THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Tag: music review (Page 90 of 480)

ELEGANT WEAPONS – Horns For A Halo

February 20, 2024 /

It’s so good to see Richie Faulkner outside the confines of Judas Priest and joined by a killer band. We’ve got Ronnie Romero on vocals, Rex Brown on bass, and his JP band mate Scott Travis on drums, at least on the album anyway. This is definitely an old school metal album, and is arguably better than anything JP have put out recently. It’s great to see melody and groove in a modern metal album and this album has it in spades. Add to that, some huge fat riffage and killer solos and my dear friends, we have a one hell of a record.

From the opening crunch of Dead Man Walking until the closing crunch of Downfall Rising, not a groove is wasted. I have so many favourite on here it’s hard to pick. Do Or Die is crushingly wonderful, with pounding beats, killer riffing, solos, and Ronnie sings his ass off. More tea vicar?

The riff and groove of Blind Leading The Blind is superb and you will hum that riff all day long. Richie’s playing on Ghost Of You is just fantastic, it’s a much slower song but so good. If I’m really pushed I will go for Bitter Pill as favourite track because it has an absolutely crushing riff, an evil groove, and the soloing is epic. This is what modern metal is missing.

I do hope this is not just a one off album as this is killer, and it was a close second for my album of last year.

10/10 from The Grooveman.

BLUE OYSTER CULT – Some Enchanted Evening

February 20, 2024 /

I’m a huge fan of Blue Oyster Cult, especially the early albums. And, the live album On Your Feet Or On Your Knees is one of the best and is a very under appreciated album, I love the rawness of it.

I really like the fact that this album opens with one of my favourite BOC tunes, Dominance And Submission, it’s one of four early tracks represented on this set. In fact, Cites On Flame rips in straight after it with that oh so cool riff. Godzilla is a classic that has been covered by many but it’s the original that’s the best, and there is plenty of room for audience participation. Burning For You is such a good song, it’s from my favourite later period album Fire Of Unknown Origin.

On Your Feet is still my favourite BOC album, but this is close because it still has that raw live feel.

8/10 from The Grooveman.

LYNCH MOB – Babylon

February 20, 2024 /

George has recently announced that Lynch Mob’s current tour will be the last, and their final gig ever will be on the Monsters of Rock cruise in 2025. This is very sad indeed as George is the last of the Pasadena hot shots. I love his style and I hope he will continue to record music as life without some George to look forward to is not a happy thought. Enough of the sadness, let’s get into the grooves of Babylon.

The opening track, Erase, is stellar. George plays a superb riff that sounds freaking awesome, and I don’t mind Gabriel Colon’s vocals either as it’s a perfect fit for the music. I’m Ready has a riff and guitar sound very reminiscent of VH’s Panama but the beat and groove are quite different, and I love the hook and chorus. How U Fall is a hi octane, double kick pounding, beast with a vocal more in common with Iron Maiden than Lynch Mob. Great track! Million Miles Away is a slow brooding monster with a killer George solo. My favourite tune is the longest tune on the album, Babylon, mainly due to the fact that there is a lot of George soloing.

Not a bad album indeed, and highly enjoyable.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

MITCH MALLOY – The Last Song

February 19, 2024 /

This is the latest offering from Mr. Malloy who has been fronting Great White for the last four years. It’s a solo album in the truest sense, he plays all instruments as well as all vocals.

For those that do not know, when Sammy Hagar departed Van Halen Mitch auditioned and recorded a few demos with the band and one of those was It’s The Right Time, which was released by Mitch in 2015. Of course, Gary Cherone got the gig but I sometimes wonder how the band would have faired with Mitch on vocals.

So, what do we get for our money here then? Well, it’s what you would expect if you have heard any of Mitch’s previous solo work, and that’s very classy aor/melodic rock. There is a hint of the Bon Jovi vibes to his voice when he rocks it up, but when the clean tones take over in the softer moments Nashville springs to mind. It’s the rockier tracks that appeal to me the most, and opener I’m Living In Paradise is a great start to the album although the slower more dramatic groove to My Pleasure makes it my favourite track on the album.

This is Mitch at his best. Annoyingly, he still looks as youthful as ever and it’s good to see him putting out good records.

8/10 from The Grooveman.

« Older posts Newer posts »

Archives

© 2025 THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑