THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Tag: music review (Page 439 of 493)

SONS OF APOLLO – Psychotic Symphony

May 3, 2021 /

Now, no one can accuse Mike Portnoy of being lazy. Since his departure from Dream Theater in 2010, he has been involved in 706 different projects and none of them sound like Dream Theater…until this one. Personally, I’m surprised its taken 7 years for him to make an album like this. I’m aware that he did the 12 steps suite with Haken and Eric Gillette as his backing band. He always wanted to do them as a whole with Dream Theater, and for obvious reasons that never happened. So if you’re going to do a Prog metal record to rival what you have done before, then you’re going to need some kick ass musicians right?

Bumblefoot is on guitar, and what a great and innovative player he is. Billy Sheehan on bass is a monster player in his own right. Portnoy’s old DT band mate, Derek Sherinian, is on keys. He was my favourite DT keyboard player as he brought the rock big time – I was sad to see him leave. On vocals, Jeff Scott Soto, who has been around the block a few times, and to me, is the best possible vocalist for this band. He has great tone and range to his vocals. I’ll get this out of the way here: I was a huge DT fan and have seen them 36 times, but over the last couple of albums they have been coasting and all of the creativity and challenging music seems to have gone. So, this album is a shot in the arm for me. To see Portnoy still wishing to push himself and create challenging music is a joy.

Gods Of The Son is a monster opening tune, and whether MP admits it or not, it’s a big F-U to his former band. This has everything and will blow you away. Coming Home keeps the quality very high, and has the bonus of a killer chorus and vocal from Jeff. The opening riff and groove to Signs Of The Time is just epic, and you can see that the main difference between SOP and DT is the melodies as well as Jeff’s vocal tone. Of course, the music is top notch and all of them are out doing each other. Parts of this song remind me of the fusion bands of the seventies. I’m drooling…and that was just Side 1!!!

I’m going to skip to the final track – Opus Maximus, but take it from me, every song on this record is just amazing. The opening instrumental section is eerie and doom inducing before exploding into instrumental heaven. There are a thousand different riffs and grooves to keep the fidgety amongst us happy. One hell of album! My only gripe about this record is that Side 4 is one of those pointless etched sides. Yeah it looks pretty, but when I’m paying $50 for a record I’d like music all the way please.

9.5/10 from The Grooveman.

WAYSTED – Save Your Prayers

May 3, 2021 /

This is a very different sounding band to the one that recorded their debut album Vices in ’83. Vices was a very British sounding rock album with gravelly voiced singer, Fin Muir. Fast forward 3 years to ’86, and America is the prime focus this time around. This is a very slick sounding record, and they recruited a very slick sounding singer to give the tunes the treatment they deserved. Unknown at the time, Danny Vaughan was a revelation as he breathed life into a flagging band. Of course he went on to form Tyketto and Vaughan to showcase his talents more with his own songs. He is not credited on any of the songs here as they are all Way/Chapman compositions.

This was by far the band’s most successful album and is held in high regard in the melodic rock community. Walls Fall Down is a great opening tune and rocks hard with a great vocal and guitar. Black And Blue and Singing In The Night are the next two tracks, and Journey was definitely the footprint for these two tunes as they are very melodic and the song is the main focus here. Hell Comes Home has that British/UFO vibe to it with a cool choppy riff. It has a great vocal from Danny showing what a powerful voice he has. Hero’s Die Young is the stand out track on the album and is the big production number. Slow build up with some great harmony vocals before the galloping riff and groove kick in. Great tune!

Side 2 starts with Heaven Tonight and this was the big single from the album (depending on which country you were in) and is an “all American hero” type of song. it has a super catchy chorus and melody – it’s easy to see why it did so well. How The West Was Won has that Springsteen vibe to it, and is the weakest song on the record. Wild Night is a kick ass glam metal tune and rips along at a great pace, with a great riff and a hard driving beat. Out Of Control has a slow dirty sleazy groove and is a nice change of pace. Album closer, So Long, was obviously written with a live performance in mind as it’s cigarette lighters in the air time folks. So what we get from this is Danny Vaughan is a killer vocalist, Tonka Chapman is a great player, and this is not a bad album.

8/10 from The Grooveman.

RED DRAGON CARTEL – s/t

May 1, 2021 /

After being removed from Ozzy’s band (I think you can guess who by), and for being in the excellent Badlands, Jake E Lee all but disappeared from the public eye – only to release a couple of solo albums before returning to the spotlight 20 plus years later with this excellent band, Red Dragon Cartel. The band consists of Jake himself on all guitar duties, ex Harem Scarem drummer Darren Smith on vocals, Ron Mancuso on bass, and unknown drummer Jonas Fairley on drums. There are also high profile guests on vocals.

The album kicks off with Deceived, a monster of a tune with Jake E’s trademark riff to start, and Darren’s vocals on the chorus remind me of Ozzy. Great opening track. Shout It Out is one of the stand out tracks on the album. A great tune with a great chorus and huge riff. Feeder has Robin Zander on vocals and is another monster tune. That’s a 1,2,3 – that’s hard to beat. Fall From The Sky is very Zeppelin IV in style and shows how good a vocalist Darren Smith is. Wasted, the close out track on Side 1, has Paul Di’anno on vocals and is virtually unrecognizable vocally from his Maiden days.

Over to Side 2 we go and Slave gets things under way with a very eerie opening section before a Metallica style riff gets things going. It then settles down into an awesome tune. It’s the stand out track for me so far. Big Mouth is next, with Maria Brink on vocals, and is a very modern sounding rock track. For me it’s the surprise of the album. War Machine is a near lift of multiple Sabbath riffs and is a heavy sounding tune. Redeem Me has the awesome Sass Jordan on vocals, and is a very blues based track which suits her voice perfectly. Last track is the very first song Jake ever wrote when he was trained as a classical pianist, Exquisite Tenderness. It’s good, but I don’t see the point of putting it on here as it’s so out of place.

Anyway, a very good first album and it gets 8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

KING KOBRA – Thrill Of A Lifetime

May 1, 2021 /

After the success of Journey and Foreigner with their softened up brand of rock with big hooks and melodies, record companies were lining up to sign bands that remotely resembled them with dollar signs in their eyes. After Carmine Appice’s brief spell with Ozzy, he put together a melodic rock band with relatively unknown musicians. Mark Free on vocals (who would later transition into Marcie Free), Mick Sweda on guitar (who would later be a founding member of the Bulletboys), and Johnny Rod (who would join W.A.S.P, among others).

Song wise, it’s what you would expect from a very American radio friendly record. It takes no risks and it’s melodic rock for dummies. Second Time Around is a decent opening tune with a big chorus and melody. Dream On is a little lighter in approach and the emphasis is on the song, and it was written by Russ Ballard. Feel The Heat would have made a great single if the record company were paying attention. Title track, Thrill Of A Lifetime, follows and is the best track so far. Very Foreigner in style with some nice playing by all concerned, and an earworm of a chorus. Last track on Side 1 is Only The Strong Survive and is the big ballad that was part of the contract for all these bands at the time.

Side 2 opening track is Iron Eagle (Never Say Die) the theme song to the movie Iron Eagle. It was written by outside writers and it sounds like a different band to me. Home Street Home follows and starts with the eighties signature over processed drum intro, and then comes a very average attempt at rapping by Mark Free – the word “cheesy” comes to mind. Overnight Sensation is next, and is the first really up-tempo rocker on the album so far, with a nice solo from Mick Sweda. Raise Your Hands To Rock is next, and I have to ask which one? Granite, Limestone which is the best? Seriously though, it’s probably the best track on the album and rocks quite hard. Album close out track, Party Animal, is again a rocker. The album goes out on a high with the last three tracks. The band would record one major album and then disappear until the early toonies, when one of the small boutique European labels would resurrect the name to record a couple of albums.

7.5/10 from The Grooveman.

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