Grinding Stone is hard to place musically in
Gary Moore's early, pretty varied career, but fits somewhere in between
Colosseum II and
Skid Row. In any case, as well as being his solo debut, it is one of
Gary Moore's most overlooked albums. A description of the music could be something as seemingly self contradictory as experimental boogie
rock, but on the album
Moore explores a number of styles, from the title track's
instrumental boogie
rock to soulful vocals in
"Sail Across the Mountain" and 17 minutes of guitar and keyboard excursions in the surprisingly funky
"Spirit." In some ways
Grinding Stone gives a taste of what would be heard from
Colosseum II a few years later, but if the word fusion can be used here, it is not in the generic sense. The album is far from well held together though, and the quality of the songs vary wildly. It may not be an album for the casual metal fan, it is not representative for
Moore and it is not his best album. But never again would
Moore try such an eclectic mix, and the highly personal and mostly
instrumental blues heard on
Grinding Stone (for at the core, deep down, it is
blues) is not only quite unique, but also far more interesting than the hit list
blues he would play in the '90s, and more creative than most of the British
blues rock heard in 1973. ~ Lars Loven