THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Tag: vinyl records (Page 477 of 491)

METALLICA – And Justice For All

January 26, 2021 /

It always amazes me the hate that this album gets amongst fans and non-fans. First it was the whole sell-out thing by doing a video for One, which was something they said they would not bow down to. But you know what? The whole scene had changed since they began, especially with MTV starting up and being such an influential medium. Then there was the whole “Where’s the bass?” thing. James did mention much later on that they were just messin’ with the new guy. Plus, you can here it anyway it’s just not prominent. Also Lars gets some grief over his drumming skills on this album as well, which is mind boggling to me as his playing is fantastic here. Anyway, I really like this album, so zero negative vibes from me. This was to be the last album produced by Fleming Rasmussen before they would go with Bob Rock and mega stardom.

Let’s get down to the tunes. We start with the epic Blackened, a nailed on textbook Metallica masterpiece. Huge fat riff, plenty of chugga-chugga and that change in pace awesome. Title track is next , and basically more of the same, no let up in the quality here. Next, and an epic slow fade into the beginning of Eye Of The Beholder, and we are off and running. This needs to be played LOUD!!! Then a bonafide ‘Tallica classic, One, is next with its very striking anti-war message about a soldier who has lost all of his limbs and nearly all of his senses. This was the one that made everyone pay attention – not just the metalheads.

So that’s disc 1 done, now onto disc 2 with Shortest Straw – with a groove change very early on in proceedings, with plenty of jun-jun’s to keep that head banging. It’s quite noticeable how the mood is becoming a lot more serious with the lyrics compared to their earlier albums. Monster track, Harvester of Sorrow, is next with that sooooo doomy beginning that fits the subject matter perfectly. Then one of my favourite Metallica tracks ever, The Frayed Ends of Sanity, which starts with an almost funky choppy groove with a huge riff. The middle section and the ending is killer. If this doesn’t get you bouncing round the broom cupboard then nothing will. Flip over onto the last side and straight into the acoustic intro to Live Is To Die, an almost instrumental that was about as mellow as Metallica got at the time. Which brings us to album closer, Dyers Eve, which is very early ‘Tallica, and the only song that has thrash written all over – superb ending.

So there you have a fantastic album that doesn’t deserve all the hate.

9.5/10 from The Grooveman.

ZZ TOP – First Album

January 25, 2021 /

This is a million miles from what they would become after Eliminator. As The Rev Billy G would say himself “we are just a ‘lil ole blues band from Texas”, and ladies and germs that is exactly what we get here! A good, honest, no bells and whistles record. It has its high points and low points, namely Squank, but we’ll stick with the high ones.

First track is Somebody Else Been Shakin’ Your Tree, a great opener with a groovey blues swing, and some nice lead from Billy G. Then we get the really bluesy Brown Sugar, which starts with just guitar then grows into a cool boogie. Goin Down To Mexico is next another up-tempo groover, and then Side 1 closes with a blues/country ballad, Old Man.

Flip over to Neighbour Neighbour, a typical ZZ Top shuffle groove, and into Certified Blues again with that swinging groove and cool guitar. Next up the dirty boogie of Bedroom Thang, with a very suspect lyric and a killer close out instrumental break. Now onto the two close out tracks, Just Got Back From Baby’s, and Back Door Love Affair – both co-written by producer Bill Ham. Both of these tracks are traditional style blues, and have been covered by a variety of artists over the years – and both have some great guitar from Gibbons.

The band had only been together about six months before they went in and recorded this, so the songs were quickly put together. I’ve always loved three piece bands as there’s no hiding in the mix. You can hear everything super clear, and every instrument has its place in the sound – and this is a good recording! Not their best album, but a good representation of where they were at at the time.

7/10 from The Grooveman.

SUPERTRAMP – Breakfast in America

January 25, 2021 /

This is the sixth studio album by British band, Supertramp. They started out in 1970 as a full on Prog rock band. It wasn’t until they released their third album, Crime of The Century, and especially the single Dreamer, that they moved into a more commercial direction. Breakfast in America was probably the pinnacle of their careers as it spawned four Top 40 singles in America alone – where they toured endlessly. They first came onto my radar while at school with Dreamer. Even though this is not my favourite album by them, there is not a bad song on here.

Starting things off with Gone Hollywood, this sees them at their best with a trademark huge song that takes the listener everywhere across their musical spectrum – complete with a groovy breakdown. Next up is The Logical Song, which was a huge hit everywhere. It is followed by Goodbye Stranger – another typical song, and then into another huge hit with the title track, Breakfast in America. Last track on Side 1, Oh Darling, is probably the weakest on the album but still a good tune.

Side 2 kicks off with yet another classic Tramp tune, Take The Long Way Home. The two main protagonists Rodger Hodgson and Rick Davies vocally, although very different, compliment each other perfectly. Both of them are the main song writers, they sing their own songs, and they seem to have very different outlooks on life judging by the lyrical content of the songs. This would prove to be the down fall of the band at a later point. Last song of the album, Child Of Vision, starts off with that Wurlitzer organ sound first heard on Dreamer, that feels like an old friend, and builds into this huge closing piece with an almost jazz like piano section with a cool groove.

There is no other band like Supertramp. Nobody writes the way they do, and no matter what song is played, you instantly know who it is. It’s really hard to pin them down when someone asks you “what style of music do they play?”. My reply is “well, it’s Supertramp!”. Obviously this album sold squillions, and was 300 times platinum or something like that…so I guess somebody likes it.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

DEEP PURPLE – Machine Head

January 23, 2021 /

Another iconic album that every one and his dog has waxed lyrical over. This is the 3rd album recorded by the classic Mk2 line up of the band, and their peak with them. The animosity between Gillan and Blackmore also reached its peak at this point as they were hardly talking to each other. So it’s amazing it turned out the way it did.

Kicking things off with the epic driving song Highway Star, with the Hammond intro and driving beat before that Gillan trademark scream that announces the arrival of this future DP classic. Every rock band for the next 10 years and beyond would follow this format. All the elements that you associate with Purple are here, namely over-the-top everything. Now the next three tracks Maybe I’m A Leo, Pictures Of Home, and Never Before are not bad tracks – it’s just they are nestled between some of the most iconic tracks in the history of rock, so they have this tendency to get lost somewhat, which is a shame – if they were picked for Made In Japan things may have been different.

Over on Side 2 and we get the most recognizable riff ever in rock music with Smoke On The Water. Now I don’t care if I ever hear this song again as it has been played to death, but you can’t take away from the fact that it’s a good song with a simple structure – and the simple ones are the ones that people remember. Now what set Purple apart from most other bands at the time is they were all amazing individual instrumentalists in their own right, as well as performing as a band. If you ever caught them live you would know what I mean with all the extended solo sections.

The next 2 tracks are both Purple classics as they emphasize that point to the max with Lazy, and Space Truckin’. Lazy starts off with that over top Hammond sound that only Jon Lord could do, followed by that Blackmore riff, and we’re away and runnin’ – great stuff. The perfect end to an album with Space Truckin’, which shows a band at the height of their power.

I would say this is my favourite version of Purple, even though I have a soft spot for the Burn album which will come later. My favourite track is Lazy.

8.5/10 from The Grooveman.

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