01	Strutton Ground						03:04
	02	Circus Of Becoming						03:48
	03	The Devil Is An Englishman						04:27
	04	Frozen Statues						02:58
	05	Mechanical Bride						06:40
	06	Wind, Sand, and Stars						05:08
	07	Brand New						04:41
	08	This World						05:19
	09	Rebecca						04:20
	10	The Silk Road						05:25
	11	Come Away						03:13
	12	The Moon Under Water						02:14
	13	Serpentine Song						06:56

Steve Hackett To Watch The Storms

Release Date: 26th May 2003 9th June 2003 (manufacturing delay!)


Steve Hackett's first studio 'rock' album since 1999's Darktown. The album was mainly recorded withhis touring band after the North American shows last year and sees the reappearance of many of the Hackett compositional trademarks which graced earlier classics such as Voyage of the Acolyte and Spectral Mornings.

'To Watch The Storms' will appear in two formats. As always there will be the standard jewel case edition with 8 page booklet and this will be joined by a deluxe Special Edition package, initially available in the form of a deluxe hard back book with slipcase.


The Special Edition features:-

4 bonus tracks
40 page booklet with Hackett's own extended sleeve notes on each track
Kim Poor original artwork for each track

Steve Hackett - Vocals, Guitar
Roger King - Keyboards
Rob Townsend - Brass, Woodwind
Terry Gregory - Basses, Vocals
Gary O'Toole - Drums, Vocals
John Hackett - Flute on Serpentine Song
Ian McDonald - Sax on Brand New

Jeanne Downs - Backing Vocals
Sarah Wilson - Cello
Howard Gott - Violin



STANDARD EDITION TRACK LIST

1. Strutton Ground
2. Circus of Becoming
3. The Devil Is An Englishman
4. Frozen Statues
5. Mechanical Bride
6. Wind, Sand and Stars
7. Brand New
8. This World
9. Rebecca
10. The Silk Road
11. Come Away
12. The Moon Under Water
13. Serpentine Song

SPECIAL EDITION TRACK LIST

1. Strutton Ground
2. Circus of Becoming
3. The Devil Is An Englishman
4. Frozen Statues
5. Mechanical Bride
6. Wind, Sand and Stars
7. Brand New
8. This World
9. Rebecca
10. The Silk Road
11. Pollution B
12. Fire Island
13. Marijuana, Assassin Of Youth
14. Come Away
15. The Moon Under Water
16. Serpentine Song
17. If You Only Knew



"Kicking up a storm" Steve Hackett's new album "To Watch The Storms" reviewed by Alan Hewitt


OK, as many of you will have already guessed by now, I am a somewhat devout fan of Steve's work and I make no apologies for any bias that might creep into this review. Darktown, Steve's last "Rock" album was one of an almost unmitigated dark cast both threatening and challenging by turns, so what does To Watch The Storms have to offer?
The album's opener: Strutton Ground is a delightfully melodic opening track. A nostalgic look at Steve's London roots and there are numerous references to individuals and places within the lyrics to the song. Musically, this track reminds me to some extent of Genesis' For Absent Friends; there is a definite tinge of wistful melancholy here but never overstated and Steve's vocal delivery has never been better - an excellent start!

Circus Of Becoming opens with a dramatic organ intro before we are off into more of Steve's anarchic left of centre musical pranks. Very much the musical descendant of The Ballad Of The Decomposing Man but once again, Steve's vocals are much more refined and when he lets rip with a short guitar blast you don't know what to expect next - "set fire to the stars" indeed!

The Devil Is An Englishman, a Hackett cover of the Thomas Dolby tune originally penned for Ken Russell's film 'Gothic', is another pure delight with Steve's vocal in demonic form and wonderfully overstated; a cod psycho Lawrence Olivier vocal delivery sets the tone for this anarchic romp including some excellent harmonica blowing reminding us of Steve's Blues roots combining with rock and Jazz to make almost a mini statement of Steve's influences in one track - phew!

Frozen Statues opens in typically frosty style with an echoey piano and accompanying voices, and Steve's vocal accompanied by this and Rob Townsend's night club Jazz brass section is almost a throwback to Guitar Noir but once again; Steve's vocal performance is vastly improved, a stark track which leads into the more familiar industrial grind of Mechanical Bride - a dramatic observation of the darker side of life; the lyric

Fox hunt, bullfight animals' curse

Born again with the roles reversed

is a wonderful image and accompanied by the discordant and anarchic music makes for a challenging track but as Steve says in the sleeve notes; not one to play to the children - yet and definitely one which the band will enjoy "laddering their tights" to in live performance!

Wind, Sand And Stars opens in suitably dramatic style and is the first track to feature Steve's acoustic guitar and a marvellously evocative track worthy of the great tradition of acoustic magnificence we have come to expect from him - a wonderfully fluid composition building a complex picture which will be different to everyone who hears it - interpretation is half the fun!

Brand New opens with further acoustic guitar, almost camp fire in style but augmented by Steve's smokey vocals before he rips the hair off your neck with a stomping rock refrain which reverts to the former and back again - a bit like a re-statement of Steve's career in miniature.

This World is the true romantic heart of the album - a simply stunning love song which if there was any justice in the world would be a chart topper. This was the first track that Steve played to me when I interviewed him last year and it stuck in my mind. This is Hackett at his romantic best, vocally understated and musically refined to the point of almost unbearable purity - wonderful stuff!

Rebecca shows Steve's literary leanings again with a respectful nod towards Daphne Du Maurier's classic character, opening sparsely with acoustic guitar and bass performing an intricate duet before Steve's vocals emerge to weave the story ably accompanied by a masterful accompaniment telling the haunting tale in a delightfully evocative and by turns dramatic manner.

The Silk Road; Mr Hackett meets Mr Gabriel's "Passion" album. A turbo charged romp along the ancient highway of its title evoking the mysticism and drama of the East in a wonderful pastiche of music and Steve's haunting vocal, another one which I am sure will give the band plenty of scope for musical adventure in the live set and Steve's all too brief rock guitar teases and taunts by turns.

Come Away in the style of a Mazurka, an Eastern European dance rhythm popular at the turn of the last century and seldom heard in Western music. Lyrically to my mind this owes a lot again to The Virgin & The Gypsy but with an altogether more wistful and humorous twist, another track which will become a live favourite.

The Moon Under Water is yet another wonderful example of Steve's acoustic playing. Delightfully melodic and wonderfully evocative of its subject. The music ripples and shimmers with a warmth that is totally and uniquely Steve - bravo, maestro!

The album closes with another firm favourite from the current live set; Serpentine Song. A wonderfully observed lyric accompanied by a delightfully warm musical accompaniment and in particular I love the final lyrics

Crystal fountains
Peter Pan Stares
Over the landscape
Without motion
On pencil grey days
To a door marked Summer

A suitably eloquent finale to another album


Over all, I have to say that this is one of Steve's most enjoyable outings in a while. Lyrically he has developed a prodigious talent and at last he has found his vocal niche which is something which has not always sat comfortably within the bed of the music - no such problems here I assure you and this is an album that fans old and new will love and cherish for along time - well done, Steve!


Release Date: 26th May 2003
PRE-ORDER HERE




"A Tale of thirteen bungalows" - In which we discover a talent for aural architecture: Steve Hackett in conversation about his new album "To Watch The Storms", at Crown Studios on Saturday May 3, 2003

Interview by Alan Hewitt


First of all folks, don't worry too much about the title of this interview. All will become clear as you read on!

AH: So, Steve, here we are again, talking about your new album, "To Watch The Storms", which is the first album to be completed here [Steve's new studio] is it not?

SH: Yeah, it is the first project to be completed here although work started on it at my home studio.

AH: Is it another album that had a lengthy gestation period...

SH: Actually no... I wrote a lot of this stuff quite quickly over a two or three month period.

AH: So we shall go through it, track by track... "Strutton Ground". When I heard that I was surprised to find that a lot of the places referred to in the lyrics were places I actually knew... and it is a very nostalgic song...

SH: A friend said "It's one of your 'list' songs again, isn't it?" I did the same thing with "The Virgin and The Gypsy" where I used as many flower names as I could, this time it was places and yes, some of them are personal references. Jobson's Cove is this wonderful place in Bermuda where Kim and I first saw butterfly fish. There was this elderly couple who invited us in for tea and always sent us Christmas cards, and when we remembered we sent them one back.

The Butterfly House is near here, in Syon Park and I always remember the first time I went in there and all these butterflies settled on me and I felt... like a giant surrounded by fairies. I imagine that it was probably a similar feeling to someone on an LSD trip feels... although I've never taken it, you feel so huge. And every time I went back it never happened again and so I always remember that.

The Rocket Ride was at Battersea fun fair, which is sadly no longer there, and I always remember as a child being afraid to go on the Rocket Ride. Strutton Ground itself was one of those places which I imagine might have been a place where ladies and gentlemen went promenading, or it might have had something to do with the military ...I'm not sure.

AH: The album is certainly one of contrasts, and "Circus Of Becoming" is certainly a contrast... "Set fire to the stars", indeed!

SH: Once again, that was something from Dylan Thomas... I think from "The Girl In The Asylum" because I gather he spent a few spells in those places himself during his time and it was such a wonderful way to describe the act of making love.

AH: Then we have "Frozen Statues", which to me is very much an almost free Jazz style piece, one which conjures up very vivid images for me... when I listen to this one I almost imagine myself as a punter locked out of a club late at night, frozen stiff and listening through the window as a lucky handful of souls are inside hearing his favourite artist perform for them, ...very much a descriptive track...

SH: That is an interesting description because it was inspired by these marvellous books which Dr Sacks has written, and one of them describes this medical condition where the patient is quite literally "frozen" and incapable of movement. They found that with this one particular patient, they literally had to carry her around, she couldn't move and yet whenever she heard music, she could move, and that idea fascinated me.

AH: "Mechanical Bride" is very much a protest song and I particularly loved the lyric "Fox hunt, bullfight, animals' curse / Born again with the roles reversed..." - That conjures up such a wonderful image.

SH: Yeah... we do enter the arena under-rehearsed - I remember being at a charity dinner party and listening to these two people discussing how many grouse or whatever, they had "bagged" and I said... "wouldn't it be fun if the animals could fire back?" and they looked at me as if I had gone crazy and walked away. Yes, it is a protest song, and another one where I have explored things that concern me. I have found that as I get older I am writing from the inside out, and expressing myself in terms of things which I maybe wouldn't have written about in the old days.

AH: And that other line.. "Wedded to remaining dumb..." that is another wonderful line which reminds me of Pastor Niemoller's poem about not resisting the Nazis and how if you don't speak up eventually you will be walked over...

SH: Well, at the end of the day it was all about innocent men dying in the electric chair and being tortured to death, state sanctioned torture, and the idea that any civilised nation could do that rests very uneasily with me. You know, I remember back in the early 1960's when you think of the Rolling Stones as being complete anarchists and yet when they were thinking of doing away with the death penalty... it was either the time just after it had been done away with and there a lot of calls for bringing it back and they quoted Brian Jones. He said something very articulate and I can't remember the exact words but he said... "No, we shouldn't have that back... it is a medieval form of torture, it's almost back to the Dark Ages." and to a young mind - I was probably about fourteen - I hadn't formed my thoughts about whether this was right and a deterrent or not, and I changed my mind about it. And I don't think there should be a death penalty, for what it's worth, because you are not just killing one person, it's the family and friends of that person as well. There are so many miscarriages of justice at the end of the day. It is very important that the reprieve is always possible if new evidence comes to light.

AH: Certainly we go from one extreme to the other with your first instrumental on the album, "Wind, Sand And Stars".

SH: "Wind, Sand And Stars", which was by Anton Saint Exupery, who wrote "The Little Prince", which to my shame I have not yet read...

AH: That was the other story... just to digress slightly back to the "G" band... that was the other story that was in the frame for "The Lamb..." wasn't it? According to Mike, he threw that one into the ring...?

SH: He did suggest that one at one point and the band rejected that, because it was based on someone else's idea. We have come full circle to the same writer and to "Wind, Sand And Stars", which may or not be in print... It's a wonderful book, it's a wonderful, wonderful book the language is very poetic. He was a postman in the 1930's if I remember correctly, a flying postman. So he would get to arrive in Spain as the Civil War was going on or somewhere and all his mates were crashing regularly into the Sahara desert and sometimes surviving, and sometimes not.

At one point he ended up in Cairo and he bought a slave his freedom and all sorts of stuff goes on and you ask "...hold on ...did they have slavery then?" And there is no reason to doubt him, and this guy doesn't know what to do, he's a slave and he has been set free and he says... "Master, you own me now...what do I do? All of my life I have been told what to do." And there's another problem, he doesn't know how to take care of himself.

Then he talks about the Civil War and people are taking pot shots at each other from either side of a wall and they are calling out to each other because they know each other - "I'll get you next time, Carlos!" - and people were, for no reason at all, deciding to shoot each other. Anyway, it is a magnificent book and he ends it by talking about being on a train - it is shortly before the war, and some Polish workers who were being repatriated, not entirely of their own free will, are on this train and it wasn't the thought that many of these people might be wiped out in the ensuing conflagration that bothered him so much as the thought that the child in the corner might be Mozart and he is never going to get the chance to become that. It's one of the lovely things that's said in the book that in a way he was talking about people not reaching their full potential... You've got this guy doing a very basic job being a postman and he finds time to write several books and eventually crashes and accepts that the price of leading an extraordinary life and being part of things not above things quite literally, that is part of this extraordinary life that he led.

So, I had written the song... or the piece of music and originally it was going to be used in conjunction with Evelyn Glennie. And then I realised that what Evelyn wanted was something much more improvised, and there was going to be no time to rehearse this stuff. I was worried that it was too complicated to do without a rehearsal. It works in different ways, some people rehearse to get it right and some people read the dots, but even if that's the case if someone is one bar out, we've completely lost it. So I thought maybe I could resurrect that piece and work on it a bit more and refine it. And then I was looking for a title for it and I thought "hold on... there are various things in here", there's the justification after the event of naming it after the event... sometimes that happens... often. It was the Spanish Civil War... using the nylon of the guitar strings in a more fiery, percussive way than I had done before, as happens on a couple of occasions on this album. It is not all soft legato, the dreamy stuff... sometimes it is going at it hammer and tongs... So there as that and the idea of a take off at the end, like a flight in a way...

AH: Once again, I knew nothing of this guy's life story at all... Once again it was another contrast. It is a classic piece of Steve Hackett acoustic music but as you say because it is played more percussively. All the usual trademarks are there but, if you like, in reverse, it is almost like looking at a negative of an acoustic piece by you because it is more percussive. It is done with more fire and more attack than normal. The fans will be expecting an acoustic piece, because you always play an acoustic piece, but this one is not quite what you were expecting. It's not "Kim", it's not "Horizons", it's not "Momentum"... it's one you are going to have to think about because it is that little bit different...

SH: Yeah. I thought if I do another gentle acoustic piece it is to be expected.

AH: I think if you had done that this time it would not have worked. I have no qualms about saying that "Brand New" is a classic love song of a type that you don't hear anymore. It is musically, vocally and visually... If I was married or courting or whatever I think I'd wish that I could write something like that to say... "this is what I really think about you.." it is so powerful. It is wonderful that you find the inspiration in the same person but each time you manage to say it differently...

SH: I think every musician is lucky if he has found his muse as it were. And I often think that all good work not just music but anything that is creative, if it is designed with one person in mind is at it's best and you know that that person is going to see you at your best. I think it is no good starting work from the position of "I hope someone will like this". You have no position to base it on whatsoever. Far better that you say "I hope this particular person likes this". I think there is a world of difference there. In a way it is very difficult because if it was just me, I could do it, but if I do that it might upset people who might like that particular kind of thing. This might upset people but I have got to do it this way.

You have got to stop all that and be absolutely true to where it is leading your music. You have got to have an emotional response to it. Music is very much like an unseen physical presence. It is like a God that can be directly contacted, if you are completely honest, that's how it works. It is very difficult because you have got to obey it by being yourself, unlike the idea of the negation of vile instincts which accompanies embracing any conventional religion. This is very different - it requires you to be yourself. If you like it, no matter what it is, it will find its echo in others. But it took me a long time to realise this. The first thing I probably wrote was "Horizons" on guitar... the first thing I wrote and recorded, and I thought... "get this one on the album, this one's just for me, maybe the others won't like it, maybe no one will notice..." and that was how I used to think. Oh, I got away with that, I got away with being myself... and right up to "Guitar Noir". I did a track called "There Are Many Sides To The Night", it was a case of... well this one's just for me and if people don't find it too bad, that's fine.

But what I started to discover over time was that it was precisely those moments when I was most being myself, that those were the moments that were working for other people. So I thought perhaps I was getting this wrong. Perhaps instead of writing this from the outside looking in, let's start from the inside and look out. So I changed my approach and gained or regained confidence and that let me do the kind of work that I do now.

AH: That was definitely the album, the "Guitar Noir" album, - I think that most fans who have followed you career for any length of time would agree with me that that was the album where you found your "voice". I don't mean as a singer but as the way in which you express things.

SH: I think it was a very difficult album to do, because I had been rejected by so many record companies at that point, and I realised that no matter what I did or who I worked with they were just not interested. And I thought, there has to be a solution to this. How can you go from doing "I can do no wrong" to "I can do no right"? And has the work changed that much? And am I that bad at what I do now? And it is a point where a lot of people give up.

I knew the solution was to have our own record company so that I would no longer have to audition to an industry that had already decided that I was wrong for the part. No longer the ingenu , so to speak. You can never be "new" in this business, you can be all sorts of things but you can't be new and there was a point where I was thinking "I wish I was new coming up with this stuff". If I was twenty would that make the difference? If I were fifteen years younger would that make the difference? If I was blond would that make the difference? And you start going through the idea of all the things up to and including a total facelift, all the things you don't really need but you think people want and that you think will make the difference and then, if you are lucky you arrive at the conclusion where you think "Oh, sod it". What I really need to do is be more myself and to self publish and all the rest, call it "Vanity Publishing" [laughs] they do in the book world! I sometimes have dreams that influence me and I had one where I had these things in a wheelbarrow that I was wheeling along. How cool is a wheelbarrow? [laughs]

It wasn't a Jeep, it wasn't a Rolls Royce, it was a wheelbarrow - something you physically move yourself and this wheelbarrow went somewhere and things were being arranged in this shop window. There was another part of the dream where I was asking what should my music have to be the key to acceptance, and sometimes you will get an unseen voice that will say the right thing to you, and it said: "Content, it's got to have content" - a very uncool, very basic word isn't it, "Content" what is "Content"? Substance...not just packaging.

AH: I don't know if this is the right word but music has got to have something tangible about it, even though it is fundamentally intangible ... It has got to have something that ...doesn't touch you physically it touches your heart or mind.

SH: It was Joe Durden-Smith, a writer friend of Kim's who said the older you get the more you learn to trust yourself more and that is the place where I am now... I trust myself more now to be honest because I felt that I was disqualified from all the things other contemporaries who were having huge hits had, and I felt that I couldn't possibly compete on that level. I couldn't make the videos, I didn't have the resources to do that, but the one major asset that I had was myself, applied to the musical problem, whatever it happened to be. OK, videos... it would be great to go out and spend three billion on your latest Sci-Fi epic [laughs] that just gives you those three minutes of sheer bliss. If you subscribe to the school of thought that music was much more visual before the age of the promo clip/video film then that's fine. The Beatles were perhaps at their most creative during a period when we saw next to nothing of them. We knew they were beavering away in Abbey Road, they weren't going to come out and play in front of us again, films were few and far between but the music became supremely visual... "I Am The Walrus..." I remember hearing that on the radio and thinking "Who's that?" I didn't know it was The Beatles until afterwards when they said that was The Beatles "Oh, really?" and they have never sounded like that before or since.

AH: The great thing abut the album is that contrast, you have got love "found" as in "Brand New" and then love "Lost" as in "This World" and basically they are the two sides of the same coin.

SH: Yes, they are really... Paradise Lost and Paradise Found. I played you that one here, didn't I? I did some more work on it since you heard it. "This World" ended up... There were two songs I was working on, one seemed to have a strong verse and the other had a strong chorus. The chorus of "Please don't take this world from me" came from a tune that was almost in a Procul Harum style that was about a sea-going disaster with someone about to lose their life in a whirlpool, a maelstrom. I did it and I thought... "this sounds a bit like Procul Harum and 'A Salty Dog'... I better watch out here, not only have I been influenced by that in the past but so had Genesis". I think they were a big influence on early Genesis.

So, more importantly I took the best aspects of two different songs and put them together - and if I may be so bold as to be a beginner's guide to song writing, if anyone is listening, you have to be prepared to throw away things when they are not working until it really works for you. It is important to be an honest enough audience for your own work to be able to say "that doesn't really work".

AH: Moving on to "Rebecca"... I had completely forgotten until I read the sleeve notes, that she does not appear in the story and it is wonderfully evocative that you have managed to write this piece that describes this character that doesn't actually exist as such except in the mind's eye of somebody else.

SH: People have always taken it on, this thing. The book was written, the film was written, another writer recently did a sequel called "Rebecca's Tale" ...t-a-l-e [laughs] and a song... "Rebecca" goes on and she never appeared and she has been brought to life.

AH: "The Silk Road" - I just wish, hearing a track like that, that I could have seen both you and Peter working together on the "Passion" soundtrack because it is so...

SH: Ah, yeah...I suppose it is in the same ballpark. There are aspects of that.

AH: It's big... It's atmospheric and it manages to capture the sort of exotic atmosphere of the place it is trying to describe because that road goes through so many places and touches so many bases.

SH: Well... I had done an album in Brazil where we had worked with massed drummers and armies of percussion and was that prior to Pete's involvement...? Yes, it was before his involvement with what subsequently became known as "World Music". Pete has done some incredible stuff. That is why it is named after a specific trade route and the journey is everything. lyrically it borrows from oriental poetry where you get the two line stanzas that accompany something like pen and wash and all the calligraphy that accompanies oriental stuff. So that was how that one came about, the shortest lyrics for any song: two lines of lyric. I was trying to write something that was in the spirit of oriental poetry. I didn't borrow from any specific thing. I was after poetry with that thing.

I hope I don't sound like an old hippy here, but who of us hasn't looked upon a bright sunny day and seen an interesting cloud and thought... "I would love to see that from up there" and I don't mean from an aeroplane. If music takes you away, that is all I have ever wanted from it. To me it is all equally important and if you have the chance of poetry. It is a wonderful thing when a song reveals itself to you. I love working with other people when they will come up with an aspect of the arrangement that is absolutely crucial. It might be something they have picked upon in the lyric, or something harmonically or it might be a sound and you realise that that journey, the engine that drives that journey is already powerful and it's off. And the engine that drives that song is rhythm itself.

Roger put that one together. Roger and I had worked on it, and as I said and he had constructed it rhythmically from my basic parts which was something I had heard on one of the Asian radio stations and I said... there's this rhythm which is common to Brazilian music and African music and Indian music.... This bum, bum, bum, bum ...I only know it in the Brazilian spelling, which is bayauo. It is a rhythm that the Africans claim is indigenous to them and the Africans claim it as theirs and no doubt there is a man in India saying the same! [laughs] It is this pulse of a kind of ethnic rhythm that fits very well with rock, funnily enough. It keeps motoring, it keeps wandering but there is a thread to it... I can't describe it... you have better descriptions than me about this at the moment. The thing that brought it into focus was I played nylon guitar on one of the parts, an apparently finished piece, and months ago the vocal went on, on top of it and that saved it... it was going to be a totally instrumental piece and the nylon guitar saved it and the soprano sax saved it and took it from something which was a collection of "production values" ...Roger's term, something that is driven by production values, noises etc and turned it into a piece of music. That made it work and brought it centre stage again and otherwise it was going to be a file on the shelf for posterity, for that documentary they are going to want music for some time down the line. Something happened by adding those little bits of incongruity, because sax doesn't belong in that place, and neither does nylon guitar and yet for me it diverts it off via Spain, and the sax is of some other region geographically but maybe that is that little bit of spice that makes up the Orient at the end of the day... it's that mystical thing that shouldn't work but it does. Some of what they do in the East gets through to us and some of what we do gets through to them but eventually we get to know something of them but we don't colonise any more...

I have never fully understood what ignites a song, I have never fully understood it - all I have done is respond to it when I hear it. I have noticed that I have often bought an album and put it on and listened to it in the studio and thought "I don't really get this" and it is not until some time down the line that I have heard something from that album that someone played, or heard it somewhere else and I thought it sounded good and I realised that I had by-passed something that was good, because I was sitting down and employing this conscious process of listening. The limitation of that is that you are in gear and you are analysing that sequence there and you are ticking them off. The difference is when you are out on the street doing something else and you hear that on the radio and while your conscious mind is doing something else, suddenly this thing ...you hear it and it hits you and you are not putting up ...its this thing about emotional blocks and it is like being hypnotised, normally where you are presenting a face to the world you would be surprised at how different you are for not having put up those blocks. It would be wonderful to access the unconscious mind at the drop of a hat, but its not always like that.

AH: You have said that you don't mind if what you do is not always totally original, and yet you managed to come up with one which really surprised me, with "Come Away", which is the Mazurka which is, as you say, something that you don't hear every day. I don't know why it is a dance tune... or it was at the turn of the last century...?

SH: The Mazurka is a fast waltz...

AH: Yeah, and yet it reminds me of the seaside and I can't think why?!

SH: Well...again I was there with the Optigan with this stuff on it, as I do, and I turned it round backwards and it played a backwards Mazurka. Because the quality level of the Optigan is not very good unless you deliberately want something grainy and analogue, I got Rob and Roger to superimpose modern versions of what I thought was going on in the arrangement, we tried to break down the arrangement of what the Optigan was doing. So...where there was clarinet, we used soprano sax, we used modern samples we used real ...you name it... lots of things in the woodwind area. And then we had a little bit of the original Optigan as well we superimposed that and then we reversed what we had done. But it was a tune that was originally written on the Optigan so that I could literally go at the push of a button, there's this and there's that and I think I can come up with a melody over the top and hold these very, very basic chords and then the one thing that was missing was I tried to give it the setting of a folk club or something being done in the open air in a tent...

AH: It just sounds to me like a fairground...

SH: Well, that's what it is, isn't it. Its that thing of a small crowd or a crowd at a distance a country fete type thing ...yeah ...fairs and fetes and the sort of things that crop with me all the time, there has always got to be an aspect of steam organ and calliopes and carousels...

AH: I suppose it is an echo of your childhood?

SH: Yeah, it is an echo of my childhood and once again it was something that The Beatles brought back with "For The Benefit Of Mr Kite" and it is a hard thing because that is such a supreme kind of piece of music for me, because the stuff that George Martin threw on at the end was the perfect rendition of what it was like to be at the fair...at least what it was like in those days.

AH: Once again, it is the contrast: the Far East meets Eastern Europe and we have "The Silk Road" followed by a Mazurka... It is going to stand people's perceptions on their heads, really. It doesn't seem logical, but it works. The one thing that seems to be the common thread throughout this album is that every track is... different.

SH: Yeah, that was the idea. I have never managed to put this into words but... I would love to be able to explain why I do things that do not run in parallel to each other.

AH: Some people might say that by doing things like this you are being perverse, but I don't see it like that...that is not the right word... It is not as if you are doing it for spite... at the end of the day you are doing it because it is what you want to do...

SH: No, I don't do it out of spite, to put people off, I just get very drawn by sound into different areas and I realise that my tastes are very broad. I hope it is possible to find people to listen to these things who are bored with the sameyness of things. I like to think that it is seriously alternative and I would like to work in the areas that most people don't touch... It is like being nearly normal, somehow.

AH: The sum of the parts is the difference. The great thing about this album is that you can take any track away and the whole edifice won't come tumbling down because it is not a house of cards, it is thirteen bungalows, basically... each one is different, one is a Bauhaus, another a Pergola...

SH: Wonderful... Oh I hope you are going to say that when you write this up... I think you should use this in the interview because that is a great way of putting it... thirteen bungalows... sounds like a great name for a band, I have to say [laughs]. That is the most wacky concept I have ever heard! It's great because in a way... bungalows... are what the hobbits are to Tolkien really, you start small with these people and in a way I prefer that to the great "deeds" and derring-do and I think that was the great difference between CS Lewis and Tolkien... Lewis kept it small in "The Lion, The Witch &, The Wardrobe" it was the sense of the "small" everywhere...all of the big Divinities were going to be cut down to size. That was the thing, everyone was going to be cut down to size whether he was parodying teachers, or ministers or gardeners or whatever...

I don't do fillers... I don't do that... If I don't love it, I don't do it. It's a good concept to question isn't it? And Gabriel Byrne on "Actors' Studio" said when asked what his favourite word was, said "Loser". The idea that someone was classed as a loser is a very final judgement really... and there is so much of that. Perhaps there should be no losers in life really and I like to think there is a form of redemption... and I don't subscribe to the Christian Orthodox view of it but I would subscribe to the idea that "Revelations" and all crooked paths will be made straight...

AH: People have got to realise that... OK... you can't be "original" in music anymore, but that doesn't mean that you can't make an original statement and that is what you have done with these tracks. We have gone through so many genres and now we come to one of my personal favourites, which is your ...dare I say it... one of those shocking "fillers" [said with suitably sarcastic tone of voice] that you used to put on your albums... the acoustic track, "The Moon Under Water". Not only is that a lovely phrase in is own right, it conjures up enough images on its own but the piece itself is...

SH: It is a generic pub name, actually and I thought it was wonderful and I had never heard of it and someone mentioned it on the train as I was going home from a Jazz gig and I thought it was a wonderful idea... and this bunch of drunken guys were talking about The Moon Under Water and I thought it was a wonderful title and it was as an acoustic piece, it was a fairly festive one ...rather than restive. My acoustic stuff in general tended to be slow, and quite peaceful and this one keeps motoring. It gives the idea of the rising of the moon and the water and bubbly things... It was the idea of... Oh someone gave me the original album "Segovia Plays Bach", the original album and there was a world of music in the guitar and the thing about those pieces was once they start motoring, they don't stop, just like Bach, it just keeps going. So, I thought I would try and write something that uses energy in the same sort of way but is not a slave to the pulse or to the rhythm because Baroque music tends to take a figure and describe it from as many angles as possible, it seems. This one I thought... why not have as many twists to it as possible so again it will keep on surprising you, but also keep up that dreaded word "Momentum" again. And so you will be literally able to dance to it. It is an old courtly dance but one which no one is going to dance to except in their mind. It wouldn't have been out of place on one of these albums I try and do with guitar or guitar and orchestra and I have got one planned, as you know, down the line... but I felt that it wouldn't be out of place and why not have something whereby you have had all this Rock stuff and let's just see if the guitar can come along and give you a sense... not of dropped energy but the energy keeps up and it doesn't matter if it is a band playing energetically or one bloke playing energetically, you know there is a thread of energy that runs from "Come Away" through that and again it is the bungalows because it is little noodly stuff going on... an album full of noodles without worrying about being too big and brash.

AH: We come eventually, to "Serpentine Song", the last track on the album, and once again it is a wonderful resolution or recapitulation of everything and I absolutely adore the last verse... and especially the last two lines: "On pencil grey days / To a door marked summer". I just think that is so wonderful.

SH: Well, Michael Bentine, the first part of his biography was called "A Door Marked Summer" and I took that from that. The fountains in Hyde Park are officially called "The Italian Fountains" and I thought "Italian" doesn't really say it, and what does that say to me? On a sunny day when those things are... and the light is refracting through them and everyone loves the fountains down there... it is just a beautiful spot. So... they became "crystal", and Peter Pan was part of it, and the last verse was quite twee in some respects... I am singing "Peter Pan" and there's my father in there as well, because his name is Peter and so there are two Peters in the Park.

AH: I was completely mesmerised... OK I had heard live versions of this track before I had actually heard the studio version but when you get to look properly at the lyrics... there's another one as well: "As worrying is interest paid on trouble / Long before it's due"

SH: Now, that one was ... it comes back to the family again. My father said that that was something his mother used to say to him when he was worried about something... So I have included my grandmother's words and I wanted people to be able to drift off with the chorus and be reassured that everything was going to be alright. You have got the child-like flutes and penny whistles and it was almost like the Pied Piper, follow the band or follow the piper. Or the magic of wind blown things. It is the wind in the park and I looked at the statue too which is playing... I suppose its closest relation in real life was the soprano sax which is why that s at the end and so we have two wind players on it, my brother who plays wonderfully on it and Rob Townsend who also plays wonderfully on it.

And with all this talk of quiet resolutions we bring this interview to a close. As usual, my thanks to Steve for giving up so much of his time on a Saturday to speak to me about the new album, and to Billy Budis for making it all possible and for his encouragement. See you both on tour later this year, guys!





"To Watch The Storms" reviewed by Mario Giammetti for DUSK Magazine

The release of Steve Hackett's new album on the 26th May came as a bit of a surprise. We knew that the recording of the album was proceeding well in the guitarist's new studio. However, we could not imagine that Darktown's successor, which is now four years old, was already available and that, thanks to Billy Budis' usual efficiency, we are in a position to speak about it, notwithstanding that, for obvious reasons (I received the CD in the afternoon of the 11th April...) we could not dedicate the time and attention it would have deserved.
This is because "To Watch The Storms" is an album full of different shades and which merits repeated listening to be fully appreciated. Nonetheless I concede that, after having listened to it a few times, this is a noteworthy album well-fitting in Hackett's consistent discography.

Before analysing the CD it would not go amiss to premise that notwithstanding the fact that the last studio album "Darktown" was released four years ago, it could hardly be said that Steve was silent following that CD. He returned to the stage with an electric band after seven long years (excepting the four Japanese concerts that gave life to the double CD "The Tokyo Tapes"), choosing Italy for his debut (July 2000). He searched his archives and published a splendid 4CD boxed-set "Live Archive 70's, 80's, 90's" in the year 2001. He organised a chamber trio together with his brother John and Roger King who performed in countries such as Japan and Hungary and, above all, here in Italy with three separate tours last year (April, July and November). He released the double live CD and DVD "Somewhere in South America" and should have released "Hungarian Horizons" (a concert by the acoustic trio recorded in Budapest in January 2002) this April had it not been for this unexpected new studio album.

What is most important is that Steve Hackett has found a new band. Such experience has been missing since 1980, when Steve had to free his band at the time at the end of the Italian tour (and yes, Italy recurs very frequently in Steve's history and career). From then on Steve made use of various musicians, mostly keyboard players (Nick Magnus stayed on for a while and was subsequently replaced by Julian Colbeck, Aron Friedman and recently by Roger King). Some of these musicians were very prestigious, such as the ones used for "Genesis Revisited".

The albums that Steve recorded with a band ("Spectral Mornings" and "Defector", 1979 and 1980) are regarded as his best works. Although "Darktown" had many excellent bits, it suffered from being written, and even recorded, over a number of years rendering it somewhat of a fragmented product.

From this point of view, "To Watch The Storm" is a return to the origins. Being able to count on a band that accompanied him on his electric tour, Steve recorded this CD during the past six months together with Roger King, drummer Gary O'Toole, bass player Terry Gregory and saxophone and flute player Rob Townsend.

Having said that, we will now analyse the album. This is a review of the standard edition. A special limited edition with four extra tracks ("Pollution B", "Fire Island", "Marijuana, Assassin Of Youth" and "If Only You Knew"), a 42-page booklet (!) and extra notes by Steve and pictures by Kim Poor will also be released in a digibook format.

The album opener, "Strutton Ground", is a melancholic track: Steve's sad voice sings over an acoustic guitar. The backing vocals are also Steve's. The background is very delicate and is made up of noises, soft sounds and other strange things, all the result of the mysterious and fascinating optigan. A great beginning that confirms that Steve has a good voice when he uses it well, that is with the help of background vocals and without forcing it with useless and counterproductive high tonalities.

"Circus Of Becoming" starts with increasing harmonies coming from a church organ. After merely half a minute we hear the electric guitar played at a ridiculous rhythm, possibly performed with the optigan. Some lead guitar and voice can also be heard. The track is full of Hackett's usual strangeness. The organ returns with some powerful drumming and an authoritative guitar riff in the GTR style after the refrain. After the return to the previous part, the guitar solo returns. This time it is longer and slightly different towards the end. It then fades away in atmospheric sounds.

"The Devil Is An Englishman" is another curious track, particularly in view of the extremely low voice used by Steve: the rhythm is sustained by the predominant bass and guitar. Atmospheric sounds and noises can also be heard. Very modern drumming, in 4/4, and female vocals come in with the second verse. There is then an explosion of guitars kept at low volume: Steve's typical guitar strokes create repeated and obsessive sounds. A harmonica can also be heard amidst the other sounds.

"Frozen Statues" was co-written with Roger King and in fact sets off with a nice piano introduction. Steve's convincing voice comes in after a minute. This is an atmospheric jazzy track. A trumpet is also heard in the background, probably played by Roger King after having sampled the sound of a real trumpet in the days of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (this news was given to me by Billy Budis). It is very intense and I would love to listen to it with a real trumpet. After around three minutes the tracks changes atmosphere and merges into the following track, "Mechanical Bride", already known to us. The first part of this track is different to the live version - it then returns to the well known rhythmic riffs played in synchronicity with the drums, bass, guitar, sax and voice. The instrumental intermezzo is excellent: two minutes into the track there is a jazzy part in which Steve plays a number of noisy solos, which cannot be said to be indispensable, over some bizarre drumming. The central part of this track is magnificent with great virtuosity and timing by all the musicians. At the end of this part, before returning to the well known bit, there is an added bit that recalls the march of a cartoon. The drumming is very evident. At the end of the track we can hear the phrase used by Steve in various tours at the end of "Please Don't Touch". Whereas the live version came to an abrupt end, this version simply fades out.

Distant and soft atmospheric sounds introduce "Wind, Sand And Stars". This track is inspired by the novel with the same title written by Antoine de Saint-Exupery (the author of "The Little Prince") and is played with a nylon guitar in a somewhat Spanish style. After a couple of minutes of virtuosities, an ordinary but wild melody sets in. A classical piano and magnificent violins in the background create a solemn and dreamy atmosphere that would be good for a soundtrack and that reminds me of some parts of "Defector".

Classical acoustic guitar introduces "Brand New" and then makes way for the vocals. All the instruments come in after the first verse. Voices in falsetto, in the Yes-style, deserve particular mention. Steve proved to be a master in vocal harmonies ever since his first solo album. Electric guitar is used sporadically since the track is predominantly acoustic. The drums, bass and keyboards greatly enhance the refrain. The track becomes similar to some of Yes' stuff two minutes into the track. A minute later the guitar becomes more melodic and is followed by an electric piano that creates a disturbing atmosphere. The acoustic guitar then returns in all its splendour. This track is so varied that it simply cannot bore you. We are informed by the sleevenotes that Ian McDonald contributes his sax here. Since I could not decipher his playing I asked Billy Budis who informed me that Ian played in the central bit and the sound was so hard that it could sound like an electric guitar!

Once again, a sad melody played on acoustic guitar introduces "This World". This is a love ballad made up of a soft rhythm and Steve's vocals. Steve's backing vocals in the refrain portray the sadness of the end of a relationship very well. The fretless bass and slow drumming add to the atmosphere. We also find a guitar solo in this track.

The nylon guitar, later coupled with the bass guitar, is also used in the first part of "Rebecca" (another track inspired by a novel, Daphne De Maurier's "Rebecca", an author from Cornwall) and reminds me of something that is not entirely new. Steve's vocals give the track a sad atmosphere. However, the atmosphere changes with a mechanical voice and a solo guitar playing over hard and industrial rhythms. This is followed by fast acoustic guitar playing and various noises in the instrumental bits. A calmer atmosphere and melody return at the end of the track.

"The Silk Road" creates somewhat of an ethnic atmosphere. It is characterised by strange electric guitar playing and percussion. Other sounds come in later. Unfortunately the voice is filtered to the extent that it renders it incomprehensible. The pleasant koto followed by a classical and electric guitar follow a percussive phase sustained by a solo guitar. The percussive base is enriched by new sounds, probably electronic, that recall the experimentation in "Till We Have Faces". A pleasant sax soprano intervention by Townsend is also worthy of note.

The next track, "Come Away" starts after a recorded applause. Steve proudly points out in the sleevenotes that the track starts off to the rhythm of the mazurka, which is unusual in England (more common to dances in Italy's Romagna...). Apart from good vocals, this is a curious track with comic flute playing by Townsend as well as harpsichord and accordion for a track full of instrumentation even if hardly among the best tunes of the album.

"The Moon Under Water" is an atmospheric track for nylon guitar that evokes the renaissance. This track, that lasts just over two minutes, was performed in Italy by Steve. I remember perfectly well that it was the opening track in Todi. I can now finally give it a name.

The album comes to a grand finale with "Serpentine Song" dedicated to Steve's father. We learn from the sleeve notes that, ever since the 60's, Mr. Peter Hackett would sell his paintings every Sunday at the fairs in Bayswater Road. The track starts off with keyboards over which Steve plays some great harmonies with the electric guitar. As in the live version, there are three vocalists (Steve, Gary and Terry). The refrain includes some elegant jazzy drumming and flute. The melody is marvellous and, as we have already said, is similar to "I Talk To The Wind". John Hackett plays a flute solo in the central part; this is his only contribution to the album. Steve plays a nylon guitar with which he endeavours into a solo that was performed with an electric guitar during the tour. The atmosphere changes in the following refrain thanks to the percussion and the electric guitar. An accordion can also be heard later. The electric guitar then gives room to another flute solo which is then substituted by a soprano sax solo which leads to its ending. A great track, certainly one of the best written by Steve during his long and glorious career.

It is probably still early to express myself. I can however safely say that Steve Hackett is fully inspired on this album and this goes to show that his creativity remains intact. Some spoke about a return to the roots and there are certainly a few signs: the return of some great vocal harmonies which characterised the first four or five albums; the use of the optigan, and, most of all, the return of a real band. We also find the conspicuous presence of comic tracks which was always one of Steve's prerogatives ever since "Please Don't Touch" (do you remember "Carry On Up The Vicarage"). But whereas in the early records the malincholic aspect of the music was stressed with particulars that emphasized the romantic aspect (Nick Magnus probably had a key role in this), in this album we have a mixture styles, rhythms and sounds that, once again, make Steve Hackett, a master of experimentation.

Mario Giammetti
Translation courtesy of Stephen Tonna Lowell






Steve Hackett - To Watch The Storms

WOG RATING: ****

Probably one of the most interesting aspects of a new Steve Hackett release is that they are always a bit like Forrest Gump's proverbial box of chocolates; you never know what you are going to get. Will it be rock? Classical? Or, maybe, it will be little of both? In the case of his latest effort, To Watch The Storms, I would describe it as a rock album that draws heavily many genres of music. There are several cuts that are reminiscent of classic Hackett circa Bay of Kings, Voyage of the Acolyte, Spectral Mornings, Defector, and even Guitar Noir fused with a modern influence that demonstrates the range of Hackett's almost seamless genre-crossing ability. There are even occasional, subtle hints of jazz and new age on this album, which are virtually uncharted waters for Hackett.


For those who saw Hackett perform with his new band on the 2001/02 tours, telling you that the chemistry between the players on this record is extremely strong will come as no surprise. We haven't seen Steve with a fairly steady band since 1980, and their ability to balance the delicate material on Storms with the one or two more boisterous tracks attests to the group's musicianship. Also of note, the production quality of this album is fantastic and by far the best of his catalog!

Among the standouts on the album are "Serpentine Song" with its rich, hauntingly unforgettable melody - one of my all-time favorites from Steve; the straight-up rocker "Mechanical Bride;" "Circus of Becoming," a quirky piece that almost has a GTR feel when the song kicks in; and "Wind, Sand and Stars," a dreamy acoustic number with violin and piano accompaniment. The fact is, spare "The Devil Is An Englishman," a b-side sounding Thomas Dolby tune (reworked here with the now commonplace demonic tune with deep vocal effects that somehow manages to make at least one token appearance on every Hackett rock album since 1994), To Watch The Storms is solid, and one of his best studio albums in years. Fans of old will find this project to be a welcomed return to form while new listeners will get a sense of the many textures that Steve is capable of creating as artist.




Hackett, Steve: To Watch the Storms


Legendary progressive rock guitarist Steve Hackett's latest CD on InsideOut Music America To Watch the Storms is a solid return to the style that made him a household name as a member of Genesis as well as a busy solo artist in the 1970's. Featuring a healthy mix of dark complex prog rock, gorgeous classical guitar pieces, and lighthearted symphonic rock with a British touch, this is easily Hackett's most enjoyable platter in years.

"The Devil is an Englishman" features a funky beat backing up Hackett's frenzied guitar stylings and James Bond vocal narrations, and is one of the more unique tracks on the CD. Elsewhere, there is raging prog rock like "Mechanical Bride", one of the heaviest and most complex songs the guitarist has ever recorded. At just under seven minutes long, this tune sees Hackett laying down some wicked riffs, until he breaks through the Mellotron choirs to go into insanely intricate duels with keyboard player Roger King. The maestro's use of two hand tapping, delay, and other cool effects make for a huge and dazzling wall of sound. "The Silk Road" contains awesome percussion from Gary O'Toole, plus some melodic acoustic and electric guitar breaks from Hackett, both combined to give the song a very ethnic feel. I'm reminded of Wind and Wuthering era Genesis on "Strutton Ground", a beautiful and serene tune featuring great vocals from Hackett, deft acoustic guitars, and atmospheric keys.

Fans of the Hackett's wonderful classical work will love the lush "Wind, Sand, and Stars", the hypnotic "The World", and the hauntingly enchanting "Rebecca." The latter lulls you into a quiet embrace before blasting forth into a Yes flavored prog romp with Hackett's fiery lead work yearning for all the attention, and getting it, before once again settling in for a calm outro. There's really something for everyone here, as Steve Hackett has put together a CD that is as varied and strong as his late 70's classics. Bravo Steve!



Steve Hackett - To Watch The Storms
Country of Origin: UK
Format: CD
Record Label: Camino Records / Inside Out
Catalogue #: IOMCD 127
SPV 085-5732
CAMCD31
Year of Release: 2003
Time: 58:21

Tracklist: Strutton Ground (3:04), Circus Of Becoming (3:49), The Devil Is An Englishman (4:28), Frozen Statues (2:59), Mechanical Bride (6:40), Wind, Sand And Stars (5:08), Brand New (4:41), This World (5:20), Rebecca (4:21), The Silk Road (5:25), Come Away (3:13), The Moon Under Water (2:14), Serpentine Song (6:57)

Nigel's Review
To say that To Watch The Storms has been an eagerly anticipated album on my part is somewhat of an understatement. Ever since I made acquaintance with Steve Hackett last year whereby I was allowed an insight into this album with snippets of various tracks played out to me, the anticipation has been eager to say the least. Finally the day came and a package from Camino Records came through the post. Would the album live up to expectations or was I to be disappointed? The result is an album that has taken me by surprise at the multitude of styles that To Watch The Storms possesses over the course of the album.

In hindsight, I should not have been too surprised by this. When one looks back at what Steve Hackett has achieved in various musical fields over the years, it was only a matter of time that all the influences and styles would conglomerate together under one album with just the right amount of space and time given to each of these styles to satisfy every fan.

The last studio album that Steve Hackett released was in 1999, the brooding Darktown. since then his acoustic concerts have become more prominent, though there was also a band tour which spurned the DVD boxset as well as double live album Somewhere In South America. This not to mention the Live box set, 70's 80's 90's. In fact when one talks about Somewhere In South America, one should also mention that Steve Hackett has retained the same core lineup that appeared on the live album as his studio band. The tour promoting Darktown was already an indication of the tightness of the band and this was transmitted onto the studio album. Together with Steve Hackett one finds Roger King (piano, organ, keyboards), Rob Townsend (brass, woodwind), Terry Gregory (bass) Gary O'Toole (drums, percussion). Furthermore one should mention contribution by John Hackett (Serpentine Song) and Ian McDonald (Brand New).

To Watch The Storms opens with the languid acoustic Strutton Ground, a delicate piece which might lead the first time listener into false pretence that the album would consist solely of a delicate and acoustic touch. This is soon turned around with Circus Of Becoming which with its gradual crescendo seems to be an omen of things to come. The track itself is a delightful piece with a vaudeville piece of music utilised as its foundation over which Steve Hackett has created a great piece of music. This is the progressive rock of the twenty first century where the lengthy ten minute plus tracks have become condensed into tracks less than four minute longs yet which still contain all the ingredients that a progressive rock fan looks out for.

One would not have expected a cover version of a Thomas Dolby track to appear on this album. The track has a strong electronic touch, as would be expected, and it took me a large number of spins before I actually got used to it. Admittedly it is not my favourite piece on the album though it does grow on you. Mechanical Bride is one of two tracks that had previously appeared on the live Somewhere In South America that are present for the first time in studio format on this album. The jazzier nature of Mechanical Bride is introduced by abstract Frozen Statues which reminded me very much of David Sylvain. Mechanical Bride is one of the stronger tracks on this album with some fantastic interplay between all the band members in a most unusual powerful almost heavy metal style.

Wind, Sand and Stars is an instrumental acoustic piece which proves that possibly, Steve Hackett's first all classical album comprising of just his compositions might not be too far off! A delightful piece of music especially for those fans who have been privy to one of his acoustic concerts of late. Apart from the two tracks previously available as live versions, Brand New is the track that most fans have become familiar with as they it has been available on the Camino Records website for some time now, albeit in a radio edit format. The track itself is possibly the closest Hackett has come to producing an American FM-format track in years so much so that it would have fit comfortably alongside tracks from the GTR-sessions.

Not all the pieces on this album could be considered as musically challenging to the first time listener. This World is a straight forward ballad with a catchy chorus while Rebecca features some great harmonies. However, one also should mention that Hackett's foray into the scene of world music also bears promising fruit in the guise of The Silk Road with it's various Middle Eastern and Asian influences with its mixture of percussion and ambient. Afro-Celt Sound System would be jealous of this track! When speaking to him last year he mentioned many a time that to him the most exciting musical scene was to be found in the emerging Hungarian jazz scene. On Come Away this influence seems to have rubbed off though the folk touches would have been more at home on an album by artists such as Amazing Blondel or Magna Carta.

The album comes to a close with acoustic The Moon Under Water which then merges into the sublime Serpentine Song which ranks as one of my favourite Hackett songs as he conjures up delicate images of Hyde Park through the harmonies as well as the spell binding flute of his brother John.

Overall, this album is definitely one of progressive rock's releases of the year. It has been along time since Steve Hackett has shown such a musical variety on one album and this augers well for the future. The fact that he is to embark on a lengthy tour which also includes shows in his native England is definitely a step forward as is the news that he already thinking of the next album. With so many of the legendary musicians of the progressive rock era falling by the wayside, it is indeed heartening to see (and hear) Steve Hackett in such fine form.

Chris's Review
After many times through To Watch the Storms, I can't help but think of this newest addition to the Steve Hackett catalogue as an art exhibition. It's like walking through a gallery of fantastic paintings, each piece on the CD representing such diverse atmospheres, moods, landscapes, styles and approaches.

Hackett chose to record this album with the band he's been touring with lately, the one that appears on his DVD Somewhere in South America. The reason is obvious. They have gelled together so well, and with a little help from special guests like Steve's brother John Hackett (a regular on other Steve Hackett albums) and old mate Ian McDonald, the group adapt themselves impressively to the variety of settings imagined for this album. And as most readers probably know, Steve Hackett has an incredible imagination and a voracious appetite for experimentation.

As stated earlier, I've come to think of this CD as a kind of musical art gallery, rather than a standard album. Each work herein seems to present a picture distinct from each of the others. From the angular expressionist insanity of Mechanical Bride to the beautiful impressionism of selections like Wind, Sand, and Stars and The Moon Under Water; or contrast the stark and sparse avant-garde jazz of Frozen Statues with the incredible shifty surrealism of Circus of Becoming. There is the world music flavour of The Silk Road, the soft toned ballad This World, and even a bizarre re-working of the Thomas Dolby song The Devil is an Englishman (this containing demonic speak singing on top of a twisted disco beat and strange aural incursions). These are just a few of my own interpretations to prepare you, the reader and potential listener, for the aural whiplash you might experience with the first few spins of this CD : it takes some time to digest, but well worth the while. I would also like to mention that the album contains at least two pieces which have become for me new Steve Hackett classics: the spine tinglingly gorgeous Serpentine Song, and Brand New, a progressive rock anthem for the new century. Both of these contain the fantastic vocals and thoughtful arrangements characterized by much of Steve's finest work.

I've been intrigued and inspired by Steve Hackett's works, particularly the earlier ones, for years and I am ecstatic about this latest offering. I regard it a marvellous gift from one of progressive music's most fertile, versatile and distinctive musical minds. It's been a long time coming, but I believe that this album is the true and logical successor to earlier albums like Spectral Mornings and Defector. The wonderful and evocative cover art by Kim Poor even seems to allude to those earlier covers. All of this is not to imply that To Watch the Storms in any way resembles those albums in style as much as it does in approach. Back is the wonderful diversity, unabashed beauty and fearless experimentalism that characterized those earlier releases. Back are the superb vocal harmonies (special mention given here about Steve Hackett's great lead singing) and the trademark mind-blowing virtuoso classical guitar work. To Watch the Storms is a fabulously fresh and moving work: just what this Hackett fan has been waiting for.

Conclusion:

Nigel Camilleri - 9 out of 10
Chris Meeker - 9+ out of 10






Hackett, Steve - To Watch The Storms

Release Date: 2003

Member: def - 06/08/03

STRUTTON GROUND
This is a nice light song.

CIRCUS OF BECOMING
Featuring the dreaded Optigan, this is a Steve Hackett meets Lawrence Welk song.

THE DEVIL IS AN ENGLISHMAN
A Thomas Dolby cover, not Steve at his best.

FROZEN STATUES
Another light track, not very noteworthy.

MECHANICAL BRIDE
This is even more like King Crimson's 21st Century Schizoid Man than at NEARfest. One of this CD's highlights.

WIND, SAND AND STARS
Acoustic track that could have easily been on Bay of Kings or Momentum.

BRAND NEW
Starts of light with acoustic guitar and vocals, then becomes an electric track during the chorus. Featuring Ian McDonald on sax. Another highlight.

THIS WORLD
Another light track, sounds like a John Lennon type of song from Double Fantasy. Highlight.

REBECCA
Mostly acoustic, this song has a wintery feeling, haunting, like taking a walk in a heavy snowfall.

THE SILK ROAD
Heavy with ethnic rhythms.

POLLUTION B
A slight variation of Pollution, performed at NEARfest.
Not much more than a link.

FIRE ISLAND
A bluesy track very similar to "Let Me Count The Ways" (Till We Have Faces).

MARIJUANA ASSASSIN OF YOUTH
Starts light, goes into Bach's Italian Concerto for Harpsicord (Third Movement), "The Batman Theme", "Wipeout", "Tequila", and finishes off with a 60's type sock hop song. Fascinating Captain.

COME AWAY
A light Celtic type song. Another highlight

THE MOON UNDER WATER
Another acoustic track that could have been on Bay of Kings or Momentum.

SERPENTINE SONG
Another featured at NEARfest. Featuring John Hackett on flute. Highlight.

IF YOU ONLY KNEW
A light song that would have been better on A Midsummer's Night's Dream. A bad track to end the CD with.

This is the deluxe edition with 4 extra tracks. I've spent the last 3 days listening to this CD. It's definitely grown on me, but it's not on that you'll love automatically. It is very hard to peg, and definitely not Darktown 2.

The packaging is excellent, a small bound hard cover book with lyrics, track descriptions and Kim Poor's artwork. The CD fits into a small pocket inside the rear cover.

My review is based on what I've heard, and not from the booklet, as I did all my listening without reading the booklet.

c2001 - 2003 Progressive Ears
All Rights Reserved



Let me start off by saying that this is a really good CD and even better, a really good Steve Hackett CD. While Darktown was good, it was too dark and moody not finding much playtime in the various CD players in our house.


To Watch The Storms has already been played more in the past week than Darktown has in almost two years in my collection.

Why? Well it's pretty simple. This go round the music comes across as mellow and pensive, where Darktown was simply melancholy. To Watch the Storm rocks and grooves where Darktown simply offered little to "stimulate" the listener.

To Watch the Storms is this wonderful mix of Steve's recent excursions in different musical sounds, some excellent GTR era guitar riffs all blended together with some early Genesis stuff.

AND, unlike Darktown, the singing on this CD is top notch.

I really like this CD. From the opening gentle pining of Strutton Ground, past the almost vaudevillian sounds of Circus of Becoming right into the barreled voice of Satan as he explains The Devil was an Englishman.

That last one is a real fun song, one I think the master of humor in progressive music, Frank Zappa, would like. Not really a Zappa sounding song but, oh well just listen to it.

Mechanical Bride is one song where the GTR hooks can be heard but certainly Serpentine Song could have been on Winds and Wuthering or even Selling England By the Pound.

Wind, Sand, and Stars shows off Steve's acoustic flare and points to Nursery Chryme or Foxtrot era Genesis in it's sound quality.

Brand New is a great rocker and one where GTR meets modern programming and vocal electronics. A "user friendly" song for sure. Better put on your dancing shoes for this one as well.

But all in all, this is not a retro CD in any way. This is new and fresh while adding just enough of the touches we have all loved in Mr. Hackett's work over the long years.

This CD offers a glimpse into the mind of Steve Hackett. Soft, acoustic, discordant, harmonic, rocking, pensive, dark and humorous. I think you will get it too.

Rating: 8.5 of 10
Reviewed By: Stephen Ellis






Fire Island

The river called and cried
Across the twisted steel
Blues on fire island
Had a magic to heal
Souls full of anger
Sadness and despair
A harbour in my heart
Where love was there

Well the Hotel was raised to the ground
But the spirits still visit there
They rebuilt it stone by stone
I sometimes stand and stare
I see a red light like a flame
And a beast that can't be tamed
Anchored to a place
Where love was there

Hell was never hotter
When Butter had his day
Like the loaves and fishes
A miracle at play
A thin crowd became a multitude
Pounding on the door
A sound to wake the dead
Tearing through the floor

Everything's washed away
By the tides of time
But every now and then
It all comes back again
I'm captive in a place
Both a palace and a dive
I've a picture in my mind
Where love was there




Marijuana, Assassin of Youth (A Mini Musical)

Marijuana, assassin of youth
And so look now here's the truth
As we wish you all a Perry Sherry Christmas
With a Partridge Family or two

And when you go to church
You'll remember with a smirk
All the crazy little things you used to do

"...Let's have a truly Mexican welcome
For Ronnie and the Romeos..."

I asked my girlfriend to marry me
Yes I thought how happy we'd be
I knew she'd be thrilled at least be pleased
But these were the words she said to me

You need a haircut and then a degree
Don't you want to start a family
Take a stand and make some real cash
Sell your guitar and throw away your stash

I had a headache lasted five days
I knew that somehow there must be a way
Cleaned the car and emptied the trash
Before she got home I had to get smashed

I moved out on my own formed a new band
We played every Goddamn dive in the land




Steve Hackett - To Watch The Storms

Released: 2003
Label: SPV / InsideOut Music
Cat. No.: SPVCD 65732
Total Time:

Reviewed by: John "Bo Bo" Bollenberg, October 2003

After the much acclaimed Darktown album Steve Hackett has released a series of live albums and DVDs recorded during his much appreciated travels around the world. Hackett is proud about his past and sees no problem in including some Genesis material, which after all was the reason why he became successful as a solo artist in the first place. In between all of these demanding activities it's as if Steve has found a new life, a new inspiration, a new purpose in life. Not only has he put a new band around him, but on To Watch The Storms he has for the first time used that same band in the studio as well.

When I listened to this new album for the first time I was pleased. Pleased to have a firm smile on my face, as with this album Hackett goes back to his successful past, including material that could have been on Voyage Of The Acolyte or on Spectral Mornings. Pleased because he alternates between electric and acoustic guitars; between heavy sounding songs and intimate sketches. Hackett might not be the world's best singer, but he delivers a better job than Steve Howe. In fact, in Hackett's case, it adds something special that might be the secret potion to turn a certain composition into something that is unmistakably Hackett. Another authentic quality of Hackett's has to be the constant presence of humour; typical British humour, if you ask me. This has to be the main reason why he covers the Thomas Dolby song "The Devil Is An Englishman" on this album. It's nice to know the serious look Hackett portrays is but a faзade, that deep down there's an immense laughter hiding. Just listen to Hackett's voice on "The Devil Is An Englishman" and I'm convinced he needed more than one take to get this one right! If Hackett is a fan of Thomas Dolby, then he might have written "Frozen Statues" as a tribute to Dolby because it really contains the kind of atmosphere that Dolby would compose himself, muted trumpet included.

In Roger King, our guitar virtuoso not only has found the ideal keyboard player, but also the man with the right pair of ears, as for this album he was the perfect guy to engineer, mix and master it. Especially with headphones To Watch The Storms becomes so much more of a true audio experience. With Roger as part of his touring band, he already performed some of the material of this new album live. Amongst others the Live In Buenos Aires DVD contains a roaring version of "Mechanical Bride," which of course sounds more detailed here, especially where the drums are concerned. The quality of Hackett enables him to switch from a powerful track directly towards the intimacy of the electric guitar. "Wind, Sand And Stars" is of the same beauty as "Kim" and I mean both the track and the person here! Next to Hackett's wonderful guitar I should also stress the superb keyboard parts from Roger King here, who delivers some of his finest moments with a high cinematic degree! "This World" does even contain parts that could have been written by the late John Lennon, in the style of his very own "Woman;" simple but very effective.

"Rebecca" is a very interesting track as it uses a rather surprising rhythm to which, again, some superb acoustic guitar has been added. But if there's one rhythm that has to be mentioned on this album, it certainly has to be the addictive trance-like tribal rhythms of "The Silk Road." Ingenious as he is, Hackett has even seen the chance to include the main theme from his earlier "Tower Struck Down" composition. This is a smart move because you're playing a new song whilst you hark back to an earlier period! With a title like "The Moon Under Water," Hackett exactly delivers that kind of atmosphere, as through the music you can indeed imagine how the moon looks from below the water. This diversified album ends with the longer "Serpentine Song" which ebbs along a soft melody and also includes brother John on flute. From a vocal point of view, to my ears it sounds a lot like King Crimson's "I Talk To The Wind," but all your attention is drawn away towards the music so you don't have time to doubt its originality.

Good to hear such a great and diverse album from Steve Hackett, again trying his hand at all sorts of genres without losing his original grip. Together with a fine selection of musicians he's ready to deliver many more glorious works in the time to come. To Watch The Storms is indeed an album that leaves me happy. I hope it does for you, too!

Rating: 5/5

[See also Keith's and Eric's reviews -ed.]



Reviewed by: Eric Porter, July 2003
Steve Hackett is the consummate guitarist, as he seems to move through many styles with ease. Yet, he has never been viewed as the rock "guitar hero" although he possesses the tools to be one. To Watch The Storms is another testament to Steve's diverse musical talents.

Hackett is using the same musicians he had on the road last year (Roger King - keyboards, Rob Townsend - brass, woodwinds, Terry Gregory - bass, Gary O'Toole - drums), and this band really impressed me at NEARFest. Also, his brother John makes an appearance along with Ian McDonald.

Hackett's monstrously sustained guitar makes its first appearance in "Circus Of Becoming." Along with the massive organ sounds this song harkens back to Hackett's early solo work. The influence of King Crimson's "21st Century Schizoid Man" is apparent in "Mechanical Bride," but this track also lets the band stretch out and really play. As strong as this song came off live, it maintains that energy in its studio form. The upbeat pop flavored "Brand New" features a heavy rock chorus in contrast to a subtle acoustic verse.

Everything from orchestrated pieces like "Wind, Sand, And Stars," classical guitar pieces like "The Moon Under Water," to the atmospheric percussive instrumental "The Silk" (that also conjures up a small bit of Please Don't Touch). The bluesy "Fire Island" really shows what a great tone Hackett has, as the guitar really cuts through. It also includes a little harmonica as well. Hackett's sense of humor shows through with excerpts from the "Batman Theme," "Tequila," and other 50's classics (it also contains a really cool organ interlude) wrapped in "Marijuana, Assassin Of Youth".

To Watch The Storms offers a variety of styles and treats the listener to a generous portion of Hackett's guitar. Coming in two sets, the limited edition offers 5 extra tracks. Kim Poor's haunting artwork graces the cover and booklet. Although not as consistent as his earlier classics, Hackett continues to push the envelope and try new sounds and styles with excellent results.

[See also Keith's review -ed.]


Steve Hackett - To Watch The Storms

Released: 2003
Label: SPV / InsideOut Music
Cat. No.: SPVCD 65732
Total Time:


Reviewed by: Keith "Muzikman" Hannaleck
To Watch The Storms is the first Steve Hackett album in four years. Although that seems like a long time between albums, it is not hard to imagine how quickly the years could fly by when you are involved with a multitude of projects such as Hackett.

The new CD features Hackett playing extraordinary guitar as well as numerous other instruments like the Rain Stick and Koto, which are not your common everyday instruments that come into play when recording a rock album. Certainly, this is not your ordinary rock album. The album focuses on one of the premier guitarists in the world making progressive artistic rock music that many high caliber musicians would find inconceivable or quite difficult to produce. Hackett very smartly brought onboard some supportive and diverse talent to help him reach his goals. Roger King (Piano, Organ, Synthesizer), Rob Townsend (Brass, Woodwind, Whistles), Terry Gregory (Vocals, Basses, Pedals & Thunder), Gary O' Toole (Vocals, Acoustics & Electric Drums, Percussion), and various guests such as Ian McDonald, all contributed to the outcome of this successful recording.

From the decidedly uncommon progressive-pop sensibilities of "The Devil Is An Englishman," to the Far East flavor of "The Silk Road," there is nothing accidental or coincidental in the way Hackett conceives and follows through with a recording session. He is a very gifted individual that systematically approaches every track, making sure his audience gets the very best of him and as much variety of his artistic vision as possible.

After listening to the album, it certainly became more than apparent that the results harvested from the recording sessions of this album were well worth the wait for all of the followers of progressive rock as a whole and Hackett's illustrious career. There is so much to this man and his music that every track offers new musical adventures. He can rock hard with biting and piercing guitar licks to satisfy the progressive rock enthusiast, or dazzle a jazz audience with a completely different sound by plucking a soft and tasteful acoustic number, giving a collective nod to past six-string magicians such as Segovia and Reinhardt. I think you will unearth more uniqueness and subtleties with each successive listen to this CD; in fact, I have no doubt that if you are a veteran prog-rock listener that you will be very pleased with this effort and will feel compelled to listen repeatedly to this masterstroke of musical accomplishments.

What is a span of four years when you can put out a quality album like this every time out? Many people would consider this as a career breakthrough album; Hackett makes it look like a matter of course, another day at the office for an old pro. This is yet another convincing reason to believe he has been one of the most consistent musicians since his days with Genesis.

Rating: 4/5

[See also Eric's review -ed.]

More about To Watch The Storms:

Track Listing: Strutton Ground (3:04) / Circus Of Becoming (3:48) / The Devil Is An Englishman (4:27) / Frozen Statues (2:58) / Mechanical Bride (6:40) / Wind, Sand And Stars (5:08) / Brand New (4:41) / This World (5:19) / Rebecca (4:20) / The Silk Road (5:25) / Come Away (3:13) / The Moon Under Water / Serpentine Song (6:56)

The special edition adds four additional tracks: Pollution B / Fire Island / Marijuana, Assassin Of Youth / If You Only Knew


More about To Watch The Storms:

Track Listing: Strutton Ground (3:04) / Circus Of Becoming (3:48) / The Devil Is An Englishman (4:27) / Frozen Statues (2:58) / Mechanical Bride (6:40) / Wind, Sand And Stars (5:08) / Brand New (4:41) / This World (5:19) / Rebecca (4:20) / The Silk Road (5:25) / Come Away (3:13) / The Moon Under Water / Serpentine Song (6:56)

The special edition adds four additional tracks: Pollution B / Fire Island / Marijuana, Assassin Of Youth / If You Only Knew




Steve Hackett - To Watch The Storms

Released: 2003
Label: SPV/InsideOut / InsideOut Music
Cat. No.: SPV 085-65732/IOMCD 127 / IOMA 2058-2
Total Time:


Reviewed by: Stephanie Sollow, December 2003
To Watch The Storms is an adult album, though one doesn't have to be forty-something (or older) to appreciate it; one just has to have reached a certain level of emotional or intellectual maturity. Accepting of the fact that you are getting older, and, you hope, a little wiser. That is, if you are still struggling through your restlessness of youth - regardless of your chronological age - then you might find To Watch The Storms far too mellow and laidback. To Watch The Storms is adult in terms of being stately, but not stuffy (the quirky and dark "The Devil Is An Englishman" -- another example of Hackett's dry and droll British humour --; the tribal-march and middle-eastern motifs of "The Silk Road;" and the cheerful, happy, and danceable medieval-folk "Come Away" will dispel that); elegant but not haughty. Hackett isn't morose or gloomy - rather the music reflects someone who is happy and content, yet just a bit wistful. A sense of nostalgia permeates many of the album's tracks, resulting in something that is often delicate and subdued - perhaps no more so than on "Frozen Statues," a brief, somber, moody, late-night-in-hotel-lounge like piece that one could imagine a crooner like Frank Sinatra singing while in a particularly blue mood; or on "Wind, Sand and Stars," a solo acoustic guitar piece that soon becomes more classically influenced, with piano in the lead, backed by strings. The overall tone of the album is one of amused detachment. Not that Steve Hackett seems distant from the music itself, but that he is remarking upon things "over there," regardless of whether that "over there" is spatial or in time. "Strutton Ground," which opens the album, is a mellow piece that harks back to an earlier time, recalling both Camel and Hackett's The Voyage Of The Acolyte. That doesn't mean it sounds dated. One gets this same feeling from the wistful "This World" - a father seeing his daughter grown up and out on her own.

"Frozen Statues" is followed up by the angular and dark "Mechanical Bride," a piece that would seem more in character with latter day King Crimson (at least to me) than Hackett. Here Hackett tears things up with jagged and acidic guitar bursts, soon leading the rest of the band into frenzied, industrial workout full of squeaks and rust and grit (so it's not all somber reflection). That band includes Roger King on piano, organ, synth, and vocoder; Rob Townsend on brass, woodwind, whistles and "one man Serpentine chorus marching band;" Terry Gregory on vocals, basses, pedals and "thunder;" and Gary O'Toole on vocals, acoustic and electronic drums, and "percussion with regular and ferocious beatings!"

"Brand New" begins with acoustic guitar, as does the earlier "Wind, Sand And Stars," but becomes a much more lively, rocking piece that Hackett's playing a fiery solo that seems taken more from straight ahead rock than prog. "Rebecca" is mostly a lyrical and pastoral piece, though there is a section where percussion by way of electronic drums - and an excellent use of them, too - comes to the forefront. Hackett, of course, solos beautifully here again, in another piece that underscores the underlying mood of the album. The instrumental "The Moon Under Water" is a shimmery and liquid solo acoustic guitar piece with Hackett as wandering minstrel playing on the shores of gently rippling lake, the music and air warm and romantic, quite evocative of the imagery that the title suggests. "The Serpentine Song," featuring Hackett's brother John trilling beautifully on flute, is lovely pastoral song that wends its way around your ears, ending the album on a bright and warm note, even though the lyrics describe a rainy day (metaphor, of course).

To Watch The Storms is an album that works its charms on you slowly; details emerging with each subsequent listen - as all good albums should do. It's an album that leaves you in a good place, peaceful and content: and maybe just a little bit wistful. Excellent.

Rating: 5/5

[See also Keith's, Eric's and Bobo's reviews -ed.]

More about To Watch The Storms:

Track Listing: Strutton Ground (3:04) / Circus Of Becoming (3:48) / The Devil Is An Englishman (4:27) / Frozen Statues (2:58) / Mechanical Bride (6:40) / Wind, Sand And Stars (5:08) / Brand New (4:41) / This World (5:19) / Rebecca (4:20) / The Silk Road (5:25) / Come Away (3:13) / The Moon Under Water (2:14) / Serpentine Song (6:56)

The special edition adds four additional tracks: Pollution B / Fire Island / Marijuana, Assassin Of Youth / If You Only Knew

Musicians:
Steve Hackett - Vocals, Guitar, Optigan, Harmonica, Koto, Rain Stick, Chimes, Quatro
Roger King-Piano, Organ, Synthesizer, Vocoder, Research & Programming
Rob Townsend-Brass, Woodwind, Whistles & One-man Serpentine chorus machine
Terry Gregory-Vocals, Basses, Pedals & Thunder
Gary O' Toole-Vocals, Acoustics & Electric Drums, Percussion with regular and ferocious beatings!
John Hackett-Flute solo on "Serpentine Song"
Ian McDonald-Sax on "Brand New"
Jeanne Downs-Backing Vocals
Sarah Wilson, Cello & Howard Gott, Violin

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)
To Watch The Storms (2003)
Neafest 2003 (2003)
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)