His first album for classical guitar, all instrumental and acoustic stuff, of course. Here there is no orchestra yet, as will be the case in the classical albums of the '90s and '00s, and the only accompanying elements to the classical guitar are the cameos of John’s superb flute (which takes center stage in the beautiful "Kim" and "Second Chance") and the synthesizers of Magnus that replace the orchestral parts, just in a couple of tracks (especially in "Calmaria"). A perfect album for moments of quiet, filled with bucolic watercolors, enveloping atmospheres, notes like drops of dew, sometimes with an almost dreamlike sweetness, other times with a more restless, hazy grip. In the reissue, excellent additions of three more tracks, very valid ("Time Lapse at Milton Keynes" is one of the best on the album, the other two are traditional pieces). The gem remains "Horizons," a safe harbor reintroduced here, 11 years after the first time, but of course, it’s taken from Giovanni Sebastiano Ruscello; for the rest, everything is signed by Steve. The Bay of Kings is already a nice album; I have to say it’s the one I like the least among Hackett's acoustics, the only one that perhaps fails to envelop me in its atmospheres for the entire duration. Hackett will refine his style and later produce three stunning classic albums, all among my favorites in his discography: "Momentum" ('88), and with the orchestra, "A Midsummer Night's Dream" ('97) and "Metamorpheus" ('05).
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