Gary Moore - Bad For You Baby

When it comes down to playing good old no bullshit blues music, few come finer than Irish blues guitar man Gary Moore. In the league of Eric Clapton and Peter Green, Gary has been one of the handfuls of surviving musicians whose love for the blues has remained undeterred ever since he surrendered the reins of his previous bands, Skid Row and Thin Lizzy. Bad For You Baby, is the guitarist’s 2008 release, which once again brings in some great blues playing, and even better twists and turns.

Playing the blues involves playing with feel more than anything else. But, in contrast to common belief, blues is more than just weeping your soul out. It also walks through different emotions; love and anger, joy and lust, all of which have been pumped out on the album. Bad For You Baby, plays at various speeds with both fast upbeat fun numbers and crawling emotive songs being belted from the Irish man’s Les Paul.

“Down The Line” is a fast peddling track with a fun country time feel to it, matched with some nifty licks. “Walkin’ Thru The Park” is shaken up by some serious boogie, and is driven by the irresistible tone that Gary manages to squeeze out of his guitar. “Preacher Man Blues” is a walking style, soulful number with a sing along type chorus arrangement.

“Trouble Ain’t Far Behind”, is a slow and bleeding track, which features Gary horning a vintage blues voice against a piercing tone. The track goes hand in hand with “I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know”. It’s amazing to think how the blues, that has seen the music scene change its shape a dozen times over, still remains enchanting in its purest form.

Even before he shared the stage with greats such as Albert King and B.B. King, Gary was traveling across fret boards at high velocities. Though he was hailed as a shredder once upon a time, Gary has matured out from the post and has began matching his flashy playing with an even higher level of maturity. On “Someday Baby” Gary highlights the importance of the selection of notes. While on “Did You Ever Feel Lonely” he is driven more by spontaneity, and uses a loose yet aggressive picking attack.

There isn’t an awful lot that could be done with the blues, that hasn’t already been done. Bad For You Baby is nothing spectacularily new, and it is simply the recreation of the great music that has been handed down from generation to generation.

Bad For You Baby; a great blues album and nothing else.