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Piet: Although many stormy weathers already have raged inside Steve
Hackett’s musical mastermind, the man has built up an impressive
back catalogue that is unsurpassed when it concerns style diversity.
He will always be linked to Genesis until the end of times, but on
the merits of what he has achieved after his departure from
aforementioned group, he certainly earns his statue in the pantheon
of the prog gods.
Hackett’s latest CD is regarded as a regular studio album, but as a
matter of fact this is an understatement: most Hackett-albums are
absolutely crammed with style twists and unexpected (sometimes
unaesthetical) mood variations that make his music an adventurous
affair, without really being innovative. It really doesn’t matter,
because his broad soundscape remains his main forte, and when it
comes to these qualities, ‘To watch the storms’ will live up to all
expectations. The keen listener will easily make some connections
with Hackett’s glorious past. I admit: it will take some time, but
this CD is like a rough diamond that is to be polished carefully; in
the end it will sparkle and shine anyway.
The lovely, pastoral-sounding ‘Strutton ground’ is the opening
track, which is not at all a logical choice. ‘Circus of becoming’
provides us with the first surprise: a seemingly dull circus tune
suddenly gets a boost of pomp in the chorus, thanks to the input of
keyboard player Roger King. ‘The devil is an Englishman’ originally
is a Thomas Dolby –song, but gives Hackett the opportunity to psych
up people to a cardiac arrest. ‘Frozen statues’ has a jazzy feel to
it, and reminds me a bit of David Sylvian. After 3 blows of a
vessel’s horn, the thing glides into ‘Mechanical bride’, an
explosive mix of Hackett-guitarwork (extremely unnerving but genius
nevertheless) that will scare the hell out of many listeners. It’s
very pleasant to be subjected to the sheer classical beauty of
‘Wind, sand and stairs’, with a beautiful makeover from guitar to
piano. ‘Brand new’ is clearly a wink to Hackett’s days with GTR.
The lovers of SH’s more melodic side will be extremely pleased with
‘This world’, and the folky ‘Rebecca’ has a surprising middle
section with playful percussion work.
Which gives the perfect opportunity for a trip along ‘The silk
road’, a subtle oriental cocktail with Hackett’s glorious guitarwork
as the centrepiece. The next tunes, the drinking song ‘Come away’
and the acoustic ‘The moon under water’ bring us a nice change.
‘Somewhere in South America’ already lifts up a bit of the curtain,
and ‘The serpentine song’ is the final to the album. It may be a bit
corny, but brother John’s flute playing is excellent.
It may be too soon to use words like ‘retrospective’, but ‘To watch
the storms’ is a nice display of Hackett’s artistic skills. It comes
to his credit that he has been doing his thing without any
compromise. It may not be successful or on the same level all the
way through, but many arguments can validate his integrity as a
musician. Listen to ‘To watch the storms’, and be convinced of this!
Bobo: After the much acclaimed “Darktown” album Steve Hackett
has released a series of live albums and DVD’s recorded during his
much appreciated travels around the world. Hackett is proud about
his past and sees no problem why not to include some Genesis
material which after all was the reason why he became successful as
a solo artist in the first place. In between all of these demanding
activities it’s as if Steve has found new life, new inspiration, a
new purpose in life. Not only has he put a new band around him but
on “To watch the storms” he has for the first time used that same
band in the studio as well.
When I listened to
this new album for the first time I was pleased. Pleased to have a
firm smile on my face as with this album Hackett goes back to his
successful past including material which could have been on “Voyage
of the acolyte” or on “Spectral mornings”. Pleased because he
alternates between electric and acoustic guitars, between heavy
sounding songs and intimate sketches. Hackett might not be the
world’s best singer but he delivers a better job than Steve Howe. In
fact in Steve’s case it adds something special which might be the
secret potion to turn a certain composition into something which is
unmistakably Hackett all over. Aother authentic quality of Steve has
to be the constant presence of humour, typical British humour if you
ask me. This has to be the main reason why he covers the Thomas
Dolby song ‘The devil is an Englishman’ on this album. It’s nice to
know the serious look Hackett portrays is but a façade, that deep
down there’s an immense laughter hiding. Just listen to Steve’s
voice on ‘The devil is an Englishman’ and I’m convinced he needed
more than one take to get this one right ! If Hackett is a fan of
Thomas Dolby then he might have written ‘Frozen statues’ as a
tribute to Dolby because it really contains the kind of atmosphere
Thomas would compose himself muted trumpet included.
In Roger King our
guitar virtuoso not only has found the ideal keyboardplayer but also
the man with the right pair of ears who for this album was the
perfect guy to engineer, mix and master the album. Especially with
headphones “To watch the storms” becomes so much more of a true
audio experience. With Roger as part of his touring band he already
performed some of the material of this new album live. Amongst
others the “Live in Buenos Aires” DVD contains a roaring version of
‘Mechanical bride’ which of course sounds more detailed here
especially what the drums are concerned. The quality of Hackett
enables him to switch from a powerful track directly towards the
intimacy of the electric guitar. ‘Wind, sand and stars’ is of the
same beauty as ‘Kim’ and I mean both the track and the person here !
Next to Steve’s wonderful guitar I should also stress the superb
keyboard parts from Roger King here who delivers some of his finest
moments with a high cinematic degree ! ‘This world’ does even
contain parts which could be written by the late John Lennon in the
style of his very own ‘Woman’, simple but very effective.
‘Rebecca’ is a very
interesting track as it uses a rather surprising rhythm to which
again some superb acoustic guitar has been added. But if there’s one
rhythm which has to be mentioned on this album it certainly has to
be the addictive trance-like tribal rhythms of ‘The silk road’.
Ingenious as he is Steve has even seen the chance to include the
main theme from his earlier ‘Tower struck down’ composition. This is
a smart move because you’re playing a new song whilst you hark back
to an earlier period ! With a title like ‘The moon under water’
Steve exactly delivers that kind of atmosphere as through the music
you can indeed imagine how the moon looks from below the water. This
diversified album ends with the longer ‘Serpentine song’ which ebbs
along a soft melody and also includes brother John on flute. From a
vocal point of view to my ears it sounds a lot like King Crimson’s
‘I talk to the wind’ but all your attention is drawn away towards
the music so you don’t have time to doubt it’s originality.
Good
to hear such a great and diverse album from Steve Hackett again
trying his hand at all sorts of genres without losing his original
grip. Together with a fine selection of musicians he’s ready to
deliver many more glorious work in time to come. “To watch the
storms” is indeed an album which leaves me happy. I hope it does for
you too ! |
