THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Tag: music (Page 2 of 442)

THE DARKNESS – Dreams On Toast

May 5, 2025 / / 0 Comments

Welcome back The Darkness! Album number eight and coming up for 25 hours of keeping the rock alive, this one’s a bit of a banger.

What a killer opening track with Rock And Roll Party Cowboy. Everything is just so good from the riff, the groove, and the lyrics, it’s up there with one of my favourite Darkness tracks. I Hate Myself has to follow that and it’s a souped up, straight ahead, old school rock n’ roller.

Country rock/folk with a hint of Queen anyone? Well, that’s what you get with the delightful Hot On My Tail.  Mortal Dread is next and it’s a big dose of AC/DC style boogie. Don’t Need Sunshine…is a ballad, but I actually don’t mind this one because it’s really well done and the lyrics are quite cool.

There are many Queenisms on this album and The Longest Kiss is the one that screams it the most. The Battle For Gadget Land has a strange new wave groove and vibe and is the track that sticks out as different amongst the rest. That country folk vibe returns with Cold Hearted Woman.

Walking Through Fire is a typical Darkness tune. Big riff, big hook, and massive chorus that you will be singing constantly as it’s so infectious. The album comes to a close oh so quickly with Weekend In Rome and it’s a movie put to music, complete with all the strings and a monologue.

It’s not the most rockin’ of Darkness records but it’s the one I can’t stop playing because it’s style stretches far and wide. Great record!

9/10 from The Grooveman.

NASTY SAVAGE – S/T

May 4, 2025 / / 0 Comments

I, like many other rock and metal fans, soaked up everything that was coming out of the US thrash scene in the mid eighties. It was fresh, heavy, grooved hard, and was a whole bunch of fun. I mean, we have all heard of the usual suspects that went on to forge great careers from those humble beginnings. However, there was a whole bunch of bands that fell by the wayside and Nasty Savage were one of them. Initially only releasing 3 albums between 85-89, of which this was the first.

Recorded at the legendary Morrisound studios in Tampa Florida, it’s neither great nor bad, it sits somewhere in between. I mean, how serious can you take a band whose vocalist is called Nasty Ronnie (chortle), who is the weakest link in the band. Sure, he has a great high scream but it’s his delivery that irritates me somewhat. I’m sure a 25 yr old me would have been way more appreciative than cynical old me now as way too many tunes has washed over my ears since then.

It’s all pretty much thrash by numbers and the best of which is Garden Of Temptation, where the groove slows down slightly with varying changes and is not a half bad tune musically.

7/10 from The Grooveman.

DRIVE – Characters In Time

April 30, 2025 / / 0 Comments

This is the first of only two albums that Drive released at the end of the eighties. They played all the usual places on the Sunset Strip but at this point in time that scene was a total glam fest, and for an out an out power/prog metal outfit with a shredder (Rick Chavez) on guitar, maybe LA wasn’t the place for them.

The vocals and accompanying harmonies do remind me of Impellitteri, David Taylor has one hell of a set of pipes. The first two songs on both sides are really good and the rest is just filler. The favourite of these for me is The Entity. Double kicks all the way, a very busy riff, and a tasty solo.

It’s all about good songs no matter what genre you are in, and if you don’t have them, then life gets hard. Four out of the nine are good, but when there are a ton of other bands competing for the same audience, as there was back in ´88, it all needs to be killer.

6.5/10 from The Grooveman.

JASON BIELER AND THE BARON VON BIELSKI ORCHESTRA – The Escapologist

April 30, 2025 / / 0 Comments

Album number three from the crazy world of Jason Bieler and the Baron Von Bielski. It’s very hard to pigeonhole the kind of sounds and grooves emanating from the speakers from JB’s latest release. We are straddling multiple genres and styles here and if I’m cornered, melodic prog is the one thing that takes front and centre in my feeble little brain.

The one thing I love, other than the music, from JB’s albums is his wild and wonderful sense of humour. Check out the special guests and mentions on the cover. Apparently Beatrice Bracegirdle is an assistant to JB and his legal representation is Hedwig Von Litigious.

This is an album you will comeback to again and again as there is so much to take in. There are supremely heavy moments like on Industrious, with those heavy low end guitars. And then there’s beautiful, delicate, and melodic tunes like Hollow. There is even a touch of hybrid drum and bass Prog with the wonderfully awesome No Real Goodbyes.

I don’t think anyone operates in the same musical sphere as JB and he is refreshing change from the norm. Cool record!!

9/10 from The Grooveman.

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