Steve Hackett – Spectral Mornings (1979)

This is the 3rd of a 5 CD 'classic albums' set, picked up for a couple of quid at a boot fair a decade ago, and I've been lukewarm so far about the erstwhile Genesis guitarist's solo efforts.

This one is no exception. Where it's good, it's genuinely enjoyable, where it's bad, almost unlistenable. And the determinant of this seems to be whether the piece is instrumental or has lyrics. Hackett is a strong composer, but his lyrics aren't particularly interesting and nor is his voice.

Opener, Every Day, really doesn't get going until Hackett shuts up and plays his guitar (to quote Zappa), and by a country mile it's the most enjoyable vocal offering here. The Virgin And The Gypsy is a horrible acoustic/harmonic piece of nonsense sung by Pete Hicks. The Red Flower Of Tachai Blooms Everywhere has an unsurprisingly far Eastern sound, listenable but generic, but the lowpoint is the truly awful The Ballad Of The Decomposing Man, sung in a style resembling George Formby on Mogadon, with a faux calypso section.

The second half consists of three tracks - Lost Time In Cordoba is a merely pleasant flute / classical guitar piece, Tigermoth has a long, heavy, brooding instrumental opening, enjoyable until Hicks' vocals kick in, and the final piece, Spectral Mornings, is a really nice, gentle electric guitar solo to end on a high.

Link to album tracks

3* - Some pleasant instrumentals, but awful songs. Just scrapes into the 'decent effort' category by saving the best until last.