From A Stone is all about the harmonies and melody. Close out track, The Way Down, is my favourite on the whole album. Lots of fat off time grooves and monster riffage to keep the toe tappin’ and the head a’ bangin’. The album that came after was perfect, and I love the way they keep growing and progressing as a band.

9.5/10 from The Grooveman.

U.K. – s/t

July 16, 2021 /

When all of Britain were going nuts for punk and ditching all that was melodic and musical, EG put out this masterpiece by an often overlooked classic Prog rock band. This was the best album U.K. put out – after this, the line up changed and so did the chemistry. The line up here is stellar with Alan Holdsworth on guitar, Bill Bruford on drums, John Wetton on bass and vocals, and Eddie Jonson on keys and weirdness. I’ve always loved John Wetton’s vocals – I think he has that tone for a Prog band.

The album kicks off in perfect Prog style with In The Dead Of Night, which is in three parts. The drum pattern is recognizable to Crimson fans as it’s the same as Elephant Talk, which would bring back Crimson from the dead with the amazing Discipline. It’s a very expansive piece with oodles of keys, weird drum patterns, and guitar – a Prog lovers wet dream. The Side 1 close out piece, Thirty Years, is a fantastic Prog workout with a killer drum groove by Bruford, and lots of widdly keys from Jobson. In fact, I would say that Jobson is the dominant force of the whole album as each track is very keys driven.

Alaska opens up Side 2 with another Jobson driven piece, before we get to Time To Kill – its the most up-tempo track on the album, and has a fusion vibe going on until the vocals kick in. The last two tracks, Nevermore, and Mental Medication, are the only tracks on the record that Holdsworth had a hand in writing – and it shows. Nevermore opens with an acoustic guitar, and the whole song is more guitar driven – some of the leads are breathtaking. Mental Medication is Prog widdle overload and doesn’t disappoint. It’s a shame it all imploded after this as they make great music.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

CONEY HATCH – Live At The El Mocambo

July 15, 2021 /

It was a big surprise when the band decided to play at the newly refurbed El Mocambo in October last year, and to record the damn thing was the icing on the cake. The band shone brightly for three albums – and then that was it. Those three albums make up the majority of the tracks played here. Apparently only 300 copies were pressed up, and I know some of them were signed.

We Got The Night opens things nicely and you instantly recognize what a great melodic rock band they are. Stand Up shows the quirky side of the band with the odd riff and groove, as well as the rap spoken vocal by Andy Curran – who is in complete contrast to the vocal talents of Carl Dixon. First Time For Everything is up next and was released as a single – it shows the more mellow side of the band. Wrong Side Of Town from Friction is next up and was probably the best song from that record.

I love the first two records. My four favourite tracks are all aired here: Hey Operator, which I do believe was their first ever single, the amazing Fallen Angel which could my favourite track ever by the band, and the two best tracks from the first album, a rockin’ version of Devils Deck, and the epic Monkey Bars. I’m not sure if they are back together full time or if this was a trip down nostalgia lane, but I’m glad they recorded this for posterity.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

DEF LEPPARD – High ‘n’ Dry

July 15, 2021 /

I’ll admit to not being a fan of the super over produced version of the band, which came after the release of this album. To me, this is the last true Def Leppard album – at least the version that was still true to themselves – a good, honest, hard rock band. Let’s get this straight, Def Leppard were never a heavy metal band, because other than Get Your Rocks Off (which was on their self financed EP), they didn’t have any fast songs. This album was the first to be produced by Mutt Lange, but it’s hard to hear his influence on this album, other than to give the band a clear and loud production.

Lead off track, Let It Go, is a classic Leppard tune – at least how I think them to be. High ‘n’ Dry reminds me of AC/DC – that’s who Lange produced before this album. You do wonder if he saw them as a younger version of DC, and after this album he changed his mind with how he thought the direction the band should go. Bringin’ On The Heartbreak was a track built for America, and it was a big single for the band in the US. Switch 625 was an unusual instrumental track that Leppard were not known for – its probably the heaviest moment on the album.

It’s funny listening to this record now. Between this and Pyromania, it’s as though a different band recorded each album. Not long after this, it was decided that Pete Willis would be surplus to requirements, and the band would bring in Phil Collen from Girl – and the rest they say is history. It’s still my favourite Leppard album.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

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