This Irish brew boils with the hard rock,
blues, and slide electric guitar that are Rory’s forte. He's dirty and
fast and clips each note about as gently as dull nail clippers chew off
hangnails — it's painful, but that ragged landscape is really
interesting.
Gallagher’s searing vibrato browns the
edges of flaming phrases that writhe and crumple up around each other.
His screeching slide solo on “Sinner Boy” displays fantastic phrasing.
But on Side 2 of this ten-cut LP, he raises his shades and lets us look
in on some of his milder emotions. He is playful in his acoustic folk
blues guitaring (“Don't Know Where I'm Going”); he is melancholy and
even lyrical in his acoustic jazz-blues work (“I'm Not Awake Yet”).
All in all, this is
another fine album from a multi-talented musician (he handles vocals,
sax, mandolin, harmonica, and electric and acoustic guitars). If it
weren't for the wonders of modern studios, Rory would need four months
and six hands to demonstrate his outlandish pizzazz. Polydor, PD 6510. Note: This was
not a new release, but rather a compilation issued by Polydor taken
from the Rory Gallagher and Deuce albums. The tracks include:
1. Used To Be 2. Sinner Boy 3. For The Last Time 4. Hands Up 5. Just
The Smile 6. Crest Of A Wave 7. I'm Not Awake Yet 8. There's a Light 9.
Don't Know Where I'm Going roryfan This review comes from the Album
Notes section of the 9/75 issue of Guitar
Player reformatted by roryfan
