THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Tag: music review (Page 415 of 487)

SILENT RAGE – Don’t Touch Me There

June 9, 2021 /

Another one of those late eighties hair metal bands that came just too late for anyone to take notice. This was another band that was snapped up by Gene Simmons for his record label. There were big rumours that some Kiss songs were written by these guys, but there were a lot of bands that could say that. They were formed in late ’85 in California and play the big rock anthems with very catchy melodies and hooks. Vocalist, Jesse Damon, has the perfect voice for the tunes.

Opening two tracks, Runnin’ On Love, and I Wanna Feel It Again are a perfect 1-2 opening to get you up and rockin’, and then the ballad rears it’s ugly head and the vibe cools down somewhat. Rebel With A Cause is next up and it’s a very slick, well polished, big rock song that would go down well live. The production is huge and is part-produced by Simmons and Paul Sabu. Touch Me is a near rip for Robert Palmer’s Addictive To Love with just enough difference to avoid a law suit. Tear Up The Night closes out Side 1 and brings the rock to add to the big chorus and hooks – definitely a winner at rock nights everywhere.

Side 2 starts with the big sleazy sing-a-long groove of Shake Me Up. Five years earlier this would have been a smash. Don’t Touch Me There is nothing special and reminds me a bit of Foreigner, but it does have a nice solo. Ballad next and record company logic of the time dictated they must exist aaannnnddd snooze! All Night Long is the penultimate track, and another power ballad. Totally pointless – a good album is being dragged down by these cop out tracks. I mean, it’s well played and everything but…You can see why this type of music faded away as it didn’t represent what the young kids were experiencing at the time. Last track, I’m On Fire tries it’s hardest to go out with a bang. The tempo is raised and the groove is good – we are back with the big hooks and melodies. Great song!!!

8/10 from The Grooveman.

MOTÖRHEAD – Another Perfect Day

June 9, 2021 /

I think the running order is all messed up on this 180g reissue – it starts with I Got Mine, and I thought it was Back At The Funny Farm. It makes perfect sense to have Farm as the opening track because of the humorous beginning with Robbo twinkling away on the guitar, and then Lemmy says Fuck That, and BOOM, monster bass time. I can remember all the hardcore fans losing their minds when Eddie left, and Robbo was announced as his replacement. On paper it should have worked, as Robbo is a way better player than Eddie. I have to say I love this album and it’s one of my favourite Motörhead albums. But Robbo being Robbo, he went out of his way to piss the fans off, and his tenure in the band only lasted this one album.

Shine was the most commercial sounding single that the band had done up until this point, and for me, this was Motörhead about to be accepted into the mainstream – with that perfect blend of crunch and melody. There are also some classic sounding Motörhead tracks like: Die You Bastard, Marching Off To War, and Dancing On Your Grave, with that added sparkle of Robbo’s tasty licks. I guess with Robbo’s addictive personality and Motörhead’s love of illegal chemical substances, it would have never lasted long anyway. I know Lemmy loved this album, but it wasn’t meant to be.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

VINNIE VINCENT INVASION – All Systems Go

June 8, 2021 /

This is the second Invasion album, and would also be the last. After Vinnie was removed from Kiss after basically revitalizing their career with two great records in Creatures Of The Night and Lick It Up, he wasted no time in putting together this killer band. After this band folded, vocalist Mark Slaughter, and bassist Dana Strum, would go on to form Slaughter. There’s no denying it, Vinnie is a killer guitar player. Unfortunately, he is also a bit of a weird guy who disappeared off the face of the earth after this band folded.

Anyway, onto the tunes. The album starts with Ashes To Ashes, a great tune and was way better than anything his previous employers were doing – it was a big F-U to Gene and Paul. Next up is Dirty Rhythm, a pretty straightforward rocker with slaughter doing his best Robert Plant impression, and some great playing from Vinnie. Love Kills follows and was a hit single in the US, it’s a semi ballad and not a bad tune with great harmonies. Naughty Naughty is next, putting the dodgy suspect lyrics to one side, it’s a glam rock anthem complete with big sing-a-long chorus and over the top Vinnie solo. Burn is next up and starts with Vinnie doing his best race car impression on the guitar, and a serious big scream from Slaughter – probably the best song so far.

Apart from a weird backwards message on the run out, it’s over to Side 2 we go with Let Freedom Rock – it’s glam rock at its finest. Big chorus, big vocal, and big everything basically – with extra helpings of Vinnie where he shreds his ass off. That Time Of Year and it’s the dreaded power ballad you’ve all been waiting for. Well, at least it has a bit of balls and some cool chord changes. Heavy Pettin’ is next up and has a very Kiss type riff. It’s a pretty straight up stomp rocker and Vinnie again rips a killer solo. It’s back to ballad-o-rama with Ecstasy, and it’s my least favourite track on the record. At least it’s a return to hair metal heaven with Deeper And Deeper, some nice key changes and some cool melodies drive this song along. Final track of the album is Breakout. I’m a firm believer in going out with a bang on albums, and this track does exactly that. It’s the heaviest track on the album and a great ending.

I really like this album and its got a great production to boot.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

WET – Retransmission

June 8, 2021 /

I usually don’t like these made up bands that Frontiers keep putting together, with the brief to write the ultimate melodic rock record. I will make an exception for this project, as it has the amazing talents of Jeff Scott Soto on vocals, and Eclipse main man Eric Martensson. I’m not sure if you are all aware , but Sweden is the melodic rock capital of the universe. When the rest of the world gave up on it for grunge and post grunge (and whatever other nonsense came after that), Sweden still believed in writing and putting out great rock records. Soto has sang with Yngwie and the amazing Talisman (who are dearly missed), as well as fronting Journey for a brief moment. So Jeff’s vocal credentials are top drawer and it’s just the same here. He has a great power, range, and tone that I really love. Think power/melodic/rock and you you will be on the money.

Every song is fantastic, and superbly played and written. If any of you have heard Eclipse, then you know what a great songwriter Martensson is, and if anything, the songs have more melody on this album. My favourite tracks are: Boys Don’t Cry – an epic way to open an album, The Call Of The Wild – in a similar vein and really drives along, How Far To Babylon – an absolute belter of a track, from the native drumming, to the killer riff and vocals – I would buy it just for this tune alone, How Do I Know has a killer riff and brilliant vocal from Jeff singing at the higher end of his register. I would have loved to have heard a Journey album with Jeff singing.

It’s amazing to think that this is just a project and not their day job. If you don’t believe how good this album is, just nip over to poo tunes or spoti-scrote and give it a quick listen – then go and buy a physical copy so the artist actually gets some money.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

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