GUITAR NOIR

In general, it is safe to say that Hackett has never done as strong albums as in the seventies; his later albums often suffer from some kind of identity crisis, in the same way as Steve Howe's. He likes to show off his interests in various music styles, and also usually chooses to sing himself instead of having guest singers as often was the case in the seventies. And frankly Steve isn't any great singer. This one, even if guilty of the mentioned things, is quite an enjoyable pop/rock album with delicious electric guitar playing. You hear some blues with associations of rainy cities at night, you hear some Latin American influences, you hear layers of keyboards (Julian Colbeck and two others), etc. There are some tracks that rock slightly harder but the overall athmosphere is dreamy, emotional, nocturnal. Guitar Noir is indeed very fitting title to this album!

As some reviewers have already said, the album is dragged down a bit with tendencies towards AOR (remember GTR, Hackett's and Howe's collaboration in the eighties?). Some tracks are really best to jump over, but with as many tracks as 13, a few worse songs are still easily forgiven. Here's a lot to enjoy. Also Hackett's singing is relatively better than on some other albums.

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