DEFECTOR

Surprisingly for a deeply artistic work, ''Spectral mornings'' would reach No.9 in the UK album charts and even had a decent praise in the United States, climbing to No.138.Good thing for Hackett was that the new line-up he established was dedicated to his works, so he could eventually tour with comfort and in August 1979 he even played at the famous Reading Festival.The result was that by the recordings of his fourth album no line-up changes had occured, the only change being the studio (Wessex Sound Studios, London).Another product of the Charisma label, ''Defector'' would see the light of day in June 1980.

The 80's virus could not pass by Steve Hackett's works, so ''Defector'' opens a new era for the great British guitarist/composer.His new album has this dreamy, smooth approach of many British acts of the early-80's, somewhat abandoning any powerful, symphonic orchestrations and increasing its Pop sensibilities.The result was an album, consisting of short tracks with balanced work on guitars and keyboards, instrumental and vocal moments, intricate and accesible material.At times it sounds like a combination of IQ early offerings with a slight GENESIS vibe in the more symphonic-inclined material and ALAN PARSON'S PROJECT around the same time with plenty of poppy vocals and flexible melodies.Of course the album remains highly professional, flirting always with Hackett's prog roots, offering lots of dramatic instrumental parts with some marvelous guitar work and bombastic keyboards.But the overall result is very close to Neo Prog, having a less emphatic symphonic mood and a greater sense of melody.The flutes of John Hackett and the classical guitar of Steve retain some of the folky underlines as heard in his previous work, especially during the pair of mellow instrumental pieces at the second half of the album.It is just that the listener was not actually used to such strong use of synths and poppy vocal tunes by Hackett.

Not exactly an uneven album.In fact ''Defector'' sounds pretty balanced overall, but it is a work with a discreet 80's feeling compared to Hackett's previous albums.Even so, the good material is sufficient enough to recommend it to all fans of Progressive Rock.