Maze

I stumbled across Vinnie Moore thanks to Pandora, and the moment I heard one song I had to have the album. This is the electric guitar as it was meant to be played - by a real virtuoso who can take it to a new level. When the guitar is this good, who needs lyrics?

I hardly ever use the word, but in this case I think that I am justified in saying that The Maze is a work of genius. It think that this is because of the meeting of two of the most incredible musicians on the planet; Vinnie Moore and Tony Macalpine. Macalpine is the music genius of the century in my humble opinion, and with Macalpine providing the memorable keyboard tones in the background, Vinnie Moore is at his best. This was also the case in Moore's album 'Mind's Eye', where Macalpine provided the keyboard playing. Needless to say, the album is instrumental as with all of Moore's solo work.The entire album is brilliant, and if by the end of track eight you think that the album must be all but over, you couldn't be more incorrect because the remaining two songs are both epic masterpieces. The most cleverly memorable song on the album is Eye Of The Beholder. Also, Cryptic Dreams is perhaps the best Ballad that I have heard, and King Of King's is another memorable song.This album is romantic, exploratory, unique, and beautiful. The guitar playing by Vinnie Moore is almost hard to believe in some places; I have heard people say that his playing is so clear that it could be mistaken for MIDI, and I agree that his technique is incredible. Vinnie Moore is one of the best guitarists in the world, and also one of the best songwriters, and this album is probably his best, though his 1986 'Mind's Eye' is on the same level of quality.

The CD as expected. Thanks.

Brilliant ablum

this is a fantastic album,and i will not hesitate in suggesting you buy it if electric guitar instrumentals played by a virtuoso are your thing,my only criticism is that it is clearly like much of vinnies work inspired by malmsteens rising force album,certain songs here which mingle classical acoustic with neo classical rock remind one of malmsteens evil eye or icarus dream,the issue there is that those malmsteen songs were recorded in 1984,whilst this album is from 99,its a minor criticism-but there isnt much originality here,its great never the less.

I discovered Vinnie Moore through Amazon's "if you bought that then you should buy this..." feature. I am pleased to report that Amazon was completely correct. Vinnie Moore was unknown to me, but after purchasing this CD I discovered he used to play with Alice Cooper, and conducts a lot of guitar workshops for the up-and-coming guitarist. But let's get to the album...Quite simply this is the cleanest, most technically accomplished classically influenced shred metal album I have heard to date. Vinnie is head and shoulders above your average widdley guitarist in terms of variety, musicianship and pyrotechnic wizardry. Arpeggios abound, and whether playing a ballad (Rain) or a breakneck paced shred number (Thinking Machine) every note is perfectly struck and clear as a bell. Track 4 (Never Been to Barcelona) demonstrates his acoustic talents with a brilliant Spanish guitar a la Segovia on whizz.To put it simply, if you are a fan of neo-classical or shred metal, and you do not own this CD, you have yet to experience the pinnacle of the genre.So why on earth has no-one heard of this guy??

Vinnie Moore is a guitar virtuoso who stands head and shoulders above the rest, not just because of his extensively developed technique, accuracy (this album was recorded in 11 days! and has only a few subtle errors in playing, none of which detract from its quality(in my honest opinion)) and ability to play to suit a variety of moods, but because he is a godlike composer, who has produced music that is not just an endless string of notes but has a tremendous depth of expression. Vinnie Moore speaks with the guitar with a passion that is communicated so articulately it cannot be ignored.In this, his fifth of seven solo albums, released in 1999 he takes the listener to heady heights with fast flurries of scales, arpeggios and fretboard-bending musical phrases, whilst managing to strike the perfect balance between speeds and also between the wide range of harmonies used in every track. The album has many sections of tracks that inspire positive energy (eye of the beholder, the thinking machine, king of kings to name a few) and some that imbue total relaxation and uplift the spirits (fear and trepidation, rain, in the healing garden).This is one of the writers all time favourite albums and as the previous reviewer commented represents the pinnacle of the genre.If you like this album I would suggest that you purchase 'Time Odyssey', also by Vinnie Moore. You may also be interested in 'Maximum Security' by Tony Macalpine.

An instrumental cross between Joe Satriani's 'Surfing with the Alien' and Yngwie J Malmsteen's 'Odyssey', incorporating more pseudo-classical notes than the bank of England!