Review VINNIE MOORE ‘Double Exposure’

Vinnie Moore belongs to the generation of shred guitarists who characterized the second half of the 80s. Tony McAlpine, Marty Friedman and Jason Becker, just to mention a few, impressed with virtuosic guitar playing which also was present on Moore’s albums like ‘Mind’s Eye’ and ‘Time Odyssey’.

These days Vinnie Moore releases his new album ‘Double Exposure’, which comes up with an unexpected surprise. Vinnie Moore has brought with Ed Terry, Keith Slack, Mike DiMeo and Brian Stephenson a number of great singers on board. ‘Double Exposure’ is the first Vinnie Moore album that doesn’t exclusively contain instrumentals and the result is well worth listening to, opening doors for new fans who aren’t solely interested in excellent guitar playing.

Initially, an EP of 5-6 instrumentals was planned. However, when Moore listened to the demos before recording, the idea of vocals came to his mind. Moore himself began to sing along and slowly the idea solidified to not create an instrumental album this time, but to record with singers.

With the above-mentioned singers Moore also had the favorites for the role of the singer in mind and the result is a filigree rock album in which Moore is not sparing with his skills on the guitar, but this time integrated into a song concept. Songs like the rocking ‘Rise’ and the rich ‘Still Waters Run Deep’ show Moore from a different side and one can attest that this experiment has succeeded. This is also underlined by the bluesy ‘Paid My Dues’.

After the first six songs with vocals Moore has packed additional instrumentals on the record, which show with fretboard acrobatics Moore’s skills. Guitarists will be thrilled here too, but it’s the first six songs on this record that make ‘Double Exposure’ a highlight worth listening to.