The Official Hard Rock / Classic Metal Music Discussion and Memorabilia Thread!

[wolfking]

  How stupid of me, I have an unofficial DVD of that one, had a brain fart there.

Yes, probably the best live concert from Gary.  Teriffic performances, and the band are just on fire with so much energy.  I think a lot of the live versions can be found in audio form on the 2CD best of called Out in the Fields.

The version of Thunder Rising is amazing.

[gazinwales]

The official VHS and unofficial DVD still don't contain the full show.
I hope the full show gets a proper release someday.

[gazinwales]

A great cover of The Loner from Europe
https://youtu.be/EyPTIYkDD4s
Norum pretty much nails it, granted with the aid of his wah wah pedal.

[Kwyjibo]

Gary Moore was great. I love his 80s hardrock albums, Over The Hills being my favorite and The Loner is a top instrumental ballad, although he recycled a bit of Parisienne Walkways. His first blues album was also killer because it was mostly high energy blues more in the vein of his hardrock albums than "real" blues. After that it got a bit patchy and I haven't listened to all he put out.

[bl5150]

Gary Moore was great. I love his 80s hardrock albums, Over The Hills being my favorite and The Loner is a top instrumental ballad, although he recycled a bit of Parisienne Walkways. His first blues album was also killer because it was mostly high energy blues more in the vein of his hardrock albums than "real" blues. After that it got a bit patchy and I haven't listened to all he put out.

Just about the same for me.  Enjoyed all his rock stuff , especially Corridors and Wild Frontier (although I don't rate After The War near as high as most) and the first blues album - lost track after that.

[gazinwales]

Pro shot from the After the War tour, sound isn't the best, but great show.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5L426SaDzQ

[wolfking]

The official VHS and unofficial DVD still don't contain the full show.

I didn't know that, but always thought it was a short concert.

[Lowdz]

Gary Moore was great. I love his 80s hardrock albums, Over The Hills being my favorite and The Loner is a top instrumental ballad, although he recycled a bit of Parisienne Walkways. His first blues album was also killer because it was mostly high energy blues more in the vein of his hardrock albums than "real" blues. After that it got a bit patchy and I haven't listened to all he put out.

Just about the same for me.  Enjoyed all his rock stuff , especially Corridors and Wild Frontier (although I don't rate After The War near as high as most) and the first blues album - lost track after that.

I'm with you Brent. ATW was poor for me after the excellent Wild Frontier. I enjoyed the first 2 blues albums but it got old fast from there and I didn't bother with much after that. I did buy the Different Beat album and that was a huge pile of shite.
Live he was always great. I've probably seen him live more than any other band and he was one of my first gigs.

[TAC]

A Different Beat was as bad of an album that I have ever bought in my life. Wow does that suck!

However, I would absolutely take After The War over Wild Frontier. It rocks way harder. Wild Frontier has a couple great tunes though. I will say that it has aged very well. I wasn't nuts about it in 1987. Saw him in Providence on that tour. There's a great FM show from Boston which is incredible.

[bl5150]

The new Virgin Steele is just okay IMHO.  And some of the stuff Defeis does with his voice these days would be at home on an album called Live From The Sydney Mardi Gras.

There are some short lived great moments and the first 4 full length tracks ( numbers 1-5 minus a short interlude) are a decent return to the more metallic edge of earlier albums, but from there I mostly found it a bit of a snooze.   They've always been a bit of a "compilation band" for me  (plenty of filler on most albums) and to me this is no exception.

It is getting good reviews though ,so for long term fans ....perhaps just try and get a listen first.  I would rate it around 75% and that's probably a bit generous.

[Lowdz]

A Different Beat was as bad of an album that I have ever bought in my life. Wow does that suck!

However, I would absolutely take After The War over Wild Frontier. It rocks way harder. Wild Frontier has a couple great tunes though. I will say that it has aged very well. I wasn't nuts about it in 1987. Saw him in Providence on that tour. There's a great FM show from Boston which is incredible.

The title track is great, the instrumentals excellent, I don't mind Ready For Love but after that it's a poor album for me. And Led Clones? Having a go at the zep clone bands by playing a Kashmir clone? Er ok.

Edit. Just realised I omitted the mighty Blood of Emeralds, another tick in the excellent box. still a poor album though.

[gazinwales]

Wild Frontier is my Gary Moore classic album, despite different producers, drum machine, cover songs, it stands the test of time for me.

[wolfking]

I will still check out that Virgin Steele, I like what I've heard, but yeah, as expected, I'm not expecting anything groundbreking.

Wild Frontier is excellent but I don't know if it's my copy but some of the songs seem to increase in volume as the song goes on. like Over the Hills and Thunder Rising start very quiet but by the end it's quite loud.  Has anyone else noticed this?  It's always dampened my liking for the album and I've normally always stuck to live versions because of this.

[gazinwales]

I had the original LP and CD pressing, currently the Japanese remaster and I have never noticed any increase in volume.

[wolfking]

Maybe it's just the remastered version then.

[bl5150]

Funny you mention Thunder Rising - to me that was always quieter than the rest of the album.  I had the first CD pressing.

[wolfking]

I just checked my version of those two songs and yeah, they both start off very quiet and finish a lot louder.  I might put them in cool edit and see and post the wave, it should show what I'm talking about.

[bl5150]

I probably wasn't paying enough attention but I always accounted for the opener as just being a form of fade in , but Thunder Rising really stood out in the middle of the album as I always turned the volume up.

[bl5150]

Win big.........mama's fallen angel   

Nice cover art for the upcoming album.

And until Paul prompted me in the album thread I had almost forgotten how much I was into early Firehouse. Spinning the debut now and stuff like Overnight Sensation , Helpless are bringing back lots of memories. Reach For The Sky off the next one was a killer too.

[BlobVanDam]

Reach For The Sky is at least 50% pretty darn good, don't like the rest of it though. Never got into anything other than that album.

[bl5150]

Reach For The Sky is at least 50% pretty darn good, don't like the rest of it though. Never got into anything other than that album.

if you're referring to the album it was called Hold Your Fire - I really liked the title track too but it was a bit patchy overall.  The debut is cheesy but very strong otherwise and it's been a cool listen after a long break.

[BlobVanDam]

Reach For The Sky is at least 50% pretty darn good, don't like the rest of it though. Never got into anything other than that album.

if you're referring to the album it was called Hold Your Fire - I really liked the title track too but it was a bit patchy overall.  The debut is cheesy but very strong otherwise and it's been a cool listen after a long break.

Yeah, that's what I meant. Just woke up when I wrote that.
I found the first half of the album quite strong, then it fizzles out towards the end. And the ones I don't like in the first half are a couple of the softer ones.

[jingle.boy]

Agree with Blob.  Hold Your Fire is 1/2 killer, 1/2 dud.  I only just went back and discovered 3 and Category 5.  Both solid albums.

[bl5150]

Agree with Blob.  Hold Your Fire is 1/2 killer, 1/2 dud.

I agree too - my original comments were about the debut self-titled which - if you can stand the cheese- is the best of the lot IMHO.

Listening to I&W now for the first time in a while.  Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[jjrock88]

The debut from Firehouse is awesome from beginning to end.  On Hold Your Fire, I really liked Reach for the Sky but didn't care for anything else on the whole disc.

That Stryper album cover is fantastic.

[Lowdz]

Funny you mention Thunder Rising - to me that was always quieter than the rest of the album.  I had the first CD pressing.

I have the first pressing too and Thunder Rising is certainly quieter than the rest of the album but that is the only track that I've noticed.
I spent a very enjoyable evening last night watching Gary Moore live videos on Youtube. I miss him, especially as he was supposed to be working on some more lizzy style / Celtic rock tracks before his passing.

As for Firehouse, I love half of the first album, most of the 2nd but after that there's not much worth listening to for me.

[Lowdz]

Agree with Blob.  Hold Your Fire is 1/2 killer, 1/2 dud.

I agree too - my original comments were about the debut self-titled which - if you can stand the cheese- is the best of the lot IMHO.

Listening to I&W now for the first time in a while.  Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Got it on in the car at the moment. Never fails to disappoint. I love that its not all metal riffing. And James is just awesome. 

[bl5150]

Funny you mention Thunder Rising - to me that was always quieter than the rest of the album.  I had the first CD pressing.

I have the first pressing too and Thunder Rising is certainly quieter than the rest of the album but that is the only track that I've noticed.
I spent a very enjoyable evening last night watching Gary Moore live videos on Youtube. I miss him, especially as he was supposed to be working on some more lizzy style / Celtic rock tracks before his passing.

As for Firehouse, I love half of the first album, most of the 2nd but after that there's not much worth listening to for me.

Ditto the above pretty much.

As far as Firehouse goes I bought 3 and that was it - decent laid back album but they lost their mojo and never managed to get it back , even though they tried.   Still a great live band from all reports.

[jjrock88]

Ive seen Firehouse live too.  By the numbers, but pretty good.

[TAC]

I miss Gary Moore too.

[LudwigVan]

Led Zeppelin is my #1 favorite band, but I never owned a Robert Plant album.

Woops. Meant to post in the 80s classic albums thread lol

[Lowdz]

Agree with Blob.  Hold Your Fire is 1/2 killer, 1/2 dud.

I agree too - my original comments were about the debut self-titled which - if you can stand the cheese- is the best of the lot IMHO.

Listening to I&W now for the first time in a while.  Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Got it on in the car at the moment. Never fails to disappoint. I love that its not all metal riffing. And James is just awesome. 

I'm getting a bit worried about the old brain. Yesterday I mixed up Firehouse with Harem Scarem and today I say I&W never fails to disappoint. What I meant was, never fails to impress, obviously. Think I need a holiday.

[Lowdz]

Ive seen Firehouse live too.  By the numbers, but pretty good.

Saw them at fire fest a few years a go and they were excellent despite the crap sound. There are some great riffs on those first two albums. Then it just... Went.

[jjrock88]

I've only heard a handful of songs from firehouse outside of the first two albums and I definitely wasn't impressed.

[wolfking]

I have one Firehouse album, but it didn't do anything for me.