Tag: Steve Hackett

Drinking From the Firehose – Some Quick Reviews

On By Erik HeterIn Uncategorized2 Comments

drink_from_the_firehose

Like many of you, I “suffer” from the common “problem” that afflicts those of us who are prog fans in this, the Second Golden Age of Prog – mainly, that there is just so much good prog out there that nobody could possibly listen to it all.  In short, it’s like trying to drink from a firehouse.

Happily, this “problem” has been exacerbated for me since joining this site, as I have had the good fortune to be able to borrow a number of albums I had yet to hear.  As such, I’m going to write a few quick reviews (which are more like first impressions).  Please pardon the lack of detail, but do remember these reviews are worth every penny you paid me to write them ;).

The Flower Kings, Banks of Eden:  This is my second foray into Flower Kings territory, the first being ‘Space Revolver’ some time ago.  I thought the latter album was quite good, and ‘Banks of Eden’ only reinforced my good impression of these guys.  Even if there were no other good songs on the album, the hippy-dippy-trippy epic ‘Numbers’ that opens the show makes the price of admission worth it.  Luckily, there are other good songs, and thus I would definitely give this album a thumbs up.

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Our Progarchist Week

On By bradbirzerIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

GlassHammerPerilous2012borders_001Just in case you missed any of this, we had yet another brilliant week at Progarchy.  Dr. Nick and Alison Henderson reviewed the new Steve Hackett album, Genesis Revisited II (Insideout).  Tad Wert posted about guitarist Michael Hedges.  Chris Morrissey reviewed (briefly) one of his favorite albums of the year, the debut album from Flying Colors, and he posted about the excellence of Mike Portnoy.  I had the great privilege of interviewing Blake McQueen of Coralspin.  Ian Greatorex (doesn’t everyone want an ubercool last name such as Greatorex?) looked at the past of Beardfish.  Roger O’Donnell remembered his time recording Disintegration with The Cure.  Jazz legend, Dave Brubeck, passed away, the day before turning 92.  Carl Olson offered a nice review of his career.  Finally, our Englishman, turned-Kiwi, Russell Clarke, explained why Big Big Train allows him to remember, fondly, his homeland.

Forthcoming, more reviews of Steve Hackett (at least one more, maybe two) as well as a review of the forthcoming King Bathmat.  Several (if not all!) Progarchists will also be explaining our “best of 2012.”  Lots and lots to come before 2012 is done.

On a personal note, I’ve spent much of my free time this week, going back through the myriad interviews with the various members of American prog demi-gods, Glass Hammer.  There’s plenty of quotable material from these guys.  My favorite, though, comes from a 2002 interview with one of my oldest friends, Amy Sturgis.  In response to one of her questions, Steve Babb stated: “We were attempting to repackage progressive rock (which we though had long since vanished) as fantasy rock.”

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Genesis Revisited II/Kompendium: Looking Forwards and Backwards

On By bradbirzerIn Uncategorized1 Comment

By Alison Henderson

Two albums have been released in the past month, which have presented an interesting fork in the prog road, so far as I am concerned. They have a great deal in common in terms of where their roots lie and the musicians which appear collectively on both. And both may succeed in their own ways in bringing more listeners into the proverbial prog fold.

 

Genesis Revisited II

hckttGenesis Revisited II is Steve Hackett’s continuing project to rearrange and revitalise some of the vast Genesis canon, a task he started 16 years ago with the first volume, Watcher of the Skies. As currently one of the busiest and most sought after prog artists in the business, this has been a huge undertaking for him. The cast of musicians he has picked this time reflects the crème de la crème of prog with his trusty inner circle of Nick Beggs, Lee Pomeroy, Roger King, Gary O’Toole, Amanda Lehmann, Rob Townsend, Phil Mulford along with special guests that include Steven Wilson, Francis Dunnery, Nik Kershaw, Mikael Åkerfeldt, Steve Rothery, Nad Sylvan, Jakko Jakszyk, Neal Morse and Roine Stolt plus John Wetton, Nick Magnus and his brother John Hackett who appeared on volume one.

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Genesis Revisited II

On By Dr NickIn Uncategorized3 Comments

Reinterpreting the much-loved classics of one of the seminal 70s prog bands is a sensitive business, even if you are one of those responsible for creating said classics in the first place. Tinker too much and you risk losing the essence of what made those classic songs so good; change too little and people will question the point of the exercise.

The former criticism was levelled at Steve Hackett in some quarters when he released the first of his Genesis retrospectives, back in 1998. Fourteen years on, he charts a safer and more successful course with this follow-up album, opting for a more subtle treatment of seventeen Genesis songs across the 2 hours 23 minutes of a double CD. He also find space to revisit four songs from his lengthy solo career.

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