Belfast, Ireland's Gary Moore has remained relatively unknown here in the United States. His popularity, and status as a guitar legend, has been much greater in Europe and Japan, which has been typical of many great musicians, unfortunately. Moore has been playing professionally since the late-sixties, and has appeared in numerous bands before focusing on his solo career around 1982, with the release of his seminal, metal powerhouse Corridors Of Power. He continued in the hard-rock/metal vein for the remainder of the decade, before eventually deciding to take a turn towards the music that was his real passion--THE BLUES. In 1990, he released Still Got The Blues, the most renowned and best-selling release of his career, and has stuck primarily to that album's blues-rock style ever since.
I'll be perfectly candid with you here, and slam me if you must, but I have never been a huge fan of most of the "old-school" blues-guitar legends such as Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, Albert King, and the like. Don't get me wrong, I love many of the great SONGS these guys have written, I just much prefer hearing them covered by some of my favorite later-generation blues guitarists such as Moore, Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Warren Haynes, Robben Ford, and Joe Bonamassa. I like my blues cranked through an overdriven Marshal amp, via the strings of a Gibson Les Paul or Fender Strat. Gary Moore tackles this blues-rock hybrid as good, or better, than anyone in the business. His vocals usually leave a lot to be desired, but damn if he doesn't sound great singing the blues.
Live At Montreux 1990, features Moore's performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival on July 7, 1990, during his tour for Still Got The Blues. During his metal days, Moore typically performed in the power-trio format, such as on his Monsters Of Rock DVD, but for this tour he was backed by the seven-member Midnight Blues Band, an exceptionally talented group of musicians featuring Don Airey on keyboards, Andy Pyle on bass, Graham Walker on drums, as well as a four-member horn section. This made for a huge sound, and the three dynamic audio mixescaptured it all marvelously. I give the edge to the DTS surround mix since therear surround speakers were used extensively, and each instrument could be heard with biting clarity. For those of you with only stereo setups, don't worry, the PCM stereo track was powerful, and really highlighted Moore's potent guitar tone. The video was nearly as impressive, and the camera work was superb. Lots of long, sweeping craned camera shots exposing the entire stage, as well as the perfect amount of close-ups of Moore's astonishing fretwork. For a 1990 recording, this DVD has some outstanding production quality.
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