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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
23 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Where his previous solo release, ‘Please Don’t Touch’, attempted to bridge American and British music of the period, its 1979 successor marked a return to a musical context closer to the spiritual home of Steve Hackett’s former band, Genesis.
A UK chart hit, ‘Spectral Mornings’ hit all the right buttons for fans, crossing whimsy-laced pastoral symphonic rock with early ‘world’ styling assisted by a diversity of instrumentation, both acoustic and synthesised.
Equally diverse in output, Hackett and a tight, well-drilled band including Dik (Decameron) Cadbury and Nick (Enid) Magnus deliver bags of shade and light from the exciting opener (and live mainstay) ‘Every Day’, the jaunty ditty in ‘Ballad Of the Decomposing Man’, the delicate Spanish guitar instrumental in ‘Lost Time in Cordoba’, the thundering instrumental in ‘Clock – The Angel Of Mons’ replete with drum solo, and – well, you get the gist of it.
Other standouts include the pretty ‘Virgin & The Gypsy’ (Steve got the lyrics down after a few glasses of wine reading ‘The Victorian Book Of Flowers’), and the closing title track, a dramatic slice of soaring melodic prog that takes us – on this generous re-mastered, mid-price package – back to the beginning with alternate takes plus two live tracks.
Even in its moments of bombast, there is a gentle, intelligent charm and spirituality in ‘Spectral Mornings’, a record of its time but its values undiluted by the fact, and with the capacity and range to entertain just as ably today.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I thought Steve Hackett had lost his way with the previous album. If he had he found it again. This was a welcome return to form and reminded us what Genesis had lost.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Most of the reviews already submitted concentrate on the quality of the album and it must be said that it does contain some of Steves best songs, with only a couple of tracks not quite up to the mark.
Instead I wanted to showcase the bonus tracks on offer here as this remastered cd does offer quite a few; in fact it's very generous and brings the playing time to around 71 minutes. However, it's really a question of quantity above quality (and also the track timings listed on the sleeve are quite wrong). Best of the bunch for me is the extended version of the classic track 'Every Day' which extends the instrumental section until it fades more quietly than on the original cut. Next up, the wonderful 'The Virgin and the Gypsy' is also extended but only to repeat the instrumental middle passage over and over again. The alternative mix of 'Tiger Moth' features just the vocal section sung whistfully by Peter Hicks; not sure what the point of that is.'The Ballad of the Decomposing Man' is also an alternative mix but it sounds much the same. The single version of 'Clocks' follows next and chops the frenetic drum section sadly, so is vastly inferior to the standard cut. An excellent live 'Acoustic Set' is next up and this was the b-side of the 'Clocks' single; it features a lovely version of 'Horizons' from the Genesis album 'Foxtrot' with a very long round of applause. The other acoustic pieces are not quite as enthusistically received but do give a flavour of Steves live acoustic technique. A rare live cut of 'Tiger Moth' was featured on the 12" 'Clocks' single and is included here but strangely the music fades out before Peter Hicks' vocals start as it was on the 12" release - shame they could not have restored the full track here.
There is a slight trick in the tail if you pardon the pun, 'Tiger Moth (live)' is the last listed track and it duly fades but the clock keeps ticking (sorry, another pun !) and then a hidden track 16 starts up. What can I say about this piece of nonsense ? Someone with a very bad cough appears to be clearing up after the band and cursing about bands in general being "layabouts". This rambles on for about one and a half minutes and then stops when a door is slammed. Very strange.
Instead I wanted to showcase the bonus tracks on offer here as this remastered cd does offer quite a few; in fact it's very generous and brings the playing time to around 71 minutes. However, it's really a question of quantity above quality (and also the track timings listed on the sleeve are quite wrong). Best of the bunch for me is the extended version of the classic track 'Every Day' which extends the instrumental section until it fades more quietly than on the original cut. Next up, the wonderful 'The Virgin and the Gypsy' is also extended but only to repeat the instrumental middle passage over and over again. The alternative mix of 'Tiger Moth' features just the vocal section sung whistfully by Peter Hicks; not sure what the point of that is.'The Ballad of the Decomposing Man' is also an alternative mix but it sounds much the same. The single version of 'Clocks' follows next and chops the frenetic drum section sadly, so is vastly inferior to the standard cut. An excellent live 'Acoustic Set' is next up and this was the b-side of the 'Clocks' single; it features a lovely version of 'Horizons' from the Genesis album 'Foxtrot' with a very long round of applause. The other acoustic pieces are not quite as enthusistically received but do give a flavour of Steves live acoustic technique. A rare live cut of 'Tiger Moth' was featured on the 12" 'Clocks' single and is included here but strangely the music fades out before Peter Hicks' vocals start as it was on the 12" release - shame they could not have restored the full track here.
There is a slight trick in the tail if you pardon the pun, 'Tiger Moth (live)' is the last listed track and it duly fades but the clock keeps ticking (sorry, another pun !) and then a hidden track 16 starts up. What can I say about this piece of nonsense ? Someone with a very bad cough appears to be clearing up after the band and cursing about bands in general being "layabouts". This rambles on for about one and a half minutes and then stops when a door is slammed. Very strange.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Lovely
Not much more to say really. I stumbled across the title track one day and was bowled over by the sublime playing. For the main, a very nicely chilled album.
Published 16 months ago by SnowDog
Spectral Mornings Steve Hackett
Brilliant Album. Updating from an old tape to CD. I was lucky enough to see him perform this Album twice in the past and the quality of the remasted album is brilliant
Published 16 months ago by twilighteranonymous
A CLASSIC.
I can't add anything more to what has already been said,apart from saying that if Steve is not recognised in some way for his contribution to music, it will go down as being one of... Read more
Published 17 months ago by mike
One of his best
Steve's first three studio solo albums all command interest, and this, the third, clearly shows him gravitating towards the "Steve Hackett Band sound" that turned future releases... Read more
Published on 24 May 2010 by Mr. F. M. Havicon
Blast from the past.
Went to school with John Shearer the drummer on this CD.Got it to see what it was all about and was very pleased that I did. Read more
Published on 22 Dec 2009 by Mr. R. A. Steel
spectral mornings
fantastic guitar playing especially the acoustic set.
cool use of eastern instruments
great flute playing by his brother
cool use of eastern instruments
great flute playing by his brother
Published on 21 Aug 2009 by Mrs. Penelope M. Cliburn
Classic prog rock from Steve Hackett
I first heard this album about 25 years ago, and I fell in love with the opening track "Every Day" for it's insistent and instantly catchy style. Read more
Published on 11 July 2009 by David Birmingham
Music to change your life
When I was 15 , I went to see Cheap Triack at the Reading festival. It was my very first gig so I wanted it to be BIG !! Read more
Published on 24 Jan 2008 by Mr. John C. Armes
FAT
This album is so diverse in content, so beautiful to listen to, so damn bloody brilliant that if you have never heard it you either haven't been born yet or you died before it was... Read more
Published on 6 Jan 2008 by Vince
SPECTRAL OF YOUR LIFE!
I think this is one of Steve Hackett's greatest albums and I highly Recommend to buy this!
The First track I like is "The Virgin and The Gypsy" which featured a... Read more
The First track I like is "The Virgin and The Gypsy" which featured a... Read more
Published on 3 Aug 2006 by Mr. Jm Mitchell
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