THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Tag: vinyl records (Page 133 of 491)

21 Guns – Nothings Real

November 7, 2023 /

This is a criminally underrated album that seemed to disappear without trace at the time. I think this is mainly due to RCA not believing in them because hard rock albums were hard to come by in the late nineties and it’s amazing that their second album actually saw the light of day. Formed by Scott Gorham in ’90 after the death of Phil Lynott in ’86 it was obvious Scott still had a lot of music in him and needed a vehicle to do it. For me, this is the better of the two albums they put out and if it was released today it would be hailed as a classic.

There are not many nods to Lizzy here but the one song that has Lizzy stamped all over it is Kings Vengeance. It’s an awesome tune with Scott playing his ass off adding that dual guitar stamp that Lizzy fans know so well, this is my favourite track. Other highlights are album opener No Soul. What a great uptempo rocker with a great riff, and I really love Solli’s voice on this one. Nothings Real has a slight Zeppelin classic rock vibe to it with Scott again giving some killer fretboard histrionics. As well, Moving On has an even deeper 70’s classic rock groove with a superb hook and chorus.

If you see this around pick it up, you won’t be disappointed.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

PRIMAL FEAR – s/t

November 6, 2023 /

For those of you who do not know, Ralph Scheepers auditioned for Judas Priest after Halford departed. Then, he formed a cover band called Just Priest and toured around Germany. Matt Sinner and guitarist Tom Neumann actually got up and guested at one of their shows. After that, a conversation a seed was planted and Primal Fear was born. Their brief was to just play good old Heavy Metal and this is the their first album.

Is it close to the Priest sound? Oh absolutely, but it’s one hell of an album. There is not a bad moment on the whole record. It is totally metal from beginning to end, but with the eye on the melody. That’s what metal once was, you could always sing along to the songs. Apart from the little intro piece, you can pick any track here and I would be happy to call it my favourite.

Great record and if you’re an old school metal fan it will definitely put a smile on your face. Killer!

10/10 from The Grooveman.

PALLAS – The Sentinel

November 6, 2023 /

The majority of the “new” Prog bands that came out of the UK in the mid-eighties were tagged with the Genesis clone label. Marillion had that for years and so did Pallas. I think Pallas sound more like their American counterparts Styx and Kansas. In fact, you can add New Wave to the list as well. I remember them touring this album with some elaborate stage props, but they didn’t seem to break through like Marillion did.

There are some grandiose extended pieces on here which gives them brownie points in the Prog olympics. My favourite is Atlantis. I do believe they changed vocalists after this record which is a shame as I like his quirky style, it fits the music really well.

A fun record nonetheless.

7.5/10 from The Grooveman.

DREAM PLOICE – s/t

November 4, 2023 /

Not so long ago I reviewed Dream Police’s second album and raved about how good it was. Well, this one (their first) is actually better.

Where were we all in 1990 and why didn’t we buy this album? It’s the same answer for a million other albums of that time as they got next to zero support after the release of the record. Although, that’s not entirely fair as they did get support around Scandinavia.

Hot Legs gets the ball rolling with some old school blues vibes before that great riff blows on in. Rock Dolls is such a fun rock song with a killer riff and groove, and you can’t fail to sing along. When The Sun Goes Down takes us into ballad country but that solo from Trond Holter is superb. A super sleazy riff and groove greets the listener at the intro to Rock Me, and I will forgive the cheesy lyrics. Little Angel closes out Side 1 and if it wasn’t for the ripping guitar you’d swear this was from mid-eighties US radio rock.

Superb opening to Side 2 with Moving. It has a killer riff with a funky rock groove very reminiscent of Extreme. On Fire is a mid tempo melodic rock stomper complete with a huge sing a long chorus. It’s power ballad time next with Surrender and yep, it’s rescued by a killer solo. Those Extreme vibes come rolling on in with Need Your Lovin’ and that’s down to Trond’s guitar grooves. It has a great sing a long chorus too. The album closes out with Hit And Run, my favourite tune on the album. It’s a great uptempo rocker with a monster riff and a HUGE hook and chorus.

I think they still do the occasional gig, but I think it’s just for fun. A great, fun record.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

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