Please Don't Touch! [Extra tracks] [Original recording remastered]

The interesting thing about "Please Don't Touch" is the use of American vocalists. It was as if Hackett was consciously wishing to move away from his English prog rock roots. Having the likes of Ritchie Havens and Randy Crawford sing against a backdrop of ethereal rock with Hacketts trademark sustained guitar tone made for unusual if not disconcerting listening. However it does work, mostly. "Hoping Love Will Last" is a beautiful song, made even more so by Randy's vocals. Steve Walsh from Kansas gives "Narnia" and "Racing In A" a cool veneer and Richie Haven's gruff voice adds a gloomy air to "Icarus Ascending". Other tracks such as "Carry On Up the Vicarage" is pure Genesis of the "Harold the Barrel"/"I Know What I Like" school of English eccentric whimsy. But it's the title track that really stands out. A typical Hackett explosive instrumental, clearly and emphatically showing what Genesis would now be missing.

In some ways this is a bit of a hodge podge of an album, though one I still quite like for all that. I think the use of guest vocalists, though largely effective does in some way sit uneasily with the material and give the album as a whole a less than cohesive feel. Also some of the material seems a bit sketchy, lacking the emphatic nature of "Voyage Of the Acolyte" as a whole piece. That concluded with the epic "Shadow Of The Hierophant", but "Icarus Ascending" doesn't seem to gel the same with the instrumental sections not really going anywhere. But for all that this album still has plenty to recommend it.

The live version of the title track, included here as a bonus is excellent and the remastering is a breath of fresh air. The album artwork by Kim Poor is amongst my favourites of hers. I always felt she was the best sleeve artist Genesis never had!

Perhaps this part-explains why it is so distinct musically from 'Voyage ...' and indeed the rest of the guitarist's '70s Charisma catalogue, newly remastered and bolstered with alternate takes and live versions of tracks.

Where his band mates were all over his debut, they are absent here. Hackett turned to America for help on 'Please Don't Touch' and back across the water came the likes of Richie Havens, Randy Crawford and members of AOR giants, Kansas, to lend a hand with his brother John, Brit session men and the ever-reliable John Acock in the production and engineering chairs.

Received wisdom may have it that prog rock is a quintessentially European affair (nonsense) but it follows that Hackett (a man who rocks pastorally) would not try to fix something that wasn't broken and make another fine progressive rock album with this pan-Atlantic talent.

Recorded in London and Los Angeles, 'Please Don't Touch' however is a melange that skips from the disparate musical corners of the jolly English music hall romp of 'Carry on Up the Vicarage - A Musical Tribute To Agatha Christie' to the FM-friendly balladeering of 'Hoping Love Will Last' buttressed by finely wrought complex instrumental work-outs closer aesthetically to Hackett's former enterprise.

There is no denying the strengths of the constituent parts of this album - everything is well-written and executed by a highly professional team. But the diversity of genres ultimately denies the album a cohesion.

Regard this as an 'industry' capabilities showcase by an artist with a career to progress and a point to make to one of his largest markets, and it works - Hackett is undeniably a gifted writer and musical interpreter.

Fans went along with it but in all probability, were quietly relieved when Steve brought in album number three, the soaring 'Spectral Mornings' - and a return to more English sensibilities.