The first time I heard Gary Moore was 1983-ish. I would have been in 8th or 9th grade. It was on the radio, probably San Jose’s KOME 98.5.

The song was End of the World. That intro guitar solo was MADDENING! My first thought was, “Oh shit!! My precious Eddie!! There’s another freak out there as crazy as you are!!” Anyways, I heard the song and bought Corridors of Power not long after. I looove that album. It was great, my school friend Dave Hull (who was more of a blues guy) liked Gary Moore as well, so we’d swap records, listen and jam together, that kinda thing. Actually, Dave and I were into AC/DC, Ratt, VH, Ozzy, Icon, etc..It’s good to have a friend like that.

So where was I? Ahh, Gary Moore. Mad player. Those fast picked maj7 motiffs he does are awesome. John Sykes and Vivian Campbell totally ripped him off. As much as I harp on about EVH and Lynch, Gary Moore absolutely inspired me and shaped my playing. I owned Corridors of Power and Victims of the Future. Dave had We Want Moore, and I borrowed the fuck out of that. This was all pre CD times as well, ha ha.

I think the reason I liked Gary a lot was his playing was aggressive, but he was so fucking musical while doing it. And at that point in time, he was the guitarist’s guitarist, everybody was digging on him. Check out these clips. The songs and solos are VERY COOL.

Gary, you were extremely inspirational to many guitarists. You had followings in both metal and blues. And well, I love you. For reals.