THE CIRCUS AND THE NIGHTWHALE

The latest solo album from former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett (and his thirtieth overall) is alright. It's no Voyage of the Acolyte, but it isn't bad. It's your typical, slightly-bland classic prog fare. A lot of the music here is mid-tempo with some relatively heavy guitar lines. There's a lot of flowery, impressive guitar soloing, but it rarely amounts to much. This album's folkiest moments are its best, like "Enter the Ring", though that track's Yes-like vocal harmonies come off as weirdly thin and overprocessed. (In fact, I'm really not nuts about the record's production overall.) The ending to this album is pretty overwrought and cheesy in a way that reminds me of '90s and '00s prog acts like Spock's Beard and Moon Safari.

Review originally posted here: theeliteextremophile.com/2024/04/01/odds-ends-april-1-2024/