Back in the mid- to late-’80s, when I was a happy young
headbanger, there were a group of musicians who were working hard
to become famous on the quality of their instrumental work, only to
have their accomplishments eclipsed by the likes of Joe Satriani. I
often read a lot about people like Vinnie Moore and Tony MacAlpine,
but I never went out of my way to pick up any of their albums.
(Shame on me, I know.)
One couldn’t blame either of them if they got frustrated with
the scene leaving them in the dust so unjustly, and threw in the
towel. But both have persisted in their craft, to their credit, to
the point where Moore utilizes MacAlpine’s keyboard talents on his
latest album
The Maze. A solid album overall, it does show that Moore’s
true genius comes out when he doesn’t try to be a guitar god.
First, don’t try to compare Moore to Satriani – or to anyone
else, for that matter. Moore’s style is one where he goes for the
melody of the song in his solo breaks, resorting to speed only when
absolutely necessary. Unfortunately, one thing he does resort to is
use of guitar “flashes” like we heard in a lot of ’80s metal.
Frankly, these are not needed; they sound out of date, and cloud
the actual music.
Moore seems to do his best, surprisingly, when he’s not trying
to light up the speakers with his playing. “Never Been To
Barcelona” is an outstanding, gentle piece which puts Moore on
Spanish guitar (if that’s not an actual acoustic he’s playing, it’s
a damned great effect!) and dazzling the listener with his riffs
and fills. It’s technical, without being gaudy – and it’s where he
could easily stake a claim to fame.
Likewise, “Watching From The Light” is a light-metal track which
highlights not just the guitar work of Moore, but the work of the
entire band – MacAlpine, bassist Dave LaRue and seemingly
omnipresent drummer Shane Gaalaas. If anything, putting the band as
a whole ahead of the six-string pyrotechnics shows Moore to be a
quality musician, and it works well for the track.
While the bulk of
The Maze does focus on the guitar work, it still is
enjoyable, if not spectacular. Tracks like “Cryptic Dreams, “Rain,”
“In The Healing Garden” and the title track all show Moore’s
talents, though one can’t help wishing for more of a band effort on
these tracks. While some of the tracks inch past the eight-minute
mark, don’t you dare label these as progressive rock; such a
labelling in this case wouldn’t be fair to either Moore or to the
prog-rock genre. Moore’s claim to fame was – and still is – rock
guitar in the metal vein.
If you love good guitar work, you’ll definitely want to pick up
The Maze and absorb everything that Moore has to offer. But
I truly believe that if Moore were to step away from the guitar-god
limelight and just put out a record featuring guitar work like we
hear on “Watching From The Light” and “Never Been To Barcelona,” he
will finally become the household name he deserves to be.
