STEVE HACKETT

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...

Steve Hackett has become over the years the true guardian of the Genesis symphonic legacy, he has put together a band that executes it perfectly, but not only from the technical aspect, but also capturing the spirit and magic of it epoch. And not only reinterpreting the repertoire of his old band, but also creating separate solo albums, which have nothing to envy of those from the classic period of the 70's. Since the album Out Of The Tunnel's Mouth in 2009 he has revitalized his compositional flow, and far from becoming stagnant as a guitarist, he continues playing the complex parts with the fingering to which we were accustomed. Every year he and his wonderful band have released live shows in luxurious CD/DVD or Blu-ray editions and each of them has a different slogan, as well as a different repertoire, fueled not only by the legacy of the past but by their wonderful studio albums. One might think how much another volume has to contribute...and the answer is yes, and it not only contributes but enhances the proposal, since Foxtrot at Fifty... proposes a more dynamic and energetic approach, they are provocative versions, a song from their latest studio album The Devil's Cathedral is included, followed by the classics Spectral Mornings and Every day with that unprecedented immediacy to which we were referring. And hearing Foxtrot performed with that aura of the original recording is a pleasure only surpassed by the slight interpretive differences that those who know the original perfectly will appreciate. There is only one noticeable difference at the beginning of Horizons, and that is Steve's always welcome love of Spanish Flamenco. In short...it is not just another live album, but a piece of the puzzle that makes up and adds up to the progressive path.

OK, so I must admit that I have never listened to this album in its entirety until now, which I know is a classic. This may come as a surprise to some of you. However, I am remedying this situation today! Hopefully, I'll get to keep my Prog Club Card. This was written in real time as I was listening.

Track 1 - Ace of Wands:

Brilliant playing, of course. Eye opening intro! Hackett seems to be making a statement of intent here! He wanted to blow the listener away right out of the box with a wide range of styles, tempos and textures in just under 5 and 1/2 minutes. Absolutely brilliant.

Track 2 - Hands of the Priestess, Pt. 1

This one takes a more pastoral mood with a flute solo taking the lead, played by his brother John. Its a beautiful piece, which seems to have the effect of letting the listener catch their breath after the high energy opener

Track 3 - A Tower Struck Down

While I am no expert, I know enough about Tarot Cards (which is, of course, the theme of the album) to know that the Tower card is the most menacing card to draw out of the deck. The music here certainly reflects that! Mid Tempo, yet spooky, it would be a good track to include on a Halloween mix! The chanting in the middle has been interpreted by some to say "Seig Heil", but in actuality, it is chanting "Steve Hackett". A very peaceful yet mournful ending closes this track out.

Track 4 - Hands of the Priestess, Pt. 2

Definitely continues the mood of the first part. Again, possibly to kind of clear the mood after the spookiness of Tower Struck Down. John sounds as if he is classically trained on the flute.

Track 5 - The Hermit

Vocals for the first time, sung by Hackett himself. A bit of a harpsicord ballad, with Hackett's lower register vocals almost buried in the background. Very peacefully sad and remote--Much like a Hermit would be.

Track 6 - Star of Sirius

Ballad-like with Phil Collins on vocals. An ethereal beginning. And then the tempo and rhythm picks up at around 2:30. This one seems to take us on a musical voyage, as promised in the album title, with many different textures and dynamic levels. Again, the vocals are there, but not "out-front" in the mix. A bit of a jazz-fusion feel in the higher tempo sections.

Track 7 - The Lovers

Starts with a very distant sounding classical guitar part. Then it sounds like a backwards recorded section with mellotron and winds. Seems to be an interlude before the grand finale.

Track 8 - Shadow of the Hierophant

The Epic closer. Soprano vocals by Sally Oldfield, brother of Mike Oldfield. Peaceful beginning, with a big, albeit brief, dynamic change at just under 3:00 in. The piece has the feel of something you might hear on a classical recital hall, up until around 4:45, excepting the louder mellotron segments. At around 5:30, it begins to take on the feel of a Genesis track, until everything drops out for an unaccompanied glockenspiel solo. Becomes orchestral in nature starting around 7:30. A slow building crescendo is happening after this until around 10:45 (over 3 minutes), when the track begins fading out.

Overall impression.

I definitely see why this album is so highly regarded. Hackett could have recorded an entire album of tracks like "Ace of Wands" to show off his guitar prowess, but he didn't. I know that Phil Collins and Mike Rutherford are essentially the rhythm section on this album, but really, not much of it (save for a couple of minutes in "Shadow of the Hierophant") feels like a Genesis album. Honestly, much of it feels closer to true classical/chamber music with a few rock instruments added in. I did enjoy listening to it and would gladly do so again. However, while a strong album, It does not quite reach the 5-star level for me personally. I give it a solid 4-Star rating.

Often the cover of an album tries to transmit, in an image, its musical proposal, and thus give it a visual aspect that reinforces it. And from that place, and with "Spectral Mornings" and "Defector" as clear graphic references, "Highly Strung", Steve Hackett's sixth album, seemed to have taken up the path again after going astray with "Cured". Moreover, and now referring to the purely musical aspect, recruiting Ian Mosley, Marillion's renowned drummer since "Fugazi", who joined Nick Magnus on keyboards, also gave a hint of what the album could be.

And beyond the promising first minute of "Camino Royale", with its keyboard variations and scratchy guitars that Hackett rehearses halfway through the song, "Highly Strung" ends up being more of an illusion that doesn't materialise than a reality. Carrying the reminiscences of his discreet "Cured" on his back, Hackett doesn't abandon the line of composing catchy and accessible songs, like "Walking Through Walls", "Give It Away" and "Weightless", which move between the weightless and the self-indulgent, without the sensation of leaving anything more than easily digestible melodies.

But there are some bright spots, certainly. Passages on the upbeat "Cell 151", Hackett's guitars on the instrumentals "Always Somewhere Else" and "Group Therapy", and the heartfelt "India Rubber Man" with an accomplished vocal performance from Hackett properly tucked in by Magnus' keyboards, end up being the album's highlights and make up the final result.

The irregular "Highly Strung" finally ranks a few steps above "Cured", but also a few steps below the guitarist's first albums.

2.5/3 stars

With a cover that is more than suspicious given his shy personality and style traditionally oriented to hide behind mysterious and spectral imagery, and bearing whimsical summer similarities to E,L&P's ill-fated "Love Beach", Steve Hackett presents "Cured", his fifth solo album. Assuming the role of lead singer and correctly using the least compromised tones possible and bent layers given his vocal limitations, Hackett relies on Nick Magnus, survivor of the band formed for the predecessors "Spectral Mornings" and "Defector", to accompany him on keyboards and drum programming.

And as soon as the first tracks resound, such as "Hope I Don't Wake", "Picture Postcard" and "Can't Let Go", of a commercial pop character, "Cured" confirms what the cover would presage: a change not only aesthetically but also in their musical proposal, aiming towards more accessible and sweetened territories, reinforced by the also light "Funny Feeling".

The album is saved from the fire, partially at least, by "The Air-Conditioned Nightmare", an effortful instrumental exercise where Hackett manages not to forget his recent past, and takes some shine with the beautiful and acoustic "A Cradle of Swans", his proud habit of paying homage to classical influences, complemented by the initial arpeggios and some faint lights of the incongruous "Overnight Sleeper". But that's not enough.

Finally, the dull "Turn Back Time", a soporific ballad with no major aspirations, contributes to the overall lightness of the album and, closes it with more sorrow than glory.

"Cured", without further ado, is the beginning of a series of Hackett albums that will alternate, in the following years, both lights and shadows.

Discreet.

2 stars

With the release of "Defector" in the early 80's, Steve Hackett tries to continue the line traced by his predecessor "Spectral Mornings", relying on the same musicians that accompanied him in that album and looking for a greater cohesion in the final result, despite the fact that the themes can have very different structures among them.

The resulting musical proposal unfolds not only between atmospheric soundscapes, as with the intense "The Steppes", one of the best pieces on the album, framed by the mid-tempo of John Shearer's omnipresent percussion and Hackett's guitars, or the spectral and energetic "Slogans" and "Jacuzzi", but is contrasted with introspective and reflective developments, as with "Leaving" and its painful narrative, or with the intimate and naked "Two Vamps as Guests" in Spanish guitar mode, an infallible reference to Hackett's classic influences, or also Nick Magnus' piano in "Hammer in the Sand", who by the way has shown himself solvent on keyboards throughout "Defector".

And after the accessible "The Show" and its genesian blizzards of more commercial times, the British musician does not leave aside his experimental vein, reserving for the end of the album a piece that could well form part of a radio broadcast from the 30's, the Broadway-like "Sentimental Institution".

Without reaching the brilliance of previous albums, "Defector" is a very good work, as well as being the final link in the imaginary tetralogy of Hackett's most progressive solo career, which began with "Voyage of Acolyte".

3.5 stars

Often referred to as the unacknowledged son of Genesis, "Voyage of Acolyte" has in "Spectral Mornings", Steve Hackett's third solo album, a sort of first cousin that also claims inheritance rights, and beyond whether they are valid, they don't seem to be so far-fetched.

From the initial and lively "Every Day", Hackett shows his intention to give more weight to the guitars in relation to his predecessor "Please Don't Touch", with an incisive and demanding solo that takes the lead role in most of the song and makes clear once again the virtuosity of the Briton, ratified by the delicate arpeggios and unplugged rhythm guitar of the pastoral and luminous "The Virgin and the Gypsy".

But Hackett also allows himself some exploratory licenses, as with the Asian sounds of the koto, a Cantonese instrument, in an atmosphere charged with oriental mysticism in the peaceful "The Red Flower of Tachai Blooms Everywhere", or with the surprising "The Ballad of the Decomposing Man", a strange combination between the circus and the moving Caribbean calypso.

The most classical vein and recognizable seal of Hackett, influenced in his formative stage by classics such as the German J.S. Bach and the Spanish Andres Segovia, is also present with the melancholic "Lost Time in Cordoba", where the acoustic guitars navigate with ease and mastery, accompanied by the sweet flute of his brother John in one of the highlights of the album.

And the ghostly "Tigermoth", which refers to the moments before the tragic end of the pilots shot down in WWII and evokes in the vocal parts by Pete Hicks the style of Peter Hammill's seventies VDGG, gives way to the piece that bears the same title of the album, "Spectral Mornings". Guided from beginning to end by a hypnotic and tireless electric guitar and immersed in the dense climate generated by the persistence of the melotron and tinged by the correct percussion of John Shearer, Hackett seems determined, without intending it, to show his ability to generate pieces of timeless value like this one. The best possible ending for the album.

From the 2005 remastered version, the live acoustic medley "Etude in A Minor / Blood on the Rooftops / Horizons / Kim" is well worth noting, with impeccable sound and better execution.

Excellent.

4 stars

The lack of receptivity to the ideas that Steve Hackett proposed, led the guitarist to finally give up and leave Genesis after "Wind & Wuthering", to concentrate mainly on his solo career. These were not favourable times for the genre. After the glorious first half of the 70s, many had to reinvent themselves and shuffle again to stay relevant. And it was in this complex context that Hackett, surrounded by a varied and extensive group of musicians, released his second album, "Please Don't Touch!".

Without Tarot cards to scry into the future as on the progressive "Voyage of Acolyte", his debut album, Hackett was determined to follow a path that reflected his musical concerns beyond the commercial repercussions that this might imply, which, by the way, would be clearly different to that of his former bandmates.

From Hackett's unmistakable opening arpeggios on the refreshing "Narnia" and the distinctive vocals of Steve Walsh, lead singer of the Americans Kansas, "Please Don't Touch!" unfolds over diverse soundscapes and textures that incorporate Genesian reminiscences with the disturbing and duendistic "Carry On Up the Vicarage", classical guitars towards the end of "Racing in A" and with "The Voice of NECAM", incandescent and heartfelt sensations with the brief "Kim" and the melancholic "How Can I? "dramatised by the gravelly vocals of one of Woodstock's iconic symbols, Richie Havens, as well as fiery instrumentals with the demanding "Please Don't Touch" and the interweaving of its protagonic synthesizers and electric guitars, built on a forceful percussion base.

Hackett, with "Please Don't Touch!", definitively joins Peter Gabriel, albeit for different reasons and with disparate results, in the team of illustrious dissidents from the most glorious hours of Genesis.

Very good.

3.5 stars

In the midst of uncertainty about the future of Genesis due to the resignation of Peter Gabriel after the conceptual "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway", Steve Hackett decides to release his first solo album, "Voyage of the Acolyte". Freed from the limits and conventions that being part of a band often demands, but at the same time counting on the participation of his bandmates Phil Collins and Mike Rutherford, Hackett relies on the mysterious secrets hidden by the characters of the Tarot cards, to give the album a significant halo of mysticism and depth.

From the nervous "Aces of Wands" and its voluble moods, where Hackett's aseptic guitars yield and recover spaces in constant synchrony with the synthesizers and Collins' anxious drums, "Voyage of Acolyte" combines moments of diaphanous appearance as in the two "Hands of the Priestess" and its celestial acoustic arpeggios and fragile flutes, or the aching "The Hermit", with the forcefulness of the genesian and robust "A Tower Struck Down" and the gentle bipolarity of "Star of Sirius", sung by Collins and immersed in relaxed landscapes tinged with lively moments, a hint of the immediate future of post Gabriel Genesis ("A Trick of the Tail" and "Wind of Wuthering" for instance).

However, the track that unites all the traversed paths into one is "Shadow of the Hierophant". Discarded by Genesis during the recording process of "Foxtrot", the piece combines beautiful arpeggios, the soprano voice of Sally Oldfield, sister of the tubular musician, with an instrumentation that grows in intensity led by the keyboards until the end. One of the best of the album and probably also of Hackett's solo discography.

"Voyage of the Acolyte" is not only the debut album of Hackett, one of the most representative and influential guitarists of the genre, but the beginning of his extensive solo career.

Excellent.

4/4.5 stars

The man was the glue that bound Genesis of the 70's together and in my opinion when he walked away from Genesis that marked the decline of the group. His guitar work was unique for many reasons; not flashy, no Townshend windmills or sky high jumps; just very reserved and seriously into the music. I like that he didn't try and sell out to become commercially popular though he had a few albums where he added some pop influence. He is to this day his own artist.

I would argue that Tony Banks in particular was too much of a control freak and a bit prideful to allow Steve to get much say in the direction of the music for Genesis. I wished there would have been more of Steve's ideas integrated into especially the last 2 albums he was on, Trick Of The Tail and Wind And Wuthering. Some of his ideas for the latter album appear on this masterpiece. Of all his solo work this album is I believe his best or close to it.

There are some great prog moments. The vocals of Steve Walsh on Narnia and Racing In A are a nice addition to these songs. The album has a surreal quality to it. His first album, Voyage Of The Acolyte was a great place to start and this album was a great next one. The title track was rehearsed by Genesis for the W&W sessions but was axed in favor of Wot Gorilla. While I like that song his entry was far better and a great challenging instrumental. I would love to have heard Genesis do that one,

Carry On Up the Vicarage is tremendous in how he uses his voice through the means he uses and the almost playful intro is simply bizarre. Icarus Ascending was a surprise to hear after coming off the Voice Of NECAM. Ritchie Havens vocals are unusual but I do like the slow fade out of the album. It is a well balanced album overall.

The low points for me are Kim, How Can I? & Hoping Love Will Last. One of my only complaints about his albums is the addition of mellow acoustic guitar tracks but it is a trademark of his and they are usually well done. That complaint is simply my own personal one.

Overall this album is great way to introduce a person to Steve's work. Of all the Genesis' solo artist's works Hackett is the best by far. He has gone underappreciated and been underrated. The Genesis biography The Sum Of The Parts is another great example of just how badly he has been dissed by the music community. His solo output is enormous and got almost no mention but there again, his face was cut out of also every shot when the group was being interviewed. Hackett is a great and talented musician and this album proves it.