"Gary Moore may have been many things but he was no Paul Rodgers": Gary Moore finds grit but lacks groove on Corridors Of Power

Back in London at the start of 1982, with a new solo deal with Virgin under his belt, Gary Moore was still determined to leave behind the Thin Lizzy legacy and forge a new career for himself as a viable proponent of the post-NWOBHM musical landscape that now dominated the rock market.

As he put it, he was “trying to write a big AOR ballad”. He partially succeeded with Always Gonna Love You, the lead single from 1982’s Corridors Of Power – the first Moore album to feature him on lead vocals throughout.

“In America at that time, bands like Journey and REO Speedwagon were all the rage and I suppose this was my version of that,” he admitted. “A gentle song with big power chords.”

Backed by a band of the highest calibre – drummer Ian Paice (Deep Purple/Whitesnake), bassist Neil Murray (Whitesnake) and keyboard player Tommy Eyre (Joe Cocker) – Moore proved a ballsy singer as well as a shit-hot guitarist.

Corridors Of Power has many great songs, including the crunching Don’t Take Me For A Loser and the self-explanatory Rockin’ Every Night. And on End Of The World Moore’s fast fingers whipped up a convincing approximation of the apocalypse.

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Other albums released in October 1982

• The Nightfly - Donald Fagen
• Restless and Wild - Accept
• H2O - Hall & Oates
• Winds of Change - Jefferson Starship
• Borrowed Time - Diamond Head
• Vs. - Mission of Burma
• Creatures of the Night - Kiss
• In the Mood for Something Rude - Foghat
• The Sky's Gone Out - Bauhaus
• 1999 - Prince
• Famous Last Words - Supertramp
• Choose Your Masques - Hawkwind
• Get Nervous - Pat Benatar
• Assault Attack - The Michael Schenker Group
• Zipper Catches Skin - Alice Cooper
• Black Pearl - Pat Travers
• Coup d'État - Plasmatics
• Power of the Hunter - Tank
• Strawberries - The Damned
• Twin Barrels Burning - Wishbone Ash
• Wild Things Run Fast - Joni Mitchell

What they said...

"Boasting a crisp, aggressive sound, Corridors of Power kicks off with the foot-stomping Don't Take Me for a Loser, delivers the token power ballad in Always Gonna Love You, and floors the gas pedal on Rockin' Every Night. However, the album's climax has to be the epic End of the World, with its two-minute long guitar solo intro and vocals courtesy of Cream's Jack Bruce." (AllMusic)

"Always Gonna Love You is out of the ordinary for Moore, with more emphasis placed on keys as opposed to guitars. Sure, there’s some arena-tailored riffage during the chorus and a beautifully bluesy solo thrown in, but at the end of the day, it’s the delicate piano playing of [Tommy] Eyre which serves as the foundation for this magnificent AOR ballad." (Defenders Of The Faith)

"Corridors… showcased exactly what Moore was capable of. Tracks such as Don’t Take Me For A Loser, Cold Hearted and Always Gonna Love You could give bands like Rainbow and Foreigner a run for their money, whilst the guitar work in Gonna Break My Heart Again and End of the World are jaw-dropping, the latter in particular is a prime example of just how overlooked that Moore has become in the world of metal." (Metal Heads Forever)

What you said...

Andrew Bramah: One of Gary Moore's best albums from his rock period. I Can't Wait Until Tomorrow is a classic and took on a whole new level on stage. As good as this album is it does tend to show why his decision to change to blues was the right one. Out went the bombastic in-your-face guitar and in came playing that showcased just how versatile he was.

One of the loudest players I've ever seen.

Brian Carr: This would rank a ten easily just for the guitar virtuosity, and I always liked Gary Moore’s singing voice just fine, but something about many of the tunes on this record and others just leave me a little flat. Always Gonna Love You is one example: he’s singing great with voice and guitar, but the song itself just isn’t that great, in my opinion. Other than the guitar playing, I was rather meh until End Of The World. It’s quite possible that Corridors Of Power could grow on me with repeated listens, and there’s no denying the guitar skill and melodic sensibilities of this tremendously underrated artist.

Gary Claydon: Corridors of Power is Gary Moore's '80s 'hard rock' album career (which he once described as being like a dog chasing its tail) in microcosm. A couple of outstanding tracks in End Of The World with its rehashed White Knuckles opening and album closer I Can't Wait Until Tomorro' which gives a pointer to his future blues period (and is, perhaps, a minute or two too long).

Elsewhere, there are solid rockers that are enjoyable but very much par for the course - opener Don't Take Me For A Loser sounds like Whitesnake minus Coverdale and there are shades of early '80s Rainbow elsewhere. Throw in a couple of fillers, a serviceable cover of Wishing Well and a couple of fairly crappy ballads which are, nevertheless, wrapped around short but tasty guitar solos.

Moore's guitar is, of course, excellent throughout. His vocals were always decent enough, although better suited to his latter-day blues and he is backed here by top-notch personnel - Ian Paice is clearly having a ball on 'Rockin' Every Night'. Not surprisingly, they were shit-hot live, as well.

My main complaint is that, along with a few of his other albums of the period, the original release was poorly mixed and the recording does the material little justice. Even later remasters were short of the mark. Shame. A solid 7/10 any day of the week.

John Davidson: Despite the plaudits for his work with Thin Lizzy and his later revival as a blues guitarist, Gary Moore seemed like a perennial also-ran as a solo rock guitarist.

He didn't have the cachet of Michael Schenker, even though they stalked the same corridors and were haunted by similar demons.

This album showcases his talents as a songwriter and sees him collaborate with industry big names but it contains some filler too. His cover of Wishing Well is good but utterly redundant in the face of the original - not that he hasn't the chops to pull off Kossof's riffs /solos – more that his voice, though decent enough, can't match Paul Rodgers.

The mid-paced rockers are delivered with enough grit to elevate them above the pop rock of Rainbow post-Dio, but they lack the groove that his work with Phil Lynott always seemed to have.

I hear the Lynott influences on the softer songs like Falling In Love that – despite the slightly clichéd lyrics – are delivered with plenty of charm.

Side two drops the AOR influences. End Of The World sounds more like a lost Rainbow track than the rest of the album, while Rockin Every Night has the zip and energy of a NWOBHM classic.

Cold Hearted sees Moore explore the blues rock that would become his spiritual home in the 90s. He follows that instinct into album closer I Can't Wait Until Tomorrow which really shows off Moore at his best. 8/10.

Gary Moore - Always Gonna Love You [HD] - YouTube

Watch On

Greg Schwepe: Somehow Gary Moore flew under my musical radar in the 80s and 90s. It wasn’t until I kept reading his name in my guitar instruction books, guitar magazines (regularly praised by other guitarists), and the random Thin Lizzy article where his brief tenure was mentioned that I got the hint. “There’s that guy again, guess I really gotta check him out…”

I started with his current release at the time (2001’s Back To The Blues) and as the main riff kicked in after the brief acoustic slide intro of Enough Of The Blues, I was immediately hooked. Yet another "How did I miss this guy?!?!” moment. Bought every new release until his death and bought as much of Moore’s back catalogue as I could find, a few compilations included.

While I may have started with “Blues Gary,” I knew of the “Hard Rock Gary” from the compilation CDs (a couple tracks found on this week’s review selection), but had yet to fully check out some of his early releases. And being a devotee of the Gibson Les Paul, Gary usually was slinging a cool Les Paul on about half of his album covers! So that's another reason to buy it, right?

Which bring us to Corridors of Power, and it’s something that would have been on full rotation with the rest of the hard rock stuff I might have been listening to back in 1982. First time listening all the way through, but have heard several tracks previously. Don’t Take Me For A Loser sets the tone immediately, this is a rock album. And who doesn’t like a ballad? Always Gonna Love You comes next and is almost over the top with the chorus, but backs down before it gets too cheesy. But the delicious guitar solo right at about the two-minute mark immediately melts away any cheese.

A ripping cover of Free’s Wishing Well follows and that simple opening riff sounds good no matter who is doing the cover. Falling In Love With You brings another ballad with another emotive Moore guitar solo.

End Of The World starts with a long, shredding guitar solo and then comes a galloping riff. Volume knob… up.

The remainder of the album comes with more good stuff, just like the first part of the album. Kind of 80s music that resonates with me. Have said this before in prior reviews, but this album leaves you with that “Man, when can I get more?” (no pun intended) feeling. As in, I will check my music magazines and record store to see when the follow-up to this would be released. 8 out of 10 for me on this one. Another guitar hero gone too early.

Mike Canoe: Rock in the vein of Joe Lynn Turner's Rainbow with a hefty dollop of yacht rock drizzled over the numerous power ballads. Not bad, but not unique either.

Side two stomps all over the first side, starting with the seemingly obligatory 80s nuclear war warning song, End Of The World. The rockin' continues with Rockin' Every Night, then the hot and heavy slow burner Cold Hearted lets Moore fire up the fretwork. The album concludes with another power ballad and, at almost eight minutes, the longest song (*koff* *koff* too long?) on the album.

Side one starts well enough with mid-tempo rocker, "Don't Take Me For A Loser" but then sappy ballad Always Gonna Love You throws us into Survivor territory, possibly even before Survivor was in Survivor territory. The Wishing Well cover isn't bad, probably because I associate that song with Blackfoot more than Free. Then more soft rock with Gonna Break My Heart Again and Falling in Love with You.

Philip Qvist: Of all the great guitarists who were part of Thin Lizzy, I would say that Gary Moore was my favourite - and that probably says a lot. A guitarist who could shred with the best of them, but was also a pretty good rock blues guitarist. On top of that, he was also a decent enough singer and a nifty songwriter. So, all in all, a pretty well-rounded musician.

In my opinion, his best moments appear on Thin Lizzy's Black Rose - A Rock Legend, while my favourite solo albums of his would be Run For Cover and Still Got The Blues. And that brings me to Corridors Of Power, which I would put alongside the likes of Back On The Streets, Wild Frontier and After Hours - all good albums but not perfect ones.

The obvious flaw (in my opinion) is his cover of Wishing Well. Gary Moore may have been many things but he was no Paul Rodgers. Other than that, Side 1 chugs along quite nicely, but things do pick up on Side 2; with rockers like End Of The World and Rockin' Every Night - complete with some great guitar shredding along the way.

The album finishes on the more bluesier, nearly eight-minute-long, I Can't Wait Until Tomorrow. This is probably my highlight of Corridors Of Power but I do have to ask one question. Why didn't Dave Coverdale and Ritchie Blackmore ask for songwriting credits - because that was a near copy of the Deep Purple classic, Mistreated?

In fact there were a couple of other songs on that album that sounded like they had been lifted from other artists' songs. Still that all said, it is a good album - not perfect but still an enjoyable listen.

Final score: 7.82 (68 votes cast, total score 432)

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