Tag: vandenberg

After releasing three albums, culminating in Alibi which was released back in ’85, Vandenberg were put to sleep apparently over and done while Adrian was with Whitesnake and the brief project Moon Kings. So, I was quite surprised when Adrian resurrected the band with Ronnie Romero on vocals (well, for this album anyway).

Adopting a more harder edged approach this time around, but still with a ton of melody, this is a great record that went by largely unnoticed when it appeared in 2020.  Adrian obviously picked up some influence from Mr. Coverdale as there are a couple of tunes that could have been on any Whitesnake record. Hell And High Water being one of them is drenched in that heavy soulful blues groove and Ronnie sings those songs so well. My favourite tune is Freight Train, a straight up groove rocker with a dirty killer riff and a hook and chorus to match.

A welcome return from Vandenberg with a superb production job from Bob Marlette makes this a worthy addition to the collection.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

This is the third and final of the original albums before Adrian would jump ship and join Whitesnake full time. The album failed to dent the charts in all major markets. It’s not a bad album, it’s just lacking that killer track.

Opener, All The Way, is a decent enough track with a nice riff and hook. Pedal To The Metal has quite a strange groove, but I really like it. Once In A Lifetime is quite a weak ballad. Voodoo has a riff that you will have heard in various forms on a million tracks before. Dressed To Kill is a great up-tempo groover and is my favourite track on the album. Fighting Against The World has quite a busy riff with a straight up 4/4 beat. Back to ballad city with How Long. A short classical acoustic instrumental follows, before the title track bursts into life, and its a straight up AOR melodic groover with a big hook and chorus. The album closes out with Kamikaze – a very keyboard heavy track with a nice chugga riff underneath. I

f you were to have only one Vandenberg album, then my choice would be their first self titled album.

8/10 from The Grooveman.

This is the fantastic first album by this very British sounding hard rock combo from Holland. That’s obviously what Coverdale heard as well before recruiting old Adrian into the Whitesnake camp. The single, Burning Heart, did really well in the US as it reached number 39 – surprisingly better than the UK. Named after mainman and guitar whizz, Adrian Vandenberg, the band play superb hard rock with great melodies, hooks, and some superb playing.

The opening track, Your Love Is In Vain, sums the band up in one song really: fantastic melody and hook, coupled with a killer riff and superb playing with that very British blues approach. Adrian does show his EVH style chops on the intro to Wait with the acoustic solo intro. The aforementioned, Burning Heart, has that Whitesnake vibe and I can see how it did well in the US. A slight homage to Hendrix at the intro, to the uptempo rocker Ready For You is really cool. The blues is alive and well in the track, Too Late, with its fast shuffle groove and nice riff as the speed increases as the track develops. Nothing To Lose reminds me of Down To Earth-era Rainbow with the melody and chord progression. A great riff to Lost In The City is up next, before we get to album closer, Out In The Streets, which is the fastest track on the record with a killer drum intro and riff.

Well that’s the lot campers, and they would release another 2 studio albums and that was it. Shame really, as they were a great band.

9/10 from The Grooveman.