PLEASE DON'T TOUCH!

After his very Genesian debut "Voyage of the Acolyte", Hackett continued his solo career in a definitive way with a less spectacular yet equally brilliant sophomore effort "Please Don't Touch". This time, Hackett decided to feel literally free before the audience of friendly listeners, and by that I mean that he set an enhanced set of musical resources for the album's repertoire. The playful ambience of the acoustic- based 'Narnia' opens up the album in a very lyrical manner, combining the bucolic spirit of British acoustic pop-rock and slight touches of country. The second track is a bizarre yet simplistic homage to Agatha Christie, reinforcing the playful mood of the opener with the addition of circus-like adornments and machine processed vocals. 'Racing in a' is the first truly progressive rock song in the album, with Steve Walsh and Phil Ehart reprising their roles as special guests (as they had been in 'Narnia'), and violinist extraordinaire Graham Smith creating extra colors that mingle with the mellotron string layers. This effective rocker contains softly fluid tempo shifts and well-crafted guitar leads, with an acoustic coda in which Hackett shows off his exquisite skill on classical guitar. No wonder that this song became a live staple for a few years in Hackett's shows during the late 70s: it is both catchy and owner of typical prog complexity. 'Kim' is a beautiful chamber oriented composition, with John Hackett's flute assuming the leading role above the constraint classical guitar chords. The Genesis thing always resurfaces now and then, since Hackett had become really a crucial element in his then former band: this is when the melancholic ballad 'How Can I?' gets in, with those mesmerizing 12-string guitar duets accompanied by even more mesmerizing layers of mellotron ,harmonium and guitar synthesizer. Guest Richie Havens shines here like a romantic troubadour lost in reflection. The second half of the album starts with an American-style ballad (something like a Cole Porter thing) sung gloriously by Randy Crawford. This ballad is segued to the namesake number, arguably the best instrumental that Genesis never recorded - hard as it is to imagine, this piece was rejected during the "Wind & Wuthering" rehearsal sessions, but it was destined to appear on record in one way or another. This monumental example of musical schizophrenia in which sinister textures, pastoral ornaments and hard rock interludes coexist in a bizarre harmony is one of the definite symbols of Hackett's artistic vision. For thsi album, the opening sectio nreceived its own title, 'Land of a Thousand Autumns'. After the namesake's outro, comes 'Voice of Necam', a two-part track that starts with voice-like effects played on a Necam computer and ends with a soft classical guitar brief nocturne. The last chord is instantly followed by another ballad sung by Havens. This time the atmosphere is more majestic, reinforcing and enhancing the eerie spirit that had already been present in 'How Can I?' and 'Hoping Love Will Last', taking it to a more decidedly prog context. If 'Afterglow' ended the "Wind" album not totally rising up to the expectations, 'Icarus Ascending' really fills with splendor the final minutes of this excellent Hackett album. Caught between two masterpieces, "Please Don't Touch" doesn't sound as impressive, but it still deserves to be catalogued as one of Hackett's most inspired opuses.

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