DEFECTOR

With the release of "Defector" in the early 80's, Steve Hackett tries to continue the line traced by his predecessor "Spectral Mornings", relying on the same musicians that accompanied him in that album and looking for a greater cohesion in the final result, despite the fact that the themes can have very different structures among them.

The resulting musical proposal unfolds not only between atmospheric soundscapes, as with the intense "The Steppes", one of the best pieces on the album, framed by the mid-tempo of John Shearer's omnipresent percussion and Hackett's guitars, or the spectral and energetic "Slogans" and "Jacuzzi", but is contrasted with introspective and reflective developments, as with "Leaving" and its painful narrative, or with the intimate and naked "Two Vamps as Guests" in Spanish guitar mode, an infallible reference to Hackett's classic influences, or also Nick Magnus' piano in "Hammer in the Sand", who by the way has shown himself solvent on keyboards throughout "Defector".

And after the accessible "The Show" and its genesian blizzards of more commercial times, the British musician does not leave aside his experimental vein, reserving for the end of the album a piece that could well form part of a radio broadcast from the 30's, the Broadway-like "Sentimental Institution".

Without reaching the brilliance of previous albums, "Defector" is a very good work, as well as being the final link in the imaginary tetralogy of Hackett's most progressive solo career, which began with "Voyage of Acolyte".

3.5 stars