Steve Hackett:
Live Archive 70, 80, 90's
Camino Records, CAMCD 23 (4 CDs)
Release date: November 12, 2001
Good news are always welcome. I know, because a few Saturdays ago I experienced it myself. A package from Camino arrived, and inside I found the new 4CD archive box from Steve Hackett.
Wonderfully packaged, with four separate CD envelopes - including a forty pages photo and text book explained what this is all about. A real gem for any Genesis and Hackett fan. But first, let's go back some 23 years.
1978 was a great year for me. I was twelve, and during that summer I discovered Genesis. A new world opened up for me, and since then... yes, you know. Years later, I discovered that I also missed some spectacular stuff that year. Genesis visited Oslo for their second time in June - and our friend Steve played his first solo show ever, in Oslo's Chateau Neuf in October. I missed both. A pity, but when hearing the first two discs from Hackett's new archive box, I'm not sure if my young and tender heart would have enjoyed challenging and mind-boggling stuff like 'Please Don't Touch' and 'A Tower Struck Down'. Anyway, my heart and mind is definately ready for this live music now - and I enjoy every second of it.
"Spectral Mornings" was my first CD by Hackett, and has since then become the one I always will recommend other people to buy first. It has almost everything - the stuff we always wanted Genesis to continue to play after Steve left, and the more typical music trademarked by Steve solo. Now his music from this period is collected in live form, and it really deserves attention. The box's first two CD's are from Steve's 
second tour, and in 1979 he shows that his music can stand by itself. Steve already had four studio efforts to pick from, and his live selection is relevant and wisely picked. Especially have songs like 'Every Day' and 'Spectral Mornings' remained stage favourites through his entire career. And of course, his Genesis masterpieces 'Blood on the Rooftops' and 'Horizons'. The long and quiet part in 'Ace of Wands' could have been picked from any earlier Genesis live tour. Beautiful!
TREASURE: The four slipcases.
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'Carry On Up The Vicarage' is funny and interesting, and obviously the audience couldn't agree more. Funny? Check out 'The Optigan'. Listening to the more acoustic bits, I am stunned by the great sound - and I ask myself why this show hasn't been released earlier. Do you have more tapes from the seventies in your attic, Steve? Anyway, this show from Hammersmith Odeon is probably one of the most representative for Steve's live efforts in the seventies. Let's jump two years ahead, into the eighties.
Cured, released in 1981, is not among my favourites in Steve's catalogue. I'm not quite sure why, but it has probably something to do with feelings. But live-wise the music on the following tour worked great. One CD with a compilation from the show in Rome in September demonstrates that. The CD kicks of with '... Nigthmare' and 'Jacuzzi', the latter one of Steve's best instrumentals ever. A powerful start. This show is also recorded well, although the sound is a little bit synthetic. The musicians all do a great job, and Ian Mosley impresses on 'Ace of Wands'. 'The Steppes' is as powerful as ever, in the beginning with hand-claps quite in front of the soundscape, but Steve's guitar shows who's the boss after a verse or two. And then, 'Every Day' creeps in - with its promising first verses, building up to the climacs we all are waiting for. It's a bit like 'Firth of Fifth' - someone is instrumentally teasing us, up to the relief - a guitar solo by the man himself. I've heard better versions ("Time Lapse") - but this is great stuff anyway.
The rest of the CD is great listening, and mostly instrumental. 'Slogans' and 'A Tower Struck Down'are almost punk, but have their great melodic moments - and surprises - enough to declare this live outlet very successful. And that's before 'Spectral Mornings', 'The Show' and 'Clocks' - be your own judge!
Now we're moving 12 years - into 1993. We jumped easily over the drum machine years - there's nothing of it here. Not a bad move. The fourth CD opens with a quite heavy medley consisting of 'Myopia', 'Los Endos' and some other great extracts from Steve's career. The sound is excellent - so I'm open for everything! BTW - I didn't mention: This live recording is from the tour following the album "Guitar Noir" (1993), probably Steve's best album between "Defector" (1980) and "Darktown" (1999). It has a special atmosphere, and is a great starter for Genesis fans wanting to dig into and explore the world of Steve Hackett - as a rock musician. After a brilliant 'Vampire...' (better here than anywhere else) - I'm travelling far away. 'Sierra Quemada' with its flute-like harmonies brings me, as Steve intends, to South America. He really succeeds in making a very special atmosphere on this song, and his guitar is sounding better than ever.
And it doesn't stop there: Back from the Andes mountains, we're back 'In The Heart of the City' - but with Steve still grabbing the same "noir magique" from that fantastic album. Here we're speaking of an extended version of the original - with Steve making a Metheny-esque guitar synth solo wonderfully backed by excellent drumming by Degenhardt and Colbeck's keyboards. The transition from the vocal part into the instrumental is awesome, and the following few minutes show an adventurous Steve at his best. The solo is grand, heavy, soft, beautiful - and while listening to it I wonder how it's possible to make music as beautiful as that. Steve - please include 'In The Heart...' next time you're playing in Oslo. It's a city - with a heart.
Three more quiet numbers follow - 'Walking Away From Rainbows', 'There Are Many Sides to the Night' and 'Kim'. I'm sure the Grand Theatre audience loved a little break, power-wise. Another beer, a pee - I don't know. Don't make me wrong - this is beautiful stuff, but I love the idea of having "sections", obviously apparent on this show. John's flute on 'Kim' is magnificent - and already then there was a lot of Satie in the air...
Back to the "Guitar Noir" album. Another highlight, 'Dark As The Grave' is very strong with its walking bass and all the other sounds that has become Steve's trademarks - the angelic qoir sounds almost real, and makes a scary atmosphere to the whole thing. Great stuff. Two less interesting pieces follow - and then it's time for... The real thing.
We're talking medleys. As mentioned earlier, the album "Spectral Mornings" introduced me to Hackett - and its title track opens this powerful medley also consisting of beautiful renditions of 'Firth of Fifth' and 'Clocks'. It's a masterpiece to put this huge amount of music history, passion, melody, drama and technique into 8 minutes - and the medley worked probably well as a show closer, summarising very important parts of Steve's career. It probably did - but there are still more excellent music to come.
Two pieces - probably representing two opposite poles in Steve's career - end this CD, and four CD boxset. Firstly, Morricone's beautiful 'Cinema Paradiso' from the film with the same name. For those of you've seen the film - no reason to try to control your emotions. Then - '... In That Quiet Earth' from Genesis' "Wind and Wuthering" fills the air, and most of us know how brilliantly this tune sums up Steve's years in Genesis. It was a stage favourite in Genesis' live repertoire for more than ten years following Steve's departure from the band. Anyway, here - it's a brilliant closer for this box, but - between us - I miss the slow'n'heavy part that used to be in the middle of it. Here it's compensated by a "tour de force" by Colbeck, Hackett, Degenhart and Sinclair - and I don't have any problems with it. It's Steve's song - and I want him to do it his way.
14 years of solo work is represented on these CD's. It could have been more - it could have been less. Steve has been, without doubt, the most productive individual among "the fab five" since 1978 - and still is. From the box's booklet I can easily spot at least 350 Steve Hackett live gigs, and that's very impressing. This "Live Archive" is very representative for Hackett's "first years" as a solo artist, but the diehard fans know so well that there are so many other live shows waiting to be shared on CD's. What about "Darktown" live? Some snippets have already been available on the Internet for some time - and the trouble is, when fans are teased, they can't stop asking for more.
Anyway, this 4CD box is a must-have. It's a great starter for fans not used to hear Steve Hackett live, and for people not used to hear Steve Hackett at all. The CD's are beautifully packed in a very collector-friendly box, including a colourful and informative booklet. It's beautiful looking, it sounds great, it's coffee-table - and it's Steve Hackett. What more can you ask for?
Thomas Holter, January 15, 2002
Track list:
CD1 - 70's | Hammersmith Odeon, London, 30/06/79
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CD2 - 70's | Hammersmith Odeon, London 30/06/79 |
CD3 - 80's | Castel Sant' Angelo, Rome, 13/09/81 |
CD4 - 90's | The Grand Theatre, London, 08/06/93 |
- Intro
- Please Don't Touch
- Tigermoth
- Every Day
- Narnia
- The Red Flower Of Tachai Blooms Everywhere
- Ace Of Wands
- Carry On Up The Vicarage
- Etude in A Minor
- Blood On The Rooftops
- Horizons
- Kim
- The Octagon
- A Tower Struck Down
- Spectral Mornings |
- Introductions
- Star Of Sirius
- Shadow Of The Hierophant
- Clocks
- I Know What I Like
- Wardrobe Boogie
- Racing In A
- Racing In A Coda |
- The Air Conditioned Nightmare
- Jacuzzi
- Funny Feeling
- Ace Of Wands
- Picture Postcard
- The Steppes
- Every Day
- Overnight Sleeper
- Hope I Don’t Wake
- Slogans
- A Tower Struck Down
- Spectral Mornings
- The Show
- Clocks
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- Medley
(Myopia/Los Endos/Imagining/
Ace Of Wands/ Hackett to Pieces)
- Vampyre With A Healthy Appetite
- Sierra Quemada
- Take These Pearls
- In The Heart Of The City
- Walking Away From Rainbows
- There Are Many Sides To The Night
- Kim
- Dark As the Grave
- Always Somewhere Else
- Lost In Your Eyes
- Spectral Mornings/Firth of Fifth/Clocks
- Cinema Paradiso
- In That Quiet Earth |
- Buy this CD at Camino Records
- Visit Steve Hackett's official website - for more information on track list, credits etc.
- Back to The Path...
