THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Tag: music review (Page 473 of 493)

THE KINKS – 25 Years The Ultimate Collection

February 8, 2021 /

The Kinks are a somewhat forgotten band of the original British Invasion behind The Bootles and The Strolling Bones – when in reality they were one of the most influential. In Ray Davies, they had one of the best lyricists of his generation.

With this collection being a 25th anniversary, it starts from ’64 and You Really Got Me and goes until Come Dancing in ’83. I won’t go rambling on about each tune on this set as I’m sure you have heard most of them countless times. Even though they had early success, it wasn’t until the period from’ 67to ’70 when Davies was heralded as a genius. This was a golden period for the band with iconic tunes like Sunny Afternoon, Waterloo Sunset, and Lola were set free to inspire a whole generation. I adore Waterloo Sunset it’s such a great tune and something I never tire of hearing.

Bands from Van Halen through to The Fall have covered the Kinks, and that shows what a diverse band they were. Everyone should own at least one Kinks album, and if you don’t, you should be able to pick this double album up quite cheaply.

8/10 from The Grooveman.

BOX OF FROGS – s/t

February 8, 2021 /

Why should I be interested in this, I hear you say? Well it could be because there are three ex-members of the Yardbirds…(Jim McCarty, Chris Dreja and Paul Samwell Smith) Or it could be the that Jeff Beck plays on 4 tracks…Or could it be that Rory Gallagher plays on 2 tracks…When you have big buddies it’s always good to get them on your album – that’s for sure!

Opening track is a good tune with a nice groove, although its a ringer for On The Road Again by Canned Heat. Harder is not a bad tune with a good melody and chorus. Another Wasted Day is a very eighties indie sounding song. Love Inside You is not a bad song either. Side 1 closer, The Edge, has a decent groove with some nice slide playing from Rory Gallagher.

Flip to Side 2 and opener, Two Steps Ahead, has a Willbury’s vibe to it with some nice playing from Jeff Beck. Into The Dark is an average tune held together by some great slide by Rory. Just A Boy Again is up next and is…well…it’s just a pleasant tune. Album closer, Poor Boy, is only memorable for the inclusion of Mr. Beck.

One thing I can guarantee is that this record will be nobody’s favourite album, it’s too disjointed and inconsistent. If it wasn’t for the special guests, it would have disappeared without a trace. Maybe it did! Oh, and in case you wondering, I had this album given to me and no money changed hands.

5.5/10 from the Grooveman.

KRAFTWERK – Autobahn

February 6, 2021 /

This is the first release by the granddaddy’s and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk. I vividly remember hearing this for the first time back in ’74 and being totally won over. I went out and bought the single immediately. I remember seeing them on Top of The Pops and thinking they looked like lab technicians and not musicians, which was obviously part of the schtick.

Side 1 is taken up by the title track, which is way longer than the single. It’s very basic by today’s standards, but still holds up well even with the almost school boy singing. Great effects with sounds of vehicles on the motorway passing by. Flipping over onto Side 2, which is a lot more experimental by sound and design. Kometenmelodie 1 is an ambient style track, and Kometenmelodie 2 is the only other track that has melody and a beat. The two final tracks are more experimental ambient pieces.

A lot of the electro pop bands of the eighties were heavily influenced by Kraftwerk, especially OMD so this is definitely a ground zero album.

6/10 from The Grooveman.

PORCUPINE TREE – Up The Downstair

February 6, 2021 /

This version does not include the Staircase Infinities outtakes, so the tracks are more spaced out on the vinyl. Apart from a couple of tracks (where Colin Edwin provides bass, and Richard Barbieri adds some electronics) SW plays all of the instruments. This also has the organic drum tracks that were added by Gavin Harrison.

There was lots of online stupidity and slating (mostly by people who are only recent converts to SW’s music) surrounding SW’s new release, The Future Bites, well what would those people think of this release I wonder? Up until this point, Porcupine Tree were basically an experiment/off shoot to the No-Man project with Tim Bowness, but with the release of this album, SW wanted to make it a full band to tour.

After the small intro piece, the first track is a million miles away from what he is creating today. Synesthesia has very psychedelic undertones to the music and is just beautiful. The next full song is Always Never, and again is just a fantastic tune expanding into the full Prog experience – complete with Gilmour-esque solo. Flip over onto Side B and we have the title track, Up The Downstair, which takes up the whole side. A very trippy electronic intro before a killer bass groove takes the listener to electronic dance territory before the guitar kicks in with that repetitive riff. Superb track!!!

Over on to Side 3 we go, we have Not Beautiful Anymore with its LSD references and very trippy, groovy, and almost dance track. Some nice phased guitar adds to the atmos. Relatively short track, Small Fish, is next which feels very Syd Barret era Floyd. The album’s longest track, Burning Sky, follows and starts with another psychedelic intro and repetitive riff, and builds into a Prog fan’s wet dream.

I love instrumentals and SW is a master at them. I have to say that two words keep popping into my head when listening to this and they are Pink and Floyd. On to album closer, Fadeaway, which is just a beautiful song and a great finish to the album. If all the moaners had come into SW’s music at this point they may well understand the man and his music a lot more. This album is just pure joy, and is one of my favourite PT albums. Everyone should own one.

9.5/10 from The Grooveman.

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