Artist : Gary Moore
Genres : Blues, Blues Rock, Electronic, Hard Rock, Rock
Labels : BMG
Gary Moore is one of my favorite artists, and one of the most underrated guitarists too ever come out of Northern Ireland. Although Gary Moore has been relatively unknown in North America, he has graced the line ups of such groups as, BBM, G Force, Colosseum II and (The Original) Skid Row. But he was best-known for his on and off association with classic rock band Thin Lizzy. Gary Moore also caved out some solo work that would bring him considerable acclaim in most other parts of the world, especially Europe. In that time Moore established himself as a world-class guitarist, with few equals.
Throughout the 1980s, Gary moved up the rock hierarchy, but turned his back on what he regarded as the empty flash of metal. Moore searched for a new musical outlet that would allow his creativity to flow freely. Moore began exploring and reverted to his first love and inspiration – the blues. His 1990 album, Still Got the Blues, became his most celebrated and best-selling album of his career, selling over three million copies worldwide. The album featured and impressive list of guest appearances by George Harrison, Albert King and Albert Collins.
Still Got the Blues was my introduction to Gary Moore. Since then, he has become the reference point to which all rock-blues albums are judged. To this day I am still a fan and in awe of his talent. He will forever be remembered for bringing the blues into my life. I do hope that after this review that go out and search for his incredible back catalogue that highlights a man, a guitarist and artist who dedicated himself to his craft so intensely that he bled the blues.
So, if you couldn’t tell, I was really looking forward to this release. Thus, without further a do here is my review.
Blues and Beyond, is a brand-new compilation box-set from by the late, guitar master, Gary Moore. The collection is available on double CD, 4 LP and as a box set, which includes unreleased live recordings and the official Gary Moore biography I Can’t Wait Until Tomorrow written by Harry Shapiro.
Since the box wasn’t available at the time I had to settle for the double CD version of this retrospective. The two CD set has twenty-eight tracks featuring some of his best studio recordings from 1999 to 2004.
For the most part, Blues and Beyond provides a solid representation of Moore’s latter-day blues period. I thought that the CD’s sounded great and the song selection was spot on. Blues and beyond, offers a well-rounded representation of this man’s jaw dropping technical skills and compositional flair.
Unfortunately, the compilation doesn’t feature anything from, Still Got The Blues, After Hours and Blues For Greeny. This trio of albums are Moore’s best blues albums and not seeing any selections represented here is very disappointing. In my opinion, everything could have been resolved with a slight re-shuffling of some of the tracks.
Still, Blues and Beyond is solid release for Moore fans who have not kept up with his latter-day releases. But in my opinion this set could have been vastly improved upon with the addition of some of his signature songs added to the set.
