SilentScream213 As far as guitar hero shredders go, Vinnie Moore is probably my favorite. Is he the fastest, most technical, or most flashy? No, none of those things. And even then, this is one of his most subdued albums. For The Maze is not showcasing just Vinnie, the Shredder – it is showcasing Vinnie, the Songwriter.

What sets him apart from most other shredders is his penchant for mood and well-crafted SONGS, not just shred wankery. And this album is perhaps where he delves into evoking scenery and mood with his songs most. There’s something that sounds very… Japanese, about this record in places. The country’s penchant for simple but memorable (and cheesy) melodies focusing on mood always finds its way into anime and game soundtracks, and I feel this could easily be such a soundtrack, especially with its instrumental nature.

Cryptic Dreams is the first slow number, and it masterfully displays long, gentle guitar notes creating very pretty melodies without delving into shred territory really at all. Shimmering picked notes underlay a simple but effective lead that succeeds in evoking a prettier, calmer scenery. Never Been to Barcelona is the token acoustic track and transports you immediately to the scene of some Spanish place, full of culture. It’s my least favorite track, but it’s got great bass work and serves to highlight the eclecticism here.

Rain is the closest moment to what sounds like an old Japanese VN OST – just perfectly encapsulates a rainy night in the city. A quiet city, though – everyone’s gone home, despite the neon lights still reflecting on the wet pavement. But you’re still out, because right now, there isn’t anywhere that feels more “home” than alone in the rain. The last track I’ll highlight is In the Healing Garden. Despite being the big closer, this sounds more akin to after the finale. This isn’t between the hero and the villain – this is a tense will-they-won’t-they between almost lovers, or a suspenseful fissure between friends, comrades. In the end, they each turn away and walk off in opposite directions, but the chance of reconciliation remains hanging in the future.

I’ll never complain about the slower songs here. The issue instead lies with the faster songs; that is, because they aren’t fast or energetic enough. The rhythm section is especially lacking on this album. The drumming is, to say the least, disappointing. It sounds much closer to Rock drumming than Metal. There’s almost no double bass, snare hits are spaced apart with virtually no faster, aggressive beats, and it’s just… kind of boring. This style works fine for the slower songs, but really takes away from faster tracks.

I won’t say it’s my absolute favorite Neoclassical Metal album, hell it’s not even my favorite Vinnie Moore album. But it’s one of the most unique, memorable, and evocative. If you need to feel like you’re in a movie, throw this on and let your imagination run wild.

siLLy puPPy After the unexpected death of Randy Rhoads in a 1982 airplane crash, a sudden void in the world of metal music opened but it wouldn’t take long for a new gold rush to attract the prospects of guitar god status for a whole slew of burgeoning young and inspiring guitarists to become the top dog in the neoclassical shredding game. While Yngwie Malmsteen successful usurped the throne quite quickly in terms of technical playing skills, what most disliked about his approach was that he was fairly soulless in his delivery, a trait that many technical playing musicians have been accused of and in the case of many in the 1980s, quite accurate.

VINNIE MOORE was one of the early shredders who took the whole “keep it emotive” mantra to heart and delivered one of the earliest technical instrumental neoclassical shredding albums on the Shrapnel Records label which was notorious for swooping up young talented guitarists and putting them to work to conjure up the most impressive technical chops they could muster up. Born in New Castle, Delaware in 1964, MOORE was only 22 years old when he released his debut album MIND’S EYE in 1986 which beat classic shredding albums from Jason Becker, Marty Friendman and Cacophany to the punch by a over a year. While the basic premise of these types of albums was basically a musical business card to attract employment from bands and artists looking for the best talent on the market, every once in a while a guitarist proved to be talented enough to actually create an album just as compelling on many levels.

MOORE had that gift of keeping the music interesting and listenable all the while cranking out the most demanding musical scales at breakneck speed that kept ratcheting up the bar for new players seemingly on a monthly basis. Considered one of the best neoclassical shredding albums of all time, MOORE proved to have a talent that artists like Malmsteen didn’t. A sense of exquisite melody, arrangements and dynamics as well as an arsenal of tones that kept the album out of the one-dimensional doldrums that many such artists instantly fell into. A virtual blueprint for what Symphony X would adopt as its primary metal style, MIND’S EYE showcased MOORE’s phenomenal talent as a speed guitarist but proved to be an excellent band album with keyboardist Tony MacAlpine, bassist Andy West and drummer Tommy Aldrige all delivering equally compelling performances with each musician paying attention to the overall dynamics of the musical flow and the melodic construct above all other and only then allowing the blitzkrieg of high octane shredding power to whiz by at unthinkable speeds.

Not only does the album showcase the virtuosic talents of the musicians on board but also delivers a mature, even triumphant feeling of glory and the ability to overcome all obstacles with a brilliant symbolic album cover artistic statement to match. The music which is neoclassical shredding in nature is actually more of an early progressive metal album in terms of composition and perhaps not in the same league as Watchtower in terms of over the top time signature deviations, it’s obvious today how much MOORE influenced Symphony X’s foundation for it’s neoclassical progressive style that propelled that band to the top of the prog metal world in the 1990s. Had MIND’S EYE showcased a talented singer perhaps the album would received the plaudits it deserves but as it stands it’s basically reserved for only those advanced musicians who can comprehend the difficulties of lightning fast arpeggios, string skipping and nanosecond changes that offer a technical control beyond the comprehension of most non-musicians.

I always find it laughable that many who are unable to comprehend this advanced musical style think they can even begin to have the ability to critique such complex and demanding music. True that it was given an accessibility factor as a selling point but the true nature of the album lies below the surface beyond the melodic forefront and the classical sweeps. MIND’S EYE proved to be one of the more popular neoclassical shredding albums of the 80s and even sold over 100,000 copies making MOORE “one of those Malmsteen clones who was much more interesting.” A true rare crossover success story. Personally i absolutely adore this type of music if it’s done with a fitness and accomplishment that extends beyond the mere goal of playing fast however speed is an incredible drug in the metal game especially in the adrenalized 80s long before such things as drone metal and funeral doom metal were even considered. MOORE caught the attention of Alice Cooper and he played on his “Hey Stoopid” album in 1991 and eventually played with both Jordan Rudess as well as the more modern version of UFO. For me this is an outstanding masterpiece of guitar shredding mixed with classic progressive metal.

SilentScream213 Aside from perhaps Watchtower, this was the most technical, progressive, and impressive display of musicianship in metal as of 1986. Sure there were other guitar gods – Malmsteen, MacAlpine, to name a couple – and any one of them could be considered “the best.” Vinnie Moore could absolutely compete with the big names in terms of pure technical skill. However, Moore had two qualities that most guitar shredders lack.

First of all, Moore is not just a soloist – he is a brilliant songwriter. As far as instrumental metal goes, Moore doesn’t write songs that sound like no more than a showcase for his talent; they are complete compositions, entertaining throughout, memorable, sometimes catchy, sometimes evocative. I haven’t quite figured out why yet, but I do prefer my music to have vocals, and usually instrumental music feels like it’s missing something to me. Mind’s Eye does not. It is fully realized material that stands on its own.

Second of all, the backing band. This might as well be a supergroup – MacAlpine himself is on keys, just as proficiently filling the role as he does shredding solo – but every member is very, very skilled. Moore is obviously the bandleader, but he does not outshine the other members. They keep up, they are given moments to shine, and they constantly add unique elements under the masterful guitar playing. Not only are there no songs less than great, but there are really no moments less than great, as there is always so much going on in every given moment.

Unfortunately, it does have a ceiling. Instrumental virtuoso metal might not get better than this, but that style is still a limited, niche style best in small doses.