THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Tag: vinyl of the day (Page 10 of 467)

LUDOR- 777-The New 666

January 8, 2025 /

So, it’s very hard to keep up with all things metal and rock because there just is too much music out there. One metal project/band is Ludor. Now, if you’re from Sweden you will probably know all about this album and the movie that it spawned from. The movie was called Mammas Pojkar (Mama’s Boys), and it centres around two metal heads called Thor and Odin who are die hard fans of a band called Ludor from Canada. The music for the movie came from Mats Levin (check his bio he has sung with some killer bands) and Jimmy Lagnefors who is a composer. The movie was so successful that they decided to do a whole album worth of tunes, which is this baby.

Seriously, if this album came out in ’84 you’d all be calling Ludor the new metal saviours. This is a killer record right from the needle drop and Ride The Vapor to the end of Rise And Conquer, it’s superb stuff. How this gem passed me by I do not know! This has to be one of the best albums I have heard Mats sing on, and he has done a few. He has a very unique style which I love, and this album is right up there.

Ride The Vapor is just killer and blows the dust from your ears immediately. Double kicks from the get go with a killer riff and groove, and Mats wailing the hook and chorus. Awesome! My fave track however is the title track 777-The New 666. An absolute monster of a tune with a freaking killer riff and groove to match, and that hook and chorus are just epic.

There are a couple more pounding tunes in King Of All and Piece By Piece, which are guaranteed to shake the dandruff loose. There are also a couple of old school Priest-style stompers in Let The Beast Out and Rise And Conquer – superb stuff.

This album came out in 2013 so if you can find a copy, good luck. Your best bet may be to get one from Mats Levin himself. I loved every inch…

10/10 from The Grooveman.

MEGADETH – So Far So Good So What

December 27, 2024 /

Whether you agree or not, Megadeth changed after the first three albums. I love the first three records because Dave was angry and he had something to prove to the metal universe: that he wasn’t just going to be a footnote in Metallica’s history. After this, they became a lot more polished and all those rough edges that I liked disappeared. This is the last great Megadeth record.

Into The Lungs Of Hell (ripping instrumental) and Set The World On Fire are just the perfect opening salvo. The pinched classical intro to STWOF is genius that opens up into this thrash classic.

Two of my favourite Megadeth tracks are on this album: In My Darkest Hour and Hook In Mouth. In My Darkest Hour is indeed dark but strangely uplifting and with that distinct vocal delivery, Mustaine snarls and spits his way through. I was never sure of what the lyrics meant but over the years I have gone with the ex-girlfriend theory.

I mention quite a lot about going out with a bang on records, leaving the listener wanting more, and Hook In Mouth does just that. Killer track that you don’t want to end and this is Dave at his lyrical best.

Classic album and if I’m pushed, this would be the one Megadeth album that is a necessity.

9.5/10 from The Grooveman.

SMASHED GLADYS – ST

December 27, 2024 /

You don’t hear of many glam/sleaze bands from Toronto, but that’s exactly where Smashed Gladys started. Managed for while by none other than Gene Simmons, there were high hopes for their female fronted sometimes Kiss soundalikes.

Sally Cato’s raspy throaty delivery is perfect for this dirty sleazy rock ‘n roll. You would swear that the song 17 Goin’ On Crazy was a Kiss song. Everything about it screams Kiss, the melody, the main hook, and even the groove. Revol Teen is a perfect mash up of old school Kiss and AC/DC. Simple riff and groove, but it hits the spot. Sadly, Sally Cato passed away in 2020 but at least she had her 15 minutes.

Definitely a fun party rockin’ record.

7.5/10 from The Grooveman.

CONEY HATCH – Postcard From Germany

December 27, 2024 /

One of Canada’s best melodic rock bands who seem to fly under the radar compared to all the others. They are not the most prolific that’s for sure, they only released three albums in the 80’s, album number four appeared in 2013, and they put out two live albums. This is the latest one from 2023 and it released as part of RSD.

Although this is live, the album opens up with two studio tracks: It’s About A Girl and Heavens On The Other Side. One track with Carl Dixon and the other with Andy Curren on vocals, both proving what great songwriters they are.

I’m a huge fan of the first two albums and they are featured heavily in this set. We Got The Night kicks off the live portion and what a killer uptempo groover to get the crowd going. They follow that with She’s Gone, and that is what makes this band so cool. You get the more straight groover first, then the weirder Andy Curran tune slides on in. I LOVE the Curran tunes because there is that slight dissonance to them which bounces perfectly off the clean groove of the Carl Dixon tracks.

This is a really cool freakin’ album chock full of killer tunes and it’s worth buying for the Side D alone with Don’t Say Make Me, Devils Deck, and Monkey Bars. Surely the bands best three tunes (what about Fallen Angel?).

Definitely no overdubs here and it sounds superb. Go on treat yourself!

9/10 from The Grooveman.

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