Trollheart

Personally, I generally hate adverts. They cut into my TV viewing, they're often annoying or pointless, insult my intelligence or consistently try to sell me something I'm never going to need or want by SHOUTING AT ME IN A LOUD, EXCITED VOICE! No, I DON'T want a bloody sofa! I don't CARE how low your price is! I. DON'T. WANT. ONE!

But down the years there have been some pretty good ones, some of which involve music, but some which are just so damn good that I felt I should share them here. Many of these are from years, even decades ago, so if you're confused as to what's going on (as ads are often a product of their time, trying to “tap into” the consciousness and fads of the day) then just ignore the product: the message will still be valid. Or at least, funny.

One of the most successful batch of ads ever (at least, over here) was just about anything KitKat did. The first one here is not my absolute favourite (that's second) but I love the way it kind of prophesied how music consumption, the trend of celebrity worship was going to evolve, and take over our lives, where style would win out over substance, and the most annoying, vacuous and most importantly talentless bands or singers would make it huge, purely on the back of popularity through the media. See what I mean here...

Then there's the best.KitKad.Ad. Ever. No contest.

And this one is similar, but I still like it a hell of a lot.

Of course, the Cadbury's Flake ads were always huge, epic productions, with amazing visuals and great music. This is one of the original, and best. Warning: Viewers are advised that the first few seconds of this video contains the titles for the “Cannon and Ball show”. The Playlist of Life will not be responsible for any distress suffered by anyone who watches these titles. You have been warned.

I hesitate to give MacDonalds any free advertising, but hell, this one is worth it! Gotta hand it to them...

A great but shocking video that just grabs you, as it should: it's for road safety (and stop bloody texting and look where you're going!)

Since I'm a cat lover, I of course love this IKEA ad. So cute! (Cat haters, avoid. And stop hating cats.)

Ever see a skeleton advertise a videotape? You will now. Yeah, not even in death can they escape from ads...

And who could forget the Smash Martians? Just proves: a good ad will mean you still remember their slogan and jingle, even thirty years on...

I just want to include this because it was the first time I ever heard “Carmina Burana” --- well, “O fortuna”, but for years I was told it was the other thing.

And to finish with, this ad STILL makes me roar laughing! I'd buy their cigars --- and I don't even smoke!

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

All the world's a stage Part IV --- Gary Moore live
Here's another batch of videos from various concerts, DVDs and TV programmes showing Gary at his best, live on stage.

“Black Rose (Rosin Dhubh)” from “Black Rose: A rock legend” (One night in Dublin, Tribute to Phil Lynott, Dublin 2005)


“Rectify” from “Scars” (Monsters of Rock, Sheffield 2003)


“Mojo boogie” from “Bad for you baby” (Frankfurt, 2009)


“Hold on to love” from “Victims of the future” (Goldiggers, Chippenham 1984)


“Too tired” from “Still got the blues” (Maryport Blues Festival 2007)


“Hurricane” from “Grinding stone” (Location unknown, but 1984)


“The sky is crying” from reissue of “Still got the blues” (Bellinzona, Switzerland, 2001)


“I loved another woman” from “Blues for Greeny” (Montreaux Jazz Festival, 1999)


“If you be my baby” from “Blues for Greeny” (Montreaux 1995)


“Don't believe a word” from “Back on the streets” (Basel, Switzerland, 2008)

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

Gary Moore solos

I was originally going to compile a video, but some kind soul has already done this, so thanks to 0zzii for his or her work, and here it is!

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

And so we finally come to the end of the alphabet, and while the worm could dazzle you with his knowledge (or not) of bands beginning with Z, let's just do this thing and draw a line under this whole idea.

Today's Daily Earworm has been brought to you by the letter Z, with ZZ Top and “Rough boy”.(Normal service will be resumed tomorrow)

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

Time for some more politically incorrect videos featuring, well, you know... Now I could go on at length about how clever this video is, as the girls in it are just miming to the song but seeming to be of one voice. I could tell you how innovative it is, not having the artist in it at all, or the interesting use of the instruments, the clever graphics, but really, come on! All I have to say is LOOK AT THOSE ARRR JIM LAD...
Destination Calabria --- Alex Gaudino feat. Chrystal Waters --- 10 out of 10 on Trollheart's “Way-hay!” scale...

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

Back to the blues --- 2001 (CMC International)


After the failed (and rather scary!) foray into dance music that gave us “A different beat”, Gary returned to his first love for the appropriately-titled “Back to the blues”. After this album he never moved far from blues territory, which really suited him. The experimentation of the previous album and even the more laidback, pop approach that characterised “Dark days in Paradise” was finished with, and it was straight, no-nonsense, out-and-out blues all the way for the next seven years.

For this album Gary took all the writing upon himself, apart from the covers of standard blues tunes he includes here. But at times his own original songs could be almost mistaken for standards themselves. Modern classics? Perhaps. Gary certainly knew how to write a great blues song, and it's no exaggeration to predict that in future years aspiring guitarists may look back to some of the songs on this, and his later albums, for inspiration.

It starts off with “Enough of the blues”, a heavy cruncher with plenty of smart guitar, and oddly enough there doesn't seem to be an actual bass player, though Gary is credited with “bass arrangement”, so whether he played the bass himself, or the bass player is either uncredited or else different bass players played on different tracks is unknown. This song kind of maybe reflects the way Gary had been feeling when he produced “A different beat”, as he sings ”I'd had enough of the blues/ But the blues ain't had enough of me!” Just as well, really: sometimes you're better sticking to what you're good at, and Gary was very, very good at playing the blues.

Horns feature aplenty on BB King's striding “You upset me baby” --- in fact, Gary drafted in three separate sax players for this album, and there's a very jazz/blues feel to this song, a real uptempo rocker, and the pace doesn't slacken for “Cold black night”, with some very cool bass leading the melody. The horns are in evidence again, adding a lot to the track, and Gary's guitar work as ever is frenetic and energetic, and he sounds a lot happier to be back doing what he is best at.

Slow melancholy blues then in “Stormy Monday”, with Vic Martin at the keys setting up a really powerful backdrop. Gary would link up again with him for 2007's penultimate album, “Close as you get”. He does a great version of the old T-Bone Walker classic, and there's an absolutely searing guitar solo running through this one, almost as you might expect: this is the man, back to his best.

Clarence Carter's “Ain't got you” is another short and boppy blues rocker, then “Picture of the moon” brings the mood and the tempo right back down again, with echoes of “Still got the blues” in the melody, and a bit of “Parisienne walkways” too. “Looking back” then is another short fun rocker, with Martin's keyboards playing a central role, and giving Johnny “Guitar” Watson's old favourite new life, and it's followed by one of the very few Gary Moore instrumentals, “The prophet”, carried again mainly on Martin's organ, counterpointed by Gary's expressive, emotional guitar playing. How that man could make a guitar speak and say exactly whatever he wanted, or needed it to, without a single word.

“How many more lies” is a big rockin' blues stormer, which would probably have got an approving nod from the likes of John Lee Hooker, BB King or Howlin' Wolf. It's the last uptempo track on the album, Gary's last chance on this to rock out, and he certainly does, giving it his all, while behind him Vic Martin's fingers fly over the organ keyboard like a man in the deep throes of religious fervour. The album then ends on a beautiful ballad, a nine-minute slowburning epic which goes by the title of “Drowning in tears”, with some very prominent bass and some nice keys, and basically the same melody throughout. It's quite a low-key ending to what is mostly an uptempo, powerful album that shows Gary Moore back doing what he loves, and delighting the fans with his return to basics after what might be termed “the wilderness years”.

TRACKLISTING

1. Enough of the blues
2. You upset me baby
3. Cold black night
4. Stormy Monday
5. Ain't got you
6. Picture of the moon
7. Looking back
8. The prophet
9. How many lies
10. Drowning in tears

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

Another step along the pathway to success for Gary, he built much of his varied guitar sound around the three albums he cut with Colosseum II between 1976 and 1978. The sound was more oriented towards jazz/fusion, and two of the albums were almost entirely instrumental. Here he played with Don Airey, who would later go on to play of course with Rainbow, but who would also feature on many of Gary's solo albums, and Neil Murray, who would become famous with Whitesnake and later Black Sabbath, and who would also play on three albums with Gary.

Strange new flesh --- Colosseum II --- 1976 (Bronze)


The first album from the new band, “Strange new flesh” opens on a very psychedelic, seventies progressive rocklike instrumental, called, cleverly, “Dark side of the Moog”, both obviously tailored to tie in with the earlier release of Pink Floyd's seminal “Dark side of the moon” and to pay tribute to the Moog synthesiser, which we have to assume is used by Airey here, and which carries the bulk of the track. There are guitar splashes from Gary, but it's restrained and the piece is mostly keyboard-led. “Down to you” is the first track where we begin to hear what would become Gary's signature guitar sound, a long track at just over nine minutes, it's also the first with vocals.

Mike Starrs is the man who takes them, though after this album both he and Neil Murray would be fired by the label, off the back of disappointing sales. Starrs' vocal is quite rich and full, powerful without being shouty or screamy, and Airey plays some lovely piano on the track. It's all very laidback, a jazzy, easygoing ballad with little of the frenetic rock Gary would later be involved in, and create. “Gemini and Leo” is a lot more uptempo, with some calypso-style beat tinged with a lot of jazz, a bit of blues guitar snuck in by Gary perhaps unnoticed, and on this track you can hear the more powerful side of Starrs' vocal, still very clear and never seeming to have to strain.

There's a pretty solid and boogie-ing bassline too, laid down by Murray, showing the promise in his talent and what he would later go on to achieve, then “Secret places” is the first attempt at real straight-out rock, with a supercool solo from Gary to lead the track in, atmospheric keys from Airey ushering in Starrs' vocal, with clearly audible backing vocals from Gary. Interesting lyric: ”Could you pick yourself out/ From a crowd?/ Would you know what to look for?” Powerful solo then from Mr. Moore takes the song to new levels, and it sounds like he's using the talkbox or some effects pedal on his guitar, unless that sound is being made on the synth? Lovely digital piano takes us into “On second thoughts”, with gentle guitar from Gary, a really nice slow easy ballad, with Starrs back to his soft, soulful best while Airey paints flourishes of synth across the soundscape. A solo the likes of which we would grow used to hearing from Gary in the middle, and a beautiful almost two-minute one to take the song to its gentle but triumphant conclusion. Well, almost. Hiseman's drums kind of kick it up a notch, but I think they could have been used to better effect really, and sort of spoil the ending.

And so we come to the closer, and I have to say, unlike the Skid Row albums, I'm actually enjoying this and it's almost too soon that “Winds”, ten minutes long and so the longest track on the album bursts in on what is essentially a drum solo from Hiseman, joined soon enough though by Gary and then Don Airey and Neil Murray, a lot of energy and enthusiasm in the song. It's more jazz-oriented than rock, with dashes of prog-rock in there as well, another powerful vocal delivery from Mike Starrs, in what would in fact be his last contribution to Colosseum II.

Much of the track develops into an open-ended, improvisational jam, with Gary vying with Don Airey to see who can be the most expressive on their instrument. This level of, as it's often known, technical wankery is probably not needed, but considering how well they mesh it's probably forgivable, and it does all come more or less full circle as the song winds up, leaving you with not an entirely unfavourable ending to an album which for its six tracks is pretty good value for money, and certainly gives us a valuable insight into the burgeoning talent of Gary Moore.

TRACKLISTING

1. Dark side of the Moog
2. Down to you
3. Gemini and Leo
4. Secret places
5. On second thoughts
6. Winds

Electric savage --- Colosseum II --- 1977 (MCA)
Moderator cut: image removed

With Neil Murray and Mike Starrs fired by Bronze, Colosseum II moved labels to MCA, where they remained for this and their third and final album. With no vocalist recruited, it was decided to make the album mostly instrumental, with Gary taking the vocal on the only track that isn't, and new bassist John Mole replacing the departed Murray. Opener “Put it this way” is another jazz rocker, uptempo and with some great guitar from Gary, more excellent keyboard work from Don Airey, then “All skin and bone” is more ethereal, with gongs and shimmering percussion from Hiseman, synth effects from Airey before Gary's guitar comes in, knitting the whole thing together. The piece does seem to be mostly a vehicle for the bandleader's drumming, however.

The lovely ballad “Rivers” proves to be the only non-instrumental track, and as mentioned it's Gary's first chance to take the spotlight as singer, a task he handles with aplomb and obvious talent. Of course, he had already sung on his debut solo album “Grinding stone” by now, so was no stranger to the mike, but this is the first time his voice is heard --- at least as lead vocalist --- within the Colosseum II unit. He polishes the song with his trademark evocative guitar, of course, then we're back to instrumentals with “The scorch”. There are no nine or ten-minuters on this or the next album, and in fact none go over six minutes, this one just edging being the longest track by two seconds. Opening on proggy keyboards from Airey, it's joined by a thumping, heartbeat bassline from Mole, almost like a steam locomotive approaching from the distance. Lots of flying fingers from Airey, but it's about a minute and a half before Gary comes in, his power chords levelling the song.

Keyboard takes over again though, and as “All skin and bone” seemed written for Hiseman's drumming to shine, “The scorch” seems geared towards showing what Don Airey can do on the keys. It's a decent melody, but doesn't feature enough of Gary's playing for my liking. This is soon addressed though when the next track, “Lament”, hits, as it's carried almost entirely on Gary's guitar. Surprisingly, with a title like that, it's not a slow ballad-type song, in fact there are church bells in the distance, lending the song an almost victorious or triumphant air.

“Desperado” then is pure jazz fusion, uptempo and boppy, plenty of guitar but driven mostly by organ from Airey and machinegun drumming from Hiseman. “Am I” slows everything down, in an almost Vangelis-like tune, lots of echoey and jingly keyboards, nice low bass, and some nice smooth guitar from Gary completes the melody. Closer “Intergalactic strut” starts with again a big drum intro, then the keys fly in but this time it's not long before Gary is getting in on the act. Another fast improv jam really to end the album.

I don't know. I liked the first album, and really like Mike Starrs' voice, pity he's gone by the release of this album. An album full of instrumentals, few of them rock? Like I say, I don't know. But then again, these albums are only really being reviewed to fill in blanks, as stepping-stones shown along the path to Gary's career, and you can certainly hear him developing his style here. Good to hear him sing too, if only the once.

TRACKLISTING

1. Put it this way
2. All skin and bone
3. Rivers
4. The scorch
5. Lament
6. Desperado
7. Am I
8. Intergalactic strut

War dance --- Colosseum II --- 1977 (MCA)


Their second album for MCA, and indeed their last, again an almost completely instrumental affair, “War dance” retained the lineup from previous album “Electric savage”, opening with a harder, rockier sound as keyboards and then hard and heavy guitar introduce the opener and title track, appropriately named, as it sounds like a musical call to arms. Even boasting some “bugle-call”-type flurries on Airey's keys, heavy militaristic drumming from Hiseman. Whistling, breezy keyboards and funky bass are the characteristics of the jazzy “Major Kes”, with little if any semblance of rock in the tune, a nice laidback slow and smooth guitar solo in the middle against fluid keyboards, then back into the uptempo jazz. On the previous album we had “Put it this way”, now we have “Put it that way”, again another jazzy bopper riding on squealing keyboards mostly, taking us into the only vocalised track on the album, again voiced by Gary.

The last time round he sang about rivers, this time it's “Castles”, his voice a lot more falsetto than we've been used to, and the song itself is a ballad, but still retaining the jazz elements of the so-far bulk of the album. Nice sparkling keyboards from Don Airey, a comforting bassline from John Mole, and even a certain sense of soul about the song as it progresses. Quite nice really. We're back into the instrumentals then, and “Fighting talk” does indeed come out fighting, with a big guitar intro and then the kind of work we later became used to hearing from the fingers of Gary Moore. A blues boogie rocker, it's (sorry jazz fans!) a welcome break from all the jazz that's been going on up to now, and a great vehicle for the guitar mastery of our Mr. Moore.

“The inquisition” keeps things rocky, and fast, and again we're treated to a guitar extravaganza from Gary, his instrument pretty much taking over the track, which is fine by me! Some great Spanish guitar thrown in for free, too. Better and better! It can't last though (can it?) and things slow right down for the longest track on the album, the penultimate and rather lovely “Star maiden/Mysterioso/Quasar”, very restful, sort of like floating along on music as Don Airey's spacey synth locks with John Mole's deep, throaty bass and carries you along. Gary's guitar then adds its own layer to the sound, and then church bells and wind sounds signify a change in pace and melody, presumably the “Mysterioso” part of the tune, as Gary's guitar gets very rocky and shoulders its way to the front, with some pretty damn fine piano from Mr. Mole too.

Then the church bells and wind take us into the third section, “Quasar”, on speedy keyboard and expressive guitar as the bass picks up speed and rhythm, something akin to tubular bells as the song heads towards its conclusion. Great piece this, really marking a standout for Colosseum II in my book. The appropriately --- and, as it turned out, prophetically --- titled “Last exit” closes the album powerfully on an almost Genesisesque slow rocker, with a virtuoso performance from Gary behind shimmering keys from Airey, making this I believe my favourite of the three albums.

After this Gary would leave to work on his second (some say first) solo album, and go on to play with Thin Lizzy. He would be replaced by Don Airey's brother Keith, but a short time later Don himself would hear the call of Rainbow, effectively bringing about the breakup of Colosseum II. When I started listening to and reviewing their albums today, I really didn't like much of what I was hearing, but as the albums went on they do seem to have got progressively better, and without question they were a fine proving ground for the emerging talent of Gary Moore, and indeed Don Airey.

TRACKLISTING

1. War dance
2. Major Kes
3. Put it that way
4. Castles
5. Fighting talk
6. The inquisition
7. Star maiden/Mysterioso/Quasar
8. Last exit

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

Bad animals --- Heart --- 1987 (Capitol)


To go by the phenomenal chart success of this album, you would perhaps be forgiven for thinking it was Heart's first, or maybe second, but in fact “Bad animals” was their ninth album, following on from such successes as “Passionworks”, “Dog and butterfly” and “Bebe le strange”, and Heart had been having hit singles all the way back to their 1976 debut, “Dreamboat Annie”. Their previous effort though, simply titled “Heart”, had been the one to break them commercially, with hit singles like “These dreams” and “What about love” bursting open the charts for them. Nevertheless, they had to wait until the release of this album, two years after “Heart”, for their first, and so far only, number one single.

This album is almost flawless. Those, like me, who bought it on the back of the abovementioned smash, “Alone”, hoping to hear more of such music were not disappointed, and it's full of either emotional ballads or hard pomp rockers. There is the odd weak track, but in general from the time the album opens to its guitar chord ending, there's little to complain about and a whole lot to praise.

Crashing drums and hard guitar gets “Who will you run to” underway, and it's a great powerful rocker, Ann Wilson in fine raunchy voice while her sister Nancy takes care of guitar and keyboard duties, backed on the latter by Howard Leese. It's a Diane Warren classic, and bears all the trademarks, and it's no surprise at all to learn it was a big hit for them, its big guitar sound tempered just enough by the solid keyboard to push this into the top ten, but of course that's nothing compared to the next one up, the megasmash “Alone”. There's surely no-one who hasn't heard this song at least once by now, spending as it did three weeks at the number one spot, and introducing Heart to millions of people who up until then had probably never heard of them, despite the hit singles from the previous album.

Its opening keyboard and piano notes are by now instantly recognisable, and Ann's soft, gentle and yearning voice is soon crashed over by powerful guitar from her sister. It's a forceful ballad, veering from almost acoustic simplicity to power ballad rocker, with a great guitar solo stuck in the middle. Neither of these songs were written by the Wilson sisters, unusually, as indeed is the case on most of the songs, however the next one was --- or at least, co-written by Nancy with Holly Knight --- and “There's the girl” is a fast pop/rocker, with breezy keyboards, guitar in there but less prominent than in the opener. It's very catchy, very hook-laden, with Ann's voice a little more restrained but still powerful, and good backing vocals from Nancy and Howard Leese. The team responsible for the huge hit “Alone” --- Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly --- collaborate again on another standout, “Want you so bad”.

It's another ballad, but tough and moody, with growling guitar and throaty bass, Leese's synth laying down a deep, heavy melody which Nancy sprinkles with light touches of piano and digital piano. It's followed, unusually, by another ballad, and indeed another standout, “Wait for an answer”. This is also written with no input from the Wilsons, or indeed any of the band, and you have to wonder if the recruitment of writers was a contributing factor in their chart success, as all three of their hit singles from this album were written by people outside the band, apart from Nancy's involvement in “There's the girl”?

Denny Carmassi's drumming plays a big part in setting the atmosphere of “Wait for an answer”, as do the ominous keyboard chords of Howard Leese. It's a very keyboard-driven song, with little discernible input from Nancy's guitar, and a sterling vocal performance from Ann, particularly as the song reaches its, er, climax. The title track, and without question the heaviest on the album, is a slow cruncher, with growling, snarling guitar and thumping drums, and the only one written by the entire band. It veers away from the soft-rock/pop sensibilities of the rest of the album, harking back to their earlier pure rock days, and has some really effective keyboard work as well as a real vocal workout from Ann Wilson.

“You ain't so tough” is another soft-rocker, again written by outsiders, very boppy, very commercial and again quite keyboard-led, while “Strangers of the heart” is another synthy ballad, with a nice line in guitar from Nancy, the song quite similar in fact to their big hit from the previous album, “These dreams”. The only other real straight rocker on the album, I nevertheless find “Easy target” the weakest track, almost filler, and the fact that it's one of the four written by the Wilsons is not good, but the album closes powerfully on their final contribution, the acoustic ballad “RSVP”.

With a lot of heart (sorry) and emotion in the song, Ann's vocals wring every last ounce of of the lyric and Nancy is just superb on the acoustic guitar, while Carmassi injects just the right amount of percussion into the song until it's time to hit up the drums properly, Leese's slow moody synth building the atmosphere under Nancy's guitar, then she switches to electric for a soulful little solo and then back to the acoustic for the muted and downbeat ending.

I've heard Heart albums after this --- in fact, I reviewed “Brigade” not long after starting my journal --- and they've generally been good, though I have to say that here I think they came to their commercial creative output peak, and although there have been some great songs on their albums since, they really haven't had that many hits nor enjoyed the level of chart success that “Bad animals” brought to them. Whether that's because, as postulated above, they largely left the songwriting to others, or whether it was just the times, that they captured the imagination with bands like Europe and Bon Jovi flying the flag for soft rock, I really couldnt' say.

But in many ways, this is the album they have never quite managed to better, in another twenty-five years of recording, and another four albums.

TRACKLISTING

1. Who will you run to?
2. Alone
3. There's the girl
4. Want you so bad
5. Wait for an answer
6. Bad animals
7. You ain't so tough
8. Strangers of the heart
9. Easy target
10. RSVP

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

You want Moore? You GOT Moore!
Many Gary Moore albums came with extra tracks for certain releases only, or boxed sets that saw never-before-released material included. We're going to try to feature as many of those hard-to-get tracks as we can here in this section.

This is an extra track that appears on CD versions of his second album “Back on the streets”. There are three versions, one with Gary on vocal, one with Phil Lynott and one instrumental. This is the Gary vocal one.

This is the one with Phil on vocals

and this is the instrumental version.


This is the remixed version of “Falling in love with you” from “Corridors of power”

and this is the same remix, but an instrumental of same. Both were available on the 2002 reissue of the album.

That reissue also contained one extra, previously unreleased track, “Love can make a fool of you”.


The American release of “Victims of the future” had an extra track, “Devil in her heart”

while the later reissue had two more, one being an instrumental called “Blinder”

and the other a remix of “Empty rooms”.


The reissue of the following year's “Run for cover” had this extra track, his own version of the Thin Lizzy classic “Still in love with you”. There are no vocals on this, it's purely Gary on the guitar.


“Wild frontier” contained two 12-inch extended mixes on the reissue, one of them being one of my all-time favourites, “The loner”

the other was NOT one of my favourites, an extended version of his cover of “Friday on my mind”.


When 1990's “Still got the blues” was reissued in 2002 it had no less than five extra tracks, only two of which were written by Gary. They included “The stumble”, by Freddie King and Sonny Thompson

one of Gary's originals, “Left me with the blues”

the blues standard “Further on up the road”,

his other original, “Mean cruel woman”

and Elmore James' bluesy “The sky is crying”.


The remaster of “After hours” also contained five extra tracks: “All time low”

“Woke up this morning”

“Movin' on down the road”

Johnny Darrow's “Don't start me talkin'”

and “Once in a blue moon”.


Jumping over the BBM and the tribute album, “Dark days in Paradise” is next up, and its 2003 reissue contained this rather odd little funky number, “Burning in our hearts”

and the reggae-influenced “There must be a way”.


And that was about it. His last album, “Bad for you baby”, has one extra track that's only on the Japanese release, a cover of Lightnin' Hopkins' “Picture on the wall”, but oddly I can't find it on YT and I don't have the Japanese issue so I can't even upload it.

Looking at compilation albums then, the first is a Japan-only release entitled “Gary Moore”, released in 1982 and containing tracks from “Grinding stone” as well as some material from “Colosseum II”. As it's hard to track these down without getting the original Colosseum II performances, I've decided not to include them. So the next compilation album is purely Gary material, and it's 1994's “Ballads and blues: 1982-1994”. There are, not including single versions of other tracks and live performances, three unreleased tracks on this album.

First is “One day”

then the tender ballad “With love (remember)”

and then the instrumental “Blues for Narada”.


2002 then saw the release of “Best of the blues”, a double CD on which were another four previously unreleased tracks, most of which were of course blues covers.

Gary teams up with Albert Collins and Albert King for “Caldonia”

then there's “You don't love me (no no no)”. I can only find a live version of this...

The classic “The thrill is gone” is a great addition --- same here I'm afraid, only a live version ---

and Albert Collins is back for “Cold cold feeling”.

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018