AT THE EDGE OF LIGHT

Like most Steve Hackett albums At The Edge Of Light grows on you and by now has become my most played album of the year by a long way. One of the most prolific prog composers with a huge body of work (I think this is his 25th album), Steve always maintains a decent standard in everything he releases. This release is one of his strongest in years. My favourite tracks are Underground Railroad and Those Golden Wings. Underground Railroad has a bluesy opening that uses its railroad theme to develop a great foot tapping conclusion Those Golden Wings is a huge ballad, which develops through several phases including a choral section and concludes with a wonderful guitar solo. The album concludes with Hungry Years, probably the most commercial track on the album, Descent, a track with a Bolero-style rhythm, and finishes with a lovely choral ballad called Peace. I rated this a strong 4 Stars when I first discovered it but I must now raise that to 5 as I finally recognise its quality. And of course I am really looking forward to Steve's Selling England By The Pound tour where this year's release will get a pretty full airing alongside my favourite album of all time.