domenica 1 novembre 2009

Steve Hackett - Please Don't Touch 1977 UK

Jazz - Rock - Fusion - Guitar

Please Don't Touch is the second solo album by English guitarist Steve Hackett, and his first after leaving Genesis in 1977.
Please Don't Touch contains a myriad of musical styles that many were either rejected or never put in front of the "democratic process" which Genesis was known for, which also was amongst one of the reasons that Steve would leave the band. This album, of the many he had released, had finally shown the compositional side of Steve's talent and would prove how valuable his contributions to Genesis were. Rumour has it that the title track was rehearsed and but later rejected by Genesis, when drummer Phil Collins said that he "could not get into it".
The album featured a plethora of musical stars, including R&B singer Randy Crawford, American folk icon Richie Havens, the drummer and vocalist for the progressive rock band Kansas (Phil Ehart and Steve Walsh respectively) and Frank Zappa alumni Tom Fowler and Genesis concert drummer Chester Thompson.
In 2005, Please Don't Touch was remastered and re-released by Hackett's Camino Records label. The new edition features updated liner notes and three bonus tracks.
Another excellent Hackett masterpiece. The music on this CD is diverse and yet may be the most accessible of his early recordings. There are guest vocalists on many tracks, which is a plus. The songs are shorter than usual but pack everything from folk ballads to classical guitar."Narnia" features Kansas vocalist Steve Walsh, and is based on C.S. Lewis' books. This is a great tune, very upbeat, with an excellent performance by Walsh; it's catchy enough to have been a radio tune. "Carry On Up the Vicarage" opens with a toy piano and sound effects with Christmas songs being sung; the music is very eclectic, with the vocal having a childlike effect in one ear and a deep vocal in the other."Racing in A" again features Walsh with another excellent performance that is heavy rock with some nice mellotron work, again upbeat, a lot of stop and start at the end."Kim" is a classical guitar piece with flute."How Can I" features the unlikely pairing of Hackett and Ritchie Havens; it's an acoustic guitar piece with Havens on vocals. I really like Havens' singing here."Hoping Love Will Last" is a piano vocal piece, a ballad, and has kind of a R&B feel. Very different from anything he has done before or since for that matter, but a very pretty song, that ends up very well-orchestrated."Land of a Thousand Autumns" and "Please Don't Touch" share the same theme for the most part, the first being atmospheric, and the latter is an in your face instrumental with very powerful guitar, bass pedals, keyboards and sound effects."The Voice of Necam" again uses the theme of the prior, played on a creepy sounding organ again with sound effects, music expands with voice effects and acoustic guitar. "Icarus Ascending" features Havens on vocals, very dramatic and dark at times, lush instrumentally, end is very eclectic with short sections of reggae, jazz, and lots of guitar effects. Of the early Hackett recordings, this one I listen to the least. But this should not take away from the record at all, as it rates up there with his best. review by Eric Porter.Steve HackettTrack listing:1. "Narnia" (Steve Walsh vocal) - 4:052. "Carry on Up the Vicarage" (Steve Hackett vocal) - 3:113. "Racing in A" (Steve Walsh vocal) - 5:074. "Kim" - 2:135. "How Can I?" (Richie Havens vocal) - 4:386. "Hoping Love Will Last" (Randy Crawford vocal) - 4:237. "Land of 1000 Autumns" - 1:388. "Please Don't Touch" - 3:399. "The Voice of Necam" - 3:1110. "Icarus Ascending" (Richie Havens vocal) - 6:27Personnel
Steve Hackettelectronic and acoustic guitars, vocals, keyboards, percussion
John Hackettflute, piccolo, bass pedals, keyboards
John Acock – keyboards, engineer
Maria Bonvino – guest female soprano on "Hoping Love Will Last"
James Bradley – percussion
Randy Crawford – vocals on "Hoping Love Will Last"
Phil Ehart – drums, percussion
Feydor – vocals on "The Voice of Necam"
Tom Fowlerbass
Richie Havens – vocals, percussion
Dave Lebolt – keyboards
Hugh Malloy – cello
Dale Newman – guest vocals on "Icarus Ascending"
Dan Owen – guest vocals on "Icarus Ascending"
Graham Smithviolin
Chester Thompson – drums, percussion
Steve Walsh – vocals on "Narnia" and "Racing in A"

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