1269. Deep Purple / Perfect Strangers. 1984. 5/5

The gradual falling apart of Deep Purple over a period of three years, with first lead vocalist Ian Gillan moving on, the sacking of bass guitarist Roger Glover, and the quitting of Ritchie Blackmore to form his own band, had seen time called on the so-called Mark II line up of the band, the most successful phase of the band. Despite the recruiting of David Coverdale to replace Gillan, Glenn Hughes to replace Glover and Tommy Bolin to replace Blackmore, and the addition of three more wonderful albums in “Burn”, “Stormbringer” and “Come Taste the Band”, the band struggled through tours with both Hughes and Bolin’s careering drug addictions proving a major stumbling block. Eventually something had to give way, and Deep Purple finally called it a day in the middle of 1976, with the band manager stating, "the band will not record or perform together as Deep Purple again".
Post-Deep Purple, most of the major players went on to successful careers away from the band, apart from Bolin's sad death by overdose just months after the band’s dissolution. Coverdale went on to form Whitesnake, which both keyboardist Jon Lord and drummer Ian Paice joined as well and built a successful following. Paice did eventually leave in 1982 and moved on to join Gary Moore’s band. Blackmore of course went on to form the band he had left Deep Purple for, Rainbow, and they released seven albums that continued to be heavy influences on the music scene. Glover had produced his “The Butterfly Ball” album, and then eventually joined Blackmore in Rainbow in 1979. Ian Gillan formed his solo band Gillan and released five albums up to 1982, and then joined Black Sabbath as the replacement for Ronnie James Dio for the “Born Again” album in 1983. Thus, each of the five members of the Mark II lineup had continued to be in the spotlight musically.
Also in the spotlight during those years was Deep Purple. Several retrospective best of releases came out, and found both the old audience and a brand new audience ready to hear all of those great songs. Then came the live albums and the wider release of bootlegged live albums, which whetted the fans appetites even more. And it wasn’t long before promotors and other such people started to wave money around and find a way to get Deep Purple, in some form, back together. But with the relative success all of the members were achieving in other bands, there was no joy in finding a way to make this happen.
Eventually, talks began, and whispers started circulating. The Gillan-helmed Black Sabbath album had not been as successful as was hoped, and there was concern about his suitability for the older tracks by the band live. Rainbow’s search for true commercial stardom had proven hard to come by. While it always appeared that Lord and Paice were amenable to a Deep Purple reunion, it was the trio of Gillan, Glover and Blackmore that had to have a reason to return, and with their stars slightly diminished during 1982 and 1983, they appeared at least willing to talk. The announcement of the reformation of the Mark II lineup was met with great acclaim throughout the music world, with the fans looking forward to the answering of two important questions. One, could the band produce an album with the success that their albums from their halcyon days had had. Two, could the egos be put aside in the recording studio long enough to allow that to occur.

One of the more savvy parts of this album are the songs that open each side of the album. Both are the real heavy hitters of the album, and get the mood moving from the outset. The album opening "Knocking at Your Back Door" is laden with Gillan's double entendre lyrics, and others that aren't so well hidden. It's the perfect start to the new Mark II era, and the band's first album in 9 years. The organ and drum intro from Lord and Paice that leads into the opening riff from Blackmore and the subtle undertones of Glover's bass before Gillan's amazing vocals chime in to begin the song proper. Everything fits together perfectly, and while it is all a triumph it is the return of the duo and duelling of Lord and Blackmore on guitar and organ that is a true delight. "Under the Gun" has a terrific mood about it, with Gillan's doubled vocals through the verse and the chorus adding a great depth to the singing on this track. It's obvious from the start that Gillan has lost nothing in his absence from the band, and this song in particular brings to the fore that the music and sound has lost nothing from their glory days, and indeed fits into the modern acerbic perfectly, with the lyrics defining the pressure of being soldiers in war expertly brought to the surface. A passage of Blackmore's solo mimics the 'keep the home fires burning' parable, though I can' confirm if this was deliberate or not. This is followed by "Nobody's Home" which is again led out by Lord's organ riff into Blackmore's guitar and the cowbell from Paice's drums. This a jauntier song that again utilises double meaning in the lyrics and has the attitude energy about it. "Mean Streak" crashes in with drums and guitar to begin, but it is Roger Glover's bass guitar roaming up and down throughout the song that provides the main impetus of the song. He is at his best on this song, with the bass and Lord's Hammond organ creating a great atmosphere throughout, while Gillan's vocals lyricise about the well told tale of the woman with a mean streak, bitter sweet. This opening side to the band's first album with this line up in a decade is as strong as any they had put together in their first iteration.
Then comes the title track which opens the second side of the album, the star attraction, and one that is still played live to the present day. It has an amazingly haunting atmosphere throughout, again created and derived from the organ and guitar, perpetuated by Gillan's vocals, and the majesty of the tempo of the track mounted marvellously by Glover and Paice. One of the key parts of the song is that Blackmore does not perform a guitar solo, instead the instrumental passages are held together by the organ and the chugging riff. It's unusual for the band, but perhaps that is what makes it so interesting and iconic to this day. Following this comes "A Gypsy's Kiss", another of the high tempo tracks on the album. Blackmore's guitar takes centre stage on this song, with the solo break a beauty, and also a long guitar led passage that fades the song out to its conclusion. The lyrics weave between historical references and cryptic observations that make a great tale. "Wasted Sunsets" goes down a different road, a ballad of sorts in the style that Deep Purple likes to create them, introspective with a slower tempo. Painting a portrait of lost opportunities and feelings of reflection and regret, it gives Blackmore's guitar the opportunity to weep rather than showcase power. The album then concludes with "Hungry Daze", back to the height of the tempo on the album, almost middle eastern in its composition. This song is about the struggle of the band in its early days, and reflecting on the tough time it took to establish themselves. It touches on pieces of the Mark II history, with lines such as "We all came out to Montreux, but that's another song". The concluding cacophony of instruments and vocals crashes to a perfect finish, and brings to a close one of the best albums of the band's discography.

"Perfect Strangers" was released around the time I began to find my musical tastes beginning to mature and change with the times. While it was still to be just over 12 months from the release of this album to the time my conversion truly began, this album was one of the first that came to me during this initial phase. I had noticed songs such as "Black Night" and "Smoke on the Water" on compilation albums around this time, and knew of them even if I didn't know them very well. But when I was eventually handed a copy of this album by my heavy metal music dealer in early 1986, as a part of the answer to the question I asked at school one lunchtime, "Are Deep Purple any good?", I was almost immediately in love with it. The fact that this became my introduction to Deep Purple the band for me is quite significant, because it was their (then) modern iteration, and the return of the band's most well known formation, and they produced an album that, I believe, is as good as anything they produced before or since.
This album is another perfect embodiment of the amazing partnership that was the Blackmore/Lord duo. Their combination again on this album is spectacular, the swapping of solo slots between them, something that made those 1970's albums so special, is again here in spades. Lord's Hammond organ has that unique sound that immediately let's you know this is Deep Purple, while Blackmore's trademark guitar licks are again back in a form that is far more preferable than the commercial sounding way he was heading in the final throes of Rainbow. Ian Gillan's vocals top this trio, and at on point for this whole album. As wonderful as the Coverdale/Hughes Mark III and IV era with Tommy Bolin is, Gillan is the voice of Deep Purple at its finest, and these three are sensational here. Add to that the presence of Roger Glover's bass and Ian Paice's excellent drumming - both of whom are not in any way in anyone's shadow on this album - and you have a brilliant release.
I have had this playing for the past month, weaving in and out of the other albums I have been listening to, and each time I have been ecstatic to do so. I got this on vinyl... Again... A few years ago and it sounds superb on the turntable in the Metal Cavern. I have been singing along again, and being reminded of my latter high school years when I first got this album, as it always does whenever I listen to it. It reminds me of our mate who was dubbed Wagon, who continued to claim that Ritchie Blackmore was the only original guitarist in the history of music, and would always proclaim Deep Purple was the height of the music tree. I personally don't think there is a weak track on this album, from the opening strains of "Knocking at Your Back Door", to the genius that is "Perfect Strangers", from the hard rock attack of "Under the Gun" and "Mean Streak", the subtle change of "Wasted Sunsets" and the conclusion of "Hungry Daze", this is a superb album for the day.
The reunion tour that promoted this album put Deep Purple back in the spotlight and proved to be a major resurgence for the band and its members. Though the road remained rocky, even after the years where they had been apart, the 1980's would prove to be a time of stability and success that surely none of them could ever have dreamed of.

1268. Dream Theater / Metropolis Pt 2: Scenes from a Memory. 1999. 4/5

Over the previous decade, Dream Theater had begun to break the mould of what progressive metal could achieve, especially through one of the most difficult decades that that style of music had ever had to negotiate. Against the tide of grunge, and then alternative metal, and all of the other changes during the 1990’s, Dream Theater had stuck with what they knew and what they were great at and kept putting out albums that continued to be noticed despite the mass of opposing rapids. With albums such as “Images and Words”, “Awake” and “Falling into Infinity”, not to mention the game changing EP “A Change of Seasons”, Dream Theater mad their music and captured their audience with their excellence.
Moving into their new album, and two major events occurred to set the direction that their next LP would take. Firstly had been the insistence from their fans to produce a sequel of sorts to their song “Metropolis - Part 1” from their “Images and Words” album, though the band had no intention to do so, as the Part 1 had been added as a joke by guitarist John Petrucci. Despite this the band recorded a 21 minute instrumental demo called “Metropolis - Part 2” for the “Falling into Infinity” album which subsequently didn’t make the cut. However, there were musical pieces within this demo that would eventually become parts of the following album, one that the record company had given the band free reign on, and which they then decided to create as a concept album on the basis of the demo and the story that became entwined with it.
During this process, the band also made another change. Derek Sherinian, who had been a part of the band as the keyboardist since Kevin Moore had quit after the “Awake” album, had found his own differences of opinion over the direction and music that the band was headed in, in the same way Moore had previously. At the same time, both Mike Portnoy and John Petrucci had been in a side project called Liquid Tension Experiment with keyboardist Jordan Rudess, and once this was completed, they convinced both John Myung and James LaBrie that they needed to make a change, and Sherinian was sacked by phone hookup not long after, with Rudess his replacement.
It was from this that Dream Theater then entered the studio to record the album that firmly established their credentials as one of the leading progressive metal bands in the world, with “Metropolis Part 2: Scenes from a Memory”.

As it turns out, the storyline of this concept album does not truly follow the path as a sequel to the original track “Metropolis - Part 1”, but more closely mirrors the story told in the 1991 film “Dead Again” that starred Kenneth Brannagh and Emma Thompson, the plot of which deals with past life regression through hypnosis, and of a tragedy in one lifetime occurring once again in the future. That is how the story of “Scenes from a Memory” plays out.
The basis of the story is as follows: Nicholas, going through regression, discovers that he was a woman named Victoria in a past life who was murdered, and she is trying to show him who that murderer was. The story of the album shows that Victoria was pulling away from her lover Julian, and began an affair with his brother Edward. According to a newspaper article and eyewitness Julian murdered Victoria and then himself, but Nicholas begins to doubt this. He also realises he must solve this or never be able to move on with his own life. Nicholas believes he has solved the mystery, where Julian begged Victoria to forgive him, and when she didn’t, he killed both her and Edward and acted as the eyewitness. Nicholas, believing he is now free, bids farewell to Victoria’s memory, even as she tries to call him back.
The story then cuts to Edward’s perspective, which sees Victoria looking to reconcile with Julian, and Edward instead killing them both, and becoming the eyewitness. Back in the present, Nicholas is followed home by the hypnotherapist who it turns out is the reincarnation of Edward, and Nicholas is startled by a request to ‘open his eyes’, before he is murdered, thus closing the circle once again.
Sounds confusing? Perhaps. As it turns out, there is a book being released in time for this 25th anniversary of the album’s release that relates the tale, so perhaps you could read that and see if it does the story more justice than me.
To create the story and lyrics is one thing. Putting it to music is another, and that task is masterfully done here. In saying that, the length of some tracks, extended by long winded solo breaks of keyboard and guitar, may not be to some people’s liking. The plateaus of rising and falling moods in music, and of the softly spoken emotional periods of the music to express the change in the story, and then the more expression energised pieces of songs where the story is on the crux of discovery, makes for a journey in itself.

Dream Theater is another band that was introduced to me by my heavy metal music dealer, who had discovered them on this album (I think... I’m sure he will correct me if I am mistaken). And what I remembered most about that time was him saying to me almost every time we got together for a three month period “Have you heard Dream Theater?! You have to. They are amazing!” Which of course I eventually did. The album that actually grabbed me the most though was “Awake”, an episode on which you can catch on this season of this podcast if you are so inclined.
But when it came to this album, something didn’t always click. The fact that it is a concept album didn’t phase me, and the opening tracks are just amazing, the musicianship and the music, and the vocals from James LaBrie, are wonderful. And that stretches throughout the entire performance. But I don’t deny that when I first got this album, a number of the songs didn’t grab, didn’t find what I wanted from the music. Progressive metal does sometimes do that to me. Often, I love it all, but there are certainly albums and/or band of this genre that I find are not for me. And when I first got the album, it is how it felt to me then. I even bought the DVD where they performed this in full, along with “A Change of Seasons”, and it is just terrific... but it didn’t make me feel any more enamoured about the WHOLE album. To me, it didn’t compare to another concept album, Queensryche’s “Operation: Mindcrime”. And it is probably an unfair comparison because that is one of the finest metal albums and concept albums of all time. But on that album the story flowed easily, and the music from song to song offered the perfect mood and music to create the atmosphere required to tell the story. And on this album, I don’t think that is quite the case. And it is quite possible this has always played in my head when it comes to this album. Like I said, not a fair comparison.
So here we are, some 25 years after this album’s released, and I am sure there is a great deal of fawning going about its 25th anniversary, and so there should be, because it is a landmark album in the band’s discography. And I have had this album going around again over the last two weeks. And you know what? Nothing much has changed for me. Those songs and parts of songs that I have always loved, I still love. And those other songs and parts of songs that left me slightly ambivalent in the past? I guess I feel the same way about them now as I did then. It is not a bad album, and it contains no bad songs. To listen to the musicianship of the entire album is to appreciate just how amazing these individuals are on their instruments. None of that has changed. But for me it just doesn’t hold my interest like other albums do. And I am sure that for the big Dream Theater fans out there, what I have said here would be considered blasphemous. I am happy to accept that. Immersing yourself into the story that is being told does actually draw you in to the album more, making you more attuned to the music and lyrics as they are playing around you, and over time I have found that actually following the story has improved my enjoyment of the album as a whole.
For me, the truly great Dream Theater albums were still to come, the ones where there was more songwriting in the style that I enjoy more. This may be the band’s landmark, but for me it is what followed this that truly caught my attention.

1267. Yngwie Malmsteen / Trial by Fire: Live in Leningrad. 1989. 5/5

Yngwie Malmsteen, Yngwie J. Malmsteen, or Yngwie J. Malmsten’s Rising Force, or any of the other names that Yngwie has released his albums under over the last 40 years, had been on a hot steak from the time that their eponymous guitar prodigy had moved on from stints in bands such as Steeler and Alcatrazz and struck out on his own with his own band in tow. After three amazing albums in “Rising Force”, “Marching Out” and “Trilogy”, he had teamed up with lead vocalist Joe Lynn Turner to produce the “Odyssey” album, one where the band gained their first charted single, and continued with rising album sales across the world. So, what comes next after you see a constant rise in popularity? Well, you go out and record a live album, don’t you? To showcase how good your band sounds on stage, and hopefully also bring in more fans to your music and have them consider buying tickets to your concerts as well.
The album was recorded during the band’s gigs in Leningrad in the old Soviet Union in February 1989 and features arguably the band’s best line up showcasing material from arguably the band’s best four albums. Over the years it has been noted often that Yngwie was a difficult person to work with, always looking for perfection, but with an ego that would also be difficult to work with. During the tour for the “Odyssey” album, on which this live album was recorded, there were reported differences of opinion between Malmsteen and Turner, both of whom felt they were the person to take centre stage. Turner should have been familiar with this given his time in Rainbow alongside Ritchie Blackmore, who was Malmsteen’s idol and another ego centric character. Despite these perceived differences, this album contains performances that do indeed showcase the best of what the Rising Force band were able to produce at that time, and as such is a terrific live album to listen to.

The album has 11 tracks to it, which offers you a taste of each piece of the Yngwie Malmsteen puzzle. The songs of the album that the band is touring on to promote are heavily featured, with “Deja Vu”, “Heaven Tonight”, “Dreaming (Tell Me)” and “Crystal Ball”, all of which are fantastic. Joe Lynn Turner gives a great vocal performance on them. The album also has some chosen tracks from the earlier albums, such as “Liar” and “Queen in Love” from “Trilogy”, and “You Don’t Remember, I’ll Never Forget” from the “Marching Out” album. The strangest choice here is the cover of the Jimi Hendrix Experience song “Spanish Castle Magic”. Sure, it is another opportunity for Yngwie to shred his way through a song by a fellow iconic guitarist, but with so much material of his own on offer to put out there to satisfy his fans, he chose to play this instead.
Then we have the instrumental, guitar riffing laden tracks that Yngwie has made his own. Two of these from the first album, “Far Beyond the Sun” and “Black Star”, are the songs that truly brought him to prominence, songs without vocals that are still just as amazing to listen to today as they were when they were released, and these live versions of the tracks are no different. Yngwie’s guitar solo spot in the middle of the set contains pieces of different various classical suites and stretches to over ten minutes. These three instrumental tracks take up a little over 25 minutes of the 65 minute album. And yes, they are important because they showcase who Yngwie Malmsteen is and what he can do. So, bravo for that. BUT... possibly, could it have been better if they had put some more actual songs onto the album to help maintain that side of the album? The video released with the same name as this album contained three further tracks, which would have added to this album immensely. “Rising Force”, “Fury” and “Riot in the Dungeons” are all terrific songs and while they were no doubt edited out to keep this as a single album and not a double, it is a shame not to have them. It is worth watching the video not only for these songs, but to see Yngwie capture the camera and the stage with his guitaring. It is something to behold.

Yngwie Malmsteen has been a part of my music life since very early on in my heavy metal existence. My heavy metal music dealer was very kind in furnishing me with those first three albums when they were released, and “Odyssey” is one that was purchased very close to its day of release. I am fairly certain that I actually saw the video of this concert before I got the album, once again with that same old metal dealer inviting me over to watch it one day. Jason Kearin certainly has a lot to answer for, or more precisely to be thanked for.
The video and album of this live release are both terrific, and had a lot of airplay back at the time of its release. At that point in time Yngwie had not toured Australia, so this was what we had to imagine just what it would be like to see him play live. And this band was terrific. The brothers Johanssen, with Anders on drums and Jens on keyboards, along with Barry Dunaway on bass guitar, do an admirable job of backing up the two stars of the show without trying to outshine them (though on the video Jens does look like he would prefer to be more in the action). Joe Lynn Turner croons and emotes through the whole set list in his inimitable style, while Yngwie himself takes the centre stage and holds it throughout.
I’ve been listening to this album again for this podcast episode, and it has been enjoyable, but I have different feelings about it now than I remember doing when it was first released. Back then I know I loved it, and spent weeks and months playing it over and over. And it is still a good album. But, unlike a lot of live albums, I found my interest waning quickly when I’ve had it on this time around. And for me now, the excess of the instrumental tracks, the Jimi Hendrix cover, all of that is a bit much. They are great, especially “Black Star” and “Far Beyond the Sun”, but if they had removed the other two and hit me with those three songs that are on the video, I would be enjoying this a hell of a lot more at this point of life that I am. Now it is an album that I could have listened to a couple of times, and been happy to stop there. But, because I am dedicated to this podcast and the episodes I produce, that just wouldn’t have been good enough. And so you have my more accurate position on this album 35 years on from its release. It sounds good, and it is more than worth a listen. But then, go back to the actual studio albums. They will retain your interest far longer than this.
When the tour concluded, the band imploded, and everyone moved on to other projects. Yngwie brough in new band members and continued on, including a tour of Australia following the next studio album. But that story must wait for another episode.

1266. Ace Frehley / Trouble Walkin'. 1989. 3.5/5

Best known as the original lead guitarist of Kiss, Ace Frehley had struck out by himself after he had left the band in the early 1980’s, looking to burn a trail of his own. He had eventually formed the band called Frehley’s Comet, which released two albums, the self titled “Frehley’s Comet” in 1987 and “Second Sighting” in 1988, both of which were backed up by tours supporting bands such as Alice Cooper and Iron Maiden. Despite the initial excellent reaction to the band and first album, their fortunes declined quickly, to the point that Frehley decided on a reset to hopefully be able to stage a revival. He dropped the band name, and decided to go back to just playing under his own name. Also at this time, guitarist and vocalist Tod Howarth left the band and was replaced by Richie Scarlett who already had a history playing with Ace. John Regan remained on bass guitar and synths, while Anton Fig, who was a regular with Ace albums as well as contributing to Kiss albums, was again on drums. Eddie Kramer, who also had a history with both Ace and Kiss, was back as producer, with Ace and John leaning over his shoulder.
The album came at an interesting time, and featured some interesting guests as well as choices in songs. Former band mate Peter Criss came on board to lend supporting vocals to four songs on the album, and rekindled a friendship. It also has three members of the band Skid Row lending their vocal support, in Seb Bach, Dave Sabo and Rachel Bolan, all of whom were huge Kiss fans, and needed little convincing to come on board. And with Ace taking over as (almost) full time lead vocalist as well as guitar, the new album not only had the solid backbone of the band as a whole, but with Ace being more front and centre, it truly felt like it was HIS solo album, and the chance to truly show his best side on an album that he called “Trouble Walkin’”

The album has a lot of different writing combinations, which on occasion can make for an album that is fluid, that the style of songs written don’t seemto fit together to make a cohesive album. But here on “Trouble Walkin’” that doesn’t appear to be an issue. Each song concludes and the entry point to the next track is smooth as silk.
“Shot Full of Rock” comes out of the gates like a bull at a red rag, charging along with a... shot full of energy, and featuring a great guitar riff and then trading solo break from Ace and Richie Scarlett, who co-wrote the track. The full backing vocals through the chorus help to make an energised opening song that kicks off the album in style. This is followed by “Do Ya”, the Jeff Lynne composed song that was a hit for his bands The Move and then Electric Light Orchestra. It also became the only single released from this album, for me a really strange choice in that regard. Ace is not adverse to doing cover songs, and this is a reasonable rendition of the song, though the opportunity from Ace to make it his own with a stunning hard riffing solo was not taken. I think it would have made it better. “Five Card Stud” is the follow up, composed by Ace and Marc Ferrari, and this is again a harder rocking track immediately with the best attributes wired into the song. The drums and guitar riff really heavy this song up together, and Ace is absolutely crushing his vocals on this song. Just like the opening track, this is full of energy throughout and delivers exactly what the album opening has promised it would do. The opening stanza to the album does everything right in dragging you in and getting you entranced to this point in time.
“Hide Your Heart” is an interesting song choice, given its history. Originally written by Paul Stanley and Desmond Child along with Holly Knight, it was written during the sessions for the “Crazy Nights” album and was eventually passed over for inclusion. It was then offered around to other artists, of which there were many. Bonnie Tyler released her version in 1988, and from there it popped up on several other artists albums – including Ace’s version here, and amazingly enough Kiss’s own version on “Hot in the Shade”, released a few days after this. Did Ace and his cohorts decide to show up his former band, and do a version that put them in their place? I actually don’t know the story behind how it turned up here, but I can tell you that it is without doubt the best version of this song out there. They play the harder edge of the track, with gang vocals supporting Ace in all the right places of the song. I love the song and especially this version, which like “Do Ya” is only missing a real Ace burst on guitar to make it really special. It’s the only trick he missed on this version of the song. “Lost in Limbo” is the second Ace/Richie collaboration and closes out side one of the album in pleasing style.
The title track “Trouble Walkin’” opens side two of the album, written by outside writers, and it sounds like it, mainly because it is a different style of song than has come from the opening side of the album. It’s a more stylised rock song, again with a gang vocals chorus and while it has some great guitar riffing through the middle it feels like a more commercialised rock sound than what has come before it. This doesn’t detract from it being a very good song, it’s just a tad different. This is then followed by the third Ace/Richie composition “2 Young 2 Die”, which is the only track on the album not sung by Ace, instead it is Richie who takes on the lead vocals. And he does a great job too, injecting his own enthusiasm in his vocals, and the trade off guitars again in the middle of the track are worth the wait. Richie does a great job on lead vocals here, on a song where Ace may have not done as good a job. “Back to School” sees the return of Ace on vocals, a song that screams mid-80's hair metal, supported by the screams of Seb Bach in the background throughout. Like “Trouble Walkin’” but in a different way, this song doesn’t quite fit the profile of the first side of the album. It’s a different style of track that is fine as it is but feels as though it is outside of the puzzle. And in a way is what leads the end of this album in that different direction. Because the next track “Remember Me” follows its own path again, away from the set up that had been created at the front of the album. It’s a blues backed song that, given the heavier way the album started, seems like strange way for the album to divert to as we approach its conclusion. The musicianship is great, but the song itself for me was a choice that doesn’t meld with the album. Indeed, a word I could use at this point is fractured, and that is the title of the concluding track of the album, the instrumental “Fractured III”, which follows the original instrumental “Fractured Mirror” that closed out Ace’s 1978 solo album, and the closing instrumental “Fractured Too” from the Frehley’s Comet” album. At almost seven minutes it is the longest song of the album, but it is totally worth it. It’s an Ace masterpiece, a song that I never get tired of listening to. This redeems any slight misgivings that a couple of songs may have brought on, and draws the curtain over a terrific album.

I remember my love of Kiss had grown to ample proportions by 1989, mainly on the back of the “Crazy Nights” album, because I remember vividly when this album came out, and the new Kiss album “Hot in the Shade” a few days later. In those days however, there was no way I could consider affording to buy multiple albums at the same time, and so it became a decision as to which album I was going to get. It ended up being the Kiss album, and instead I would look longingly at this album in the racks whenever I was able to check out my local record stores. In the end, it would be almost two years before I got a copy of this album, on my first trip to Bali, where I purchased this (and about fifty other albums) on cassette. The fact that I bought so many other cassettes on that trip made it difficult for them all to get a fair listen, but this album was one of them. For me at that time, it hit the sweet spot. It balanced out the thrash metal I was still very much into with the more commercial bent of the hair and glam metal I was also interested in, along with the growing influence of grunge. And for me that is the real brilliance of this album. It’s a hard rock album that utilises the best aspects of everything Ace emphasised in his previous band and sifted out the chaff to keep what worked for him at this stage of his career. It was released at a really good time for that, and even though I didn’t really discover it until two years later, it mattered not one iota in translation.
I have had this on my playlist for nearly a month now, and as the other albums get whittled away as I complete the episode reviews on them for this podcast, this became a go-to. It has been years since I listened to this album, but over the last little period of time, when I’m deciding what album to put on in the car, or at home in the Metal cavern, this album has been the one that has invariably gotten another listen. I would say over this period I have listened to “Trouble Walkin’” about 30 times, and I’m not tired of it yet. In fact, I keep getting more enthused about listening to it again. Why should this be the case? Is it nostalgia? Is it making me feel 19/21 again? Maybe a little. Ace released an album this year, “10,000 Volts”, which was okay, but it pales into almost insignificance compared to this album. These are fun songs, with lyrics that are fun to sing along to while the album plays. I think it is still a great album, easy to listen to. For me, this is a better album than the Kiss release of the same week, even though it significantly outsold and outperformed this album on the charts.
For me, this is Ace’s best album away from Kiss. His band is great, his guitaring is great, and his vocals are at their peak on this release. And surely the fans reaction to this song in particular would have warmed his heart.

1265. Deep Purple / Total Abandon: Australia '99. 1999. 5/5

Deep Purple’s relationship with Australia has waxed and waned over the years. In the early 1970’s they made some memorable trips down under, one resulting in wild crowd scenes on the stage and heated arguments with other bands, famously with a young brash AC/DC. There was then a long period where the band was on hiatus, before their highly publicised reformation in 1984 of the Mark II lineup, which resulted in the hit album “Perfect Strangers”. To kick off the world tour to promote their coming back together and their new album, the band started in Australia, where they met with the acclaim that the returning heroes would have wanted. And then... they disappeared again, once again forgoing the southern nation as they continued to fight amongst each other and tour the territories that were close to their residencies.
The band went through their changes, and eventually jettisoned Ritchie Blackmore as guitarist and chief instigator, completing the final sessions of the Mark II lineup. In his place came Steve Morse, and the more settled band then moved forward, rebuilding itself with the mid-1990's albums “Purpendicular” and “Abandon”. And as the decade and millennium began to wind down, the band decided to once again tour the shores of Australia for the first time in 15 years. And much excitement ensued, especially from those of us who had waited a lifetime to see the band live.
Now Deep Purple had not been reticent when it came to releasing live albums, something that continued well into the next decade. And now, for Australian audiences, they decided to record their show in Melbourne on April 20th, 1999, and then six months later they released a live DVD and a double live album of the entire show performed on that night. And what was even more amazing at that time was that it was ONLY released in Australia, so for a short space of time, only Australians were able to listen to and purchase this album. Eventually it was opened up to mail orders, and as with all things, it was eventually released worldwide. But if you are from Australia, and you bought the album when it was released, then like me you have one of the rare original release copies of this album. Which, I won’t deny, is a little special.

By the time Deep Purple came around to this tour, they had locked into their new style, one which they had been slowly morphing into even before Blackmore had left the band. They were no longer spring chickens, but they knew what their fans wanted to see. Ian Gillan had become the cool version of himself, Roger Glover continued to groove away on his bass guitar, Ian Paice could still play his way around his drumkit, Jon Lord didn’t almost tip his Hammond organ over anymore, but he was still playing it as hard as ever. And new boy Steve Morse showcased his wares without the over-the-top flair and pomposity that Blackmore had, but with a smile and a laugh and a whole lot of skill and talent. The overt energy and antics may have gone, but this band still knew how to give it all on stage to give the songs they played the majesty that they deserved.
And this meant no loss or lack of skill and expertise. Ian Gillan introduces every song in his inimitable style, and he could still hit those high notes at this stage, as is showcased here during the last verse of “Bloodsucker” in particular. The setlist contained a mix of the band’s newer tracks alongside the great old songs that they will always have to play. Showcasing their newer material in this setlist were songs such as “Ted the Mechanic”, “Almost Human”, “Watching the Sky” and “Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming”. Each of them sound terrific here, especially “Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming”, a modern day classic that provides the perfect example of where the band was heading with its newer music, a more contemporary sound but still with the ability to create a heavier sound when required but also be able to ride the emotions of the track. The live version here is superb.
Mixed in with this are the great songs of the band, the majority from that Mark II era, both pre and post reunion. “Bloodsucker”, “Strange Kind of Woman”, “Woman From Tokyo” and “Fireball”, alongside “Black Night” and “Speed King’ still all packed an enormous punch, and glow and sparkle in the live setting. “Perfect Strangers” with that wonderous Hammond organ opening from Jon Lord is still magnificent, and then the “Machine Head” specials such as “Pictures of Home”, one of the most underrated songs of their career, the awesome “Highway Star” which closes out the gig, and of course “Smoke on the Water”, which has an introduction guitar piece from Steve Morse where he also plays some of the great guitar riffs of all time as a part of his solo piece on stage. Overall, the set list and thus this album gives a great mixture of the old and the new from that time, and is a terrific snapshot of this line up and what they had to offer on stage.

My friends and I had waited pretty much from the time Deep Purple had toured Australia in 1984 for the time they would tour again. We missed that tour by a couple of years when it comes to listening to the band and also being old enough to find our way to a gig, so we patiently waited (well, not really) for their next tour. And waited. And waited. So when they finally made it to our shores, we were there lining up for tickets. We ended up seeing them in Sydney the night after this CD concert was recorded, so I can confirm that it is faithful to what the band played on that tour. And the best part of that was that the next day the band put up a secret show for sale, that was played at a much smaller and more intimate venue called Selina’s out at Bondi, for four days later on April 25th, Anzac Day in Australia. Fortunately, one of my best mates worked around the corner from a Ticketek office, and having sweet talked the girl at the front counter, he went in the following morning and was allowed in a couple of minutes early , and was able to purchase tickets for this gig precisely at 9.00am when they went on sale.
Perhaps the best part of that was that another of our best mates, my brother-in-law, had not been able to see Deep Purple at that first gig, and so we were able to get him the chance to see them. We DID make it a surprise, telling him that we were taking him to see the support band from Deep Purple, and not Deep Purple themselves. He finally clued in when we lined up to go in (after many schooners in the bar beforehand) and saw posters advertising Deep Purple playing there that night. And it was amazing, standing so close to these legendary musicians as they played all the hits all over again. The other memory of this concert and our best mates group was my heavy metal music dealer constantly asking when we were going to get some songs off “Burn” and “Stormbringer” and “Slaves and Masters”. Surprisingly enough, Ian Gillan was not forthcoming with any of them.
So yes, this double CD of the entire Melbourne concert of April 1999is a terrific listen. It mightn’t have the fire and power of “Made in Japan” for instance, but it has great tracks performed brilliantly by one of the great bands that has ever walked the earth. I’ve had it on again while composing this episode, and it brought back great memories again, as it always does. Whatever you may feel about the material the band produced in the second half of its career, I think you’ll find something worth listening to on this album.

1264. McAuley Schenker Group / Save Yourself. 1989. 3.5/5

The fact that Michael Schenker, whose ego rides as high as most of those legendary guitarists of the 1970’s and 1980’s, found himself so comfortable with the partnership that he was beginning to forge with vocalist and songwriter Robin McAuley when they first began working together in 1986, that he insisted that they change the name of the band from the MICHAEL Schenker Group to the MCAULEY Schenker Group, retaining the initials and therefore logo of the band in the process, shows just how confident he was that the pairing was going to work. Their initial album under this banner, 1987’s “Perfect Timing”, had done better than expected in sales, but also showed exactly the direction this new formation of the band was heading. Not only did they produce a more commercial direction, one with an obvious bent for cracking the US radio market, and also skewing their music towards the hair metal genre rather than the hard rock heavy metal based sound that Schenker had come from with his earlier albums in the 1980’s, but this also had another guitarist in the band, Mitch Perry, who also played lead solos in two songs, and almost had one of the great guitarists of the age playing mostly rhythm guitar in his wake! It was all a little strange, despite the fact that I enjoy the album immensely and still do to this day.
Put all of this together, and going into their second album it felt as though little had changed. The band was still looking for that major breakthrough. The album had made the US top 100, and the single “Gimme Your Love” had reached as high as #40 on the singles charts, which meant more of the same from MSG in order to make a real breakthrough. That meant a mix of songs again, along with the true commercial singles tracks which they hoped would provide them with the success they were striving for. What that meant for the fans of Schenker’s early work however was open to question.

The album opens up with the title track “Save Yourself”, and immediately lets you know exactly what direction the music on this sophomore album is aiming for. Because this does end up being the hardest of the hard rock songs available on this album. It has a great sound to it, great riffing from Schenker himself and vocals from McAuley, but there is already that commercial feel about the track. “Bad Boys” follows in a similar direction, up beat musically and catchy lyrically, looking to retain the faithful with atypical hard rock tracks and nice riffing from Schenker himself.
“Anytime” is the full-blown radio attention seeking missile directly written in order to find a way to crack the commercial market. It’s a rock ballad, in the mould of Kiss and Whitesnake looking to gain as much radio airplay as possible, and no it isn’t horrible, but it is certainly skip worthy. Michael Schenker had flirted with this direction since he joined with Robin in their partnership, and this was what they were hoping for, a hard rock-based album with enough moments for Schenker to show he could still shred when he wanted to, but with an agenda to find that marketplace breakthrough with a song like this. Individual tastes will dictate how much you enjoy it. Add this alongside “This is My Heart”, the third single released from the album, is a more hard rock version of a similar style, but Robin’s vocals hold the soft rock ballad style even while Schenker tries to riff hard during the middle of the track. There’s a little each way when it comes to this song, trying to please both sides of the argument.
“Get Down to Bizness” comes after “Anytime” and returns the album to a pace that is far more enjoyable to Schenker’s main fan base, The songs themselves may not be as superbly energetic as on the earlier albums, but they still have a catchiness about them. “Shadow of the Night” offers a chanting, somewhat anthemic feel to the track, with a chorus and lyrics designed to be sung loud and proud, in that midtempo range that was beginning to creep into music at the time. The chorused vocals help to encourage that singalong theme of the song as well. The same is true of songs like “What We Need” and “I Am Your Radio”, energised with the chorus and multiple support singers for Robin who call for a gang vocal like call to arms.
The instrumental short take of “There Has to Be Another Way” allows Schenker to showcase his skills, but at a little under two minutes in length, it almost feels like it is something tacked on at the last minute, rather than one of his great instrumental songs from the past such as “Into the Arena” and “Captain Nemo”. Those are terrific tracks that stand on their own. This does not. Following “This is My Heart” we have “Destiny” which is a little bit like a join the dots colour by numbers hard rock track, based around Robin’s vocals than anything musically that stands out and makes itself noticed. The album closer is “Take Me Back” which is pretty much a similar situation, finishing off an album that does what it always proclaimed it wanted to do.

Those who have been with this podcast from the beginning will know of my love of Michael Schenker as a guitarist in the many different bands he has been in over his career. The Michael Schenker Group was a band that helped me get through my doomed university days in the late 1980’s, and I have always enjoyed those albums and UFO’s albums.
I bought this album on its release, on vinyl back in those days, a copy that was sadly eventually lost in the new house flood of 2001. But it got some plays for some time before that occurred. As I’ve mentioned, I loved “Perfect Timing” on its release, and so I went into this album hoping for something similar, or even better, perhaps a bit heavier with more influence from Schenker himself. And what I got... was not that. I got an album that, as has already been well covered, was looking for a commercial success, and as such was written and performed that way. So, while I enjoyed it when I first got the album, over time it began to wane in excitement for me. It began to feel very samey, like the songs were more or less running into each other without much to discern each from the other. And so eventually the vinyl went back onto the shelves, and there it sat, only finding itself moved over the next decade on the eight or so times I moved house during that time, until its eventual demise in the flooding of that final house. In the two decades since, I have attained a digital copy of the album and on the very rare occasion it has come out for a listen. And now for the last three weeks it has been in my rotation, and there is no doubt that I have listened to it more over that time than I have in the previous 30 years. And what I have discovered is that nothing much has changed. I have enjoyed the album overall, though I did eventually get to the point where there were three songs that I had to skip to continue to listen. And thus, it is to a certain person’s taste. Those that find this boring or unlistenable, I do understand. Like I said, for me the album is fine, but there is a very big chance that it will be a long time before I choose to listen to it again now that this podcast episode is finished. There are a lot of better options out there to try.

1263. Various Artists / Nativity in Black: A Tribute to Black Sabbath. 1994. 5/5

Cover albums and tribute albums have been around for a while, and have been done in different ways, but when it comes to the true start of the GREAT tribute albums, then I think this release marks that occasion. Firstly, it’s Black Sabbath, and by the time 1994 rolled around, it had been 15 years since Ozzy Osbourne had left the band, and in many people’s eyes was the true demise of Black Sabbath the band, or at the very least the greatest era of the band. And that era was so influential to so many bands that had then gone on to bigger and better things over that 15 year period. It contains so many great guitar riffs, so many awesome bass lines, so many amazing drum fills and so many brilliant vocals. Secondly, those bands that had been influenced by Black Sabbath were coming into their own at this time, and so it was a good opportunity for them to be involved i this kind of project. And thirdly, given the time this album was released, and the constant drama that the then current lineup of Black Sabbath was going through, it was a great time to remind everyone of the great songs that the band had written and performed in their heyday.
The compilers of the album had a difficult task ahead of them with this project. Firstly, they had decided that the songs to be covered on this album would only come from that era of Sabbath from 1970-1978, the Butler-Iommi Osbourne-Ward era of the band. This was a canny move, ensuring there was no comparison across the board of that era of the band with the ones that followed with the various members and different vocalists in particular. Then they had to choose the bands who would participate in the project, and that could not have been an easy thing. A couple of the tracks that appear here had already been released by the bands who did them on their own albums, but most were brand spanking new versions of some excellent songs. And it is interesting to note, because often, cover versions cannot match the originals when it comes to their gloriousness. But there are several tracks here on this album that truly match the awesomeness of the originals...and perhaps... almost surpass them...

There are 12 tracks on this album, and for me they are all terrific. But there are some bands and artists that seem like a strange choice to be a part of this compilation. Some I think were brought in to make this album attractive to fans who didn’t really know some of the bands involved in the hope they would buy this album, and other choices also seem unusual.
For instance, the choice of Faith No More to perform “War Pigs” is a great move, given the studio version of this song that appears as a bonus CD track on their breakthrough album “The Real Thing” from 1989. It is a brilliant version of the song and very worthy of this album. But the version on here is the live version that came off their live album “Live at Brixton Academy”, and while it is good, Mike Patton’s vocals are not as terrific, mainly because he had an aversion to the song and did not enjoy performing the song live every night, and thus made a point of changing the lyrics when they did. So good but could have been far better. Then there is “Iron Man”, which is performed by the band Therapy? but with a guest vocalist... being... Ozzy Osbourne! Now, we know Ozzy hadn’t been in Black Sabbath for 15 years, but why invite back the original vocalist of the band that you are covering, to get him to cover his own song? It has always seemed like a strange decision, obviously made to get Ozzy fans in to buy the album. But what a shame not to have had Therapy? do the song and let Andy Cairns sing it! To me, that would have been just as good if not better. The version is excellent, but just sounds generic because Ozzy is singing it. Strange. And, in that same ballpark, comes the ‘supergroup’ that was brought together only for this project, the Bullring Brummies. Now for this group, Rob Halford is the vocalist, who had filled in a couple of times for the band in recent years, and his love of the songs is well known, so having him involved is great, and he sings “The Wizard” wonderfully well. But was there a need to bring in Geezer Butler and Bill Ward to play on this as well? Again, like Ozzy, brought in to cover their own work? It seems ludicrous, no matter how good it sounds, and again could only have been to draw people into buying the album. And while I understand that Ugly Kid Joe were popular at the time and on a roll, would there not have been better options out there to cover “N.I.B.”? It's a good version, but a bigger heavier version of this amazing heavy song may have worked better.
What else have we got? We have a really good version of “Paranoid” by Megadeth. Professional, clinical, everything that you would expect from this band at this time. They received a Grammy nomination for Best Metal Performance for this song. I would love to have heard them cover something that required a bit more technical playing than “Paranoid”. 1000 Homo DJs version of “Supernaut” was released by the band as a 12” single in 1990, and Al Jourgenson from Ministry really fires up this version of the track. White Zombie do a perfectly wonderful White Zombie version of “Children of the Grave”, which probably waters down the original's heaviness across the board but overall makes for an entertaining version of the song. And Peter Steele and Type O Negative perform an amazing version of the song “Black Sabbath”, that retains the doominess of the original track while adding their own stamp to this version. It is a truly original take on the song and well worth the 7 minutes plus of the length.
The album opener is one of the best versions on this album, with Biohazard absolutely crushing their version of the brilliant “After Forever”, adding a fire and brimstone to the track that has it sitting on a pedestal right next to the original for sheer brilliance. Corrosion of Conformity add their unique take to “Lord of This World”, and Godspeed’s excellent depiction of “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” is helped along by the appearance of another guest vocalist in Bruce Dickinson, currently on hiatus from Iron Maiden and doing his own solo gig. And the final song here is the killer, the one most people keep coming back for because of the way the band melds itself to their version of this song, and take one of the heaviest riffs ever written, and channel that through the whole song. Sepultura’s version of “Symptom of the Universe” is something to behold.

In a period when buying music – or anything for that matter – was not an easy thing to do given my circumstances at the time, this album was still one I purchased on a whim on a visit to Utopia Records not long after its release. It had all the usual banners around it proclaiming all of the artists involved and that it just HAD to be good. So I took it home and put it on... and Utopia was right. It was amazing, right from the opening 30 seconds through to the final 30 seconds. And I got so much from it, because at the point in time that I bought the album, I still hadn’t heard bands such as Therapy? And Type O Negative, who within 12 months were to be enormous influences in my life. I hadn't heard any Biohazard. And then there were the artists I knew, whose songs here are so perfect. Bruce Dickinson, Faith No More, Megadeth, Sepultura.
Not only was it eye opening – or ear opening if you prefer – for hearing these bands, but the versions of some of these tracks are amazing. Honestly, “After Forever” and “Black Sabbath” and “Symptom of the Universe” are just sensational versions here, because the bands utilised their own music style in performing them, and that’s important when it comes to cover versions of songs. You can do a note for note retelling of the song, much like Megadeth do here, and it will sound great. But the versions that will grab your attention need to have a piece of the band attached to them to make it memorable. Not all will be great versions, of course. But these ones here certainly are.
I have spent the last three weeks listening to this album over and over again and enjoying it as much as I ever did. And like I mentioned at the top of the episode, to me this was the template that was set for future tribute albums. It showed the way to go, to make a successful album of this type. Great musicians and bands, creating great versions of songs of the artist or band you want to create a tribute to. And in the long run, with most tribute albums, you will eventually get tired of the new versions, and just want to go back to the original versions created by the band and listen to them again, because they will always be the best. And that is true here, except I have never gotten sick of listening to this album. It is a gem and sit on the top of the pile when it comes to tribute albums. Perhaps it is the reverence that Black Sabbath is held in that created this album, or that the songs were so perfectly crafted by this band that covering them becomes another work of art. No matter what the reason, this album is worth checking out, for any number of superb tracks.

1262. Gary Moore / We Want Moore! 1984. 4/5

Even though he had been a mainstay in several bands through the previous decade and longer, Gary Moore’s expansion into a solo career had arguably been his best move over that time. Having said that, there was a very haphazard way that he went about recording and releasing albums. Some albums were recorded and then shelved for several years, others were only released in Japan, and didn’t find a wider release until some years later. He would record an album, and then not release it and instead join another group and record and tour with them. He would juggle roles in bands such as G-Force and Thin Lizzy with his own work, and sometimes that could get confusing.
In 1984, Moore was touring on the back of his most recent album, “Victims of the Future”, and during this tour the decision was made to record some shows with an eye to releasing a live album. It was an interesting decision, because when this album was finally released, it was the third Gary Moore live album that had been released in an 18 month period, but again with that strange quirk of organisation. The first had been “Rockin’ Every Night – Live in Japan” in May 1983, but it was only released in Japan. It didn’t get that wider release in Europe until 1986, which was when I came across it. So although it was his first live release, the audience was very narrow until three years later. This was followed by “Live at the Marquee” which was released in September 1983, but this concert had been recorded in November 1980, and so was already three years old when it came to be released. And now we had a third live album being recorded and released, but in many ways it was his first live album, released on the back of the album he was touring on at the time, and with the best of the songs that he had recorded to that point of his career. And as a means of showing the world just how good he and his supporting band was at this time, “We Want Moore!” is a pretty good way of doing it.

“We Want Moore!” contains ten tracks, recorded at four different concerts from around the world in 1984. The venues included Detroit, Tokyo, Glasgow and Hammersmith, and the songs are spread over four different Gary Moore albums, including their most recent one at the time, “Victims of the Future”, along with “Corridors of Power” and “Back on the Streets” and “G-Force”. All of the songs live versions here are superb, and are completely faithful to the studio versions. And not only is Gary’s guitar as brilliant to listen to as always, but his vocals are also sublime. And that’s one of the things that is sometimes looked over when it comes to Gary Moore’s career, the fact that his vocals are so terrific. It seems strange that on certain albums, in particular the “Run for Cover” album, that he utilised different vocalists on some tracks.
He is also joined on this live album by the talented and versality Neil Carter, who would be a mainstay in his band through his hard rock career in particular. As a musician who would switch from keyboards to rhythm guitar and back when necessary during live shows, as well as lending his excellent vocals to back up Moore’s own singing, Carter was a major contributor to Gary Moore’s live show and albums, and he is excellent here in every role. Craig Gruber, who was best known for being in Elf and playing on the first Rainbow album, contributes bass guitar here and is also excellent, while the incomparable Ian Paice is on drums.
The song selection overall is very good. Opening up with the terrific “Murder in the Skies”, the album is off to a great start. Written about the plane shot down by the USSR over South Korea in the early 1980’s the song still packs a punch lyrically and musically. This is followed by “Shapes of Things” which is a cover of The Yardbirds song that Gary covered on the “Victims of the Future” album. Gary has covered the odd song through his career, and generally performs his version better than the original, and that is certainly the case here. To complete the album trilogy, they then play the title track to that album, another classic from Moore’s career that sounds much bigger here in the live setting than the studio version. Then comes the duo of songs from “Corridors of Power”, “Cold Hearted” and “End of the World”, which then jumps into the excellent and faster pace of “Back on the Streets”, one of his breakthrough early hits that is still as good today as when it was first released. The middle of the album then brings out Gary’s power ballad tracks, firstly with the instrumental “So Far Away” which segues into “Empty Rooms”, performed as well as always. After this mellow break, the album concludes in a rollicking style, firstly with “Don’t Take Me for a Loser” and then finishing off with “Rocking and Rolling” in blistering style.

From the first time I saw and heard Gary Moore playing the song “Wishing Well” in a live clip on late night Rage on ABCTV back in 1986, I was a fan. Loved his guitar, loved his vocals, loved the song. From there it was get as much Gary Moore in my life as I could. Perhaps surprisingly then, this album was not one I got until many years later. I had the “Live in Japan” album very early on, and this was my go to live album for years, and this one didn’t seem to be widely available in any of the music shops that I frequented in the 1980’s, and once the 1990’s came and Moore headed off to the blues sunset, most of his rock albums became even more scarce. So it wasn’t until after his death that I actually discovered a copy of this album and began to listen to it. My heavy metal music dealer back in the late 1980’s had the VHS of a Gary Moore live concert that had several versions of these songs on it so I wasn’t completely unfamiliar with it, but it was nice to finally have my own copy. I do have a quirk with live albums, in that I do prefer to have a whole concert from one night at one venue, but if they are complied well then it doesn’t make any difference, and that is certainly the case here. All the songs merge together nicely and it sounds terrific all the way through. And so it should! A live album, as I have said many times before, should be almost always a 5/5 album, as it contains the best songs in their best environment. And for the most part this lives up to the bargain. Gary’s guitaring on this album is just superb. He shows off all his wares and holds the centre as always. The song choices are excellent... well, I’d have swapped “Empty Rooms” for something else, but you can’t have everything, can you.
This sadly was also the final live album Moore recorded, at least with his rock song era. There were several more to come that concentrated on his blues era from 1990 onwards, which showcased his skills and talent, but of music that I was generally not fond of. But this album does give us some great live versions of some great live songs, and that is worth the journey itself.