01	Omega Metallicus						03:48
	02	Darktown						04:59
	03	Man Overboard						04:17
	04	The golden age of steam						04:09
	05	Days of long ago						03:23
	06	Dreaming with open eyes						06:54
	07	Twice around the sun						07:15
	08	Rise again						04:26
	09	Jane Austen's door						06:13
	10	Darktown riot						03:10
	11	In Memoriam						07:59

One of rock's most uncompromising and complex individuals, the inventor of 'tapping', has moved on. More revealing than ever before and firmly autobiographical, DARKTOWN is as personal a Hackett album as you're likely to see. The guitar work is as alive and inspired as ever and the usual impossibly big and haunting sounds are occasionally twinned with Ian McDonald's searing, angst-ridden sax bellowing from places only glimpsed in a child's nightmare.

DARKTOWN is like a series of miniature movies or short stories - but don't zoom in on one fragment - you need the whole picture which is detailed to say the least.

"I didn't want to impress my personality on any of it... just to go at it like a character actor, turning up in different guises to help the plot along."

Hackett hasn't flinched from exploring the limits of the term 'progressive', he drags that much maligned genre screaming and kicking into the 21st century. The album opens with "Omega Metallicus", a remarkable 'beats' driven guitar tour-de-force where everything you hear that isn't bass and drums is wrung from the electric guitar. In the Latin-tinged "Dreaming With Open Eyes" the entire percussion picture springs from Hackett's nylon guitar - slapped, plucked, sampled and looped. The ride through the dark continues - who could fail to be moved by the evident pain of "Jane Austen's Door"? - and when light finally emerges in the shape of tracks such as "Days of Long Ago", with Jim Diamond's soulful vocal, the sense of relief has been well earned. Finally there's a magnificent goodbye with "In Memoriam", a deceptively relaxed and world-weary but ultimately salient observation.

Steve Hackett has never lacked the nerve and imagination to take risks, try out new techniques and push forward the boundaries regardless of the consequences. He has always gone out on a limb, even courted unpopularity in his pursuit of fresh musical satisfaction.

This is a record from someone who has lived and needs to tell you what he's discovered - an exorcism, from the harshest moments to the most cherished memories.


1 / Omega Metallicus
2 / Darktown
3 / Man Overboard
4 / The Golden Age of Steam
5 / Days of Long Ago
6 / Dreaming with Open Eyes
7 / Twice Around the Sun
8 / Rise Again
9 / Jane Austen's Door
10 / Darktown Riot
11 / In Memoriam

CAMINO RECORDS CAMCD17
EUROPEAN RELEASE DATE 26TH APRIL 1999
HOLLAND DURECO
BELGIUM DURECO
FRANCE MSI
GERMANY SPV ITALY EDEL
POLAND ROCK-SERWIS
SWEDEN BORDER MUSIC
UK CAMINO



1 / Omega Metallicus
Recorded & mixed by Roger King
Bass Sir Douglas Sinclair (Twice Removed)
Rhythm Design Roger King
Loops Courtesy of Beats 'n' The Hood
Guitar Handler Steve Hackett
Guitar Trainers Roger King & Ben Fenner

Omega Metallicus is of course old Etruscan for "Let's Party" a tune for all bass instincts! Although guitars were stretched and frets were rattled, no instruments were injured during this recording. Experiments on live guitars were carried out in the most humane conditions imaginable. A big thank you to Fernandes for finally making my dreams come true, If there is a God of sustain, you are it!



2 / Darktown
Recorded & mixed by Roger King
Sax Ian McDonald
Keys Julian Colbeck & Roger King
Lacerated guitar, ambient harmonica & narration Steve Hackett
Bass extractions Roger King

This fondly remembers the abuse of power masquerading as education. Congratulations to all who have observed and survived this phenomenon in our Great British schools - "The best years of your life" - which is why half of you are in therapy right now and the other half are probably too drunk to feel the pain anymore. (Wonderful sax from Ian by the way on a very pretty tune, don't you think?)



3 / Man Overboard
Recorded by Richard Buckland, Ben Fenner & Roger King
Mixed by Ben Fenner & Roger King
Seascape Steve Hackett, Richard Buckland, Ben Fenner & Roger King
The Siedlaczek choir, Davy Jones Locker guitar, thumb piano, rainstick, 12 string, harmonica & orchestral simulation Steve Hackett.

If you haven't got time to go on holiday, perhaps this track might convey the feeling of "slowing down in the sun" Bermuda style, which is where I wrote this many years ago. The song popped into my head while sitting on a rock overlooking Jobson's Cove and watching a sunset work its magic while Kim searched for parrot fish in the salt water below. A parrot fish lookslike a swimming rainbow by the way.




4 / The Golden Age of Steam
Recorded by Ben Fenner, Jerry Peal & Roger King
Mixed by Jerry Peal & Steve Hackett
Post production Roger King
Drumming & flageolet Roger King
Marcato string arrangement & design Ben Fenner
Woodwind modelled by Steve Hackett Jerry Peal & Roger King
Children's choir designed by Ben Fenner
End Choir Steve Hackett, Mae & Jamie McKenna
Additional vocals Steve Hackett
Normandy Beach Landing, commentary voice unknown but genuine
Bells by Jerry Peal
Additional strings by Jerry Peal & Steve Hackett

A strange track (partly dreamt) influenced by the book "The Diary Of Anne Frank"... I remembered being told that children made the best spies in World War Two ... What if a child had been responsible for her family's discovery? The song follows an imaginary character's development from child, to spy and to monster - a story of opportunism at its worst.





5 / Days of Long Ago
Recorded & mixed by Billy Budis
Post production Ben Fenner & Roger King
Written by Steve Hackett & Jim Diamond
Vocals Jim Diamond
Guitars Steve Hackett
Violins Shaped by Steve Hackett
Cello line Billy Budis

A wistful love song featuring Jim Diamond as the one and only special guest vocalist on this album. The melody seemed to write itself as Jim and I sat down after a walk in the park. It served to calm us both after the hectic business of living was put to one side. The following day Jim arrived with a complete set of lyrics and, as I recall, we recorded it right then and there or was it there and then? Those of you unfamiliar with Jim Diamond's voice will of course please note that his unique sound shines indeed like a diamond and is also as clear as a bell - a true original . Why do all the great singers come from Scotland?





6 / Dreaming with Open Eyes
Recorded & mixed by Jerry Peal
Rhythm shaped from slapped & slowed nylon guitar by Steve Hackett
Voice, guitar & vibrator through pickups Steve Hackett
Flute & pan pipe John Hackett
The rest by Jerry Peal including bass, strings and keys:
Windscreen wipers Jerry's Citroen(heavy tension) Steve's BMW (extra slack gauge)

A car journey, this time put to music - a serendipity of daydreams and night dreams. The mind wanders off and you're in two places at once -the rain beats down and you feel protected in your bubble ... Dad's old Standard Vanguard is brought to mind, shaped like the Batmobile, painted battleship grey and roaring like a lion. Lots of happy memories listening to Jim Reeves, The Everlys, Dylan & Duane Eddy. "My baby goes to the movies, nobody looks at the screen "... and the beat goes on with its irrevocable exhortion towards movement in the young. Where will it end?





7 / Twice Around the Sun
Recorded by Ben Fenner, Jerry Peal & Roger King
Mixed by Roger King
Fretless Bass Sir Douglas Sinclair
Rhythm design Roger King
Slap Echo guitar Steve Hackett
Mellotron Mk 2 specimens carefully preserved enhanced and finally played by Ben Fenner
DX7 and organ particles also by Dr. Fenner

An instrumental track which both pounds and occasionally floats, notable for possibly the longest sustained guitar note in the history of modern recording to date - played with my favourite 'Golden' tone.





8 / Rise Again
Recorded by Richard Buckland & Ben Fenner
Mixed by Ben Fenner
Drums Hugo Degenhardt
Drum post production by Aron Friedman & Ben Fenner
Bass guitar Billy Budis
Vocals & Gibson Goldtop guitar Steve Hackett
Piano & keyboards Aron Friedman

Reincarnation & survival - pet themes of mine - consciousness exists outside the body - you'll see it's so-called 'Reality' that's the big hoax ...





9 / Jane Austen's Door
Recorded & mixed by Roger King
Rhythm design, keyboards & bass by Roger King
Les Paul Goldtop Guitars & vocals Steve Hackett

A song about wishing someone the best - shine on wherever and what-ever you choose ...





10 / Darktown Riot
Recorded & mixed by Roger King
Rhythm design by Roger King/Beats 'n' The Hood
Talking guitar, Fernandes Sustainer & droning voice by Steve Hackett
Mellotron plundering, marcato string stealing & choir hijacking by Roger King.

If you push people, including children, far enough they will retaliate - here endeth the lesson!





11 / In Memoriam
Recorded & mixed by Roger King
Bass samples courtesy of John Wetton
Bugle guitar, jazz tone guitar, nylon guitar & vocals Steve Hackett
Siedlaczek choir conducted and uncorrupted by Monseigneur Roger King
Virtual drums Roger King
Voiceover Steve Hackett
Strings, choir & mellotron modelled by Sir Roger of the Kings

I might be saying too much here, but I believe alienation strikes even the most communicative of us all from time to time, and we are bound to ask what could we even-tually do without? The paraphernalia of living ... Like a theatre stripped of its props ... or a drawing almost completely erased ... Emotionally gutted as we all must become as the forms we hold dear slowly crumble about us. Yet the spirit lives on ... Even the lowliest of us are worth something from the "use-less" butterfly to the "grubbiest" slug. In other words an idea of God as the sum of all experience ... A party to which everybody is invited.




All tracks written by Steve Hackett and published by c 1998 Stephen Hackett Ltd. except "Days Of Long Ago" written by Jim Diamond & Steve Hackett published by c 1991 Diamond Brothers Music & Stephen Hackett Ltd.
Produced by Steve Hackett
Mastered by Ben Fenner
Portrait of Steve Hackett Paul Cox
Design & Photography Harry Pearce






Steve Hackett - Darktown Country of Origin: UK
Format: CD
Record Label: Camino Records
Catalogue #: CAMCD17
Year of Release: 1999

After a blues-album, some acoustic projects (together with a symphony-orchestra) and two backward-looking projects (Genesis Revisited and Tokyo Tapes), Steve Hackett promised his fans a real 'rock'-album. Darktown is indeed the first 'electric' albums that fits the label 'progressive rock' since the release of Guitar Noir.

Samples and loops, mr.Hackett has discovered them as well. Omega Metallus is a very innovative track with a bass-sample by Sir.Doug Sinclair. This is a very weird track that you other love or hate. I love it! It's fast and haunting. In the middle there's a guitar bit where Hackett sounds exactly like Brian May - I'd swear it's the man himself - and with this opening track Hackett gets your attention immediately.
Darktown is indeed a 'dark' song, not unlike Vampire With A Healthy Appetite. Ian McDonald (ex-King Crimson/Foreigner) delivers some sweeping sax-bits, that could already be heard on some improv-bits on Tokyo Tapes. Personally, I am not very fond of the way Hackett 'talks' and although it suits the atmosphere here, I'd prefer him singing.

The first of a couple of orchestral songs is Man Overboard, which is a beautiful ballad with a wonderful atmosphere. Hackett is singing very well. Golden Age of Steam also is a very impressive song. The 'positive' mood of the song is contrary to the subject of it. The track was inspired by the 'Diary of Anne Frank' and tells a story about children in the World War II. The combination with a children's choir humming the main theme of the song is very nice. The end features a sample from the commentary on the Normandy Beach landing, which symbolises the end of the war.

Day Of Long Ago has been written by Hackett and Jim Daimond, who's featured on vocals as well. This song has an oriental feel and although Diamond's vocals suit this eastern mood, I'm not very fond of the 'nasal' sound of his voice.
Dreaming with Open Eyes is another soft song, with a very romantic atmosphere. Turn the lights down for this one! On top of a great bass-line, a combination of acoustic guitars, strings and flute (by John Hackett) paint a lovely scenery. Yes, I'm dreaming with my eyes open! Orchestral samples are played backwards at the end. Very strange.
The instrumental Twice Around The Sun is next. The great sounds of ancient Mellotron, combined with modern electronic beats, form the basics for this track. But the cream is the wonderful guitar-solo that's played on top it. Haven't heard Hackett for a (too) long time like this. The middle part, with fretless bass and without the beat gives me shivers!

Rise Again features acoustic guitars and Hackett on vocals. I think the man really dislikes his own voice, because he uses a lot (too much) echo. Why is he doing these strange experiments with his voice? When the drums come in I finally get what I was waiting for: fast rhythm, aggressive vocals, and sweeping guitars. This is what Genesis lacks at the moment.... With Hugo Degenhart on drums, Aron Friedman on Keys and Billy Budis on bass, this is one of the few tracks that's recorded with a band.

Jane Austen's Door is another slow, 'echo'-track, with moody-atmosphere. Apart from the guitar-solos, not very interesting, to be honest. Also features Hackett singing French!
If you had fallen asleep during the last song, Darktown Riot will wake you up again. Like Omega Metallicus, this song consists of many samples, weird sounds, chords, clocks, horns, etc... strange, but still interesting.
In Memoriam is another orchestral ballad, and a very beautiful one. Hackett 'reads' the text, a bit like Marc Knopfler in 'Private Investigations'. A choir sings the 'In Memoriam'-chorus. Electric and acoustic pieces alternate. A very atmospheric track.

To be honest, this Hackett-album is not the one I expected. It is, apart from two or three songs, very atmospheric and although it's a nice atmosphere that Hackett creates, this album lacks the necessary variation. Some up-tempo songs, would keep me captivated, but now I get a bit bored at times.
Besides this, I really think Hackett should just sing and don't mess around with his voice, It distracts from the melody, just like the electronic beats that - at some points - are misplaced, especially in the ballads. I think Hackett should write songs and play them together with a genuine band, not a programmer. Don't let me be misunderstood, this album is better than much of Hackett's 80s work and I can imagine moments when this album is the right CD to play (e.g. on Sunday-mornings). But on other moments I think I prefer Guitar Noir, let alone Voyage of the Acolyte or Spectral Mornings.

Conclusion: 7 out of 10

Review by Jan-Jaap de Haan




Steve Hackett: Dark Town

Release Date: May 21, 2002
Total Time: 55:00

Where do I start? Steve Hackett. In my mind, his departure from Genesis was in fact that bands death Nell. I've followed Mr. Hackett's music since his departure from Genesis all the way up to Darktown. His musical style has changed across time but his ability to "play" and his exceptional ability to find "players" who compliment his style have remained at the very top of his field.

So. What is Mr. Hackett's "Darktown"? As the notes on the CD clearly say, "Darktown is more revealing than ever before and firmly autobiographical. Darktown is as personal a Hackett CD as you're likely to see.

This CD mixes those familiar sounds of yesteryear with excellent passages where the sax is the lead instrument or an odd vocal sound caresses the listener's ear. At times this is a dark CD. But at other times this CD has a life and a light that is designed to pull the listener deeper and deeper into the sonic power and fury that has always been Steve Hackett.

In many ways this CD is Mr. Hackett's introspective view of his life (Omega Metallicus is Etruscan for "Let's Party") followed by songs like "Darktown" which addresses the abuse of power masquerading as the so-called educational system in England. So much of this CD addresses those issues that a young male growing up in post WWII England would have to face.

Even so much so as to add the song "Golden Age of Steam" which may well be Steve's dream addressing the story told in the revealing novel "Diary of Anne Frank".

This is a CD where musically there is no doubt that a phenomenal caliber of artist is at work. Mr. Hackett's guitar work is as good as it's ever been. I have but one issue with The Steve Hackett Band. Please, take the time to find one really good singer. Sorry, but Mr. Hackett is not a singer and those that sing on this CD, while they may be adequate, are not up to the quality needed to take this band to the next level.

Hey Steve. Hire a full time singer. Build your musical style around a voice that can pull out the quality of the song writing you are sending out to us all.

Steve Hackett is a musical pioneer and one who has not set on his laurels. He continues to write poignant and meaningful music.

Sign me up. I'm riding on the Steve Hackett groove train.
Rating: 7.0 of 10
Reviewed By: Captain MDA

Review Date: 08/27/02

Visit the artist website: Steve Hackett

Personnel
Steve Hackett - Guitars, vocals
Douglas Sinclair - Bass
Beats 'n' The Hood - Loops
Roger King - Rhythm Design, Bass, Keyboards
Ian McDonald - Saxophone
Julian Colbeck - Keyboards
Ben Fenner - Marcato String Arrangement, Mellotron
Jamie and Mae McKenna - Choir
Jerry Peal - Bells, strings
Jim Diamond - Vocals
Billy Budis -Cello line
John Hackett - Flute, pan pipe
Aron Friedman - Piano, keyboards

Credits
Steve Hackett


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DISCOGRAPHY
Feedback '86 Previously unreleased 1986 album - 2002
Sketches of Satie - 8th May 2000
Darktown - Reissue Inside Out Records 2002 - Original Release 26th April 1999
The Tokyo Tapes - Released Date: 27th April 1998
Genesis Revisited - 1997
A Midsummer Night's Dream - 1997
There Are Many Sides To The Night Release Date: December 1994.
Blues With A Feeling - 1994
Guitar Noir - 1993 Re-Mastered 1997
The Unauthorized Biography - 1992
Time Lapse - 1992
Momentum - 1988
Till We Have Faces - 1983
Bay Of Kings - 1983
Highly Strung - 1983
Cured - 1981
Defector - 1980
Spectral Mornings - 1979
Please Don't Touch - 1978
Voyage Of The Acolyte - 1975


VIDEO
The Tokyo Tapes Video - 1998
Steve Hackett Live! - 1990





Steve Hackett - Darktown and Feedback '86

Released: 1999/2002, 2000/2002
Label: Camino Records/Inside Out Music America
Cat. No.: 30016/IOMA 4016-2, 30021/IOMA 4015-2
Total Time: 54:33 / 37:20 (plus bonuses)


Reviewed by: Keith "Muzikman" Hannaleck, June 2002
Steve Hackett's legacy has reached legendary proportions over the years due to his contributions to progressive rock in bands like Genesis. His solo career has also left its imprint upon the history of progressive rock. Although I haven't heard too much of his solo work, these two releases gave me a good idea of what direction Hackett went on two of his outings.

Feedback 86 was his post GTR solo album [of material intended for the second GTR album], and it probably was a huge disappointment, it certainly was for me. It all sounds like over produced fluff; it's overtly technical, fake and plastic. It's really a shame, as Hackett is a great guitar player, one of the best. What saves the day are the 20 MP3 bonus tracks. I suggest you skip right over the album and go right to the MP3's, they are excellent. Chester Thompson and Ian McDonald also contribute tracks. Several of the songs are of the unplugged variety. Of particular interest are the cuts from the Tokyo Tapes. "Court Of The Crimson King" and "Heat Of The Moment" are fantastic acoustic adventures that will have prog fans and collectors reeling. "Sketches of Satie-Pieces Froides #2," "Skteches of Satie-Gnossienne #2," and "Momentum-Cavalcanti" show a beautiful side of Hackett's guitar playing. All the tracks have a decidedly Latin flavor ala Segovia.

Darktown is a much better solo effort. Hackett seems much more focused and the music is more codified and driven with purpose, whereas Feedback 86 was a unfocused mish mash of cold and calculating technology. His guitar work is exemplarily, and many of the songs have a world feel to them, as many different instruments are employed. It's like what Peter Gabriel has done in the past, filling the studio with a wonderful cross section of musicians from around the world to create a rock and roll hybrid all his own.

I know that Steve Hackett has garnered rave reviews and the respect of his peers over the years, and I am a little disappointed that I couldn't rant and rave about his work. I hope I have the opportunity to hear more of his catalog in the near future so I don't have to look at his solo career through just two CDs. I have a feeling he did a lot of great work over the years that I just haven't had the privilege to hear yet. I believe regardless of my feelings that these two discs were well worth the listen and any prog rock diehard would find some value and entertainment in them, I certainly did, especially in all of the MP3s.

Rating: 3/5 (both)

[See also Bobo's reviews of Darktown and Feedback '86- ed.]

More about Darktown and Feedback '86:

Track Listing: Darktown: Omega Metallicus (3:48) / Darktown (4:59) / Man Overboard (4:17) / The Golden Age Of Steam (4:09) / Days Of Long Ago (3:23) / Dreaming With Open Eyes (6:54) / Twice Around The Sun (7:15) / Rise Again (4:26) / Jane Austin's Door (6:13) / Darktown Riot (3:10) / In Memoriam (7:59)

Feedback '86: Cassandra (4:07) / Prizefighters (5:13) / Slot Machine (4:23) / Stadiums Of The Damned (4:42) / Don't Fall (4:25) / Oh How I Love You (3:58) / Notre Dame Des Fleurs (3:11) / The Gulf (7:21)
* Bonus Tracks - 20 MP3 Songs

Musicians:
Darktown:

Steve Hackett - Harmonica, Piano, Narrator, Rainstick, Sequencing, 12-String Bass Guitar, Guitar Technician
John Wetton - Bass Samples
John Hackett - Flute, Pan Pipes
Roger King - Drums, Flageolet, Keyboards, Engineer, Mixing, Post Production, Wood, Guitar Engineer, Rhythm Coordination
Ian McDonald - Saxophone
Jerry Peal - Strings, Bells, Engineer, Mixing, Woodwind Arrangement
Doug Sinclair - Bass
Billy Budis - Cello, Engineer, Mixing, Management
Hugo Degenhardt - Drums
Aron Friedman - Piano, Keyboards, Drum Producer
Jim Diamond - Vocals
John Colbeck - Keyboards
Bob Fenner - Guitar, Recorder, Producer, String Arrangements, Drum Programming, Design, Mixing, Post Production, Choir Coordinator

Feedback '86:

Steve Hackett - Guitar, Harmonica, Vocals, Producer
Bonnie Tyler - Vocals
Nick Magnus - Drums, Keyboards
Terry Pack - Bass
Pete Trewavas - Bass
Ian Mosely - Drums




Hackett, Steve - Darktown

Member: pat396

I actually think this is one of Steve Hackett's best releases. Though Steve is an amazing guitarist, I always felt that his solo releases were some of the weakest of all the various members of Genesis. His albums of the 70's & 80's all contained some jewels that were surrounded by some very mediocre stuff. Plus, his singing voice on those albums ranged from weak to poor. I think he has come into his own in the last few years and his albums are much more consistent. Plus, either his voice has improved or technology has been kind to it. Either way, he sounds much, much better. Darktown contains some very good stuff. "Twice around the Sun" is one of his finest instrumentals (the guitar work is amazing) and "Jane Austin's Door" is a fine example of Steve Hackett pop. Overall, there is not a bad song in the bunch and though the album is dark in tone, it is highly entertaining. For any Hackett and/or classic Genesis fans, I recommend this CD highly. It is definitely one of Steve's finest.




Steve Hackett - Darktown

Released: 1999
Label: Camino
Cat. No.:
Total Time:


Review courtesy John "Bo Bo" Bollenberg, March 2000
For those of you who still categorize all of Steve Hackett's solo output under the same label as Voyage Of The Acolyte, you have to agree that Hackett today has very little in common with the young virtuoso of days gone by. Like the title suggests, Darktown holds some dark coils grown inside the obstinate mind of Mr. Hackett himself. Helped out by ex-King Crimson stalwart Ian McDonald (onetime moneymaker with Foreigner, but also poor guy with Fruupp!) and the soul voice of Jim "I Won't Let You Down" Diamond (once half of the world famous PHd), Hackett delivers one hell of an album.

The naive beginnings [of his solo career] have evolved through bluesy detours towards this mature, dark and autobiographical outlook on life. Listen to the heavy bass and the contemporary rhythms in "Omega Metallicus" which has Hackett on the same level as the current King Crimson. Like Andy Latimer [(Camel)], Steve Hackett isn't really a singer, so most of the time he restricts himself to some narration with a heavy voice like in the "Eastern rhythm meets free-jazz" of "Darktown." The love of simplicity and romance is expressed by the acoustic guitar in "Man Overboard," a song which, like so many others before, is based around the big love in Steve's life: Kim Poor. Having met the lady in question once I know that his wonderful music certainly is a personification of her beauty. Apparently her beauty has also been noticed by Jim Diamond who, during "Days Of Long Ago" sort of sings a musical ode to her. Also the Brazilian roots of Poor are apparent in the jazzy, bossa-nova like "Dreaming With Open Eyes" which is also the miraculous re-incarnation of brother John Hackett! The retro feeling goes once step further in "Rise Again" where I note a percussive "soundalike" as in "Los Endos."

Final song "In Memoriam" is a soft, babbling, bluesy dirge backed by a huge mellotron and resulting in a song which could easily have been featured on the first King Crimson album. To emphasize that influence, some bass samples from John Wetton have been used. Sort of back to the beginning! With Darktown Steve Hackett delivers a very contemporary album where his virtuosity, his compositional skills, and his technical ability are highlighted. Without any doubt, the purest, most honest and most powerful Steve Hackett album of all time!

[See also Keith's review -ed.]

More about Darktown:

Track Listing: Omega Metallicus (3:48) / Darktown (4:59) / Man Overboard (4:17) / The Golden Age Of Steam (4:09) / Days Of Long Ago (3:23) / Dreaming With Open Eyes (6:54) / Twice Around The Sun (7:15) / Rise Again (4:26) / Jane Austin's Door (6:13) / Darktown Riot (3:10) / In Memoriam (7:59)

Sound Clips: www.stevehackett.com/darktown/samples.htm

Musicians:
Steve Hackett - guitars, ambient harmonica
Sir Douglas Sinclair - bass
Roger King - rhythm, keyboards
Ian McDonald - saxophone
Julian Colbeck - keyboards
Jim Diamond - vocals
Billy Budis - cello, bass
John Hackett - flute
Ben Fenner - Mellotron MKII
Hugo Degenhardt - drums
Aron Friedman - piano, keyboards
John Wetton - bass samples

Contact:


Website: www.stevehackett.com
Note: will open new browser window

Discography

Voyage Of The Acolyte (1975)
Please Don't Touch (1978)
Spectral Mornings (1979)
Defector (1980)
Cured (1981)
Highly Strung (1983)
Bay Of Kings (1983)
Til We Have Faces (1983)
Momentum (1988)
Time Lapse (1992)
The Unauthorised Biography (1992)
Guitar Noir (1994)
Blues With A Feeling (1994)
There Are Many Sides To The Night (1994)
A Midsummer's Night Dream (1997)
Genesis Revisited (1997)
The Tokyo Tapes (1997)
Darktown (1999)
Sketches Of Satie (2000) w/John Hackett
Feedback '96 (2000)
Live Archive (2001)
With Genesis:
Nursery Crime (1971)
Foxtrot (1972)
Live (1973)
Selling England By The Pound (1973)
Lamb Lies Down On Broadway (1974)
Wind and Wuthering (1976)
Trick of the Tail (1976)
Seconds Out (1977)
Three Sides Live (1982)
With GTR:
GTR (1986)