OUT OF THE TUNNEL'S MOUTH

This is a difficult album to judge. On the one hand, the musicianship and even the vocals (for Steve Hackett) are really good, and the sound of his classical guitar whenever it appears is simply marvelous. Where the album falls incredibly short, however, is in the composition department. Almost all of them are weak, with terrible transitions, or a downright sound tacky throughout. The lineup, boasting the mighty Chris Squire and Hackett's more pastoral predecessor Anthony Phillips, is incredibly exciting, but sadly the pieces themselves are too diverse, too unconvincing in many places, and too underwhelming.

"Fire on the Moon" Beginning with a sleepy, lullaby-like introduction, the first piece suddenly takes on a much larger sound that brings things back to where they started. The music alternates in this fashion, with Hackett's very reserved singing during the verses. As one might expect, however, the lead guitar at the end is the highlight.

"Nomads" The second piece is a virtuosic classical guitar workout initially, which turns into a easy-listening song, quite like Sting's later music. It adopts a feverish Mediterranean flavor before launching into an electric guitar solo backed up by the celebrated 1970s Hackett sound.

"Emerald and Ash" Maintaining that exotic flair and sultry, Sting-like aroma, the first half of the track is gentle and pleasant music that eventually culminates in an unsuited transitional phase that turns into heavier and completely unrelated music to serve as the foundation for a screeching and astringent guitar solo.

"Tubehead" Rapid bass and drums make for an upbeat rocking playground for Hackett to exercise his fingers. In many places it sounds like a big mess of effects and reverb.

"Sleepers" The second long one on the album begins with another classical piece and synthetic textures in the background. The second half is, of course, radically different from what came before, involving wild guitar runs, and this time a much heavier wall of background sound.

"Ghost in the Glass" Sweet and tender classical guitar playing make up the beginning of the piece. Once again, non-contextual and poorly transitioned electric guitar rips it's way in.

"Still Waters" Unlike a certain song with a certain similar title, this one is a bluesy roadhouse number with a female-led refrain, a slide guitar solo, and some tapping- very unlike what I expected, given the rest of the album, and overall extremely cheesy, and not my thing at all.

"Last Train to Istanbul" Inviting the Mediterranean flavor back, this piece has woodwinds, exotic percussion, and electric guitars performing a variety of functions. The singing isn't bad, but again I cannot help but think of the several other artists who have been doing this very thing for many years now, and better (like Sting). The authenticity doesn't run deep, and the artificiality of it all is hard to push through, especially as this track comes on the heels of "Still Waters."