Published on Jan 10, 2002
For every Joe Satriani (or, for that matter, any virtuoso
musician), there are dozens of similar artists who get passed up
for the spotlight, fairly or unfairly. Vinnie Moore is a guitarist
who could be placed in this category. I remember reading
advertisements including his album
Mind’s Eye back when
Rip magazine was still being published, yet interest for
Moore never hit the level of hero worship like Satriani did.
His latest effort,
Defying Gravity, leaves no doubt that Moore is a talented
guitarist who could make a fretboard ignite just from the speed of
his playing. Yet listening to the different styles on this disc,
one wonders if Moore missed his true calling as a guitarist. We’ll
touch on that in just a moment.
Things don’t start out as smoothly as one might hope for Moore;
the title track seems to be crafted just to show off Moore’s array
of guitar licks and his playing speed. Not that there’s anything
inherently wrong with playing fast or having chops which could
light up a room, but there has to be some emotion in the playing –
emotion which is lacking on this particular track. Without some
humanity in the playing – something even as simple as a little
vibrato on single notes – the playing comes off as so much showing
off.
That humanity is added on the very next track, “Out And Beyond,”
thanks to a solid rhythm guitar track from Moore and the help of
his bandmates – bassist Dave LaRue, keyboardist David Rosenthal and
drummer Steve Smith. There’s almost an earthiness to everyone’s
playing, and even Moore doesn’t use every second he’s featured to
send out wave after wave of guitar virtuosity. It’s a tad more laid
back (with plenty of room for Moore to showcase his talent), and it
comes off a little better.
Other electric-based tracks on
Defying Gravity are hit-or-miss, with the biggest weakness
being the music losing its human touch at times. For every
excellent moment like “Emotion Overload,” there’s a weaker step
like “Alexander The Great” – not bad moments, mind you, but times
when one has to wonder what the motivation is for Moore. Of course,
students of guitar will probably marvel at Moore’s technique,
humanity in playing be damned.
Where Moore truly shines is on the three cuts featuring him on
acoustic guitar. Hearing his flashy-yet-clean playing on a track
like “Last Road Home” brings back memories of numerous other
acoustic guitar discs I’ve heard, many in a flamenco or jazz vein
which showed off the sheer beauty of the instrument. Moore captures
this same essence and demonstrates to even a die-hard metal freak
that an acoustic guitar can be a cool instrument, and that you can
still be flashy on an acoustic without all the effects and
distortion. If Moore hasn’t done an all-acoustic album yet (and I
admit my knowledge of his discography is minimal), that should be
the next item on his agenda, ’cause he proves on these tracks he’s
damned good at it.
I still am not sure whether I’d classify Moore in the same
category as Satriani when it comes to guitar gods, but
Defying Gravity makes a case that Moore should not have been
ignored all these years. All he has to do to cross over into that
category, at least on
my checklist, is to not lose sight of the fact that he’s a
human playing an instrument, and that he should let some of his own
humanity and warmth penetrate the music. It makes a world of
difference.