Artists | Issues | CD Reviews | Interviews | Concert Reviews | DVD/Video Reviews | Book Reviews | Who We Are | Staff | Home
 
Non-Prog CD Reviews

Gary Moore

Blues for Jimi

Review by Gary Hill

Basically, this album is a live recording with Gary Moore covering tunes by Jimi Hendrix. With Moore’s recent passing, this now becomes a tribute to two lost masters of the guitar. Moore does a great job and Hendrix’ two Jimi Hendrix Experience partners guest on this, too. All in all, this is highly recommended, but some cuts work better than others.

This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2012  Volume 6 at lulu.com/strangesound.

Track by Track Review
Purple Haze

The central difference on this tune is the vocals. This is a real screaming rendition and I like it a lot.

Manic Depression

The guitar soloing here is classic. This is another killer rendition of a classic Hendrix, tune. Moore and company do the piece justice and some more.

Foxy Lady

For me the vocals don’t work that well on this piece. That said, the rest of this is great.

The Wind Cries Mary

Here we have another strong performance of a mellower Hendrix tune. I’d say this one feels a bit more bluesy and hard rocking than the original to my ears.

I Don’t Live Today

Again, musically this one’s rather close to the original. I love the soaring psychedelic guitar soloing in the piece. The vocals, though, don’t work all that well for me. I love the scorching hot jam later.

My Angel

This is a short guitar solo.

Angel

This time it’s a pretty pure blues take on the tune. I’m not overly crazy about this one, but it works reasonably well. It just seems a little pedestrian.

Fire

Here we have a high energy jam that feels a bit more raw than the way Hendrix did it. It’s good, but I prefer the original.

Red House

I really don’t care who does this song. I’ve never heard a version I didn’t like. This one is among the strongest. It’s more pure blues than I remember the Hendrix rendition being. I really dig Moore’s guitar soloing on this thing, too. That guitar solo section is extensive and very cool.

Stone Free

This one is clearly more pure blues. It’s also a smoking hot jam that’s among the strongest of the set. The instrumental jam in this thing just plain scorches.

Hey Joe

Here’s another tune that gets the more pure blues treatment. It’s also another killer jam that has a great groove and it one of the highlights of the set. Mostly due to the bass playing, some of the later parts of this actually make me think of early Rush.

Voodoo Child (Slight Return)

Clearly they saved the best for last. This thing just plain rocks. It has all the elements that made the Hendrix version so great, but it’s also got Moore and company upping the ante here. All I can say is “wow!”

 

 

 
More CD Reviews
Metal/Prog Metal
Non-Prog
Progressive Rock
 
Google

   Creative Commons License
   This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.

    © 2024 Music Street Journal                                                                           Site design and programming by Studio Fyra, Inc./Beetcafe.com