GTR

Whilst I certainly enjoyed this album when it came out, it has not aged well, mainly because of misguided attempts to sound contemporary. I seem to recall Steve Hackett saying something about the aim of GTR being to take the guitar into the future. This appears to have meant using guitar synthesisers, which achieves little other than making guitars indistinguishable from keyboards. Both guitarists (Hackett and Howe) are playing well below their ability, and the songs, mostly mediocre to start with, suffer from embarassingly poor lyrics. However, it is not all doom and gloom. The opening track and single "When The Heart" is strong, and Steve Howe's solo piece is very pleasant. But the best aspect of the album, and the reason I've been generous with the stars, is Max Bacon's superbly unique voice, soulful and wide-ranging.