THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

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JADED HEART – Heart Attack

April 20, 2025 / / 0 Comments

I didn’t realize Jaded Heart had released so many albums. As of the release of this record in 2022, they have put out 17 albums. One of which is a compilation and another is a live album. To make it worse, this is the only one I have on vinyl. Which is surprising because they are one big riff fest which is at the top of my list of favourite things.

Right from the get go with Blood Red Skies, this album riffs and grooves hard. Great track with an added bonus of a great hook and chorus. Sweet Sensation and Heart Attack follow and both equally deliver the goods with killer riffs. It’s favourite tune time with the deliciously simple but very effective heavy chug of Harvester Unknown. Side 1 closes out with the double kick onslaught of Lady Spider. That’s one hell of a side of tunage.

Descent kicks off Side 2 in an equally impressive manor with another fat chugga riff and great hook and chorus. Remnants Of Desire thinks it’s a power ballad until the heaviness takes over. It’s About Time is a pretty straight forward hard rock tune with some killer playing. The whole thing comes to a close with Midnight Stalker, another slab of fat chugga riffage.

Great album and a worthy addition to the collection.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

EUROPE – S/T

April 20, 2025 / / 0 Comments

This is Europe’s first album, released back in ‘83. If you only know Europe from The Final Countdown, then they are almost unrecognizable here. They sort of sound like a cross between Thin Lizzy and UFO with a very late 70’s vibe. Joey Tempest wrote all the songs on the album apart from the instrumental track Boyazont.

It’s not a bad effort but the production is a bit sparse and could do with a big dose of oomph! However, John Norum is the star of the show here because his playing is fantastic, and I think he was only 19 at the time of the album’s release. If you’re looking for an AOR/Melodic Rock big chorus sing a long then you will be disappointed. There are nine hard rock tracks on the album, with the standout being Paradize Bay. It has a different and cool groove with a choppy riff compared to the rest of songs with Mr. Norum ripping all over it.

It’s cool to see how bands develop and Europe have changed a lot. Cool to hear how they started.

7/10 from The Grooveman.

TIGRES – Take It All

April 20, 2025 / / 0 Comments

I don’t know a whole bunch about Spanish rock and metal bands, the only one that made it further than Spain were Baron Rojo. Tigres had been around in various guises before settling on their name, and I think this was the only album they released in ´88.

The choice of the opening track is very strange. They covered the song Black is Black by Spanish one hit wonders Los Bravos. It doesn’t give off the right message that’s for sure. At best, they come off as a bargain basement Judas Priest and at worst, any Friday night wannabe rock band. If it wasn’t for guitarist Albert Pont I would have removed this from my collection a long time ago. He has a great tone and can really play, and he does lift what in general would be mediocre tunes. Winning and Guns Are Shining are perfect cases in point.

I wouldn’t spend a lot of cash on it if you see it, but if you like guitar players then it’s worth a punt.

6.5/10 from The Grooveman.

H.E.A.T – Freedom Rock

April 19, 2025 / / 0 Comments

This is a reissue of the band’s second album that originally came out in 2010. H.E.A.T’s sound has been described “as if the nineties had never happened,” while I guess that was meant as an insult from the mag it came from, it gives you a good idea of what they sound like.

Very well written melodic rock/aor with massive hooks and killer choruses are what this band excel at. They were even a runner up in Sweden’s entry for the Eurovision Song Contest. They did well in picking Beg Beg Beg as the lead off single as it’s the best song on the album. Great hook and chorus with a huge feel good vibe to the song, which is present on the whole album.

If you’ve never heard of the band before this would a good starting point.

8/10 from The Grooveman.

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