Steve Hackett: Spectral Mornings | Extended Play Lounge Ep. 60
Added 2024-01-17 01:54:23 +0000 UTCIt's our sixtieth episode in this series! Thanks so much for your continued support.
This time, we're listening to Steve Hackett's third solo album, Spectral Mornings. It convincingly won our poll, and I now understand why y'all love it so much. The music is varied and interesting and beautiful and smart and expertly played. It's a fun listen!
Comments
Always loved this album Steve and John did a classical album called SKETCHES OF SATIE
Pat Bourque
2024-01-22 05:45:46 +0000 UTC100% agree on Side 2 of Please Don't Touch, Richard. Though I prefer Spectral Mornings overall, PDT Side 2 is an amazingly diverse mix of pieces that somehow flow together in an extremely enjoyable way. The trio of Land Of A Thousand Autumns, the title track and Voice Of Necam has been put forward as a recommendation and is currently up for voting on Discord. I did find myself wishing that the whole of Side 2 had been suggested instead...
Nick
2024-01-21 21:55:04 +0000 UTCHave been looking forward to Doug doing an EPL on Steve, and this does not disappoint. I bought this when it first came out and saw him in concert, so it brings back memories. It always felt a bit of a curate's egg of an album, and now I know why. Tigermoth is so beautiful but the trite lyrics jar with me. Same with the Decomposing Man, and Every Day is indeed too upbeat for such a tragic story. Despite all that I love the album. You must do Please Don't Touch soon - the second side in particular is a lovely, haunting piece but must be played straight through. Same goes for Voyage of the Acolyte and you get so much more out of it when played through rather than a song at a time.
Richard Stoney
2024-01-19 13:58:25 +0000 UTCThanks, Doug! I haven't listened to this album in at least 40 years, and your EPL was the perfect way to get re-introduced to it (and a special nod to Steven Wilson for that gorgeous remix). My overall impression of the album hasn't changed over the years, and it was nice to be reminded of all the reasons that I like this album. "Every Day", the first track, sounded to me then and it sounded to me again just now, as the most Genesis-like track on the album. This song would not have sounded one bit out of place on "The Lamb". It was as if Steve was saying "You've heard sounds and melodies and progressions that worked kind of like this on Genesis albums? Well, here's where they came from." With every succeeding track, he wanders further afield of anything that sounds even remotely like something one would hear from Genesis. And then he concludes the album with that beautiful instrumental. (I think it's possible that the omitted lyrics might have gone something along the lines of "Of course not that there was anything wrong with Genesis...") Hope your sciatica continues to give you less pain every day. I lived through that crap myself. Feel better soon! And thanks for all you do!
Bill Brinkmoeller
2024-01-19 06:43:22 +0000 UTCTerrific EP! Your pardon if I ramble a bit. 1. Lili Marlene was a german song that became somewhat of an anthem for soldiers on both sides of WWII. There were famous versions by both Marlena Dietrich and Connie Francis. The Wiki page has a lot of background and interesting history. Of personal interest is a song by the British songwriter Bill Caddick called Lili Marlena Walks Away, which uses the song as a metaphor for the perceived neglect of returning british soldiers after the war. 2. Maybe no connection to the line "fox on the run" but DH Lawrence wrote a short story The Fox, made into a movie in '67. 3. Lost Time/Tigermoth is the heart of this album for me. And who else could get his guitar to sound like a crashing plane under anti-aircraft fire? And if Doug appreciates humor, he'll like Carry on up the Vicarage from Please Don't Touch, and Sentimental Institution from Defector. 4. This is a decidedly minority opinion, but my next Hackett recommendation for Doug is Wild Orchids. Peter T, above, recommended Bay of Kings, which would be a great choice. I prefer Momentum, which is just Steve and his guitar playing (mostly) his classical compositions.
Scot Poland
2024-01-19 00:12:54 +0000 UTCFirst and foremost, glad to hear your sciatica is getting better. Thanks for bringing me closer to Spectral Mornings, which I always thought well of, but didn't give enough attention to. Some moments brought me back to the Genesis of Foxtrot/Selling England/Lambs Lies Down, and I appreciated Steve Hackett's contribution to that Genesis era even more. The legacy of that era of Genesis is perhaps best furthered by the work of Steve Hackett.
Adie
2024-01-18 23:27:34 +0000 UTCHis guitar solo on "Every Day" is so energetic and uplifting , very hopeful and inspiring. I just really resonate with his overall taste for harmony and melody , you should go for "Voyage Of The Acolyte" next and "Please Don't Touch" which is a great album as well.
Hetfield Ninno Davide
2024-01-18 21:40:44 +0000 UTCFull of musicality, virtuosity, whimsy and humour, soundscapes and ditties - darting here and there like, say, McCartney's 'Ram'. Did I enjoy it? I had to think about it, which is never a good sign, but twice was enough for me, sorry.
George Davis-Stewart
2024-01-18 10:39:14 +0000 UTC@Doug. A suggestion to your guitar 🎸 thoughts would be to watch Steve Hackett live. Then you’ll see what he’s doing. He’s a magician!!
Karl Stubsjoen
2024-01-18 09:59:29 +0000 UTCI am a real Genesis fan. I have never heard any of Steve Hackett's solo work and now, thanks to you and discord members, I can say I have. I am very impressed just as you were with his artistic concepts and production of these songs. Thank you for having such a great channel!
Rebecca Walsh
2024-01-18 08:43:39 +0000 UTCWe're going to play it during the Council Hangout this coming Saturday.
R. Douglas Helvering
2024-01-17 23:37:40 +0000 UTCThanks David!
R. Douglas Helvering
2024-01-17 23:36:21 +0000 UTCSteve and his band would do a re-worked instrumental version of Tigermoth during concerts. He cheekily retitled it, “Lay Down Your Arms and Surrender to Mine.” You can easily find it on YouTube.
Keith Bosler
2024-01-17 21:38:29 +0000 UTCDoug and all, if you liked Lost Time in Cordoba, check out his 2021 acoustic instrumental release "Under a Mediterranean Sky": https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kF5ozCZDDDpqztk5aBLPsQ3i6oSEzeytI
David Marshall
2024-01-17 19:39:18 +0000 UTCDoug and all, if you liked Lost Time in Cordoba, check out 2021
David Marshall
2024-01-17 19:37:44 +0000 UTCHave you' all heard the version of Spectral Morning done by Rob Reed and Chistina Booth of Magenta and David Longdon of Big Big Train? Completed with newly penned lyrics? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U49cwM7b1Wk
Dennis Rees
2024-01-17 18:36:10 +0000 UTCGreat EPL Doug. I loved your comments on the comedic elements of The Ballad Of The Decomposing Man and the importance of having fun with music. The first part of this song is very much a pastiche of George Formby, a ukelele-playing light entertainer from the music halls who forged a successful movie career in the 1930s and 40s. Now that you've heard Voyage Of The Acolyte and Spectral Mornings, the next logical step is to check out the intervening album, Please Don't Touch. It has its own distinct style, different from the albums that preceded and followed. But it too has that fun 'silly' element, principally in the form of the song Carry On Up The Vicarage, a humorous tribute to Agatha Christie's murder mysteries.
Nick
2024-01-17 17:19:09 +0000 UTCJuly 18th, 2024, Nuremberg. Can't wait to see him again. I visit his concerts since "Voyage...", decades ago. He never delivered a bad performance. And, "meet and greet" him, he is the most friendly and humble "star" you could possibly imagine. On your question who "Lili Marleen" is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lili_Marleen At 21:50 in your video you ask how Steve is creating this enigmatic sound ("is this strings?"). This is a Steve special. Watch how he is doing it here: https://youtu.be/rhYsOzUg7Wk?si=PLzgXVU9pESArcOd at 2:20.00. Have fun.
Bernie
2024-01-17 16:43:11 +0000 UTCIn the bottom Right of the posted video, do you see the Vimeo link? In the future, if you click on that it will take you to the direct link. https://vimeo.com/903496784/54571ad091
Arrow2theACL
2024-01-17 16:26:25 +0000 UTCI'll need the direct link again - content blocked 'because of its privacy settings'. Thanks.
David Marshall
2024-01-17 13:15:02 +0000 UTCThoroughly enjoyed your analysis and thoughts again, Doug! I've seen Steve play the main songs of this album live, just a very few years ago, and they were fantastic. And "Every Day" and "Spectral Mornings" are regular concert favourites. "Lili Marlene" is the famous (and, surprisingly, German) love song popular during the war - you'll know it when you hear it, I'm sure? From the synopsis of DH Lawrence's "The Virgin and the Gypsy", it looks like the lyrics are full of metaphors! Ragged robin and milk thistle are wild flowers, for anyone unaware. Glad you sciatica is improving, Doug! I had a bad bout of it last year, and I really do NOT want it again! Many thanks once again for a great review.
Adrian Goodrich
2024-01-17 10:52:10 +0000 UTCThere is also a youtube video of David performing this live with Magenta at their 20th birthday concert - no Steve Hackett but with the impressive Peter Jones on guitar and backing vocals.
rogerb
2024-01-17 09:42:04 +0000 UTCThis is my favorite of Hackett's albums. Thematically, Steve drew a lot of inspiration from Agatha Christie and Alfred Hitchcock, so that's where the dark humor emanates.
Bill Coonley
2024-01-17 06:46:51 +0000 UTCThanks for that Peter. I got to check that out with David Longdon.
Arrow2theACL
2024-01-17 03:48:01 +0000 UTCThanks for the excursion on this, Doug ! One of my three favorite Hackett albums, along with 'Acolyte' and 'Bay of Kings', I think. Wonderful vocals, a deep palette of instrumental colors, great playing by all, and a shifting, always interesting song craft. To me, this is the album that really proves what Genesis missed out on when Steve left. Nice work, sir. Thanks again ! (And if you want a special treat, look up David Longdon's vocal treatment of "Spectral Mornings", released in 2015, and which includes Mr. Hackett.)
Peter Tutak
2024-01-17 03:25:39 +0000 UTCThanks for this! I find Steve’s ideas really interesting and unpredictable, consistently. My only real critique is his form often meanders - I think he tries to get every idea in there. I wish there were more cohesion generally. But amazing ideas and great color in the instruments (and ridiculous playing of course).
Gary Thobaben
2024-01-17 03:00:28 +0000 UTC
