THERE ARE MANY SIDES TO THE NIGHT

It's a great selection from the best Hackett's solo acoustic work!! Here you find a remarkable melodic piano work by Julian Colbeck (listen to the arrangement of "Ace of Wands"), while Steve -after his stunning short instrumental "Horizons"- is going to demonstrate once again his grandeur of "first class", track after track,as long as you can listen for instance to track #14, "Concerto in D", a real jewel already performed together with the best (in my opinion) Italian classic guitarist of all time- Mr Maurizio Colonna- all over the world!! Then I like to remark that there is no particular song over the average, cause all the tracks according to this kind of "morricones music " are delightful!

Recommended for the lovers of S. Hackett in a romantic and unplugged vein!

This album is absolutely essential and actually contains one of the best music STEVE HACKETT has ever done. These are recordings of a classical acoustical tour through Italy. He's performing the songs mainly on his own, sometimes he gets support by JULIAN COLBECK on keyboards. There are many songs from his first solo albums, like Kim or A Tower Struck Down which sounds excellent as well played acoustically. In fact there isn't any particular song standing out, all of them are just brilliant.

For sure every HACKETT-fan will love this album, but it's highly recommended as well to everyone who is more into the classical acoustic side of Prog!

With all of the live Hackett product available (CD's and DVD's), it's a daunting task to try to find the best of the lot. This is a fine album, with great sound and an enthusiastic but attentive audience. Colbeck's keyboard work is a plus, and the song selection may be the best of any of the various live releases. There are crescendos to give a much-needed contrast to the quiet passages, so don't dismiss this release as being too mellow. I was pleasantly surprised by this album.

This is an acoustic live performance by Steve Hackett (all guitars) and Julian Colbeck (keyboard). It starts with a stunning "Horizons" coming out from Genesis's Foxtrot album just before the long epic "Supper's Ready". In fact this short track has become an integral part of "Supper's Ready" - Genesis legendary epic. What follows is "Black Light" which basically a guitar shot just before "Cuckoo Caccoon" of "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" album - another Genesis legendary album. The set was recorded live at Teatro Metropolitan, Palermo, Sicily on 1st December 1994.

As you have seen from the line-up that consists only two musicians, do not expect something rocking from this CD. Everything is classical and acoustic with no involvement of any other electric instruments (on top of keyboards) and drums. Even, most of keyboard parts were played in long sustain chords / notes just to provide a kind of background that accompanies acoustic guitar work. Surely this album fits those of you who enjoy classical guitar outfit. My favorite "Ace of Wands" was performed nicely in completely acoustic setting. Mr. Colbeck gives his stunning keyboard work in this track. it sounds like an electric piano which brings the melody of the song. It gives me another nuance of the song. Excellent arrangement. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

For senior romantics

By far the best concert album featuring less than three players, that I've heard. A year ago I rated Steve Howe's solo live album with one star, in Hackett's case even the fifth star is not out of question at all. Steve's acoustic guitar is accompanied by Julian Colbeck on keyboards (not on all tracks) and the place is Teatro Metropolitan in Palermo, Sicily. The sound quality and the acoustics are great; the atmosphere is intimate, warm, elegant and romantic. Steve introduces most tracks (using careful slow English and some Italian words). Less talking would do, but it makes it even easier for the listener to get into the intimate concert feeling.

The set naturally draws mostly from acoustic guitar albums like Bay of Kings (83) but many other albums' material is heard too. 'Ace of Wands' from Voyage of Acolyte works well as a guitar/piano duet. 'A Blue Part of Town' is a delicious, sensual blues number.There are two non-Hackett compositions, by Ennio Morricone (if I remember right) and by Antonio Vivaldi (the same 'Largo' from concerto in D that Steve Howe plays in his debut). The whole 70 minutes are pure pleasure to the ears, perfect for peaceful background but colourful enough for full concentration. Warmly recommended to friends of acoustic guitar or peaceful instrumental music in general.

Steve Hackett is, well,-------- a living legend! He is absolutely my favorite guitaristist. I have owned 18 albums that he has played on and therefore I consider myself a big fan of his. Steve has influenced so many other musicians that it is like he is some sort of a father figure in the prog realm. I am also influenced by his style. I just love his classical playing to no end. It is wonderful and flawless. He is a master musician as anyone with ears can hear.

I first heard this album on a satellite radio station about four years ago. I was immediately impressed. He has come a long way from the "Bay of Kings" release. I was fortunate to pick the CD up at a second time around store fairly cheap, so I got it right away.

Steve just sucks you right in with the "Horizon's" song. This is the best version I have heard him play. Like I said before, he is flawless. I have got to say that there is not one bad tune on the whole CD. That being said, there are about 3 songs that you have to listen to a few times before they sink in and make you enjoy, but when you do, you will find that they are beautiful as are the other songs contained herein.

The standouts are: "A Blue Part of Town," because Steve doesn't play the guitar at all. He is playing the harp, just as good as he plays the axe. Jullian Colbeck is also excellent, I might add. Others are, "Time Lapse at Milton Keynes, Beja Flor, Baccus, End of Days, Black Light, Ace of Wands," to name just a few.

Another thing is the volume of material he is offering to the listener. Think of it, 18 quality tunes that are timeless and wonderful. This is certainly a must have recording for even classical enthusiasts. Steve Hackett is immaculate here! Classical music is the genesis of prog in the first place, no pun intended, so I can confidently give this one five stars. You will be hard pressed to find anything better musically. I wouldn't be afraid to say that he could keep up with classical guitar great Leona Boyd. He is that good!

After recording Blues With a Feeling, Steve decided it would be nice to do a small tour that would focus on his acoustic material. This album, taken from a December 1994 show in Sicily, features Steve on acoustic guitar and Julian Colbeck (who had been working with Steve for a few years, and whose most notable previous gig had been as a secondary keyboardist on the Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe tour) on keyboards, and it works as a marvelous introduction to the quieter side of Hackett. It isn't quite a replacement for the two acoustic albums that come before it (the first half draws heavily from Bay of Kings, but the album only contains one Momentum track, "Cavalcanti"), but if I could only choose between having this set and having both of those albums, I'd pick this one.

The first half, as mentioned, has a lot of Bay of Kings tracks, and while these performances don't stray tremendously far from their studio counterparts, there are some nice surprises amongst them, like when Steve follows "Horizons" with brief snippets of a couple of Genesis tunes ("Cuckoo Cocoon," "Blood on the Rooftops"), or how he rearranges "Kim" by having the keyboards play all of the original guitar parts and the guitar play the original flute parts. After the initial stretch of Bay tracks, the album jumps all over the place, blending the Hackett propensity for stylistic mish-mash with his love of low- key instrumentals in a way that the acoustic guitar albums hadn't shown. Aside from a handful of his typical acoustic numbers, there's an instrumental rendition of "Oh How I Love You" (which sounds quite nice stripped of the overdone vocals and 80s production values of the Feedback '86 version), a dash of Baroque-like music in "Bacchuss" (which Steve jokingly refers to as "Ba-rock"), a decent instrumental from Guitar Noir ("Walking Away From Rainbows"), a cover of a movement from Vivaldi's Concerto in D, a piece from the blues album ("A Blue Part of Town," one of my favorites from the album, featuring a duet between keyboards and harmonica), a piano-based cover of the first half of "Ace of Wands" (with Colbeck doing his very best Wakeman imitation) and a piece from a Andrea Morricone (Ennio's son) film score. The balance between variety and unity helps make for a very engaging listen, and is a big part in why I rate this album as high as I do.

Honestly, I expected something much more boring than this (perhaps because of the association with the Guitar Noir track after which this album is named, as that track is a little more sedate than I'd prefer), so this is a very pleasant surprise. A few years after release, this was packaged into a 2-CD set with Guitar Noir, and while somebody might come across that set and consider Guitar Noir as the main reason to consider buying it, this is definitely the better of the two albums. If you're at all curious about Steve's acoustic work, start here.