Gary Moore - Rockin' Every Night, Live In Japan (1986) + Bonus Tracks

(Irish 1969-2011)
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'Rockin' Every Night - Live in Japan' is a live album recorded by Gary Moore at Tokyo's Shinjuku Kousei Nenkin Hall in 1983, during the 'Corridors of Power' tour. Despite being released in Japan in 1983, it was not given a European release until 1986. The 2002 CD reissue included the three live tracks recorded at the Marquee, from the bonus EP included with the first 25,000 vinyl copies of Corridors of Power.

'Corridors Of Power' was released in September 1982, and reached #30 in the UK album charts. A new touring band was put together to promote it. Don Airey had already toured and recorded with Moore for some years. Vocalist Jon Sloman (ex of Uriah Heep) had briefly participated with Neil Murray and John Sykes in Badlands, a band which lasted a mere two gigs before Sykes took up the offer of a place in Thin Lizzy and Murray decided to go full-time with Gary Moore.

The new line-up began gigging in November 1982 and were captured on the live album 'Rocking Every Night' issued only in Japan initially, and taped there in January / February 1983. It was released in the UK in 1986. Sloman packed it in around February time, having had voice problems throughout the tour, so from May 1983 the group were down to a foursome. [extract from deep-purple.net]
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Gary Moore Bio
Born in Belfast, Ireland, Moore began as a bluesy guitarist influenced chiefly by Fleetwood Mac's Peter Green (going as far as purchasing Green's actual Les Paul guitar, which served as Moore's main axe throughout the years). Moore first recorded with Dublin rockers Skid Row, before beginning an on-again/off-again relationship with Thin Lizzy throughout the Seventies. Moore's first Lizzy stint was short-lived, but yielded a memorable solo on the group's classic ballad, "Still in Love with You," from their 1974 album, Night Life. When Thin Lizzy opened for Queen during a 1977 U.S. arena tour, Moore (who was also playing with prog rockers Colosseum II) briefly filled in for Lizzy guitarist Brian Robertson.

By 1978, Moore was a full member of Thin Lizzy once more, performing on what's considered one of the group's finest studio albums, 1979's Black Rose: A Rock Legend, which debuted at #2 on the U.K. album charts. The album's epic closing track, "Róisín Dubh (Black Rose): A Rock Legend," contains one of Moore's greatest solos, in which he incorporated several traditional Irish song themes within a hard rock format. The same year, Moore scored his first solo U.K. top ten hit, "Parisienne Walkways," co-written by Lizzy frontman Phil Lynott. But Moore would exit Lizzy for the third and final time in the midst of a U.S. tour that summer.

In the Eighties Moore scored other hits, including the U.K. top 5 single/Lynott collaboration, "Out in the Fields" (one of Lynott's last recorded works before his 1986 death), and was name-checked by guitarists like Dio/Whitesnake/Def Leppard shredder Vivian Campbell. By the Nineties, Moore had returned to his blues roots, winning his biggest U.S. hit with the gold-certified album Still Got the Blues (which featured contributions from Albert King, Albert Collins, and George Harrison). Moore continued collaborating with others (including Cream's Jack Bruce; Ginger Baker, in the short-lived BBM in 1994; and B.B. King, on tour in 2006) and issuing solo albums, the last being 2008's Bad for You Baby.

The 58-year-old Thin Lizzy star, turned successful solo artist, died from a heart attack while holidaying in Spain , in February 2011 [extract from Rolling Stone Issue 713 April 2011 p334]

Gary's Guitar Playing
Moore picked up the guitar at the age of eight, inspired by the music of Elvis Presley, the Shadows and the Beatles. But his strongest influences were John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers guitarists Eric Clapton and Peter Green, as well as legendary electric blues progenitors Albert King, B.B King and Albert Collins.

Another important influence was Jimi Hendrix; Moore would regularly include Hendrix’s slow blues “Red House” in his live shows. Though Moore was often seen playing a beautiful Fiesta Red 1961 Strat, his signature sound is more closely associated with the beloved 1959 Les Paul Standard that he played for many years.

He purchased that guitar from Peter Green in 1970 and, fittingly, used it to record his 1995 tribute to his mentor, Blues for Greeny.

Often, Moore would begin a song using the warm tone of his Les Paul’s neck pickup, with which he would perform melodic, vocal-like lines, then switch over to the bridge pickup for his solos to achieve a more aggressive and biting sound. Moore often employed a fair amount of gain—courtesy of Marshall heads (often JTM45s), 4x12 basketweave Marshall cabinets and Marshall Guv’nor and Ibanez Tube Screamer pedals—and was known for conjuring tremendous sustain, such as the celebrated “endless note” featured in his live performances of his classic song “Parisienne Walkways.” [extract from guitarworld.com]
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This post consists of MP3's (320 kps)  ripped from CD and includes full album artwork along with a wide range of photos, some of which are featured here.  I have followed Gary ever since I first heard him play with Thin Lizzy and have rated him in my top 10 best axemen.  Although this is not his best live album (see We Want Moore if you really want some kick arse guitar work) it is still a necessary recording to have in your collection.  I have taken the liberty of adding a couple of must have bonus tracks, namely "Parisean Walkways" and "End Of The World", both taken from the 1982 Reading Festival.
Yep, it might be a cliche, but the moore you hear, the moore you want when it comes to Gary Moore.
(Note: The full concert has been released as a bootleg under the title "Hurricane" - see cover above)
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Tracklisting

01     Rockin' Every Night   
02     Wishing Well   
03     I Can't Wait Until Tomorrow   
04     Nuclear Attack   
05    White Knuckles   
06    Rockin' And Rollin'   
07    Back On The Streets   
08     Sunset
09      End Of The World (Bonus Live)*
10      Parisean Walkways (Bonus Live)*

* Taken from Live At Reading Festival, 1982    

Gary Moore - guitar, vocals
John Sloman - vocals, keyboards
Don Airey - keyboards
Neil Murray - bass
Ian Paice - drums

Moore did the lead vocals on Wishing Well and Back on the Streets while Sloman (ex Lone Star, Uriah Heep) sand lead on Rockin’ Every Night, Nuclear Attack and Rockin’ and Rollin’.  Duties were shared on I Can’t Wait Until Tomorrow and the other two original tracks are instrumentals.
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Gary Moore Live In Japan Link (113Mb) New Link 02/05/2020
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Gary Moore - We Want Moore (1985) + Bonus Tracks

(Irish 1969-2011)
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Gary Moore was undoubtedly one of the most underrated guitarists in rock, throughout his career he has dabbled in more music genres than you can shake a stick at and has excelled in creating some of the best guitar orientated rock music of all time.
Sadly, Moore passed way unexpectedly on 6th Feb, 2011 at the age of 58. Moore was on holiday in Spain at the time of his death.
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This post is in honor to the legacy he has left to rock music - RIP
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Brief background of Gary Moore’s early career:
His incredibly varied career as a musician dates back to the late 60’s when he joined the Irish blues-rock band Skid Row (not to be confused with the American band of the same name, fronted by Sebastian Bach). Following the release of Skid Row’s second album, '34 Hours', Moore left the band and went on to join Colosseum II. In 1979, he joined Thin Lizzy to record the album 'Black Rose: A Rock Legend', despite earlier collaborations with Phil Lynott and his band, this was the first time Moore had been credited as an official Thin Lizzy band member, and the album would prove to be his first and only studio album with the band.
Moore’s first solo album, 'Back On The Streets' emerged later that year although the guitarist had already released a solo album of sorts, 'Grinding Stone' (1973), under the name of The Gary Moore Band. 'Back On The Streets' was shortly followed by another solo album 1980’s 'G-Force'. Neither of the aforementioned albums were particularly successful but his next album would prove to be a breakthrough of sorts, at least musically if not commercially.
'Corridors of Power' was released in 1982 and added a much heavier, more metallic edge to the music featured on any of his previous albums. His next album 'Victims Of The Future (1983) did not disappoint either, and was perhaps even heavier than it’s predecessor.
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Album Review
'We Want Moore' brings together highlights from the rocker's "Victims Of The Future" World Tour in 1984. This was Gary Moore’s first official live album to be available worldwide and is not only a superb live album but also one of the strongest albums he has ever recorded. It is clear from the start that Moore is keen to show off his metallic side with album opener "Murder In The Skies", which was one of the standout tracks from his brilliant 'Victims Of The Future' album and remains one of the heaviest tracks he has ever recorded. Although the guitarist isn’t exactly a natural vocalist, his vocals are more than adequate for the job in hand and are reasonably consistent throughout this live album. In fact it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to say that his vocals actually sound better at times here than they did on his two previous studio albums, however keyboard player and rhythm guitarist Neil Carter does take over on lead vocals on occasion.

Moore’s take on The Yardbirds classic "Shapes Of Things" follows on from the energy of the album’s opener and features a truly breathtaking extended guitar solo, which shows that Moore’s guitar skills are right up there with the greats.
Following a blistering performance of the title track from his previous album, "Victims Of The Future", "Cold Hearted" marks the albums first song from 1982’s 'Corridors Of Power' and is possibly one of the bluesiest tracks on the album and hints towards Moore’s later days as a blues guitarist/singer. This version of "Cold Hearted" also incorporates an extended version of the intro to the next song, the epic "End Of The World". "End Of The World", also from the 'Corridors Of Power' album is quite possibly one of the best songs he has ever recorded and features some truly jaw-dropping guitar playing particularly during the intro. This live version certainly does the song justice, there’s just one thing missing from the studio version; Jack Bruce’s vocals. Former Cream member Jack Bruce, who provided lead vocals for the original version of the song, unfortunately does not make a guest appearance on this album, however, between them, Gary Moore and Neil Carter manage to do a good job of the vocals and this version is energetic, dramatic and overall a fine performance of a truly great metal song.
"Back On The Streets", with it’s sing-a-long chorus, provides a bit of light-hearted relief following the darker, heavier sound of the previous song and is one of only two songs on the album not taken from either 'Corridors Of Power' or 'Victims Of The Future'. This is followed by the emotional ballad, "Empty Rooms", before Moore and his boys launch back into much heavier territory with the opening track from 'Corridors Of Power', "Don’t Take Me For A Loser". Closing track, "Rockin’ And Rollin" is the only track on the album taken from 1980’s 'G-Force' album and is a great way to close the album, the song features a surprising guest appearance from Jimmy Nail, who, in Gary Moore’s words, gives the crowd “a singing lesson”. All this leaves you and evidently the crowd wanting mo(o)re…
Overall this is an astonishingly good live album by a criminally underrated musician and like Moore himself, doesn’t get the recognition it deserves. 'We Want Moore' is the kind of live album that can leave you with a big smile on your face as well as leaving you awestruck by the band’s (and in this case particularly the guitarist’s) technical ability. It is possibly Gary Moore’s best and most consistent heavy metal album, and is a good place to start if you’re looking to get into early to mid 80’s era Gary Moore. This is one of those live albums that makes you wish that you could have been there, but if you weren’t, listening to this is a damn good compromise. [review by Jamie Twort 2010]
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This post consists of a rip taken from CD at 320kps and includes full album artwork and selection of photos of Moore during his 1984 World Tour.
Thanks to Paul Reynolds for the live shots (see above in red) of Moore playing at the SFX Centre in Dublin, Ireland in 1984. Deep Purple fans should take note that Ian Paice played drums for Moore on his 1984 World Tour. I have also chosen to include two additional live tracks which were also big hits for Moore - "Nuclear Attack" which was recorded at the 1982 Reading Festival, and the more recent track "Run For Cover" recorded at The Hammersmith Odeon in 1985 (released as the B-Side to his single to "Wild Frontier").
Moore the better I say!
Note: This album was released as a double vinyl set due to the length of the live recordings.
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Track Listing
01. Murder In The Skies
02. Shapes Of Things
03. Victims Of The Future
04. Cold Hearted
05. End Of The World
06. Back On The Streets
07. So Far Away
08. Empty Rooms
09. Don't Take Me For A Loser
10. Rockin' And Rollin'
Bonus
11. Run For Cover (Reading Festival 1982) 
12. Nuclear Attack (Hammersmith Odeon 1985)
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Band Members:
Gary Moore - lead vocals, lead guitar
Neil Carter - keyboards, rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Craig Gruber - bass, backing vocals
Ian Paice - drums, percussion
Bobby Chouinard - drums on "Murder in the Skies" , "Shapes of Things to Come", "Victims of the Future" and "Don't Take Me for a Loser"
Jimmy Nail - backing vocals on "Rockin' and Rollin'"
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Gary Moore Link (143Mb) Link fixed 21/12/2023
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Andrew Lloyd Webber - Variations (1978)

(UK 1965-Present)

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Andrew Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre, and has been referred to as "the most commercially successful composer in history." Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of variations, two film scores, and a Latin Requiem Mass. He has also gained a number of honours, including a knighthood in 1992, followed by a peerage from the British Government for services to Music, seven Tony Awards, three Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, fourteen Ivor Novello Awards, seven Olivier Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and the Kennedy Center Honors in 2006. Several of his songs, notably "The Music of the Night" from The Phantom of the Opera, "I Don't Know How to Love Him" from Jesus Christ Superstar, "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina" from Evita, "Any Dream Will Do" from "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" and "Memory" from Cats have been widely recorded and were hits outside of their parent musicals. [extract from wikipedia]

Variations is a Classical/Rock fusion album by Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Andrew Lloyd Webber and Julian Lloyd Webber were always very close, but their two different careers (a rock musical composer and a classical cellist) meant that a collaboration seemed unlikely. It wasn't until Julian beat his brother in a bet on a Leyton Orient football match that Andrew was forced to write his cello work.
As his subject, Andrew chose the theme of Paganini's 24th caprice and added 23 variations for cello and rock band. The work premiered at the 1977 Sydmonton Festival with rock band Colosseum II, featuring Gary Moore, being joined by Barbara Thompson (Sax, Flute), Rod Argent, (Piano, Synthesizer, Keyboards) and Julian Lloyd Webber (Cello). It was subsequently rearranged and recorded in 1978. It reached number 2 in the album charts.
The work was used in Song and Dance and David Cullen made an arrangement of the work for cello and orchestra. The opening and closing variations have been rewritten for cello and piano, the latter of which Julian often uses as an encore, due to its amusing glissando down to Bottom A (forcing a mid piece re-tune) to conclude.
The opening theme is used as the theme to 'The South Bank Show' and "Variation 5" became "Unexpected Song" with lyrics by Don Black. "Variation 18" is an instrumental version of the title song from the first Rice/Webber musical "The Likes of Us".
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The reason why I was drawn to this album was two fold. Firstly, I had read somewhere that Gary Moore (ex Thin Lizzy) played guitar on the album and I was interested to hear what he would sound like in a different context.
Secondly, when I saw the album cover curiosity had certainly got the better of me, as I am quiet partial to Classical Music (believe it or not), through my own musical background in piano and flute. I didn't really know who Andrew Lloyd Webber was at the time, but I was certainly familiar with some of his famous musicals.

I gotta say, I really love this modern take on a favourite amongst the classic scene. Even if you are not big on Classical music, there is enough 'rock fusion' and 'groovy vibes' on this LP to keep you happy.

Oh ! and by the way, take note of the 'breast button' pinned on 'Mademoiselle' to the right of the cello player. It says 'Bored Teenager'! And what's that I can see lying at her feet? This quartet really was ahead of its time.
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The rip was taken from my vinyl copy at 320kps and includes full album artwork from both CD and LP, including a wonderful tree representation of the many composers who have used the theme from Paganini's Caprice to compose their own works.
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Track Listing

01. Introduction
02. Theme (Paganini Caprice in A minor No. 24) & Variations 1-4
03. Variations 5 and 6
04. Variation 7
05. Variation 8
06. Variation 9
07. Variation 10
08. Variations 11-15 (including the Tributes)
09. Variation 16
10. Variations 13-14 Varied (listed as 14-15)
11. Variation 17
12. Variation 18
13. Variations 19, 20 and 5 Varied (listed as 6)
14. Variations 21 and 22
15. Variation 23
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Performers:

Don Airey - Grand Piano, ARP Odyssey, Minimoog, Solina String Ensemble, Fender Rhodes Piano
Rod Argent - Grand Piano, Minimog, Roland RS-202, Yamaha CS-80
Gary Moore - Gibson Les Paul, Rickenbacker electric 12 string Guitar, Guild acoustic, Fender Stratocaster
Barbara Thompson - Flute, Alto Flute, Alto & Tenor Saxophone
Jon Hiseman - Arbiter Auto-Tune drums, Paiste cymbals & gongs, Percussion
John Mole - Fender Precision Bass, Hayman fretless bass guitar
Julian Lloyd Webber - cello
Additional Performers:
Dave Caddick - Piano
Phil Collins - Drums and percussion
Herbie Flowers - Bass
Bill Le Sage - Vibes
Andrew Lloyd Webber - Synthesisers
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Variations Link (71Mb) New Link 15/12/2023
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