48.
Gary MooreWild FrontierHard Rock
Released 1987 on 10 Records via Virgin
1. "Over The Hills and Far Away" . 5:20
2. "Wild Frontier" 4:14
3. "Take A Little Time" 4:05
4. "The Loner" 5:54
5. "Friday On My Mind" . 4:11
6. "Strangers In The Darkness" 4:48
7. "Thunder Rising" . 5:43
8. "Johnny Boy" 3:15
Bonus Tracks9. "Over the Hills and Far Away" 7:26
10. "Wild Frontier" 6:38
11. "Crying in the Shadows" 5:01
Band line up
Gary Moore – lead, rhythm and acoustic guitars, lead and backing vocals
Neil Carter – keyboards, backing vocals
Bob Daisley – bass
When a was a kid, I wanted to be a guitar player and I really wanted to sound like Gary Moore.
His playing inspired me to pick up a guitar and one of the first songs I ever learnt was the Loner.
Of course I couldn't play it anything like GM could, but I knew the basics and I was so happy that I did.
Wild Frontier is a strange album of sorts. You will notice that there is no drummer credited on the album, because all the drums are programmed.
There are three different producers (plus GM) on this record, which might indicate that it might have been a difficult album to make.
While that may or may not have been the case, the results turned out to be pretty good, to say the least.
The opening of Over The Hills and Far Away, sets the tone for the album, with it's Irish tinge and celtic influences.
Thought the Nightwish cover is excellent and popularised this track, the extended and live versions of this song, really shine more than the album version.
Strange thing though listening now it's pretty obvious that the drums are programmed, back in the day I had no idea and was horrified when I found out they weren't real.
The title track is one of Gary's finest, playing tribute to his native Ireland and the late Phil Lynott. While The Loner was originally on a Cozy Powell album, that GM basically re-wrote for this album.
Even the cover of The Easybeats, Friday On My Mind sounds pretty decent and Gary manages to make it his own. Thunder Rising is one of GM heaviest songs, also contains a blistering trademark solo.
The album fitting ends with an emotional ballad with reminiscing about days gone by.
Eric Singer was brought into the line up for the subsequent tour, with a show being filmed in Stockholm, released on VHS, but sadly never officially on DVD/BR.
Gary would go on to make one more hard rock album before abandoning the genre for many years and became even more popular as a blues artist.
I never did like Gary's blues output, that style is just not me, but his hard rock output has stood the test of time and this one is an absolute classic.
The video's below are all official, I suggest you check out the live concert from 1987, this is better indication of what Gary was all about than the four promo clips.
The live extended version of The Loner is simply sublime and one of the best guitar instrumentals ever written.
Over The Hills and Far Away
https://youtu.be/7IocRCDWB5k Wild Frontier
https://youtu.be/zsR-6bunsbIThe Loner
https://youtu.be/6gcPdeL4DncFriday On My Mind
https://youtu.be/qDorH739ZgkLive In Sweden 1987 (VHS)
https://youtu.be/xsMKdlB3lbISpotify
https://open.spotify.com/album/7HSONsw7mumBE5q0e7KJW2