GTR

Yes! I'm finally reviewing something related to Steve Hackett! But this first??? Yes, Steve Hackett has a ton of albums and i will probably spend most of 2019 if not the entire year reviewing them, and i want to get onto other artists as well, so for now, as an end of the year final gift i'm reviewing the pop-masterpiece of the 80s made by a group of prog-rock giants. 1986 was a really weird year, Steve Hackett and his group, Genesis, Peter Gabriel all fighting for an spot into 80s glory hall, well atleast Genesis related, many artists did hits that year, like Marillion.

1. When The Heart Rules The Mind 8/10 The Pop-hit single of this album, Steve still plays it and i can see why, this single its a pop-masterpiece. The rythm all the way through doesn't get boring, it gives an adventurous atmosphere and has some nice variations in between, it gets boring in the acapella part and it repeats itself a little too much and that means a little less score from me.

2. The Hunter 6/10 Hackett participated in creating almost every song of this album, this is not one of those, its an ok minimalistic precussion and guitar song, where the rythm does well in keeping me interested just for a while, then there's a solo wich i'm grateful for but in the end this theme is just average.

3. Here I Wait 3/10 I have seen people complain that for a group called GTR as in GuiTaR, there's not a lot of guitar, and i can agree that the feeling that this album gives is not of a guitar atmosphere, but i can say that most of the time guitars on prog feel more like classic piano oriented and i really like that, and i think that some of the melodies in the album that are done with a synth can be perfectly been made with a guitar. With all that said, this song has a boring rythm and the guitar near the end (wich for some reason i think is Steve Hackett) make this song a little better.

4. Sketches In The Sun 10/10 This is the other and last theme where Hackett had little to none creative input according to the disc, made by Steve Howe and i really like it, its a fine guitar instrumental, this short theme shows and snippet of what this super group and album could've been able to achieve.

5. Jekyll And Hyde 6/10 Another harmless pop piece, sometimes i get hints from the first song, it has an interesting solo part but that's it, the overall rythm doesn't keep me interested.

6. You Can Still Get Through 5/10 The start reminds me of the game soundtrack of WaterWorld and it could've expanded a little bit from that misterious start, but then as the song evolves, repeats the rythm to much, becomes a really obvious pop-song that feels too happy for what it says, adds too much synths and yes, i can see myself asking "Where is the guitar?" from time to time here, and when it appears it does extraordinary things, but you're not fulling me, is like when they try to add heart to Adam Sandler movies. I know that comparison wasn't fair but i'm just tired of the wasted potential, specially here where they repeat the interesting start near the end, just for putting salt in the wound. "You can still get through", what? The wasted potential? I hope so!

7. Reach Out (Never Say No) 4/10 I'm really getting tired here, everytime something interesting happens, it gets back to the rythm quickly, like it doesn't sink in the variations, and when it finally does, its too late, the solo just doesn't save this, the synth solo sounds much more interesting here and that's sad.

8. Toe The Line 7/10 How beautyful, i want to cry, what a glorious and natural guitar after all that mess. Its a mellow song that its ok, gets a little boring and its repetitive but i feel like being prepared for something else.

9. Hackett To Bits 10/10 Steve Hackett appears, its the final boss of this journey and brings all his prog with him, and its glorious. OK, this is epic, i can't stop recommending this instrumental piece that reminds me of his aweosome previous solo work.

10. Imagining 9/10 I thought that this was continuing from the previous theme, and i think that it could well be the case, reminds me of a soundtrack, has some beautyful scales that give an overall misterious feeling. And in the end it surprises me because it adds the pop conventions into the mix but the theme never stops changing and it keeps it interesting and i like it a lot. This theme could very well be the one that decided the direction in wich this album was going and they sadly picked up more the pop side.

In total this album gets a 68/100 wich is 3 stars, it has some harmless forgetable but ok songs with added pop and prog goodies into the mix, i specially recommend the last 2 themes. Have a happy holydays everyone.

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