| Edge of Insanity | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Cover art byGuy Aitchison | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | January 1986 (1986-01) | |||
| Recorded | 1985 | |||
| Studio | Prairie Sun Recording Studios (Cotati, California) | |||
| Genre | Instrumental rock,neoclassical metal | |||
| Length | 41:17[1] | |||
| Label | Shrapnel | |||
| Producer | Mike Varney | |||
| Tony MacAlpine chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Alternative cover | ||||
.jpg) Japanese edition | ||||
Edge of Insanity is the first studio album by guitaristTony MacAlpine, released in 1986 throughShrapnel Records. In 2014, nearly thirty years after its release, MacAlpine performed the album in full during a series of shows in California andBaja California.[2]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [3] |
| Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal | 4/10[4] |
| Kerrang! | [5] |
In a contemporary review, Paul Henderson ofKerrang! defined MacAlpine's technical abilities on guitar and piano as "quite phenomenal", but found his playing "totally cold" and with "a serious lack of rock 'n' roll attitude", while, in contrast, praised "the masterful, superbly sympathetic, yet also inspired" performance of bassistBilly Sheehan and drummerSteve Smith.[5]
Andy Hinds ofAllMusic describedEdge of Insanity as following "the rough blueprint ofYngwie [Malmsteen]'s model" and praised MacAlpine's "impressivelicks" and "exciting guitar/keyboard interplay". However, he remarked that "his second album,Maximum Security, is much better."[3] Canadian journalistMartin Popoff gave the same judgement, but consideredEdge of Insanity "nicely intimate, versatile and not embarassingly recorded."[4]
In a 2009 article byGuitar World magazine,Edge of Insanity was ranked fourth on the all-time top ten list ofshred albums. The staff wrote: "The album that launchedMike Varney's Shrapnel Records,Edge of Insanity shows off Tony MacAlpine's fearsome shred chops not only on the six-string ("Quarter to Midnight") but also on the ivories ("Chopin, Prelude 16, Opus 28")."[6]
All music is composed by Tony MacAlpine, except where noted.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Wheel of Fortune" | 3:43 |
| 2. | "The Stranger" | 3:59 |
| 3. | "Quarter to Midnight (Live Solo)" | 2:24 |
| 4. | "Agrionia" | 4:31 |
| 5. | "Empire in the Sky†" | 5:54 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 6. | "The Witch and the Priest" | 3:33 |
| 7. | "The Taker" | 3:22 |
| 8. | "Chopin, Prelude 16, Opus 28" (Frédéric Chopin) | 1:20 |
| 9. | "Edge of Insanity" | 4:18 |
| 10. | "The Raven" | 4:13 |
| 11. | "No Place in Time" | 4:00 |
| Total length: | 41:17 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 12. | "Birds of Prey (Billy's Boogie)" | 3:45 |
| Total length: | 45:02 | |
