IT'S ONLY NATURAL that Vinnie Moore has been making instrumental albums ever since Mike Varney featured him in GP's "Spotlight" column back in the mid '80s and immediately signed him to Shrapnel Records. After all, the first melody Moore remembers figuring out on his own as a budding teen guitarist was Jeff Beck's "Blue Wind." "At that point I couldn't even bend notes," Moore recalls. "I didn't know what a bend was. I played everything straight."
But like any rock guitar virtuoso who started playing in the mid to late '70s, Moore was also profoundly affected by guitar acts with vocals - everyone from the Beatles, Led Zeppelin and Robin Trower to Bad Company, Mountain and Michael Schenker-era UFO, the iconic German heavy rock band Moore has played lead guitar for since 2003.
And now, with the release of Double Exposure (Minds Eye Music), Moore has, for the first time, allowed both hemispheres of his musical influences to seep into a solo album. As you'd expect from a Vinnie Moore release, every song on the new record boils over with tasty guitar riffs, fills and solos that span every genre, from rock and metal to funk and Americana. Noteworthy, though, is that half of the songs on Double Exposure also for the first time in Moore's solo career feature singers, including such vocal powerhouses as Keith Slack, Ed Terry, Mike DiMeo and Brian Stephenson.
And yes, Moore sings on it too - sort of. Perhaps as a testament to how much he values groove in every song he tracks, Moore, at the end of "In Too Deep," can be faintly heard singing a classic phrase through his guitar pickups: "It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing."
After nine instrumental records, what inspired you to put vocals on your 10th?
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Denne historien er fra September 2023-utgaven av Guitar Player.
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TRANSCENDENTAL MAN
Luther Dickinson interpreted a priceless work of art in music. In the process, the blues guitarist wrote his own next chapter.
THE BEAT GOES ON
Together with Tony Levin, Adrian Belew and Steve Vai join forces for a Robert Fripp-endorsed revival of King Crimson's groundbreaking 1980s music.
I'M 100 PERCENT HAPPY WITH THE WORK I'VE DONE WITH PINK FLOYD. BUT...'MY FOCUS IS DIFFERENT RIGHT NOW'
Leading a rock group and being a solo artist were \"not what I asked for,\" David Gilmour says. For Luck and Strange, he assembled a team that shared the weight of his creative efforts. The result? \"The best album I've made since The Dark Side of the Moon.\"
DOUG GILLARD IS INDISPENSABLE
His six-string genius has proved vital to the music of Guided by Voices, Nada Surf and other indie-rock favorites. But all he really wants is to make good music.
Sol Salvation
The genius of Sol Hoopii is preserved in 16 timeless cuts on Master of the Hawaiian Guitar.
Pickup Artist
With its Wide Range humbuckers, the 1970s Fender Telecaster Thinline scores better than most of its contemporaries.
MY CAREER IN FIVE SONGS
Joe Walsh's Jazzmaster, Billy Cobham's bass line... As Bush head out on tour, Gavin Rossdale reveals the history behind a handful of their best tunes
TIPSHEET
We asked Brian Ray for his advice on playing Beatles tunes. After all, he learned from the best.
MAN AT WORK
A juke joint just wasn't in the cards. So Cedric Burnside turned the old building into a studio for his hardcore blues workout, Hill Country Love.
MADE IN THE SHADE
The Gibson Custom Shop created just 59 examples of the Jason Isbell \"Red Eye\" 1959 Les Paul Standard. We got our hands on one of them.
