Conference napalm::guitar

    Poul,
    
    Could you recommend one of his solo albums for 
    someone that's completely unfamiliar with his work?
    Thanks,
    
    -Tom

Tom,

well, that depends on what you go for...as mentioned the last two albums
were acoustic recordings, whereas the other ones with mixed elctric and
acoustic stuff.

He maybe not so easy to get into (I had to play his records MANY times
to recognize that totally different style). Why not start with 'Spectral
Mornings', that one not being too difficult. 'Please Don't Touch!' fea-
tured, among others, vocalists Richie Havens (am I right?) and Randy
Crawford in strong, vibrating recordings.

The other albums may scare some away after the first listening, but af-
ter some time, you find new aspects in his way of playing and composing...

More later,

Poul

    Didn't he play in the band GTR with Steve Howe?  Never heard the whole
    album but the song 'When The Heart Rules The Mind' was pretty good.
    
    
    Bruce Mc

    Steve Hackett also did an album with Steve Howe a few years back. The
    band was GTR. So named because of two of the world's best progressive
    classical rock guitarists in the world ( in my opinion ) The two
    display some really nice/tight melodic structures. 
    I also saw the band at the orpheum back then and each guitarist
    performed amazingly! Howe and Hackett are a different breed of guitar
    players, they leave the tricks/gimmicks/tappings/ in the far background
    and concentrate on revealing the true meaning of the music--integrity
    
    Putting that all aside, they worked so well together and they really
    portrayed to the audience a sense of "this is what we've wanted to
    do for so many years" and their message came across clear and loud.
    I really enjoyed the album, it has some great vocal work (Max Bacon)
    some great drum/percussion work (Jonathan Mover from Peabody, Mass)
    and incredible harmonies [guitar and vocal]
    

    "GTR fell apart because they hated working with each other"
    
    - as told to meby Johnathan himself.

    Oh well .. I guess they put one over on all of their fans!
    I didn't mean that they enjoyed working together, whether they did or
    not, I really meant to say that their styles complimented each others
    What band is Johnathan playing with now? 
    The GTR album is definitely worth listening to if you enjoy their
    vain of guitar playing. Does anyone know what MAX their lead singer
    is doing now, if anything?
    
    Hell! I wouldn't mind jamming with him, he has a great vocal range!
    
    

    Jonathan Mover is play with Alice Cooper and Joe Satriani at the
    moment.
    
    B.

    I thought I'd offer a different opinion on the GTR album.
    
    For me, it was one of the biggest disappointments ever to find
    its way to vinyl (tape, CD, whatever).  "When the Heart Rules the
    MInd" is *not* typical of the whole album.
    
    Let me say, upfront, that I was prepared to LOVE the album.  I have
    enjoyed the work of Howe and Hackett over the years, and a local
    guy was involved (Mover on drums) and I literally couldn't wait for 
    it to hit the streets.  When I heard it, I was heart-broken.
    
    My specific criticisms?  
    
    To start, there is essentially no bottom end on the album.  I can't
    imagine why a band of this caliber put out such a poorly produced and
    engineered album, surely the money was there.  The GTR album is the
    tinniest, most-annoying sounding album I've ever heard.  It has the
    fidelity of a transistor radio.
    
    Ex-Bubbles, Ex-Asia keyboard man Geoff Downes produced the album and
    that was a mistake.  Maybe it seemed clever to bring a keys man in to
    do a "guitar" album, but he apparently had no sympathy for the guitar
    as an instrument.  Most of the time the guitars are processed to the
    point where they are indistinguishable from keyboards.
    
    Yes, I'm a bit prejudiced, but why should a guitar sound like a
    keyboard?  In short bursts, okay, but that is not the case on this
    album.
    
    The songwriter, if not outright lousy, is quite pompous.  Hardly any
    decent hooks.  Over-produced, overdone, and swill for lyrics.  And
    the singer?  Take everything you can think of that was annoying about
    Dennis DeYoung's vocals in Styx, and multiply it times ten.  Now you
    have Max Bacon. And most veteran Yes-listeners/Howe enthusiasts know
    he can't sing to save his life.  He managed to ruin both of his solo
    albums with abysmal singing.
    
    My feelings are obviously a little harsh but I'm not alone.  I saw the
    cassette of the album for 2.99 in the cut out bin at Strawberries
    around Christmas time.
    
    "Voyage of the Acolyte" shows off Hackett in fine style.  And the Yes
    album or Yessongs reveal Howe's greater glory.  All I can say about the
    GTR album is that, if you can find it, it won't cost much.
    
    One disappointed man's opinion,
    
    Brian

    
    One album that Hackett guested on is "Two Sides of Peter Banks" by
    former Yes guitarist Peter Banks.  It came out on Sovereign records in
    72 or 73, also featured are Phil Collins, Jan Akkerman, John Wetton and
    the rhythm section of Flash, Banks' band at the time.  
    
    Hackett's contribution to the music is minor, though.
    
    							Brian

    
    Hackett's contribution to Genesis is noticeable, especially noticeable
    when you listen to the albums after he left.  His guitar work is very
    distinctive, yet hard to describe.  You just have to listen to it.  My
    favorite Genesis with Hackett is the live album "Seconds Out", in
    particular "Supper's Ready."  Also, from "Wind & Wuthering", the song
    "Blood on the Rooftops" is a Hackett tune with a really well played
    classical guitar intro.  The song is very dark sounding.
    
    I've heard one of his solo albums, but can't recall anything about it,
    except that I thought it was very good.
    
    I agree that GTR was lousy.  I bought the CD on a chance.....if anyone
    wants it for $4 its yours.
    
    Dave  

Re .8

Hey Brian,

Don't sugarcoat it, tell us how you really feel :-)  .


I couldn't agree more.


Mike D

    re. .8
    
    He admitted, rather shame-facedly, that Geoff Downes was the
    ex-Buggles, not the "ex-Bubbles" keyboardist.
    
    Nothing like destroying your own (limited) credibility while
    trashing an album.  The Buggles were comprised of Downes and
    Trevor Horn.  Horn replaced Jon Anderson in Yes for the last
    album, Drama, which is kind of an interesting album.  The
    song Tempest Fugit is pretty exciting.
    
    Horn went on to produce "90125" for the reformed Yes with Trevor
    Rabin.
    
    And, as noted, Downes went on to produce the GTR album.  I'm
    still amazed/disgusted that an album named "Guitar", featuring
    two world-class fret men, barely has any traditional guitar
    sounds on it.
    
    And, for other trivia, Asia was originally conceived as a trio
    with just Howe, Wetton, and Palmer.  
    
    Brian

I have to agree with .8, I didn't list the GTR album because I don't count
it as a 'real' Steve Hackett album; I too was disappointed with it, it's
noisy and gives you headache when trying to listen to...the potential was
great, but the result was a disaster...

Anyway, I got so inspired by this discusssion that I went home and played
all his records in the weekend...listen to 'A Cradle Of Swans' on 'Cured';
a beautiful acoustic piece, gives you the impression of something sad and
secret...which is about the only way I can describe his music...

Anybody knows what he's doing for the moment? If you look at the time since
the last album, a new one could be on its way?

Poul

    
    Always thought Hackett's electric playing was soooo good, from Nursery 
    Crymes onward, until 'Till We Have Faces'. Have to admit to being
    unfamiliar with GTR (out of choice after hearing 'When the Heart...').
    
    Liked the tone he got out of the instrument and effects
    boxes he used to use with Genesis. After 18 years, I still love
    the solo he played on 'Fountain of Salmacis', and he's done a bunch
    of great ones since....his solo acoustic/classical stuff is nice.
    I think he's got a distinct talent for writing in that genre.
    
    Loved the fact that with Genesis he used the guitar as a background 
    instrument, very powerfully, with short fragments of melodic accompaniment,
    doubling melody lines, and sustained chords, sometimes so buried in
    the mix you really have to listen for him, yet the music would not
    have sounded the same had his playing been absent.
    
    Saw him probably 8 times with Genesis from '72 to '74, and once
    (for three bucks, yet) at Paterson State College (NJ) when he was
    doing a short tour after Defector was released. The band was the
    same as on 'Spectral Mornings'. Highlight of the show was definitely
    a short solo segment he did on the classical, where he blended into
    one piece things like 'Blood on the Rooftops', 'Entangled', some
    pieces from his (by then) three solo albums, and finished with
    'Horizons', the last piece bringing the house down. Great show,
    great player.
    
    Peter
    

    Steve's work with Genesis was his best, in my own taste.  His sound
    was obtained using a old H/H solid state amp, with a control marked
    'voice' that tailored the bite (it was mainly a fuzz/overdrive) to the
    note played.  The circuit was potted in a case, and few know what was 
    in it.  Nice amp.  he then switched, like alot of UK players,
    to Hiwatt.
    
    Jay Tashjian
    

Jay: I think you're thinking of the technical side of it: his *sound* was
better with Genesis. As for this, I don't really know, maybe you're right.
As for the music, I don't try to compare; Genesis w/Steve Hackett was some-
thing else than Steve Hackett alone. His solo recordings are something com-
pletely different from Genesis, even though his style is still very recog-
nizeable; I like listening to all of it.

When listening to Steve Hackett, the sound itself is not so important for
me, I think more of the atmosphere he creates with his music...

Poul

    re .15  
    	Do you ???? If so can you explain.
    
    				Fred
    

	Hurrah for mail order! I just got two new Steve Hackett CDs
	from 'Cheap Or What CDs' (UK), that I haven't seen and didn't
	expect to in Denmark.

	'Blues With A Feeling' is plain blues, Steve howlin' away on
	harp and guitar - never heard him play this before, except a
	single 'blues experimental' track on an earlier album - but
	he sure does it well! He plays/sounds mostly like himself, but
	his blues style seems to be the sort of early Clapton, mixed
	with the same sort of weird tricks that Jeff beck does. Ama-
	zing blues chops on an LP!

	'A Midsummer Night's Dream' with Steve playing strictly classic
	guitar, backed up by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, is a
	deluxe recording, built on a Shakespeare drama, everything
	composed by SH. This is a truly wonderful piece of music, he
	surely has evolved as a classic guitar player; I would rate him
	among the best in the world now...it seems like he masters every
	technique with perfection. I would love to hear him play the 
	traditional classic tunes! If you like classic guitar, try this
	one out; I also think he actually brings something new to this
	genre with his beautiful compositions, they are so full of moods,
	that I keep stopping from doing whatever and find myself with
	flashbacks from my childhood and things like that...!

	He is also pictured with a new hair style, I never saw that
	dominant nose profile of his before - he also LOOKS like a
	Maestro! ;-)

	Poul