ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, FEB. 20, 1987
By Steve Newton
Tony MacAlpine is the recent discovery of talent promoter and Guitar Player magazine columnist Mike Varney, and what a find he is. On Edge of Insanity, MacAlpine performs 11 songs that feature him on guitar–with no vocals to get in the way–and he comes up with enough interesting and lightning-fast riffs to send both Yngwie Malmsteen and Eddie V.H. back to their rooms to practice up.
MacAlpine is joined by the formidable rhythm section of Journey drummer Steve Smith and bassist Billy Sheehan (of the David Lee Roth band). With those two laying down the bottom end he goes hog wild on tracks like “Wheel of Fortune”, “Empire in the Sky”, and “The Witch and the Priest”. He even lays his trusty Kramer down and tackles Chopin’s “Prelude 16, Opus 28” on piano.
All fans of ’80s rock guitar should check this fellow out. He’s gonna be real big real soon.