I'm not so blind or such a fanboy of Gary Moore that I can't admit he had some pretty bad songs, though in fairness they're very much in the minority. Nevertheless, the odd bad track has come close to spoiling my enjoyment of an otherwise great album, so let's go through the ones that I personally believe should never have made it to release, in any format.
It'll be no surprise to anyone, after my review of “Victims of the future”, that that's where we begin, with the godawful “Teenage idol”. Not only is it a super-simplistic view of the path to rock and roll fame, making it seem as if anyone can do it and ignoring the thousands who never do, but it's got some really lazy rhymes and it also tacitly rewards bad behaviour, with the guy in question being a real misfit, thrown out of his parents' house, quitting his job and so on. And in the end he gets fame and riches and glory. Gah!
Yes, that's all a bit over-analysed I know, but really, Gary should have known better. It's a really terrible message to put across, and it's not even hidden in a good song. The chords are simple, the melody basic, the singing okay but nothing special, no great solos and as I already mentioned the lyric must have been written on the back of some toilet paper or something! Anyway, here it is, in all its infamy.
The closing and title track to “Dark days in Paradise” is not necessarily bad, I just think compared to the rest of the album it's the definite weak link, and I don't like the calypso theme in the melody. Again, it's a little lazy, and is doubly mediocre in the light of the two songs that precede it, either of which could have closed the album far better.
Speaking of “Dark days in Paradise”, the other two extra tracks on it aren't so great either. First is “Burning in our hearts”, which I find a little too techno/dancey for my liking.
and the reggae mess that is “There must be a way”.
And now, we come to “A different beat”. Well, in fairness I wouldn't say the
whole album is bad, but a heck of a lot of it is! First we have the too-dancelike “Worry no more” (pointless advice, given what comes next...)
Same goes for the badly-titled “House full of blues”
Soon after that the album goes into total freefall, with the awful “Can't help myself”, where Gary seems to think he's Matt Johnson...
(I can only find the remix, which is twice as bad, believe me...)
then the laughable “Fat boy”
and finishing with the dreary, boring “We want love”.
Disclaimer: I understand fully some Gary Moore fans will think I'm crazy, that these are great songs etc., and it's completely a subjective view of course. But this is my journal, my tribute, and this is how I feel about these songs. Believe me, I wish there was no need for this section, but hey, you have to be a little objective and recognise that sometimes even legends stumble a little. We're all only human...