Showing my prog-rock roots again...
Really enjoying
Steve Hackett's last double live CD (
Live Rails) while finishing off a few leftovers from an outstanding Mount Mary Quintet vertical. I rolled into Muses when they announced they were closing (Adelaide's biggest and best independent music store where I spent endless hours looking, listening and buying all sorts of stuff in my teens and long after - I'm really sad to see it go.

) and picked this up with a couple of other things I figure I'm not going to see anywhere else other than maybe eBay.

I haven't been a huge fan of Steve's solo work in the past, but this live effort is brilliant - newer songs like the powerful Fire on the Moon seem to be every bit the equal of classics like The Steppes and Spectral Mornings, of which these versions are breathtaking (well, apart from the drumming gaffe halfway through Spectral Mornings - how did they miss that?

). At times his guitar work sounds a bit like David Gilmour, Mike Oldfield, Gary Moore and even his replacement at the Genesis live shows, Daryl Steurmer. These heavier pieces are countered by the Gaelic-like Ace of Wands, and the beautiful vocal melodies of Serpentine Song, Emerald & Ash, Every Day and Sleepers, but often even these folk inspired tunes open up into heavier, jazz-rock fusion passages. That jazz influence shows up also in Clocks, Ghost in the Glass and Los Endos, although the versions of Firth of Fifth, Blood on the Rooftops, Fly on a Windshield/Broadway Melody of 1974 are pretty true to the Genesis originals.
Some clips from the related tour(s) I found on youtube:
Everyday:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1Nypeuk_lM (nb. an official preview from the DVD "Fire & Ice" below)!Fire on the Moon:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fi0kNybqPoUThe Steppes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53YwA9A2PiASerpentine Song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgnAYwPeqJITubehead:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRbvUtTTutASpectral Mornings:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sMFMQcSAt8Steve Hackett is the sort of act we should get in for the Guitar Festival in Adelaide - what the hell is going on with that thing? Either get some really big name acts like Eric Clapton or get off your arse and promote what shows up (I didn't know Derek Trucks was playing until it was way too late to get a spot), or preferably both. Ranny & a few dozen nobodies playing "Smoke on the Water" at Elder park on acoustic guitars (and virtually everything
but guitars) get news coverage, but nothing else gets a mention - big fucking deal.

Lance Armstrong ain't showing up for his $$$ million fee anymore for the TDU, so spend the money on this to make it something other than a bad joke. Rant over.
Cheers,
Ian
Go ahead, make mine red.