THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Tag: review (Page 5 of 493)

W.A.S.P – The Last Command

June 29, 2025 /

It took me a long time to appreciate W.A.S.P because at the time I thought they were just headline seekers aiming for the lowest common denominator with the shock image and the foul language. Of course, that was the point, but hidden away in there was a band with some great songs.

After the success of their debut album the pressure was on to beat it and I’m not sure they did, but with singles Wild Child and Blind In Texas they sure got some MTV exposure as they were great catchy commercial songs. Chris Holmes isn’t the best guitarist in the world but he’s not a bad rhythm player, and producer Spencer Proffer makes him sound huge here.

As for my favourite track… well it has to be Blind In Texas. It stands so far out from the rest of the album, it’s a no brainer. It’s just a straight up boogie, but the hook and chorus are just huge. W.A.S.P are one of those bands that never actually made a killer front to back record but if you put all the best tracks together you would have one hell of a record.

8/10 from The Grooveman.


SAVAGE GRACE – After The Fall From Grace

June 29, 2025 /

This is the Savage Grace’s second album that came out in ´86, even though they were formed back in ´81 one year before Queensryche started. I mention this because there are huge similarities between both of their early sound and geography, as they are both from the pacific north west area. Whereas Queensryche went on to add a more melodic and progressive edge to their music, Savage Grace continued down a more power metal path with this release and unfortunately, this would be their last record until a comeback album in 2023.

As with a lot of bands around this time, they sound quite good and had some decent ideas but they went with the “let’s produce ourselves” option where maybe spending a few extra dollars on a producer would have been more beneficial. I actually quite like the album because you can see they are trying to have that edge and there is even a track that early Venom would have been proud (Trial By Fire).

However, it’s the more Maiden inspired We Came, We Saw, We Conquered that I like the best, and this is what they should have concentrated on a bit more. Of course thrash was king at this time and there a few tracks like Age Of Innocence that have a foot and some double kicks in that camp. As I mentioned, I quite like the record and if you’re a lover of 80’s metal in general you may like it too.

7.5/10 from The Grooveman.

HEAT – Welcome To The Future

June 29, 2025 /

It’s quite hard to believe that a band as good and consistent as Heat are unknown to a lot of people in rock music. I have friends that are just picking up on them eight albums in. They are shamelessly a celebration of rock in the 80’s, but written in the now. And why not, when it’s done as well as this and there is obviously still a market for great melodic rock.

Main man Joan Tee lets his harder side out with bands like New Horizon and Crowne respectively, but I’m guessing Heat is his main squeeze. The album title is somewhat ironic. The music on offer here has its roots in the mid eighties, the songs are very well written and executed, and they have a formula that works. There’s no denying that they are great musicians.

Favourite track I hear you cry? Well, that goes to Tear It Down (R.N.R.R). It’s a great song that reminds me a bit of Tony Martin era Sabs. It’s a killer, good old mid tempo stomper with a great hook and chorus that is just a tad different from the rest of the record. Along with fellow Swedes W.E.T and Eclipse, they have cornered the market somewhat, but we all know Sweden is the best all things music.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman,

BLOODYWOOD – Nu Delhi

June 29, 2025 /

Album number three from one of today’s most original metal bands. If you don’t know already, they combine traditional Indian music, with Nu Metal grooves, and Meshuggah style crunch. Lots of traditional language lyrics mixed with some English does not spoil the experience for me, in fact it adds to the impact . Ask yourself does that matter when listening to Rammstein?

There is tons of programming here, which usually is a big turn off for me when it’s used to artificially create music, but when it’s used as an accompaniment like this then I’m all for it. It’s the crushing down low riffs and pounding grooves that flick my button the most though, and the collaboration with Babymetal. Bekhauf is next level cool. They save the best till last as the title track Nu Delhi is a blast of old and new that works perfectly with both crunch and groove.

They are most certainly a breath of fresh air and if you have an open mind then give it a spin.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

« Older posts Newer posts »

Archives

© 2026 THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑