Favourite Steve Hackett Albums?
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Topic: Favourite Steve Hackett Albums?
Posted By: Squonk19
Subject: Favourite Steve Hackett Albums?
Date Posted: October 25 2017 at 03:05
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I'd like to hear the esteemed views of progarchivers on their favourite Steve Hackett albums (assuming they are fans of the great man) - leaving the live releases and Genesis Revisited stuff to one side, perhaps. Spectral Mornings remains my favourite, followed by Voyage of the Acolyte and even Please Don't Touch - but as they are from my relative youth and are his first three solo offerings - they are not a particularly illuminating selection when looking at the wealth of material he has released since then, from 1980 onwards. I still find his albums to be like curate's eggs - with superb tracks nestled between lesser tracks, or quite quirky ones - and while his eclectic variety is to be admired, it is tough to recommend whole albums to others at times. I thought Wolflight was a strong and more consistent effort, but then again the two before it had their moments too. Any views or insights? ------------- “Living in their pools, they soon forget about the sea.” |
Replies:
Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: October 25 2017 at 03:13
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Voyage Of The Acolyte =. Perfection Then Spectral Mornings and Defector, though both have ‘stupid’ tracks. Take Tigermoth, what’s with the goofy vocal section ?? And Sentimental Institution is just daft. Why, Steve ?? |
Posted By: Sean Trane
Date Posted: October 25 2017 at 08:18
Hackett has never gotten close to the perfect album (not even Mornings), because he always had either a clunker or a stinker. I only kept Mornings (his best by a margin), and put on a CDr compilation whatever I wanted from Voyage, Please and Defector I don't care for anything that came after (even the Genesis revisitations)
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Tom Ozric wrote:Posted By: kenethlevine
Date Posted: October 25 2017 at 09:45
| I agree that I don't think he has ever made a truly great album. think "Spectral Mornings" overall is best, but I have enjoyed lots of many other albums, including <cough> "Cured". His discography is so extensive there are still albums of his I haven't heard. I'm not really interested in the Genesis revisited stuff though enjoyed hearing it live back in about 2010 |
Posted By: Barbu
Date Posted: October 25 2017 at 10:16
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My first Hackett purchase was Guitar Noir and it's still a favorite. Great, fun listen. ------------- |
Posted By: The.Crimson.King
Date Posted: October 25 2017 at 11:44
I've always been a huge Hackett solo fan and I love his quirky songs like Sentimental Institution/Ballad of the Decomposing Man/etc. While I hated to see him leave Genesis and trigger their slide into awfulness, he created a great body of work that never would have happened with control freak Banks constantly looking over his shoulder  Perfect: Voyage of the Acolyte, Spectral Mornings, Defector, Sketches of Satie, Out of the Tunnel's Mouth Very Good: Please Don't Touch, Bay of Kings Good: Genesis Revisited, Wolflight, Beyond the Shrouded Horizon ------------- https://wytchcrypt.wixsite.com/mutiny-in-jonestown" rel="nofollow - Mutiny in Jonestown : Progressive Rock Since 1987 |
Posted By: miamiscot
Date Posted: October 25 2017 at 14:25
| The first four slay. After that it's a rather hit or miss affair. |
Posted By: Cosmiclawnmower
Date Posted: October 25 2017 at 15:49
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I adore Voyage of the Acolyte in its entirety and the majority of the next three lps. After that it did seem to become patchy studio wise though I always enjoyed the 1980's live concerts. Of the newer material I must say that I really enjoyed Wolflight and The Night Siren (his best in a long, long time in my view) ------------- |
Posted By: Dellinger
Date Posted: October 25 2017 at 21:15
| I know very little of him solo. I did love Voyage of the Acolyte... specially Shadow of the Hierophant. There are some other songs I have liked from live albums, but specially songs on Rails Live from the album "Out of the Tunnel's Mouth". |
Posted By: kenethlevine
Date Posted: October 25 2017 at 22:01
that is a good one too
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Posted By: BaldJean
Date Posted: October 26 2017 at 01:44
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the acoustic albums. "Bay of Kings", "Momentum", "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (that one especially) and "Metamorpheus" -------------  A shot of me as High Priestess of Gaia during our fall festival. Ceterum censeo principiis obsta |
Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: October 26 2017 at 06:06
| To Watch The Storms is my favourite. I like pretty much everything on this record including his take on Thomas Dolby's The Devil Is an Englishman and the very beautiful 'Rebecca' one of his very best songs imo. He also pays homage to King Crimson's classic debut album on a few tracks as well. I can't imagine why anyone into prog would not like this album. |
Posted By: Barbu
Date Posted: October 26 2017 at 07:55
Peaceful beauty. ------------- |
Posted By: iluvmarillion
Date Posted: October 26 2017 at 23:45
Probably my favourite Steve Hackett although his first four albums get all the attention. His latest is also good.
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Posted By: Steve Wyzard
Date Posted: January 08 2018 at 11:18
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1. Please don't touch, 1978 2. Defector, 1980 3. Cured, 1981 4. Till we have faces, 1984 5. Momentum, 1988 6. A Midsummer Night's Dream, 1997 7. Beyond the Shrouded Horizon, 2011.
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Posted By: dr wu23
Date Posted: January 08 2018 at 12:52
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Well...I only have the first 4....and of those Voyage is by far my favorite....as someone above said there are good tracks on all of his albums but for me many of them are hit or miss. ------------- One does nothing yet nothing is left undone. Haquin |
Posted By: BaldFriede
Date Posted: January 08 2018 at 13:49
What you and probably many others call "hit and miss" is a quality I very much like about Steve Hackett: He doesn't give a damn about expectations; he just does what he wants, which in my opinion is the sign of a true artist. -------------  BaldJean and I; I am the one in blue. |
Posted By: kenethlevine
Date Posted: January 08 2018 at 14:15
| ^good points. I remember once reading that when Peter Gabriel left Genesis lost their brain but when Steve Hackett left the lost their heart. Oversimplification yes but it rings more true than not to me |
Posted By: Bitterblogger
Date Posted: February 19 2018 at 21:33
| Well, Banks got what he wanted, then. Mainstream pop sales. |
Posted By: For Nobody's Bush
Date Posted: February 20 2018 at 18:47
| How about that Two Towers song-phenomenal! I love his revisits to genesis, also. |
Posted By: Barbu
Date Posted: February 20 2018 at 19:20
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Wild Orchids lately (on the road)...highly satisfying listens. ------------- |
Posted By: Manuel
Date Posted: February 24 2018 at 15:58
| Very hard choice, Steve has so many wonderful albums. From Voyage through The Night Siren, his music is quite impressive. I certainly cannot choose. |
Posted By: hellogoodbye
Date Posted: February 24 2018 at 16:57
| Voyage by far |
Posted By: HackettFan
Date Posted: February 24 2018 at 17:12
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Hmm...I missed this thread till now. Number 1 for me is Spectral Mornings. I absolutely love Ballad of a Decomposing Man and The Tigermoth vocal that Tom Ozric dissed. S’okay. I dissed an album he was gung ho about once. Number 2 for me would probably be To Watch the Storms, and then maybe Defector. I’d put Momentum in right after that. And then Guitar Noir, which doesn’t get enough acclaim, even from Hackett himself. Voyage of the Acolyte after that. Mmm I’d add Please Don’t Touch into the top tier too. Beyond the Shrouded Horizon? Maybe it too because of that wonderful bonus CD in particular. The top tier is very large. That’s okay. ------------- A curse upon the heads of those who seek their fortunes in a lie. The truth is always waiting when there's nothing left to try. - Colin Henson, Jade Warrior (Now) |
Posted By: Squonk19
Date Posted: February 24 2018 at 17:53
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I've been playing Beyond the Shrouded Horizon and The Night Siren over recent months and been increasingly impressed by both. I have to admire his refusal to stick to a particular style within albums. It might not make for consistency and what might be a perfect album - but his vision remains fresh from a solo perspective - whilst his Genesis Revisited projects helps fund it all, hopefully. Hasn't his vocals improved significantly, as well?!? ------------- “Living in their pools, they soon forget about the sea.” |
Posted By: Lewian
Date Posted: February 24 2018 at 17:56
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I'm largely with HackettFan here, Spectral Mornings & To Watch the Storms top my list. One of the few musicians who has kept his creativity, productivity and taste through all these years (and his guitar skills anyway), and as BaldJean wrote, a true uncompromising artist. |
Posted By: grantman
Date Posted: February 24 2018 at 19:47
| voyage of the acolyte wolflight and highly strung |