THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Tag: vinyl of the day (Page 3 of 466)

REPTILE SMILE – Who Makes The Rules

February 9, 2025 / / 0 Comments

Album number two from Sweden’s answer to the Faces. Well, not really, but you get a rough idea what their inspirations are.

That barroom, whiskey-soaked, sleazy rock n’ roll sound is where Reptile Smile ply their trade. Of course, with the band being Swedish, it’s done very well indeed and this is a really enjoyable rock n’ roll romp. We are not reinventing the wheel here, just adding a little sparkle to an already dyed in the wool format.

You will need your singing shoes on when playing this one as there are some killer sing along anthems. Hey Mama, Wild Life, In My Face (where Pete Shapiro does his best Steven Tyler impression), and my favourite Get Down are all banging tunes and would make great singles. Get Down has that Aerosmith swagger with a hint of AC /DC that just swings in all the right places.

A highly enjoyable record and having not played it in a long while, I forgot how much fun it was.

8/10 from The Grooveman.

OVERKILL – Under The Influence

February 9, 2025 / / 0 Comments

Another day, and another Overkill reissue to ponder over. This one is the band’s third album that originally saw the light of day in ’88, and it’s half speed mastered.

Do Overkill make bad records? No, is the answer if you were struggling. They just make slightly less great ones.

This album is chock full of your usual Overkill fare; fast tracks, even faster tracks, and some punk/metal crossover which they do so well. There was a point in time where Metallica, Anthrax, and Overkill seemed to be joined at the hip musically until Metallica and the Thrax went off on a tangent, but Overkill stayed true to the cause.

My favourite tune off of this beast is Hello From The Gutter. A slightly more commercial sounding tune, but it works so well. Great hook and chorus and that punk/ metal crossover riff is so cool.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

THE AWFUL TRUTH – S/T

February 7, 2025 / / 0 Comments

Any KingsX fans here?

So, when KingsX had just launched the mega awesome Out Of The Silent Planet on the world, the band’s producer and mentor Sam Taylor had another band in a studio recording this record. This, my friends, is The Awful Truth.  

Now, before this album was even released, two of the members Monty Colvin and Alan Doss would be back in the studio recording The Galactic Cowboys debut album. So, The Awful Truth were done before they even started.

Most of these songs weren’t written by them however, as 6 of the 8 tracks were compositions by guitarist and vocalist David Von Ohlerkings. Strangely enough my two favourite tracks are both collaborations including Higher, which is just a superb song, and Drowning man. You can hear little things in the music that would become Galactic Cowboys trademarks such as the weird heavy riffing and the vocal melodies. Also, the lead guitar sound is very KingsX, and I guess Sam Taylor was trying to create this whole universe of sound.

This is a new Ltd edition reissue and I would highly recommend getting hold of a copy if you are remotely interested in the whole Adam Taylor sound.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

EUROPE – Out Of This World

February 5, 2025 / / 0 Comments

It must have been a daunting task for the band to record the follow up to the insanely successful album, The Final Countdown. They could not have known just a how mega huge that sound would have been, and it would be their meal ticket for the rest of their career. John Norum  the band’s guitarist would also jump ship and not be present for this record so new boy Kee Marcello had a ton of pressure on his shoulders for the recording.

Although, there was no mega hit single on the album I think this is a fantastic record. Lots of great tunes and some killer playing from Mr. Marcello. Superstitious is an awesome tune and to open the album with it is a master stroke. Superb riff and groove that has a great swing and the playing is off the charts. Not a bad song in sight and it’s a bonafide AOR masterpiece and just in case your wondering, it’s a better album than The Final Countdown.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

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