THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Tag: vinyl of the day (Page 32 of 449)

ELLEFSON/SOTO – Vacation In The Underworld

June 23, 2024 /

I was very interested to see where Dave ended up after his ousting from the Megadeth dictatorship. Would he form a band or would he do a succession of projects? I was very surprised when he teamed up with JSS, as they don’t seem to operate in the same universe. I have to say this is a very pleasant surprise!

Operating in the world between metal and hard rock, this is one great record. I mean, Jeff doesn’t do bad records but Dave is a but of an unknown as he hasn’t done a whole bunch other than Megadeth. The duo are joined by (unknown to me) guitar whizz Andy Martongelli who is a beast on the plank, and on the pots and pans is Paulo Caridi.

The album opens up with the power metal blast of the title track. Killer tune and a false flag in terms of the albums direction. Like A Bullet is my favourite tune. A full on hard rock beast with an epic riff and groove and Jeff giving plenty with a huge hook and chorus. Sharpen The Sword is a killer metal blast with double kicks and heavy grooves a plenty. The Reason breaks new ground as this is heavy AOR. Take the vocal alone and this is what Jeff has been doing all his life. Killer melodic vocals with epic melody lines. S.T.N is punk gone metal with 1234 groove and blast.

Side 2 kicks off with The Revolution and musically, you’d be forgiven for thinking this was Iron Maiden complete with gallop. Celebrity Trash kicks in with a full on glam style riff and groove and it’s cool to hear Jeff wrap his vocal around a groove like this, although I’m sure there’s a Talisman tune that’s like this out there. Live To Die Another Day is possibly the heaviest tune on the album and is the only one with a hint of Megadeth about it. The Day Before Tomorrow is the power ballad on the album and the solo is something else, Jeff is joined on vocals here by Jade Etro. We end with an awesome intro to Hercules/Rise To Win with plenty of killer bass and epic guitar.

So, that’s it! A very pleasant surprise of an album and I hope they do more.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

SAINT VITUS – Mournful Cries

June 23, 2024 /

A lot of bands have copied the Sabbath blueprint and carved out a career for themselves. Saint Vitus however took Iommi’s fuzzed out guitar sound that he used only on a couple of albums and forged a career of their own with this sound.

This is a reissue of the band’s ’88 album, and when you think of big stoner bands Saint Vitus don’t spring to mind even though they have been doing this sound since ’78. Comprising of only six tunes with two intros, it’s a relatively short piece of work but they have captured that early 70’s sound perfectly with a lo/fi production to add to the vibe. My favourite tune is the heavily Sabbath influenced final cut Looking Glass. This could seriously be a Sabbath outtake it’s that close.

I don’t normally buy things like this, but for $5 it was screaming “buy me.”

7/10 from The Grooveman.

SARAYA – When The Blackbird Sings

June 23, 2024 /

There seemed to be a whole bunch of female fronted bands at the end of the eighties as record companies tried to cash in. Saraya were in a different class. They had success with their first album and especially the song Love Has Taken It’s Toll, which had huge airplay on radio and MTV. However, this was their second and final album, and it was the cherry on the cake for me. Although Sandi was the face and name of the band, guitar man Tony Bruno was the driving force of the band as he penned all the tunes. Couple that with Sandi’s great voice and I’m sure the record company thought they could match the success of Pat Benatar.

Not a bad tune to be heard on these fine and silky grooves, there are quite a few vying for the spot of favourite track. Opener Queen Of Sheba is just a top top tune. A great ripping guitar riff coupled with a monster hook and groove, just sneaks it for me. However Hitchin’ A Ride with its huge hook and chorus, and the riff monster that is When You See Me Again run it close, as does the Van Halen tinged Lions Den. Tony Bruno is a very tasty player indeed and he adds some flare to nearly all the tunes, but my favourite solo is on the title track.

If you track down a copy of this masterpiece then I urge you to buy as you will not be disappointed. Great record.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

SAXON – Hell Fire And Damnation

June 19, 2024 /

It’s safe to say that Saxon’s glory period sort of died out after Power And The Glory. Those first five albums are all bangers, I love them all. They had this ability to make kick ass metal albums but with the ear firmly on melody and song structure. You can sing along to all the songs on those albums.

After Power, things started to slowly go down as did their popularity. Now credit where it’s due, they have consistently kept pumping out albums where others did not and they kept their name in the spotlight culminating with this, their 24th studio album (not counting the cover albums), and it’s actually quite good. No, it doesn’t sound like Saxon of old but they do sound like a band with its finger firmly on the euro metal pulse.

Biff’s love of history is very evident on Saxon albums, but this one more than the others as every songs has an historical theme. Except Pirates Of The Airwaves where Biff is reminiscing on where he used to listen to new music when he was but a young boy. As usual with Andy Sneap, the production is on the money with plenty of crunch added to the clarity. My favourite tune is There’s Something In Roswell as it’s the one song that has that old school chugga riff and groove.

Not bad at all.

8/10 from The Grooveman.

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