SPECTRAL MORNINGS

This is one of the best albums from Steve Hackett. Unlike "Voyage of the acolyte", the guitars and keyboards here take the very modern, loud, sustained, echoed & clean attributes. If you think Hackett's best guitar sound and solos are on "Selling England by the pound", then probably you will change your mind while hearing the stuff here. I've rarely heard guitar solos louder, cleaner, more present, echoed and sustained than here! That's incredible! The loud & floating keyboards just enhance the extreme guitars effects involved. Hackett puts so much sustain and echo to each guitar note, especially on "Spectral mornings" and "Every day", that, loudly played, you cannot even hear the cymbals patterns, nevertheless very present too!

I think that those guitar solos are among the all-time best ones in terms of sound and presence. It even surpasses the OUTSTANDING Marillion's "She Cameleon" guitar solo, given the same guitar involved: the Gibson Les Paul model.

Regarding a global appreciation, I must however admit that the tracks are unequal: indeed there are more ordinary moments like "Clocks - The Angel Of Mons", where the guitar is not as present as on "Spectral mornings" and "Every day"; "The Ballad Of The Decomposing Man" is the worst track: Latin rhythmic & insignificant, it decreases the value of the album. "Lost time in Cordoba" is very good, with its beautiful acoustic guitar and wind instruments. The bizarre "Tigermoth" track has a pretty present, echoed, clean & loud guitar sound, despite the keyboards sound rather dark, imposing and odd. Fortunately "Tigermoth" has a happy ending, full of excellent vocals, acoustic guitars and flute. Even "Every day" has a conventional & average first half part with decent vocals, before the OUTSTANDING guitar solo and floating keyboards enter.

But, please, when you are at the final track "Spectral Mornings", just turn off the lights, turn up the volume, and open your romantic side: you'll live an unforgettable sentimental experience of more than 8 minutes: 8 minutes of total ecstasy, thinking about how love can be wonderful! Have a great feeling!