PLEASE DON'T TOUCH!

Hackett's solo albums build a strong case for his importance in the Genesis sound. They also give ample proof of his remarkable lack of song-writing skills. Especially on this AOR dominated album. Sitting in between two strong albums I had nothing but the greatest expectations, but as it turned out, this album has to survive on just one stunning instrumental and a few acoustic ditties amidst 30 minutes of tacky commercial pop.

The first few seconds of Narnia might put you off-guard, but as soon as the singing start it is clear that Hackett didn't want to write a prog album, a hodgepodge of the mellow Genesis sound mixed with a cringe worthy kind of classic rock was what he had in mind. Many of the songs here are amongst the worst in my album collection, easily beating all things Tormato and even Asia with ease.

There's only one song worth mentioning in this collection of out-of-date pop, dusty soul and run of the mill filler material. That would be the instrumental title track, a stunning guitar piece. It's quite remarkable actually how this very same track would also be included on the ill-conceived 80's collaboration with Steve Howe: GTR. Also on that hideous album, it was the only song worth hearing.

The deep pitfalls of Prog's latent cheesiness come to full blossoming here. The title track barely keeps it from crashing into the black hole where it belongs. I can't believe I haven't ritually destroyed this album yet in the course of my 20+ years ownership.