Music Banter - View Single Post - Trollheart's Album Discography Reviews: Gary Moore

Trollheart · 03-03-2022, 10:45 AM

Back to the Blues (2001)

After the failed (and rather scary!) foray into dance music that gave us A Different Beat, Gary returned to his first love for the appropriately-titled Back to the Blues. After this album he never moved far from blues territory, which really suited him. The experimentation of the previous album and even the more laidback, pop approach that characterised Dark Days in Paradise was finished with, and it was straight, no-nonsense, out-and-out blues all the way for the next seven years.

For this album Gary took all the writing upon himself, apart from the covers of standard blues tunes he includes here. But at times his own original songs could be almost mistaken for standards themselves. Modern classics? Perhaps. Gary certainly knew how to write a great blues song, and it's no exaggeration to predict that in future years aspiring guitarists may look back to some of the songs on this, and his later albums, for inspiration.

It starts off with “Enough of the Blues”, a heavy cruncher with plenty of smart guitar, and oddly enough there doesn't seem to be an actual bass player, though Gary is credited with “bass arrangement”, so whether he played the bass himself, or the bass player is either uncredited or else different bass players played on different tracks is unknown. This song kind of maybe reflects the way Gary had been feeling when he produced A Different Beat, as he sings ”I'd had enough of the blues/ But the blues ain't had enough of me!” Just as well, really: sometimes you're better sticking to what you're good at, and Gary was very, very good at playing the blues.

Horns feature aplenty on BB King's striding “You Upset Me Baby” - in fact, Gary drafted in three separate sax players for this album, and there's a very jazz/blues feel to this song, a real uptempo rocker, and the pace doesn't slacken for “Cold Black Night”, with some very cool bass leading the melody. The horns are in evidence again, adding a lot to the track, and Gary's guitar work as ever is frenetic and energetic, and he sounds a lot happier to be back doing what he is best at.

Slow melancholy blues then in “Stormy Monday”, with Vic Martin at the keys setting up a really powerful backdrop. Gary would link up again with him for 2007's penultimate album, Close As You Get. He does a great version of the old T-Bone Walker classic, and there's an absolutely searing guitar solo running through this one, almost as you might expect: this is the man, back to his best.

Clarence Carter's “Ain't Got You” is another short and boppy blues rocker, then “Picture of the Moon” brings the mood and the tempo right back down again, with echoes of “Still Got the Blues” in the melody, and a bit of “Parisienne Walkways” too. “Looking Back” then is another short fun rocker, with Martin's keyboards playing a central role, and giving Johnny “Guitar” Watson's old favourite new life, and it's followed by one of the very few Gary Moore instrumentals, “The Prophet”, carried again mainly on Martin's organ, counterpointed by Gary's expressive, emotional guitar playing. How that man could make a guitar speak and say exactly whatever he wanted, or needed it to, without a single word.

“How Many More Lies” is a big rockin' blues stormer, which would probably have got an approving nod from the likes of John Lee Hooker, BB King or Howlin' Wolf. It's the last uptempo track on the album, Gary's last chance on this to rock out, and he certainly does, giving it his all, while behind him Vic Martin's fingers fly over the organ keyboard like a man in the deep throes of religious fervour. The album then ends on a beautiful ballad, a nine-minute slowburning epic which goes by the title of “Drowning in Tears”, with some very prominent bass and some nice keys, and basically the same melody throughout. It's quite a low-key ending to what is mostly an uptempo, powerful album that shows Gary Moore back doing what he loves, and delighting the fans with his return to basics after what might be termed “the wilderness years”.

TRACK LISTING

1. Enough of the Blues
2. You Upset Me Baby
3. Cold Black Night
4. Stormy Monday
5. Ain't Got You
6. Picture of the Moon
7. Looking Back
8. The Prophet
9. How Many Lies
10. Drowning in Tears

Rating: 8.0/10

03-03-2022, 10:45 AM	#16 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,970	Back to the Blues (2001) After the failed (and rather scary!) foray into dance music that gave us A Different Beat, Gary returned to his first love for the appropriately-titled Back to the Blues. After this album he never moved far from blues territory, which really suited him. The experimentation of the previous album and even the more laidback, pop approach that characterised Dark Days in Paradise was finished with, and it was straight, no-nonsense, out-and-out blues all the way for the next seven years. For this album Gary took all the writing upon himself, apart from the covers of standard blues tunes he includes here. But at times his own original songs could be almost mistaken for standards themselves. Modern classics? Perhaps. Gary certainly knew how to write a great blues song, and it's no exaggeration to predict that in future years aspiring guitarists may look back to some of the songs on this, and his later albums, for inspiration. It starts off with “Enough of the Blues”, a heavy cruncher with plenty of smart guitar, and oddly enough there doesn't seem to be an actual bass player, though Gary is credited with “bass arrangement”, so whether he played the bass himself, or the bass player is either uncredited or else different bass players played on different tracks is unknown. This song kind of maybe reflects the way Gary had been feeling when he produced A Different Beat, as he sings ”I'd had enough of the blues/ But the blues ain't had enough of me!” Just as well, really: sometimes you're better sticking to what you're good at, and Gary was very, very good at playing the blues. Horns feature aplenty on BB King's striding “You Upset Me Baby” - in fact, Gary drafted in three separate sax players for this album, and there's a very jazz/blues feel to this song, a real uptempo rocker, and the pace doesn't slacken for “Cold Black Night”, with some very cool bass leading the melody. The horns are in evidence again, adding a lot to the track, and Gary's guitar work as ever is frenetic and energetic, and he sounds a lot happier to be back doing what he is best at. Slow melancholy blues then in “Stormy Monday”, with Vic Martin at the keys setting up a really powerful backdrop. Gary would link up again with him for 2007's penultimate album, Close As You Get. He does a great version of the old T-Bone Walker classic, and there's an absolutely searing guitar solo running through this one, almost as you might expect: this is the man, back to his best. Clarence Carter's “Ain't Got You” is another short and boppy blues rocker, then “Picture of the Moon” brings the mood and the tempo right back down again, with echoes of “Still Got the Blues” in the melody, and a bit of “Parisienne Walkways” too. “Looking Back” then is another short fun rocker, with Martin's keyboards playing a central role, and giving Johnny “Guitar” Watson's old favourite new life, and it's followed by one of the very few Gary Moore instrumentals, “The Prophet”, carried again mainly on Martin's organ, counterpointed by Gary's expressive, emotional guitar playing. How that man could make a guitar speak and say exactly whatever he wanted, or needed it to, without a single word. “How Many More Lies” is a big rockin' blues stormer, which would probably have got an approving nod from the likes of John Lee Hooker, BB King or Howlin' Wolf. It's the last uptempo track on the album, Gary's last chance on this to rock out, and he certainly does, giving it his all, while behind him Vic Martin's fingers fly over the organ keyboard like a man in the deep throes of religious fervour. The album then ends on a beautiful ballad, a nine-minute slowburning epic which goes by the title of “Drowning in Tears”, with some very prominent bass and some nice keys, and basically the same melody throughout. It's quite a low-key ending to what is mostly an uptempo, powerful album that shows Gary Moore back doing what he loves, and delighting the fans with his return to basics after what might be termed “the wilderness years”. TRACK LISTING 1. Enough of the Blues 2. You Upset Me Baby 3. Cold Black Night 4. Stormy Monday 5. Ain't Got You 6. Picture of the Moon 7. Looking Back 8. The Prophet 9. How Many Lies 10. Drowning in Tears Rating: 8.0/10 __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 Last edited by Trollheart; 03-03-2022 at 11:42 AM.