GENESIS FILES

Hmmm... I'm still not 100% sure what to make of this album, in one sense. I picked this up about 15 years ago after having found it heavily discounted in the music section of a big chain store. It was originally released in 2002 by the respected Snapper Music label, via their mid price double cd reissue subsidiary label, RECALL 2CD (I wonder how they got the rights to the music). The cover art is by artist Kim Poor, Hackett's first wife. All of the tracks on Hackett's official 1996 Genesis Revisited album (which I don't have), appear among the twenty tracks on this album. So there's no doubt, it's got pedigree all over it and right through it. But I can't find (anywhere online, that is) where Steve Hackett endorses this album as a legitimate release of his music. Maybe I'm just being picky. Maybe he's not being paid for his work here, which for me would be very wrong, if that's the case. Anyway, the bottom line for me is that I really like the album. It contains a selection of some of his and Genesis' best music, performed to Hackett's own arrangements and tastes. The names of some of the other very accomplished artistes Hackett has utilised to deliver these twenty pieces is very impressive. I give it 4 stars for the musical content, the art, the inner extensive liner notes and the fact that it come's out under a known respected label. It loses one star for me, because of it's unsure history...