Defender [Extra tracks, Import, Original recording remastered]

Rory Gallagher | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 1, 1999)
• Original Release Date: 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Extra tracks, Import, Original recording remastered
• Label: Capo Records
• ASIN: B00000IHC5
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #107,654 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Digitally remastered reissue of the late bluesy Irish rock guitarist's 1988 album for IRS with 'Seems To Me' & 'No Peace For The Wicked' added as bonus tracks, for a total of 12 selections. Also features the original cover art. 1999 release.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Blues rock at it's finest, May 8, 2006

By 

Rohit R "greatdoc" (india) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Defender (Audio CD)

Defender is a great from the late Rory Gallagher a great blues rock guitarist from Ireland.He was a fine guitarist in the mold of Hendrix,Clapton,Page and Buchanan.This is a great album from him which was his second last and featured gems like LOAN SHARK BLUES,KICKBACK CITY,FAILSAFE DAY and I AINT NO SAINT.Get this along with all his other albums.Highly recommended.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rory = Great Music, May 10, 2009

By 

Bill (Washington - State) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Defender (Audio CD)

Most of the guitar heros out there probably wish they could play as good as this legend. Rory has a diversity and passion that few can match - slight nuances and chance-ups in his playing reveal true genius. He plugs in and plays strait out and honest - no noisy din, trickery or trendy walls of strange sounds that so many others hide behind. This is another fine output of strait-up rock and blues. My favorite tunes are Loan Shark Blues and Road to Hell. It's all good - real good.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Aged in the Wood, November 14, 2010

By 

Daniel G. Schaeffer "popperfan" (St. Louis, MO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Defender (Audio CD)

I have no idea why this isn't thought of as one of the great albums of its time. "Guitar Player" clearly thought it was -- they gave it a cover story. Admittedly, Rory had a long period of churning out AOR rather than sticking with what he did best, but on this one he started returning to his Delta-Chicago roots and integrating them with the more popular biker-boogie format in a way that he wasn't capable of before. Though there are some low points ("Failsafe Day" is tooth-grindingly preachy, for example), the album as a whole shows a dark maturity; I've read on a website that while he was making this he started getting creepy premonitions of an early death, and the best cuts here show it: "Road to Hell" might have been subtitled "A Portrait of the Artist as a Prematurely-Dying Bluesman" -- the Stratocaster guitar-screams sound like Roy Buchanan getting dragged away to the brimstone pits; "Kickback City" shows his control of a multitrack deck; "Doing Time is nearly as much fun as the classic "Bullfrog Blues;" "Don't Start Me Talkin'" is nearly as slick and polished a guitar-harp duet as anything on Butterfield's "East-West;" and "Ain't No Saint" is the only Albert King tribute I can recall that doesn't have one King lick in it!

The much-lauded "Live in Europe" and "Calling Card" are his best, no doubt, but this is one the true Rory-cultist will savor like a fine, rare brandy.