Neil Murray – Bass

I love these Gary Moore penned ballads they did with Colosseum II and on his ‘Back On The Streets’ album. Such beautiful melodies. I always wondered why he didn’t follow this route and stayed in the Rock and Blues idioms. I guess he has to make a living and these ballads, as great as they are to my ears, are not his biggest hits. This is the complete Neil Murray bass part for the tune ‘On Second Thoughts’ from the first Colosseum II album, ‘Strange New Flesh’. Moore and Airey are absolutely inspired on this record and on this track particularly. Murray’s bass part is musical and, whilst it is continually shifting in subtle ways, he has sufficient musical maturity to stay out of the way of the front line. I don’t understand why the last section is presented with synth bass but that’s entirely peripheral. A gorgeous tune and an inspired performance. Mile Starrs’ vocals are profound as well – a sad loss.