THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Tag: vinyl of the day (Page 13 of 479)

TUFF LUCK – S/T

February 24, 2025 /

Yet another rare one off hair band that put out this beauty in ’87. Recorded in Fort Lauderdale down Florida way, this matches anything that was coming out of Sunset Strip at this time. It’s not too bad for a self-produced effort, I love that raw in your face sound.

As with a lot of these one off records, it lacks the touch of a producer to give it that nudge towards radio, but I love this album it the way it is. They flirt with Van Halen-esque rock n’ roll like in the with opener Tonight! Tonight (which is my favourite tune). They also play with the out and out sleeze/glam like on Up And Down.

As I have mentioned many times before, this type of music needs a hot shot guitar player to make it fly and Dave Scott is guilty as charged here. A total beast of a player that lifts every song.

You can still pick up a copy, there a few still lying around.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

DIRTY BLONDE – Passion

February 23, 2025 /

Released back in ’89, this album is a piece of prime time LA glam/sleaze. There was a big buzz surrounding Dirty Blonde, and they were featured on Headbangers Ball as the next big thing. Although they did manage to record this album, it was on the very obscure label, Outpost Entertainment Company. There were a bunch of bands all fighting for attention, and I guess the label could not afford to give them that push.

You could slot these guys in with Posion, Bang Tango, and Faster Pussycat although they are a bit more rock n’ roll than the last two. It helps if you have a hot guitar player, and Kezzy McCafferty definitely is that. Restless, Young & Wild, Passion, Sad Teresa, I Got The Itch, and Ladies In Mercedes are all fun glamtastic tunes but my favourite is the full on Whiskey In My Veins. This baby rips past in a blur of double kicks, riffs, and tongue in cheek lyrics.

This is just a fun blast of times gone by.

8/10 from The Grooveman.

VOODOO CIRCLE – Hail To The King

February 23, 2025 /

I was expecting big, big things from this release, especially since their last album, Locked And Loaded was a 10/10 banger for me.

The first thing that pops into my head immediately when the opening track Lay Down Your Lovin’ bursts into life, is Whitesnake. The groove, Readman’s vocals, and Beyrodt’s guitar playing are so much like John Sykes that you have to check the cover to make sure you’ve put the right album on.

At track 3, On The Edge is the first song that sounds like Voodoo Circle. A great heavy pounding opening, a huge riff, and cool melody hits the spot. They do have the ability to throw in an epic song that just blows you away, and Black Country does that on this album. A touch of the Zeppelin vibes, but much heavier and it sounds huge.

The production on the album is top notch, very clear, very crisp, and loud. This is not a bad album it’s just not as good as their previous effort. If you like Whitesnake 1987 and Blue Murder, then this one’s for you.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

IRON MAIDEN – Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son

February 18, 2025 /

Surprise surprise, if you hadn’t guessed already, this is album number 7 for Arry’s Army. Is this Maiden’s entry into the progsphere? We have lots of extended tunes (what’s new there then), synths, and a much softer production, so sure sounds like it to me.

This is a million miles away from that raw Dianno fronted band that I loved so much, and you have to really dig deep to find anything like that here. You get a super radio friendly single in Can I Play With Madness, which I tolerate. The opener Moonchild is not too shabby once you put those awful sounding synths in a dark place in your mind, but the only song here that has that old Maiden feel is The Clairvoyant which gets my vote as favourite tune.

I know they are know for their “gallops” but there are too many on this one, and this album cries out for something heavy and different. As you can tell, it’s not my favuorite Maiden album but it’s a solid effort nonetheless.

7/10 from The Grooveman.

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