OUT OF THE TUNNEL'S MOUTH

I had the pleasure and good fortune of attending a Steve Hackett performance at the 2010 High Voltage Festival (Prog Stage), and at the time I did not realise that he had recently released a new studio album, as I was mostly only aware of the four first albums Hackett had done. As part of the set he performed "Fire On The Moon" and (part of) "Sleepers", and I was compelled to purchase a copy of this CD on the strength of these two tracks; I was not dissapointed.

"Fire On The Moon" is a fantastic opening track, one of which is constantly being replayed by myself thanks to the fact that the lyrics keep repeating in my brain. "I feel like I've been the finest fool..." My only critisism is that I haven't the faintest idea why Hackett employed Chris Squire to play bass on this track, as is is extremely straightforward chugging which could very easily done by anyone. Perplexing.

The above mentioned opener along with "Emerald and Ash" and "Sleepers" would appear to be the main peices of this album as they are three solid slices of prog that satisfyingly cover a dynamic range from soft to bombastic. The other tracks are no filler, although it may be that the mix of styles evident here might make the listener think that there are if they are not a fan of the slow blues type music in "Still Waters" or the feux eastern stylings in "Last Train to Istambul". The two instrumentals, "Tubehead" and "Ghost in the Glass" are well crafted in their abandon and slickness, respectively, and "Nomads" is the perfect gentle song to follow up the excellent opening track.

Since that performance of Hackett's at the High Voltage festival I have purchased Darktown, To Watch The Storms and Wild Orchids to complete what I have begun to think of as Hackett's second great quadrilogy (I've little intention of getting any of Hacketts' albums between Defector an Darktown, based on the tracks I've heard of that period, not to mention GTR), and I find it hard to pick a favourite, but OotTM is definatly no slouch, very accessable whilst also being subtly complex, and is highly recommended to music fans who posess varying tastes.

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