Who's faster:
Yngwie Malmsteen or
Vinnie Moore? That was the question back in 1986 when this recording was released. An obvious clone of
Malmsteen,
Moore burst upon the scene proving that, yes, someone else could play "that fast too." The problem with
Mind's Eye and the subsequent genre of shredding that followed was that it became stagnant.
Malmsteen turned heads from all musical styles because of his technical proficiency back in the early '80s, but those same heads quickly turned away to find out that there was little more being offered than really fast scales. The speed alone was not enough to hold many rock or fusion fans' interests for very long, as each guitarist seemed to be playing the same ideas, just at faster speeds. Without being too hard on
Moore, he is one of the more interesting of the shredders and has one of the cleaner sounds. Ironically,
Tony Macalpine is the keyboardist here and would soon emerge with an identical sound to
Moore's. The better moments here are on the more aggressive numbers such as "In Control" and "Saved by a Miracle," with the latter containing a decent drum solo by the underrated Tommy Aldridge and a fine acoustic introduction by
Moore.
Mind's Eye is a classic in the shredder community, but rates as just a display of technical ability to the casual listener. ~ Robert Taylor