Steve Hackett - Beyond The Shrouded Horizon (2011)

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Steve Hackett is better known as Genesis’s iconic guitar player and in a lesser extent as a solo artist, author of brilliant albums such as: "Voyage Of The Acolyte", "Spectral Mornings", "Defector", or his and Steve Howe’s short lived joint venture, GTR. His latest work: “Beyond The Shrouded Horizon” sits well in this line of musical masterpieces. This album all about guitar, about Mr. Stringbender’s love for the six strings that made history and also about a lifetime of musical experiences, shifting back and forth from prog rock to clasical, jazz, blues and world music.
Yes, this album is a journey! It begins in the realm of symphonic prog and after that it drifts away, maybe influenced by the fact that most of the tracks where composed in Egypt on a lengthy stay, toghether with keyboardist Roger King. It takes you into oriental mood with tracks like "The Phoenix Flown" then it jumps over to the american Wild West with songs like "Prairie Angel" and "A Place Called Freedom". Waves of the Pacific Ocean can be heard in the gentle ballad "Between The Summer & The Coconut Palms" and sounds of India in "Waking To Life" (featuring the beautiful voice of Amanda Lehmann), and so, traveling around the globe in one direction, it gets back to Cairo in "Two Faces Of Cairo".

For the last section of the album, Hackett called in a fantastic rhythm section consisting of Chris Squire and Simon Philips, whithout doubt the best choice for getting heavy in "Catwalk" and laying down the memorable eleven minute prog suite based on a SF theme : "Turn This Island Earth" to finish the album in style.
This is Hackett’s best musical effort in decades. It features solid music writing, excelent playing, strong conceptual ties, both musical and lyrical, between the tracks and the best voice of Mr. Hackett ever recorded (this being the usual weak point of every solo album up untill now).
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Favourite songs: Loch Lomond, A Phoenix Flown, Prairie Angel/A Place Called Freedom, Two Faces of Cairo, Turn This Island Earth

Rating: 9
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