for guitar players: Gary Moore

[Wiseacre]

IMO Ol' Gary's problem was that he couldn't figure out who he was... his early 80s hard rock didn't stick, so he went synth heavy, then back to rock/AoR, then he was a 2nd-rate SRV for awhile... great player with brilliant moments, but just couldn't catch fire commercially.

I totally agree. Even though he’s my #1 I pretty much ignored the whole latter-day “blues” career. It just didn’t interest me at all. Even when he was doing his best stuff in the early ‘80s (IMO) he was wearing goofy leather jumpsuits and shit. He was so good at so much, but never did find his correct niche. Also, like I said, I think he suffered from the Ace syndrome, he wasn’t really suited to be the “frontman” and when he did turn the spotlight over it was to a completely forgettable, vanilla singer. Just like Frehley’s Comet.

[Bono Nettencourt]

IMO Ol' Gary's problem was that he couldn't figure out who he was... his early 80s hard rock didn't stick, so he went synth heavy, then back to rock/AoR, then he was a 2nd-rate SRV for awhile... great player with brilliant moments, but just couldn't catch fire commercially.

I totally agree. Even though he’s my #1 I pretty much ignored the whole latter-day “blues” career. It just didn’t interest me at all.

Same same. It seemed like a copout and a waste of his talent. He "sold out" and it really wasn't for all that much (one gold record?)

[killeverything]

IMO Ol' Gary's problem was that he couldn't figure out who he was... his early 80s hard rock didn't stick, so he went synth heavy, then back to rock/AoR, then he was a 2nd-rate SRV for awhile... great player with brilliant moments, but just couldn't catch fire commercially.

I totally agree. Even though he’s my #1 I pretty much ignored the whole latter-day “blues” career. It just didn’t interest me at all. Even when he was doing his best stuff in the early ‘80s (IMO) he was wearing goofy leather jumpsuits and shit. He was so good at so much, but never did find his correct niche. Also, like I said, I think he suffered from the Ace syndrome, he wasn’t really suited to be the “frontman” and when he did turn the spotlight over it was to a completely forgettable, vanilla singer. Just like Frehley’s Comet.

I'm kind of in this boat. I didn't appreciate Gary until later. I knew of him, had his "Still Got The Blues" tape and knew he was a good player, but I just never listened to it seriously. I ( incorrectly ) thought he was just another white rock guy that got into blues after hearing SRV. Hey, I said I was incorrect.

Once I got over my teenager mentality of him and actually listened to the guy. Holy shit he was good. Incredible phrasing, the guy had it all. He just probably suffered from his public identity, so to speak.

[Wiseacre]

I don't remember the exact quote, but I believe he was considered as a replacement for RR after his death and when Ozzy was asked why he didn't get the job, Ozzy said something along the lines of "because he's an ugly cunt" That bar fight that left him all scarred up might have been his biggest hurdle.

[Van Ailin']

I don't remember the exact quote, but I believe he was considered as a replacement for RR after his death and when Ozzy was asked why he didn't get the job, Ozzy said something along the lines of "because he's an ugly cunt" That bar fight that left him all scarred up might have been his biggest hurdle.

Ozzy wanted younger people that he could control, people who owed their exposure to Ozzy. Once they started to make a name in the wider world, he would let them go and start with another (at low salary). This was Sharon's business model because the one thing they couldn't have was the audience elevating the guitar player above Ozzy - in case the player would leave of his own accord and leave Ozzy diminished.

[Van Ailin']

IMO Ol' Gary's problem was that he couldn't figure out who he was... his early 80s hard rock didn't stick, so he went synth heavy, then back to rock/AoR, then he was a 2nd-rate SRV for awhile... great player with brilliant moments, but just couldn't catch fire commercially.

I think his early 80s hard rock sound could have stuck in the US, but he didn't get on the right tours (or spent too much time where he made good money, in Europe). I think his albums got better around Run For Cover and Wild Frontier, when he was essentially doing "Phil Lynott" in an era when we didn't have Phil Lynott. To my ears that was closest to Gary's best, despite the "not best" sound of 80s keys and drum samples on Wild Frontier. He was well-positioned to take advantage of the late 80s "guitar hero" era, but his After the War album just wasn't very good compared to the prior two. The songs just weren't there.

When he went to blues, I also found it jarring, but his sound was nothing like SRV. SRV used a Strat and had all those single pickup sounds when he held and bent notes. Gary had none of that and was a lot more like Peter Green with the overdriven sound on his Les Paul. I remember liking many of the songs and loving the guitar tone, but it just wasn't as melodic as his mid-80s albums. Nonetheless, "Still Got the Blues" is a truly classic blues tune, his best contribution to the genre. Problem was that each successive blues album was a little less interesting, and while his shows were still excellent, the albums were suffering. I suspect this is when the drinking really started to have a bigger impact.

[Wiseacre]

IMO Ol' Gary's problem was that he couldn't figure out who he was... his early 80s hard rock didn't stick, so he went synth heavy, then back to rock/AoR, then he was a 2nd-rate SRV for awhile... great player with brilliant moments, but just couldn't catch fire commercially.

I think his early 80s hard rock sound could have stuck in the US, but he didn't get on the right tours (or spent too much time where he made good money, in Europe). I think his albums got better around Run For Cover and Wild Frontier, when he was essentially doing "Phil Lynott" in an era when we didn't have Phil Lynott. To my ears that was closest to Gary's best, despite the "not best" sound of 80s keys and drum samples on Wild Frontier. He was well-positioned to take advantage of the late 80s "guitar hero" era, but his After the War album just wasn't very good compared to the prior two. The songs just weren't there.

When he went to blues, I also found it jarring, but his sound was nothing like SRV. SRV used a Strat and had all those single pickup sounds when he held and bent notes. Gary had none of that and was a lot more like Peter Green with the overdriven sound on his Les Paul. I remember liking many of the songs and loving the guitar tone, but it just wasn't as melodic as his mid-80s albums. Nonetheless, "Still Got the Blues" is a truly classic blues tune, his best contribution to the genre. Problem was that each successive blues album was a little less interesting, and while his shows were still excellent, the albums were suffering. I suspect this is when the drinking really started to have a bigger impact.

I agree about SRV. I never made any connection there, myself either. Just a Blues player with some extra flare, but beyond that it wasn't all that similar. Even though I like the latter 2 albums you mentioned, I prefer his Corridors/Victims era the best. Ripping songs and amazing solos. A LOT of my friends found his vocals grating though, which I can understand.

I think he was actually a very good songwriter with a great sense of melody and arrangements in addition to being an amazing guitarist who would have done so much better in a supporting role like a Whitesnake situation maybe.

[Bono Nettencourt]

IMO Ol' Gary's problem was that he couldn't figure out who he was... his early 80s hard rock didn't stick, so he went synth heavy, then back to rock/AoR, then he was a 2nd-rate SRV for awhile... great player with brilliant moments, but just couldn't catch fire commercially.

I think his early 80s hard rock sound could have stuck in the US, but he didn't get on the right tours (or spent too much time where he made good money, in Europe). I think his albums got better around Run For Cover and Wild Frontier, when he was essentially doing "Phil Lynott" in an era when we didn't have Phil Lynott. To my ears that was closest to Gary's best, despite the "not best" sound of 80s keys and drum samples on Wild Frontier. He was well-positioned to take advantage of the late 80s "guitar hero" era, but his After the War album just wasn't very good compared to the prior two. The songs just weren't there.

I'm the opposite - while I agree that the early 80s rock stuff was great, I think that RTC and WF were a step down - it was him trying to "80s" up his sound and it was sterile and fake IMO. ATW was what you said it was - some A&R guy thought "this guy can play his ass off and guitar heroes are hot, let's get behind this!" I actually liked ATW - but I think that "Ready For Love" was corny AOR cheese. It got airplay... to no avail. That was his one and only shot at breaking out in the US, and he blew it. Then he crawled into his blooze and booze bag, and the rest is best forgotten, as most of us also agree.

[HottKarl777]

Every fucking thread turns into the same off topic argument with you retards.

I'm not familiar with Gary's playing but I remember being stunned at the amount of alcohol he consumed the last day of his life. It was beyond John Bonham drunk. Probably beyond Steve Clark lying in the gutter in Minneapolis drunk. Those Irish guys don't fuck around.

Yeah, Gary's drinking is definitely "on topic" in a thread about his guitar playing.

Retard

Point taken.

[Wiseacre]

Every fucking thread turns into the same off topic argument with you retards.

I'm not familiar with Gary's playing but I remember being stunned at the amount of alcohol he consumed the last day of his life. It was beyond John Bonham drunk. Probably beyond Steve Clark lying in the gutter in Minneapolis drunk. Those Irish guys don't fuck around.

Yeah, Gary's drinking is definitely "on topic" in a thread about his guitar playing.

Retard

Point taken.

just breakin ballz

[HottKarl777]

Yeah, Gary's drinking is definitely "on topic" in a thread about his guitar playing.

Retard

Point taken.

just breakin ballz

I was being a fucking D bag as usual. I can't believe I really don't know any Gary Moore songs at all. Lizzy sure but not any of his solo shit. Yngwie said nobody was better than Gary at playing a slow melody.

As far as the endless Ace discussion I'm a nutswinger too. It's wild that my favorite Ace solos are Bob Kulick and Dick Wagner. You can literally pick out the notes that Ace would never use.

[Wiseacre]

As far as the endless Ace discussion I'm a nutswinger too. It's wild that my favorite Ace solos are Bob Kulick and Dick Wagner. You can literally pick out the notes that Ace would never use.

C'mon. That's retarded. Dick did one forgettable solo and Bob did a couple on Alive 2 Side 4 and Paul's solo album, so you're right back to being a fuckin D bag again with that nonsense.

Gene was the one that was constantly ghosted, not Ace. You tellin' me Kramer was ghosting Ace on RARAO or LG? No way. Ezrin did it once and Kramer did it when Ace didn't give a shit about playing on Gene and Paul's Alive II songs (while recording his kickass Rocket Ride solos). There is zero evidence beyond that, and we'd have heard about it if there was anything else. And of course, Ace is all over his '78 album, his Dynasty and Unmasked songs along with what Ezrin didn't scrap from the Elder and those are no mystery.

Those other guys are great guitarists, but aside from Bob's killer playing on Larger Than Life, they are barely a hiccup in the entire KISS catalog.

[Van Ailin']

I was being a fucking D bag as usual. I can't believe I really don't know any Gary Moore songs at all. Lizzy sure but not any of his solo shit. Yngwie said nobody was better than Gary at playing a slow melody.

Go to the bottom of Page 1 and click those\ 8-9 links and familiarize. I predict you'll find a lot to like.