OUT OF THE TUNNEL'S MOUTH

Steve Hackett´s latest studio offering follows the sane pattern of most of his latter day solo effords: great musicanship, interesting arrangements, a wide pallette of sounds and almost no focus. I´ll have to accept that he decided not to repeat himself and play the way he used to on Genesis or in his early solo stuff. So expect very little from what he did best: those long, beautful and flowing solos. Composition wise, he still struggles to do something differente every time, but clearly it all results the same: a bunch of non related songs put together. Some good, some not that good.

Highlghts? Nomads, definitly. Great spanish flavoured guitar at the beginnning, fine electric guitar on the second part. With a little extra instrumental sections and a more creative arrangement it could be a true prog classic. Emerald And Ash starts very well too, but the weird, dissonant second part ruins the excellent beginning. And so it goes: nothing really bad, but nothing excellent either. His forays into world music like the closing track Last Train to Istambul sound strained and lacking power.

So in the end, a good overall album. Pleasant most of the time, but not exciting at all. Call me old fashioned or nostalgic, but do I miss his trademark solos of the past.

3 stars.