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After attending last November: the stunning commemorative concert of "Foxtrot," one of the greatest masterpieces he contributed to with Genesis, it seems the least I can do is share my impressions of Steve Hackett's new album, released just over a year ago during the pandemic era and from which he drew several tracks to present at the Bologna event to a literally ecstatic audience.
Among these, the one I liked most is "Natalia" (attached): more suited to the soundtrack of a film than to a late prog album, given its symphonic use and epic choir. However, as the same author notes in the presentation of the piece attached to the booklet, he declares his deep youthful love for Russian Music, which is very evident here: the more knowledgeable won't miss the references to Prokofiev (Juliet and Romeo) and Tchaikovsky (Nutcracker), which form the backbone upon which he perfectly builds his lyrical narrative of what once was, including his variations on the electric guitar. A very "strong" piece that reminds me of the associative operation already successfully realized by Emerson Lake and Palmer with "Pictures at an Exhibition" and later with a re-edition of the same Prokofiev piece in "Black Moon." All this, associated, among other things, with the Hackett cornerstone present in Foxtrot, namely "Horizons," where it is instead J.S. Bach who is brought into play, highlights the profound Classical training of our hero, undoubtedly shared with several musicians of his generation and that contributed tangibly to the musical Renaissance of the late '60s and early '70s.
Returning to the work in question, Hackett accentuates his epic inclination in the track "Relaxation Music for Sharks," where, however, the contribution of his guitar is more incisive and frantic. It's still unclear what Steve means by "Relaxation," perhaps the clearing xylophone finale? Hmm. Just to not overdo it with the symphonic, we then move to the ethnic with "Wingbeats," where more than wing beats, we witness drum beats, always delightfully accompanied by Hackett's instrument and his singing, to which you eventually get accustomed... a little less so to the African choirs, at least from my point of view. But we decisively return to the classical with "The Devil's Cathedral": I had just finished mentioning J.S. Bach, and here's the real test: a carpet of organ interspersed with a pressing soundtrack apparently from a James Bond movie.
"Held in the Shadows" is then a mix of genres always decidedly epic, where I even catch a reference to the Wishbone Ash masterpiece: "Argos." If anyone knows it, they will tell me what they think, naturally enriched and corrected in a Hackett-style. Just to not miss anything, we then have "Shanghai to Samarkand," between the exotic and the saccharine, which, however, quite well renders the leap between the two musical cultures, and here, too, there's a nice nod to none other than Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir," followed finally by Maghrebi rhythms (with which the mythical Samarkand has nothing to do, though!). The attack and backbone of "Fox's Tango" then seems definitely inspired by the hard rock of Black Sabbath, upon which Steve weaves his plots, more than the Argentine dance. Finally, it clearly reconnects to the environmental theme launched with the penultimate album At the Edge of Light: "Day of the Dead," not by chance obsessive and rather catastrophic, full of delightfully progressive variations, a subject also revisited in "Scorched Earth," or aptly named: "Burnt Earth," fortunately quenched by the final thunderstorm and corroborated by the harmonious closure on classical guitar: a pearl of about a minute from Steve.
What astonishes in this seventy-two-year-old is the energy with which he is in constant search of new musical horizons, often blending those dear to him, the reminiscences of his long musical experience, and the sounds of distant lands, interpreting the tracks with vigor and never letting his guard down, but enriching them with the passion easily deduced in his concerts. I cannot remain indifferent to this commitment, and I reward it beyond the musical judgment, which might not be entirely positive in some overly "puzzle" passages: Surely, in the face of so much contemporary musical garbage, here we are dealing with a cultured album rich in sounds, perhaps even too many!
Enjoy listening!
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