THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Tag: review (Page 133 of 493)

MUSHROOMHEAD – The Righteous And The Butterfly

November 7, 2023 /

It’s hard to believe that this album is nearly ten years old, I remember picking it up like it was yesterday. I don’t usually care for Nu-metal, but I have a man crush on Mushroomhead. Mainly due to the fact that groove is at the heart of the music they make. A lot of bands put groove at the bottom of their needs list around this time, so basically I just switched off. However, I find Mushroomhead very intriguing. Their stage imagery is quite cool, I dig that whole schlock horror thing they do and it fits really well with the tunes.

They’ve been around since ’93 and have managed to release eight albums, this is number seven. There are lots of good things on this record but the outstanding track is We Are The Truth. Joined on vocals by Jackie Laponza from Unsaid Fate, this tune goes down varying paths including funk, rap, and of course metal with hints of Rage Against The Machine. Great tune! Just to prove that they can do it old school, Out Of Mind is a close second for my favourite. It’s big, fat, d-tuned goodness all the way.

I know this won’t float everybody’s boat, but I really like it.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

21 Guns – Nothings Real

November 7, 2023 /

This is a criminally underrated album that seemed to disappear without trace at the time. I think this is mainly due to RCA not believing in them because hard rock albums were hard to come by in the late nineties and it’s amazing that their second album actually saw the light of day. Formed by Scott Gorham in ’90 after the death of Phil Lynott in ’86 it was obvious Scott still had a lot of music in him and needed a vehicle to do it. For me, this is the better of the two albums they put out and if it was released today it would be hailed as a classic.

There are not many nods to Lizzy here but the one song that has Lizzy stamped all over it is Kings Vengeance. It’s an awesome tune with Scott playing his ass off adding that dual guitar stamp that Lizzy fans know so well, this is my favourite track. Other highlights are album opener No Soul. What a great uptempo rocker with a great riff, and I really love Solli’s voice on this one. Nothings Real has a slight Zeppelin classic rock vibe to it with Scott again giving some killer fretboard histrionics. As well, Moving On has an even deeper 70’s classic rock groove with a superb hook and chorus.

If you see this around pick it up, you won’t be disappointed.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

PRIMAL FEAR – s/t

November 6, 2023 /

For those of you who do not know, Ralph Scheepers auditioned for Judas Priest after Halford departed. Then, he formed a cover band called Just Priest and toured around Germany. Matt Sinner and guitarist Tom Neumann actually got up and guested at one of their shows. After that, a conversation a seed was planted and Primal Fear was born. Their brief was to just play good old Heavy Metal and this is the their first album.

Is it close to the Priest sound? Oh absolutely, but it’s one hell of an album. There is not a bad moment on the whole record. It is totally metal from beginning to end, but with the eye on the melody. That’s what metal once was, you could always sing along to the songs. Apart from the little intro piece, you can pick any track here and I would be happy to call it my favourite.

Great record and if you’re an old school metal fan it will definitely put a smile on your face. Killer!

10/10 from The Grooveman.

PALLAS – The Sentinel

November 6, 2023 /

The majority of the “new” Prog bands that came out of the UK in the mid-eighties were tagged with the Genesis clone label. Marillion had that for years and so did Pallas. I think Pallas sound more like their American counterparts Styx and Kansas. In fact, you can add New Wave to the list as well. I remember them touring this album with some elaborate stage props, but they didn’t seem to break through like Marillion did.

There are some grandiose extended pieces on here which gives them brownie points in the Prog olympics. My favourite is Atlantis. I do believe they changed vocalists after this record which is a shame as I like his quirky style, it fits the music really well.

A fun record nonetheless.

7.5/10 from The Grooveman.

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