THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Tag: vinyl of the day (Page 22 of 449)

BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION – V

August 11, 2024 /

Now I love the premiss and the idea behind Black Country Communion. A modern day hard rockin’ band in the tradition of Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple is a great concept on paper. I mean, you have a son of one and a member of the other in the band, how close can you get?

However, I think this will be their last album as there is not one song here that you think “WOW, what a killer tune,” and maybe the well of ideas has run dry. Sure, it’s a decent enough album but it lacks that big moment. The only song that I really like is Red Sun and that feels a bit like a Glenn solo track. It has a nice deep riff and groove and a cool vocal from him.

I’ve played the album five times straight and it’s definitely their weakest record. If they are to carry on (which I doubt) they need to have some outside input with the writing, an injection of fresh ideas.

7.5/10 from The Grooveman.

LITTLE ANGELS – Young Gods

August 11, 2024 /

For about five years Scarborough’s finest, Little Angels, were riding high in the UK, and all in the face of the grunge onslaught. This the their second album, and it is their finest moment.

It’s not just a melodic rock album, there is a lot going on here to expand the basic rock sound and the differing grooves within the songs. There are so many different styles to get your teeth into from the opening blues of Back Door Man, the killer funk of Boneyard, the country/americana vibes of Young Gods, and the Elton John feel of I Ain’t Gonna Cry; and that’s just on Side 1.

I truly believe that this album was way ahead of the game and if they appeared with Young Gods now, the band would be heralded as geniuses. My favourite track is the short but sweet Love Is A Gun. A great uptempo rocker with a great honky tonk piano just below the surface and that harmony and chorus are soooo cool.

Great album and it deserves way more credit.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

XYZ – Hungry

August 5, 2024 /

XYZ are a late 80’s rock band originally from France but later relocated to LA. Originally, they only released two great albums, of which this is the second. They went out on tour to support with Foreigner and then, goodbye. In their short existence as a recording band they sure had a few members pass through, and (I think) the great Marc Diglio plays guitar on the album, although when playing live I think it was Tony Marcus.

Yup, this is another band where if they had been five years earlier they would have been huge. They had all the tunes and boy, could they play. The only song here that’s not their own is a cover of Free’s Fire And Water, and it’s the weakest track on the album. That’s not to say it’s a bad version, it’s not, it’s just all the originals are so good.

I play this album a lot and the CD is in the car right now. Favourite track? That’s a tough one…Face Down In The Gutter, Don’t Say No, When The Night Comes Down, Feels Good, Shake Down The Walls, and HH Boogie are all bonafide genre classics but I’m going for the full on double kick blast of The Sun Also Rises in Hell where Terry Ilous shows off his Ronnie Dio side and the guitar just rips.

Great record if you can find a copy, go get one.

9.5/10 from The Grooveman.

NEW FRONTIER – S/T

August 5, 2024 /

A great AOR album that would go down a treat on AOR Sunday, but I’m guessing not a whole lot of people have heard of them. This album came out in ’84 and was built around the talents of multi instrumentalist Monty Byrom who had previously been in Big House and Billy Satellite. There was another EP that appeared in ’88, but that was it.

New Frontier were on a small label (Mika Records). whom I guess never had much of a promotional budget to push the band. It’s a shame really because there are some great commercial pop rock songs that given the right push could have done really well. Under Fire, American Dream, and the superb American Blues are killer songs. American Blues is my favourite on the album with its killer groove and beat very reminiscent of Don Henley; how this wasn’t a smash, I do not know. Love the horns!

There are so many of these bands that flew just below the surface of awareness. If you like a good AOR album then seek this one out it’s really rather good.

8/10 from The Grooveman.

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