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Vinnie Moore Double Exposure Review by Gary Hill This album has a good mix of sounds, but since Vinnie Moore is the guitarist, you know it's going to be guitar forward and strong. It's a real rocking disc. There are guest vocalists on half the tracks, and the other half are purely instrumental. The split puts the vocal tracks all at the beginning and the instrumental once after those. I think splitting the instrumentals up might have made a stronger album, but it works well as it is. This is an effective set that should be particularly appealing to fans of the guitar hero style of music. This review is available in book (paperback and hardcover) form in Music Street Journal: 2024 Volume 2 More information and purchase links can be found at: garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2024.

Track by Track Review

Vertical Horizon There is a driving, guitar hero styled rocking sound to this thing. Mix Led Zeppelin with Van Halen, and you'll have an idea of what the song proper feels like. That said, there is some funk in the mix here, too. That begs some comparisons to Glenn Hughes.

Rise This is a powerhouse groove that again makes me think of Glenn Hughes to some degree. The tune is so strong and has some intriguing twists. The instrumental section has some nearly proggy elements at play.

Still Waters Run Deep I love the hard rocking groove of this. There are some more melodic moments at play to balance it out. This has some almost proggy things at play at times. The clean guitar movement later is a nice touch, and the whole thing reminds me just a little of King's X at times.

Paid My Dues Riff driven hard rock, this is a smoking hot tune. This thing is a lot of fun. That King's X thing is worth mentioning here, even if it's a little less obvious.

River Flow A mellower tune, this is more of a melodic rocker. It has some Southern rock in the mix. It isn't quite a ballad, or even soft rock tune, but it has sections that lean in that direction.

Hummingbird A classic blues rock sound mixed with a Southern angle is on the menu here. It's another solid tune, but not one of the highlights for me.

Astro Man This instrumental is a classy rocker with plenty of cool jamming in place. It's rock, but there are hints of fusion in the mix. There is a real guitar hero angle to this. There is also some scorching hot guitar soloing, and the track gets into more blues rocking zones further down the road.

Breaking Through There are definitely some proggy tendencies on display on this thing. It has some cool guitar hero grooves. This instrumental is a powerhouse that works through some killer twists and turns and features some great soloing.

In Too Deep A driving hard rocking instrumental, this has some pretty intense guitar soloing. In fact, I love the guitar soloing on this killer instrumental so much. Fusion, hard rock and guitar hero sounds seem to merge on this massive tune.

Rocket Fierce and driving, this has plenty of metallic angles at play. It's also well aligned with the whole guitar hero concept. In some ways this has some of the most intense guitar soloing. It also drops back to a stripped down arrangement for some blues moments that make me think of a more metallic take on the kind of thing Robin Trower does. There is some serious shredding beyond that point, though.

One Day More of a melodic rocker, this still has some scorching guitar work on display. It's another classy instrumental number. The number has some pretty intriguing twists and turns along the road.

Southern Highway While a bit more in-your-face than the previous number, this is more on the melodic rock side than some of the rest here. There is, appropriately, almost an Allman Brothers vibe at play here. The guitar soloing is top-notch, but I guess that might be self-apparent.

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