Gary Moore – Close As You Get (Eagle Records).
Gary Moore is in the upper echelons of British Blues/Rock and has consistently produced top class albums for a number of years now. His latest, Close As You Get, shows no sign of him falling away. The opener, If The Devil Made Whisky, is a grungy blues (with the correct spelling of whisky, I’m glad to say) with exaggerated slide guitar and an aggressive vocal. Gary is back in form, writing and playing the type of song that his guitar power requires. The album sleeve has short quotes from each song and for this it is “If the devil made money, he must have made my girl as well, Cause they get a man in trouble, then they send you straight to hell”. You know what he’s talking about, don’t you boys. Trouble At Home is a slow, stylish blues that shows he has lost none of his passion and his guitar sings. Thirty Days is a bit of a surprise as Gary takes us into the realms of Country Rock. I’m not convinced about this one although his Chuck Berry, Maybelline style opening riff is sheer class. No surprise as it is a Chuck Berry song. Hard Times is a shuffling blues with added harmonica (another thing that I’m not used to hearing on a Gary Moore recording) from Mark Feltham and Moore rocks on this. The slower songs are where artists get to show their different levels of emotion and Gary certainly puts himself through the wringer on John Mayall’s Have You Heard. Guitar and organ (Vic Martin) are to the fore here with his guitar in particularly searing form.
The classic Sonny Boy Williamson song Eyesight To The Blind has a storming opening and he gives it his all on the unhurried Evenin’. Things stay in the slow lane for the appropriately named Nowhere Fast. This has sympathetic guitar although possibly not the best lyrically. Gary flicks the grunge button again for Checkin’ Up On My Baby. This has fuzzed harp from Feltham and growling guitar and is what he does best. His gritty vocal and ringing guitar compliment each other to perfection on this second Sonny Boy Williamson cover. Everything is held together, as it is on the rest of the album, by Thin Lizzy drummer Brian Downey. The penultimate track, I Had A Dream, is slow rock and is an example of a master passing on his skills to the next generation. Great vocal, top guitar, what else can I say? In an album with a couple of surprises Gary finishes off with another. This time it is Son House’s Sundown with acoustic slide guitar and he sounds as if he has recorded it live in the studio. Sundown is not his usual bag but very acceptable indeed!
People think that they know what they are going to get on a Gary Moore album but this one may hold a surprise or two.
http://www.eagle-rock.com/
http://www.gary-moore.com/
David Blue.
Gary Moore is in the upper echelons of British Blues/Rock and has consistently produced top class albums for a number of years now. His latest, Close As You Get, shows no sign of him falling away. The opener, If The Devil Made Whisky, is a grungy blues (with the correct spelling of whisky, I’m glad to say) with exaggerated slide guitar and an aggressive vocal. Gary is back in form, writing and playing the type of song that his guitar power requires. The album sleeve has short quotes from each song and for this it is “If the devil made money, he must have made my girl as well, Cause they get a man in trouble, then they send you straight to hell”. You know what he’s talking about, don’t you boys. Trouble At Home is a slow, stylish blues that shows he has lost none of his passion and his guitar sings. Thirty Days is a bit of a surprise as Gary takes us into the realms of Country Rock. I’m not convinced about this one although his Chuck Berry, Maybelline style opening riff is sheer class. No surprise as it is a Chuck Berry song. Hard Times is a shuffling blues with added harmonica (another thing that I’m not used to hearing on a Gary Moore recording) from Mark Feltham and Moore rocks on this. The slower songs are where artists get to show their different levels of emotion and Gary certainly puts himself through the wringer on John Mayall’s Have You Heard. Guitar and organ (Vic Martin) are to the fore here with his guitar in particularly searing form.
The classic Sonny Boy Williamson song Eyesight To The Blind has a storming opening and he gives it his all on the unhurried Evenin’. Things stay in the slow lane for the appropriately named Nowhere Fast. This has sympathetic guitar although possibly not the best lyrically. Gary flicks the grunge button again for Checkin’ Up On My Baby. This has fuzzed harp from Feltham and growling guitar and is what he does best. His gritty vocal and ringing guitar compliment each other to perfection on this second Sonny Boy Williamson cover. Everything is held together, as it is on the rest of the album, by Thin Lizzy drummer Brian Downey. The penultimate track, I Had A Dream, is slow rock and is an example of a master passing on his skills to the next generation. Great vocal, top guitar, what else can I say? In an album with a couple of surprises Gary finishes off with another. This time it is Son House’s Sundown with acoustic slide guitar and he sounds as if he has recorded it live in the studio. Sundown is not his usual bag but very acceptable indeed!
People think that they know what they are going to get on a Gary Moore album but this one may hold a surprise or two.
http://www.eagle-rock.com/
http://www.gary-moore.com/
David Blue.
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