Stev on top!

Steve Hackett living icon of progressive rock like blues, hard rock, harmonica, the honky-tonk piano, banjo, classical music, opera, flamenco, Latin, prickly lorgue the soundtrack of romantic movies, classical guitar, heavy rhythms, simple tunes, Erik Satie, the music of the Balkans, North Africa and dOrient. Many reasons to hate or dy lose its sense when you listen one of his first disc! Good reasons Laimer also: an assembler of its exceptional patchwork (when it's the blues this is his way, "Black Thunder"), an outstanding guitarist whose speed has nothing to envy Petrucci and a fabulous bonus inventor melodies.
Browser his instrument and new sounds, Hackett of course immediately identifiable sound leg: a velvety, impressionistic and air soli, bends endless sustain that fetch lharmonique, game dizzying tremolo bar. This style was already written in his first solo album "Voyage of the acolyte" in 1975.
He gives us here more numerous and lengthy solos as in the previous installment.
His art of classical guitar is sublime and the proposed cuts leave without virtuosity votes between arpeggios and tremolos improbable agreements in flamenco style, enchanting ("Eartshine"). Intro to "Blood on the Rooftops" (1977) his first piece "classic" seems suddenly a piece for beginner!

He likes to imbue his music from his travels and he surely had a lot to visit the Orient in recent years as from "Into the tunnel mouth" this exotic influence is quite pregnant. What gives beautiful arabesques, never caricatures (guitar just royally simmiscer on violins of "Dust and Dreams"). Jaime this music with sounds oud, tar or duduk.

He takes us with her songs, which take their time without any weakness, far from it (or the acoustic dynamic "Loving Sea" and Corycian Fire begins as Steppes, heavy rhythm, turns into its environment into electrical killing to finish Carmina Burana. God !!! ???

It is difficult to analyze a disk Steve Hackett as the idea is rich without being eclectic.
I just marrêterais on "Love Song for a Vampire" a summit of the disc. Poignant, one of the best Hackett. It starts with an acoustic arpeggio top flight and then a simple dark song, a refrain in sublime soaring recalling the great Genesis ("Seven Stones"), a solo that finds lharmonique better rebound, the arrival of the strings, a little romance shot the Brahms, part hardrock surly, the second part of stratospheric solo, and End delicate harmonics: high art!

Steve sings the disk, often accompanied by the beautiful female voice of Amanda Lehmann. His voice has become over the years more enjoyable, he found the right height. The disc dailleurs sachève on a gay and casual song.
Now surrounded by a solid group of a vast repertoire and armed (while his solo records and Genesis Revisited) Hackett appears to get much more than an destime to success of a public increasingly wide. Fruit of a long-term work without any commercial compromise.
Again, the artist hat!