GARY MOORE The Rock & Fusion Years

Before returning predominantly to his earliest influences in 1990 with a series of blues albums, Gary turned his hand successfully to a wide variety of styles, always managing to sound utterly convincing. In this feature, I’ll be looking at his transition from fusion to rock between circa 1975-1989 via four ‘in-the-style-of’ solos, with an emphasis on his aggressive, ‘take no prisoners’ fast-picking style.

For his 70s ‘fusion’ period, Gary tended to use a Strat most often, frequently adding manic vibrato with the whammy bar. You’ll hear this on Colosseum II’s Electric Savage, Variations (with Julian Lloyd Webber) and Back On The Streets - though the Peter Green Les Paul did of course also appear on a few tracks - notably Parisienne Walkways. By this time, Gary was about to play another stint in Thin Lizzy for the