THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Tag: vinyl (Page 41 of 50)

EXTREME II – Pornograffitti

January 13, 2021 /

This is the 2nd release from Boston groove rockers Extreme. This is a concept album, or funked up fairytale, around the themes of pornography and graffiti. This is the limited Music On Vinyl release, and as with all their releases, it sounds crisp and clear.

Kicking things off with the grooving Decadence Dance with a deep funky rockin’ groove with an excellent melody and catchy chorus – this is a killer opening track. We carry on with the funk into Li’l Jack Horny, with ripping guitars and horns – awesome second track in. Closely followed by When I’m President, which starts with a rap style vocal from Gary Cherone and the usual funky vibes. This otherwise ordinary track is lifted by a cool middle eight with some tasty guitar from Nuno. Then it’s onto this album’s finest track, Get The Funk Out. If this doesn’t get you bouncing round the house then you are not alive. Huge guitar riff with a really fat sound, superb singalong chorus, a fat bass groove, and killer guitar. This ladies and germs is Extreme at their best!!!

The squillion selling world wide smash More Than Words follows – every human alive probably knows this. The almost Queen sounding, Money, follows and then another song that everyone should know, Hole Hearted, closes out Side 1. That my dear peeps is how you load up a side with all the hits how possibly could Side 2 fair against that?!

BOOM!!! We start off Side 2 with some wild phased guitar from Nuno into another killer funk groove, It’s A Monster, with yet another sing a long chorus, huge guitars, and awesome bass groove. When will the pleasure end??? Not with the title track anyway, as we have more of the same with another ripping funky groove. Quite possibly the funkiest track on the whole album. The first of the not so good tracks is next with When I First Kissed You, a rather ordinary ballad as is the last track, Song Of Love. In between those two, we have Suzi, which starts off with a Nuno solo piece with some seriously fast pickin’, and then the comic book-esque, He Man Woman Hater.

This was the album that made them an arena selling act, and made a guitar hero out of Nuno and quite rightly so. I really enjoy this album and it gets 9/10 from The Grooveman, basically for Side 1 alone.

FASHION – Fabrique

January 12, 2021 /

Ok, so I’ll admit to being a sucker for these early eighties slapping bass heavy grooves dance/rock crossover bands, and Fashion are just that. Now I know for a brief period of the time, in the UK in ’82, they were quite trendy. With the initial release of this album, there was a bonus album of remixes of all the songs which I really loved.

First track in Move On sums up this album perfectly with a slap bass driven groove that makes you want to bounce around the kitchen while burning your dinner. Love Shadow is a slow funk kind of vibe. Streetplayer- Mechanik was their big showcase with the extended dance groove. If this was recorded today it would be done by a DJ and a computer, but all credit to Fashion as this is all created by humans.

You can tell by their names they were trying to be edgy, de Harriss, Mulligan, dik Davis – I’m trying hard not to cry with laughing. Anyhoo, the groove continues with Dessed to Kill and the disappointing You Only Left You Picture. Side 2 is a bit of a let down as it has more of that New Romantic vibe, which is totally not my thing. It was typical of the period, as the record companies at the time thought it was really cool to load up the 1st side of an album with all the good songs.

This gets a 7/10 for Side 1 and 3/10 for Side 2 from The Grooveman.

JOE SATRIANI – Surfing with the Alien

January 12, 2021 /

This is Satriani’s 2nd full length album released after Not of This Earth and an EP Dreaming#9. Surfing was the album that launched Joe into full blown guitar hero territory. Surprisingly, this was recorded quite cheaply as Joe tracked guitar and bass, and the majority of the drums are programmed (apart from a couple of tracks which long time drummer Jeff Campitelli plays on). What makes this album, and in fact all Joe’s albums, different from all other guitarists solo efforts is that Joe concentrates on the melody of the song. The guitar melodies for the songs are written as if they were for a vocalist.

Things start off in great style with the title track with a killer melody and groove with some killer leads. 2nd track, Ice 9, is one of my personal faves on the album, and then boom…straight into Crushing Day – a very apt title as it does just that. The next track, Always With Me, is a bit of a let down to be honest after the killer start. Spirits lifted with the next track, Satch Boogie, which to this day is still a crowd favourite when played live.

Side 2 starts off with a small atmospheric piece called Hill of the Skull, and then straight into the awesome and best track on the album, Circles. Circles starts with a really cool chord sequence, and then launches into an awesome rock groove with Joe laying down some serious guitar. Lords Of Karma, Midnight, and the brilliant Echo, close out the record.

This version is the two disc RSD Black Friday release from a couple of years ago. The 2nd disc is a yellow vinyl and has all of Joe’s guitar leads removed so you can strum along if you wish. All in all, I can appreciate widdlers like Malmsteen as great technicians, but to me Joe is head and shoulders above for his ability to use the guitar to write a melody and a great tune – also he can rip with the best of them.

8/10 from The Grooveman.

JOHNNY WINTER – Roots

January 11, 2021 /

This is Winter’s last album that was released while he was still alive. The album after this, Step Back, was released after his death. What they both have in common is they are both all full of new renditions of blues standards and produced by his guitarist Paul Nelson.

Each track has a special guest, either guitar players, harp players or keyboard players, to give each track and the whole album a boost. Although by no means a Winter classic, each song is done with respect to the originals. We don’t stray too far from the path here.

The two stand out tracks for me are Bright Lights Big City, which features Susan Tedeschi on vocals and guitar, and Dust My Broom which showcases the amazing talents of Derek Trucks.

Nothing too outstanding here, and unless you are a Winter fan then there would be no reason to add this or your collection.

5/10 from The Grooveman.

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