THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Tag: vinyl records (Page 414 of 491)

PINK FLOYD – Dark Side Of The Moon

July 6, 2021 /

There is a reason that everyone calls this album one of the best albums ever recorded, and that’s because it is. The ground work for this release was made with the previous album, Meddle, as that was the first proper album where the ghost of Sid Barrett was finally put to rest, and the psychedelia with it. Of course it helps when your record company lets you spend all the time you want in the studio to perfect your music. I’m not sure an album of this magnitude will be ever made again, at least not under a record company banner. Maybe now home recording is much more accessible and cheap, artists might do it with their own dollar, but no record company will ever do it again.

People always look at Floyd as this great technical behemoth, but in reality the songs are quite basic, it’s how all the instruments are layered and separated in the mix that creates this amazing aural experience. The band produced the album themselves with the great Alan Parsons as engineer, and to my ears, it’s one of the great sonic masterpieces of the seventies. 11 pieces of music and 6 songs, every second is perfection. Of course, they were still a band at this point before tyrant Waters wanted to belittle everyone other than himself to take total control.

Most people would agree that Money is the great track from the album, with a superb solo full of feel and tone by Gilmour. In fact, IMHO, all the songs where Gilmour sings are Floyd’s finest moments. One of the great songs not mentioned too often is The Great Gig In The Sky, with the superb wailing vocal from Clare Tory, I absolutely adore this track as it’s full of feel and expression.

So I don’t need to tell you that you should already own this, if you don’t then I suggest you rectify that immediately.

10/10 from The Grooveman.

MASTERS OF REALITY – Sunrise On The Sufferbus

July 5, 2021 /

This is the second album from Andy York’s Masters Of Reality, and is noteworthy for having none other than Ginger Baker on drums. Musically they are quite hard to pin down on this album, as style wise it’s all over the map. Which is no bad thing as the songs are all short and snappy – nothing weighs in longer than 4.19.

She Got Me is a fast shuffle rock n roll delight, highlighting Ginger’s involvement. In fact, the drums are really high in the mix throughout. JB Witchdance is a quirky off beat little oddity that sticks in your brain. Jody Sings feels as though it was a Beatles outtake from Abbey Road. Rolling Green has a reggae feel mixed with Beatles harmonies and is a great pop song. Ants In The Kitchen is my favourite on the record as it has a wicked riff from Goss, and a groovy drum pattern from Ginger. V.H.V is very low-fi and could be a Kyuss desert project.

Bicycle is a short 46 seconds of “what the hell?” before we flip over to Side 2 with 100 Years with its late sixties psych groove and is a very melancholic song. T.U.S.A is next with a spoken word lyric by Ginger about pouring a cup of tea and is a great groovy little track. Tilt A Whirl is a return to a fast shuffle with a simple rock n roll riff, but again, highly addictive. Rabbit One starts with a killer slow funk vibe and a very trippy riff – it’s another contender for best track. Two really short burst tracks, Madonna and Gimme Water are next before The Moon In Your Pocket closes out the record with a barroom crooner style, and continues the trippy vibe that flows throughout the album. As I mentioned, a very hard album to pin down, but enjoyable all the same.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

BLUES PILLS – s/t

July 5, 2021 /

I knew nothing about this band until I stumbled upon them doing a midnight-down-the-rabbit-hole search through YouTube. What a surprise! They are a fantastic young band. They have that retro early seventies power trio vibe down to a T. They were formed back in 2011, but it wasn’t until 2014 that this gem of a debut album was released.

Opening track, High Class Woman, is a wonderful throwback to the early seventies groove rock vibe, and in Elin Larsson they have unearthed an amazing vocal talent. Ain’t No Change is a fantastic groovey guitar fest and is a monster of a tune. Jupiter has a very heavy Hendrix vibe, again with a killer groove and some great playing, and with the ghost of Janice being channeled through Elin’s killer vocals. It slows the vibe right down and has a very trippy feeling to the tune. It’s a bit of a showcase for Larsson’s vocals until the big stoner riff kicks in. Black Smoke reminds me of a Tom Waits drinking song with some nice slide playing. River is all about the vocal and starts with a jazz vibe mixed in with all that retro goodness – Dusty Springfield popped into my head while listening. No Hope Left For Me follows and we are back to the heavy stoner groove with lots of wailing guitar and vocal. Devil Man has an early Fleetwood Mac feel – especially musically, but the vocal is incredible, and with a sleazy blues swagger, this is my favourite so far. Astralplane is a psyched out bluesy trip fest and is very late sixties in feel – complete with spacey guitar. Gypsy is a cover of the Chubby Checker song and grooves along nicely – it’s way better than the original. Little Sun closes out the album and weirdly reminds me of Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Unfortunately due to line up changes, the albums after this have suffered somewhat, but that does not take away from what a great record this is.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

WHITE SPIRIT – s/t

July 3, 2021 /

Formed in Hartlepool way back in ’75, it wasn’t until NWOBHM became a thing that the band would be given a chance. They were more famous for being the band that would give Janick Gers to Gillan (once Bernie Torme departed) and Iron Maiden for a little while. They were touted as the next Deep Purple thanks to the Hammond playing of Malcolm Pearson and Janick’s obvious love of Blackmore (the influences were obvious).

Opening track, Midnight Chaser, is a great track and could have been a DP track. Red Skies is next up, and again, the keys and guitar are high in the mix – although not the finished article at this point. If there were any albums after this things could have been different. High Upon High, by contrast, almost sounds like Genesis and feels a little out of place. Side 1 closes out with Way Of The Kings and a nice riff from Gers starts things off nicely. It’s not a bad song but the vocals are a little weak.

Side 2 starts with No Reprieve and this is my favourite on the album. Lots of nice instrumentation, interplay, and key changes make this a very cool track. Don’t be Fooled follows and the main riff seems to be a rewrite of Smoke On The Water- even the guitar tone is the same! Gers’ obvious love of all things Blackmore is a little too close here. Fool For The Gods closes out the album and is the band’s attempt at the big epic. A very slow and atmospheric opening leads into an almost pomp rock piece – like Angel and early Styx.

So that’s it – one and they’re done. Other than compilation albums and singles, this would be the band’s only release.

7.5/10 from The Grooveman.

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