37 Gary Moore- We Want Moore (1984)
Gary was one of the first guitarists I was into, and a big influence to my playing. His was one of the first gigs I ever went to and I've probably seen him live more than any other act. He had to have an album on this list but his albums were very hit and miss for me. I am a fan of his first couple of Blues albums but his 80s output was where it was at for me- I just never loved whole albums, there was too much filler. This is a great live album and contains better versions of the songs than their more sterile, high tech (for the time) album versions, and I play this more than any of his other albums. The intro to Empty Rooms- a great ballad that sounded too produced as the studio version- is beautiful. The solo to ER is beautiful and heartfelt. The rest of the album rocks. RIP Gary.
Best tracks- Murder In The Skies, Victims Of The future, So Far Away/Empty Rooms, Shapes Of Things
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljcemiIU-xc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhb34RoiuTE 36 Q5- Steel The Light (1984)
in the 80s about the only place in the UK you got to hear any hard rock on the radio was Tommy Vance's Friday Rock Show. His show introduced me to many bands I would come to love; Queensryche being one, and Q5 another. Tommy used to play the title track a lot. Guitarist Floyd Rose (of whammy bar locking system fame) and Tim Pierce shred away through this great melodic metal classic- plenty of whammy abuse as you can imagine. The singer, Jonathan K, sounds like an unlikely cross between Steve Perry and Brian Johnson. The title track is a mid tempo stomper, there's a couple of great rock ballads but the emphasis is on some classy hard rock. It was reissued with the original demos too. The follow up album went more commercial, more AOR, but it was still a decent album but the fanbase deserted them and they disappeared afterwards.
Best tracks- Lonely Lady, Missing In Action, Pull The Trigger , Steel The Light,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cc-PXbt29pQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efFDvbM5_f4