GARY MOON - STILL MOON
Ventana Records

Some of the songs on this album I believe were recorded for a
proposed deal with Atlantic Records when Moon's band went under the
moniker of The Pack, the songs never got released, but over the years
Gary has made a name for himself in the industry working with the
likes of AOR God Jeff Paris and of course Nightranger! going on to
record the album "Feeding Off The Mojo" with them. Finally Gary Moon
has released the songs under his own name and I for one, except for
one or two songs thoroughly enjoyed "Still Moon", which often crosses
all style of AOR and hard rock. Had it been released years ago I feel
it could have achieved a degree of success.

The album gets underway with 'Still' which is a pretty good AOR song
that reminds me of Nightranger and Jeff Paris. Next is 'Heart Of
Stone', this song is much better, lots of hot guitar hooks, the song
has a heavier edge which reminds me of Winger's "Battle Stations"
crossed with Cinderella, very catchy hard rock with great vocals from
Moon. 'State Of The Heart' is next, and opens in a sprinkle of
keyboards, again this is strong AOR ala Jeff Paris, you'll be signing
along to this one, great stuff.

'Alayna' is safe AOR which reminds me of Nightranger, Von Groove and
Cinderella, good chorus. Then we hear the song which Gary wrote for
the "Feeding Off The Mojo" album. 'Music Box', pure melodic rock,
nice keys and good strong vocals, I actually prefer the Nightranger
version though.

Next is 'Call Of The Wild' which opens up with a strong drum kick,
this song is brilliant, very catchy AOR reminding me of Bon Jovi,
Jeff Paris and Von Groove, strong melodies the lot. This is followed
by another Von Groove, Cinderella sounding track called 'Queen Of The
Damned', great chunky guitars hooks and keyboards, very anthemic song.

'Can't Help Falling In Love' is a rocking "shout it out" style power
ballad built for stadiums, very AOR and very catchy with strong
lyrics. 'Angels Don't Lie' is more melodic based, an excellent song
with nice keys and great vocals from Gary, his voice almost reminds
me of Richie Sambora on this track. 'One Love' is melodic AOR at it's
best, catchy chorus thats a bit Bon Jovi and Cinderella sounding
during the chorus. The last song 'Love In A Wicked World' is more
melodic rock, again reminding me of Bon Jovi and Nightranger and ends
the album on a rocking note, very catchy indeed.

This is a fine album indeed, lots of great catchy songs which hit the
feel good spot from the first listen, coupled with a good production
sound, so if you enjoy any of the aforementioned bands then you will
love this album, go on treat yourselves.

www.garymoon.com

80/100
Nicky Baldrian