Steve Hackett
Guitar Noir & There Are Many Sides To The Night

Even in music, as in life, sometimes you experience the classic love at first sight. The kind that makes you lose all rationality and calm when evaluating the world and everything around you. In that moment, you find yourself "bewildered" without strength or certainties. In life, this happened to me once years ago when I fleetingly encountered a wonderful red-haired girl. She crossed my view so quickly that I didn't even have time to react... All of this happened, obviously relating to music, with this double CD by S. Hackett, which provoked immediate and sincere emotions in me. Double albums often tend to "wear out" the listener with an excessive amount of music. That’s not the case here, also because the guitarist presented two aspects of his musical personality, one for each CD. In the first CD, you'll find the more Rock and Progressive compositions with some vocal tracks. Thirteen tracks for a total of about fifty-eight minutes. The first CD (remastered) is titled "Guitar Noir" and was originally released in 1993, with the addition of the previously unreleased track "Theatre Of Sleep". It starts thrillingly with "Sierra Quemada" which can remind you of "Spectral Mornings" in certain passages. "There Are Many Sides To The Night" and "In The Heart Of The City" share the same musical tenor, meaning relaxing and meditative tracks. "Take These Pearls", "Dark As The Grave", "Like An Arrow", "Tristesse", "Theatre Of Sleep", and "Walking Away From Rainbows" are all deep and melancholic pieces capable of provoking profound sensations in the listener. It’s hard to decide which one is the most exciting. "Lost In Your Eyes" and "Vampyre With A Healthy Appetite" are decidedly more Rock tracks in which Hackett also plays the harmonica, with Steve showcasing a guitar solo in the latter track with almost Heavy Metal tones. "Paint Your Picture" and "Little America" are slightly more Pop-Rock and are quite enjoyable to listen to.
In the booklet notes, it’s stated that this record explores the "dark recesses of the human mind" through a rather varied series of musical sensations. They are all tracks that demonstrate how the guitarist has engaged in significant exploration of the sounds of his guitar.

The second CD is instead a live recorded at the Metropolitan in Palermo (Sicily) on the first of December 1994. Hackett, besides the guitar, also plays the harmonica, and in some tracks, he is accompanied by J. Colbeck on keyboards. The title of this concert is the same as a track present on the first CD, and "Walking Away From Rainbows" is presented simultaneously on both CDs, being in the tenth position on the first CD and the eleventh on the second CD. Perhaps the guitarist's intention was to create a double conceptual connection in his music. Eighteen instrumental pieces for a total of about seventy minutes. I assure you they are all excellent, wonderfully played, and without a doubt, demonstrate that Hackett is a guitarist endowed with remarkable technique but who is also able to "express" immense creativity with his instrument, even with classical compositions by Vivaldi. The concert also features a magnificent "Cinema Paradiso" by the timeless Ennio Morricone. Colbeck's presence gives, in some tracks, a greater expressive charge to Steve's music but never becomes intrusive, as with the track "Second Chance". The concert closes with the delicate "End Of Day". The end of a day indeed, of a splendid day, in which Hackett demonstrated his love for music and the guitar to a marvelous and particularly attentive audience. This double CD demonstrates, once again, how S. Hackett has always been the true progressive spirit of Genesis, more than any other member of the group. I would have loved to attend that concert. An inevitable comment on the album cover depicting Hackett in a leather jacket, sitting in a bar-tobacconist with a lowered, thoughtful gaze with a hand in front of his mouth, with a cup of coffee or tea sitting on the left side of the table.

In conclusion, an exceptional double album, highly recommended to all fans of this musical genre. A progressive greeting to everyone.