SPECTRAL MORNINGS

Steve Hackett

Eclectic Prog

4.15 | 967 ratings

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The T
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator

I think this album, as great as it is, lacks the utter perfection of the first solo-work by Hackett, "Voyage of the Acolyte".

Hackett focuses more in "world-music" this time around, drawing influences from even more varied places than in his previous efforts. The GENESIS-sound is almost gone here (though it still can be felt in tracks like the first one, "Every Day"), and there is a reasons for that: on this album, Hackett finally has his own band, with no input from any member of his former group. He even does most of the singing here, though his vocals are hardly the contribution for the arts he will be remembered for.

The album travels a lot of different territories, going from the semi-instrumental opener track based upon one main theme, through the Chinese, koto-enhanced "The Red flower of Tachai Blooms Everywhere", to the effective closer, the title track, an instrumental piece with the usual magnificent guitar work by the master.

Unlike the last Hackett album I reviewed, "Voyage of the Acolyte", "Spectral Mornings" is farther away from perfection. While songs like "The Virgin and The Gypsy", full of ornamental details with magical flutes and a dreamy voice make an impact, "The Ballad of the Decomposing Man" is quite useless, a little play-piece, a musical joke. "Clocks" doesn't lack interest, but seems a little bit rushed; the melancholic "Last Time in Cordoba" has all the atmosphere of Hackett's best works, though seems a bit short in melodic inspiration; "tigermoth" is uneven, starts promising, then wanders about with no purpose, then regains brightness with the final vocal section.

This uneven work still deserves 4 stars, as is an excellent addition to any music collection.

The T | 4/5 | 2009-6-5

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