Wild Frontier

Wild Frontier is the sixth solo studio album by Irish guitarist Gary Moore, released in 1987. His first studio effort after a trip back to his native Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1985, the album contains several songs about Ireland and even the music itself is steeped in Celtic roots. The album is dedicated to the memory of Moore's close friend and former Thin Lizzy bandmate Phil Lynott, who died on 4 January 1986, with the words "For Philip" on the rear cover.

For the Prodigy song, see Wild Frontier (song).

Wild Frontier
Cover photo by John Swannell
Studio album by Gary Moore
Released	9 March 1987
Genre	Hard rock, pop metal[1]
Length	37:20
Label	10/Virgin
Producer	Peter Collins, Pete Smith, James "Jimbo" Barton and Gary Moore
Gary Moore chronology
Run for Cover (1985) Wild Frontier (1987) After the War (1989)
Singles from Wild Frontier
"Over the Hills and Far Away" Released: December 1986 "Wild Frontier" Released: February 1987 "Friday on My Mind" Released: 1987 "The Loner" Released: 1987 "Take a Little Time" Released: November 1987

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal	4/10[3]

Wild Frontier contains the hit single "Over the Hills and Far Away", which reached No. 20 in the UK,[4] as well as a cover of the Easybeats' song "Friday on My Mind". The Max Middleton-penned "The Loner" was originally recorded by Cozy Powell for his Over the Top album in 1979 (on which Moore performed, albeit not on Powell's recording of "The Loner"). The track was substantially altered by Moore for his own recording, thus he is credited as a co-writer.

All drums on Wild Frontier are sequenced with a drum machine, although the programming is uncredited in the liner notes of the album, electronic drummer Roland Kerridge, of the band Re-Flex did a lot of the drum tracks, and would appear in the music video for "Over the Hills and Far Away," as well as early TV promotions for the album. Future Alice Cooper, Kiss (band) and former Black Sabbath drummer Eric Singer played drums for the tour, before going on to form Badlands.

Covers

"Over the Hills and Far Away" has been covered by the Finnish symphonic power metal band Nightwish on their 2001 EP of the same title, by Swedish viking metal band Thyrfing on their album Urkraft, and by Patty Gurdy on her Shapes & Patterns EP (2018). The Rockoutstandout reviewer wrote "Patty Gurdy’s cover with a hurdy gurdy and vocals gives us a completely different take on the song altogether and it works very well. The echo effect on the vocals give this track that well know powerful atmosphere that the original song is able to do. I love this quirky cover and I always feel a sense of warmth when hearing the song."[5] The Spanish band Saurom also recorded a cover of this song with alternative lyrics, titled "La Disolución de la Comunidad".

Track listing

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Over the Hills and Far Away"	Gary Moore	5:20
2.	"Wild Frontier"	Moore	4:14
3.	"Take a Little Time"	Moore	4:05
4.	"The Loner" (instrumental, originally recorded by Cozy Powell)	Max Middleton, Moore	5:54

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
5.	"Friday on My Mind" (The Easybeats cover)	George Young, Harry Vanda	4:11
6.	"Strangers in the Darkness"	Moore, Neil Carter	4:38
7.	"Thunder Rising"	Moore, Carter	5:43
8.	"Johnny Boy"	Moore	3:15

CD release

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Over the Hills and Far Away"	Moore	5:20
2.	"Wild Frontier"	Moore	4:14
3.	"Take a Little Time"	Moore	4:05
4.	"The Loner"	Middleton, Moore	5:54
5.	"Friday on My Mind"	Young, Vanda	4:11
6.	"Strangers in the Darkness"	Moore, Carter	4:38
7.	"Thunder Rising"	Moore, Carter	5:43
8.	"Johnny Boy"	Moore	3:15
9.	"Over the Hills and Far Away" (12” version)	Moore	7:26
10.	"Wild Frontier" (12” version)	Moore	6:38
11.	"Crying in the Shadows"	Moore	5:01

2002 remastered CD bonus tracks

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
12.	"The Loner" (Extended mix)	Middleton, Moore	7:16
13.	"Friday on My Mind" (12” version)	Young, Vanda	6:15
14.	"Out in the Fields" (live)	Moore	5:28

Personnel

• Gary Moore – lead, rhythm and acoustic guitars, lead and backing vocals, producer on tracks 5, 7, and 8
• Neil Carter – keyboards, backing vocals
• Bob Daisley – bass
• Roland Kerridge - drum programming

Production

• Peter Collins – producer on tracks 1, 2, 4, 9, 10 and 12
• Pete Smith – producer on tracks 3 and 6
• James "Jimbo" Barton – producer on tracks 5, 7, 8 and 13, engineer on tracks 1 and 2, mixing on tracks 3 and 6
• Chris Porter – engineer on tracks 2 and 4
• Mike Stone – producer on track 11
• Nigel Walker – producer on track 14

Charts

Album Year Chart Position 1987 Finnish Albums Chart[6] 1 Norwegian Albums Chart[7] 1 Swedish Albums Chart[8] 2 Swiss Albums Top 100[9] 7 UK Albums Chart[4] 8 German Albums Chart[10] 9 New Zealand Albums Chart[11] 11 Dutch MegaCharts[12] 13 Austrian Top 40 Albums[13] 16 Billboard 200 (US)[14] 139

Singles Year Single Chart Position 1986 "Over the Hills and Far Away" Irish Singles Chart[15] 6 UK Singles Chart[4] 20 1987 Finnish Singles Chart[6] 1 Norwegian Singles Chart[16] 1 Swedish Singles Chart[17] 7 Dutch MegaCharts[18] 22 Mainstream Rock Tracks (US)[19] 24 Swiss Singles Top 100[20] 27 New Zealand Singles Chart[21] 43 "Wild Frontier" Finnish Singles Chart[6] 4 Irish Singles Chart[15] 22 UK Singles Chart[4] 35 "Friday on My Mind" Finnish Singles Chart[6] 15 Irish Singles Chart[15] 18 UK Singles Chart[4] 26 New Zealand Singles Chart[22] 30 Dutch MegaCharts[23] 72 "The Loner" UK Singles Chart[4] 53 "Take a Little Time" UK Singles Chart[4] 75

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[24]	Gold	42,791[24]
Norway (IFPI Norway)[25]	Gold	50,000^*
Sweden (GLF)[26]	Platinum	100,000^^
United Kingdom (BPI)[27]	Silver	60,000^^
^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

1. Allmusic review
2. Rivadavia, Eduardo. Wild Frontier at AllMusic
3. Popoff, Martin (1 November 2005). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 2: The Eighties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 230. ISBN 978-1-894959-31-5.
4. "Gary Moore Official Charts". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
5. Whittingham, Lotty (17 June 2018). "Half Way Post: Songs That Have Made My Year So Far (Pt. 1)". Rock Out Stand Out. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
6. "Sisältää hitin: Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1961: MOK - MOY > Garu Moore". Sisältää hitin / Timo Pennanen. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
7. "Gary Moore – Wild Frontier (Album)". Norwegiancharts.com. Media Control Charts. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
8. "Gary Moore – Wild Frontier (Album)". Swedishcharts.com. Media Control Charts. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
9. "Gary Moore – Wild Frontier". Hitparade.ch (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
10. "Album – Gary Moore, Wild Frontier". Charts.de (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
11. "Gary Moore – Wild Frontier (Album)". charts.nz. Media Control Charts. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
12. "Gary Moore – Wild Frontier". Dutch Charts.nl (in Dutch). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
13. "Gary Moore – Wild Frontier". Austriancharts.at (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
14. "Gary Moore Chart History – Billboard 200". Billboard.com. Billboard. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
15. "The Irish Cahrts: search for Gary Moore". Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
16. "Gary Moore – Over the Hills and Far Away (Song)". Norwegiancharts.com. Media Control Charts. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
17. "Gary Moore – Over the Hills and Far Away (Song)". Swedishcharts.com. Media Control Charts. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
18. "Gary Moore – Over the Hills and Far Away". Dutch Charts.nl (in Dutch). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
19. "Gary Moore Chart History: Mainstream Rock". Billboard.com. Billboard. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
20. "Gary Moore – Over the Hills and Far Away". Hitparade.ch (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
21. "Gary Moore – Over the Hills and Far Away (Song)". charts.nz. Media Control Charts. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
22. "Gary Moore – Friday on My Mind (Song)". charts.nz. Media Control Charts. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
23. "Gary Moore – Friday on My Mind". Dutch Charts.nl (in Dutch). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
24. "Gary Moore" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
25. "Gold & Platinum Awards 1987" (PDF). Music and Media. American Radio History Archive. 26 December 1987. p. 44. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
26. "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 1987−1998" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
27. "British album certifications – Gary Moore – Wild Frontier". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 1 January 2020. Select albums in the Format field. Select Silver in the Certification field. Type Wild Frontier in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.