FOR TO NEXT / AND NOT OR

This is not *just* for completists. It is for anyone who enjoys the guitar work of Steve Hillage and also enjoys some of the more accomplished sounds of new wave music. Think if classic Gong decided to do an album of Gary Numan covers. Hillage (mostly Miquette Giraudy) had been using sequences and synthesizers on his albums for years. It is understandable if you have an aversion to 80's synths, though.

There are still a few songs with non-4/4 rhythms as well. It's certainly poppy, but so are many of the songs on Open, Green and certainly Motivation Radio.

Hillage's voice is, for some reason, a bit deeper than on previous albums. Not sure why. Still sounds strong, though.

1. "These Uncharted Lands" is a great, majestic opener. A straightforward synth- rocker with an amazingly full and bright chorus. 2. "Kamikaze Eyes" is slightly annoying with the Oriental staccato riff throughout the song. Chorus is still good. 3. "Alone" is a softer song featuring Miquette Giraudy's breathy voice. 4. "Anthems For the Blind" is another majestic... anthem. 5. "Bright future" - A rather "happy" Hillage tune, as many of them are - perhaps a bit too happy, but hey - *I* like it. :-) 6. "Frame by frame" - not to be confused with the King Crimson track. Hypnotic rhythm and sound. 7. "Waiting" is in 2/4, but in groups of seven. Even more hypnotic sounding than the previous song. 8. "Glory" - Not as good as the previous two songs, but still hypnotic and infectious.

The rest of the CD was originally the "And Not Or" EP and is completely instrumental. This is music to listen to loud and in the dark. Let the power of Hillage's glissando guitar whisk you away to an uncharted land. "Still golden" is a remake of "The Golden Vibe", which is the closing few minutes of Fish Rising.

Again, if you cringe at the sounds of 80's synths or can't stand Tangerine Dream's "Exit", certainly there are better purchases for you to make, but if you're like me and enjoy the pulsing synth sounds rounded out by Steve Hillage's awesome guitar, with some dreamy lyrics to boot, then you should definitely buy For To Next / And Not Or.

I've just listened to these two LPs for what must be the first time in over twenty years.

The titles are taken from the BASIC computer programming language. For To Next (white) is an album of songs whereas And Not Or (black) is entirely instrumental.

I've always looked upon them as somehow sperate from the rest of the Hillage back catalogue. Furthermore, I've always assumed that something profound must have happened to Steve prior to their making. A bad trip whilst listening to Joy Division perhaps ?

For one thing, he'd had his hair cut. For another, the trusty battered strat was replaced with one of those headless Steinberger efforts. The organic sound of old was almost entirely abandoned and replaced with cold 80s machine music. It's as if he'd literally taken his own words "I don't want to be a guitar hero, I want to be a guitar ZERO" somewhat earnestly.

By the time of his previous LP (Open from 1979), he was playing the larger halls in the UK. This turned out to be the final Hillage band tour and as far as I know, nothing from FTN or ANO was ever performed live.

Sound wise, both records are not unlike that of Simple Minds' Sons And Fascination which he'd produced two years earlier in 1981. The fact that it's purely Steve and Miquette makes it a sort of proto System 7. I wonder just how these records would have sounded if they'd been recorded with the Studio Herald band.

Tonight's listening made me realise that I'd been a bit unfair to these LPs in the past. There's certainly some terrible 80s drum machines and sequencers going on but despite this, there's still some lovely guitar work not far beneath the surface. What was most shocking at the time though was the lyrics. The new age optimism was all but lost and replaced with concerns about nuclear paranoia and even unemployment (Bright Future). It's certainly not the Hillage of old but it's still interesting nevertheless. The song Waiting must be least Hillage-like thing he's ever done. It's bleak and even perhaps disturbing but utterly curious all these years on.

To those who are relatively new to the music of SH, you'd be best leaving them until you're a full-blown convert. This might be controversial but I can categorically say that I prefer these LPs to anything by System 7.

This limited double set of Steve Hillage's two 1983 records eventually became the standard configuration of this set, with CD releases typically combining the two brief New Wave/synthpop-influenced albums onto one disc.

That's not a terrible way to approach this stuff, since the records are two sides of the same coin. Both are built on Hillage and Miquette Giraudy putting down a New Wave-ish synth line and Hillage delivering some of his guitar work on it; the major difference is that And Not Or is more instrumental-oriented, whereas For To Next is more song- oriented. I prefer the And Not Or material, but getting both in one package is hardly a slap in the face, particularly since if you dig one you'll probably find the other at least tolerable.