VOYAGE OF THE ACOLYTE

To be completely honest, before I purchased this album, I had some low expectations. The only song from it that I had heard prior to getting this was "Star of Sirius", and upon my first listen, I thought it was rather mediocre. However, it kind of grew on me over a good period of time, and I decided to give this one a spin--It blew me away.

"Ace of Wands" is a great opener; very abrupt and straight to the point. It really catches your attention within the first few seconds of the track. It's very dynamic--it ranges from powerful, fast tempo passages to being mellow and beautiful. The guitar work at the end is my favorite moment of the song.

"Hands of the Priestess Pt. I" is a mellow, acoustic song which serves more as an opener for the proceeding track. That doesn't make it any less wonderful.

"A Tower Struck Down" is probably the most unusual track on here, sporting a repetitive and dark style, but still very pleasant. The mellotron interlude in the middle is so haunting...it's wonderful!

"Hands of the Priestess Pt. II" begins with the same theme as the previous part, but you quickly come to notice it's majesty as soon as the Oboe comes in. It's absolutely beautiful.

"The Hermit" is a very pleasant song featuring Steve himself on the vocals. Steve Hackett has never really been much of a singer, or at least in an upper range, so it's nice to see him staying in a range he's comfortable with (Listen to "Cured" and you'll see what I mean--ugh!). This song displays a very haunting acoustic guitar melody throughout, and is a pleasure to listen to from beginning to end.

"Star of Sirius", like I said before, grew on me over time. One major highlight of this track is that it features Phil Collins on vocals, which only add to the wonderful musicianship. You'll notice that the theme from "Hands of the Priestess Pt. II" is recalled at parts.. This one is probably my favorite on the album...just give it a listen and you'll see what I mean.

"The Lovers" is a classic Hackett interlude song, being slightly reminiscent to "Horizon" from "Foxtrot".

"Shadow or the Hierophant" is a majestic closer, but I can't help but feel slightly underwhelmed by the song. Although the musicianship displayed here is at a peak, it's awfully repetitive. I get tired of hearing the same theme over and over again for nearly five minutes. As soon as the middle of the song comes in, there's a little more variety; however, the final few minutes of the song starts repeating itself all over again, but is slightly more enjoyable than the beginning of the song.

Overall, this album is worth a listen and is highly essential. (4/5)