THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Tag: music (Page 318 of 454)

FATES WARNING – No Exit

November 18, 2021 /

This is the 4th studio album released in ’88 by these US pioneer Prog metallers, and it was the first to feature Ray Alder on vocals. Way before Dream Theater were into their stride, Fates Warning had come up with this style, which I would say is a cross between Iron Maiden and Queensryche. The earlier albums are a lot more straight up metal with a very NWOBHM influence, but this was the first album of theirs which was worthy of my attention.

Side 2 is taken up with the monumental The Ivory Gate Of Dreams, which is an absolute epic track split into 8 parts. When you listen to this track you realize how much of an influence they have been in the scene. Of course they can metal it out with the best of them as the thrash of Silent Cries shows – Metallica would be proud of this one.

This is a great repress by Metal Blade complete with a poster and it sounds great. I’ll admit I was a bit worried it wouldn’t be so good, as some of there reissues are terrible pressings, especially the KingsX ones – some of those are very noisy. Anyway, a good album by a great band. Hard to believe this is 33 years old.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

SLAUGHTER – Stick It To Ya

November 17, 2021 /

After the implosion of Vinnie Vincent Invasion and Vinnie blowing through money that the studio did not authorize, the record company transferred the remaining budget to Mark Slaughter and Dana Strum who were part of Vincent’s band anyway. This seemed quite underhanded to me at the time, but hindsight tells us that Vinnie was a bottle short of a six pack.

Anyhoo, the music is relatively of the age without an over the top guitar player, and there is more emphasis on the songs. There were 4 singles from this record, but Up All Night and Fly To The Angels were the big two that made the band an MTV favourite. Loaded Gun is my favourite track as I love the riff and groove. The term “party rock” could have been invented just for this record as that is exactly what it is, a good old Friday rock night special. A fun record no more no less.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

SWEET – Fanny Adams

November 17, 2021 /

This is the second album released by the band in ’75, and it’s the only early album they released that had no hits on it. The first record had Funny Funny and Co Co – both were big chart hits and written by hit writers of the time, Chapman and Chin. They did write two tracks on the album, No You Don’t, and AC/DC, but neither were hits.

The big hits of course were Blockbuster and Ballroom Blitz, but amazingly they were not originally released on any album. The killer track on this album is Set Me Free, which was a B Side to a single. It’s a great tune that rocks with some great harmonies, which is one of the band’s trademarks. There are a couple of cheesy old school rock n roll style tracks with Rebel Rouser and Peppermint Twist, which do nothing for me. The title track is a really good track, as is Into The Night which showed that the band could write great tracks without the help of Chapman and Chin, which would become a big issue later on.

Not the best Sweet album as that is Give Us A Wink, but it does have its moments.

7.5/10 from The Grooveman.

RANDY HANSON – s/t

November 16, 2021 /

Although he is known today as a Hendrix tribute act, back in 1980 when this album was released he was known as an originals artist. In fact, record labels were falling over themselves to sign virtuoso guitar players – and Randy definitely is that. He actually composed 17 minutes of music for the movie Apocalypse Now.

The songs on offer here have more of an old school RnB vibe to them, with a heavy dose of Hendrix histrionics. Opening track, Champagne and Cocaine, is a monster of an opening track with a killer chorus and melody, but it’s the guitar that’s the star of the show as the intro and solos are epic. Watch What You Say opens with a great riff again, and there is a soul undercurrent to the tune with a nice melody – but it’s the solo that steals the song. Time Won’t Stop is an attempt at delivering a pop song with a heavy guitar. For me it works, but I love the guitar solo and it’s almost two different songs. The Side closes out with an amazing version of Sly Stones’ I Want To Take You Higher, and I guarantee this is the best version you will hear. Great groove and some killer playing. Randy really lets go on this track.

Side 2 opens up with my personal favourite track, Millionaire, with a great spacey riff and cool chorus, but once again it’s Randy’s playing that blows your mind. He should have been a lot bigger than he was. Dancin’ With Me has a very old school Aerosmith vibe, with a funkier vocal and the obligatory killer guitar. The album closes out with Don’t Pretend, and it’s a total vibe killer. After the blitz of the rest of the album, this song shouldn’t have been on this record as it takes away from what would have been a bonafide monster record.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

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