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Steve
Hackett - Wild Orchids : : |
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Band/artist: Steve Hackett
Title: Wild Orchids
Released: 2006
Label: InsideOutMusic
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Track
listing:
1. A Dark Night In Toytown
2. Waters Of The Wild
3. Set Your Compass
4. Down Street
5. A Girl Called Linda
6. To A Close
7. Ego And Id
8. Man In The Long Black Coat
9. Wolfwork
10. Why
11. She Moves In Memories
12. The Fundamentals Of Brainwashing
13: Howl |
: : The Players : :
Steve
Hackett (guitars, electric sitar, harmonica, psaltery, optigan & voices)
- Roger King (keyboards, rhytm guitar) - Rob Townsend (saxes, flute, tin
whistle & bass clarinet) - Gary O'Toole (drums, harmony voices) - Nick
Magnus (keyboards) - Christine Townsend (principal violin, viola),
Richard Stewart (cello) - Dick Driver (double bass) - Colin Clague
(trumpet) - Chris Redgate (oboe, cor anglais) |
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: : Wild Orchids : :
 Steve
Hackett. Almost 40 years as a household name in the music biz, with a
discography of close to 60 albums produced in that time. What does he
have to offer this time around?
Diversity is a key word to describe Hackett's latest release. Hackett's
solo releases have for the most part been adventerous affairs; but this
release is maybe even more adventerous than his previous releases. This
is a musical adventure; with the number of tracks almost equaling the
number of musical genres presented.
Brief descriptions of the tracks is as follows:
"A Dark Night In Toytown" - a typical Hackett prog-rock tune, slightly
old-fashioned feel to it, but extremely catchy with a good drive.
"Waters Of The Wild" - Excellent eastern/arabian-tinged ambient synth
tune. "Set Your Compass" - celtic-inspired folk with synth not unlike
early 80s Clannad. "Down Street" - A story with a musical backdrop,
ending in 4 minutes of musical exploration, dark art noir feel to this
one. "A Girl Called Linda" - calm, simple tune with jazzy elements to
it. "To A Close" - another celtic inspired tune, but with less synth.
"Ego And Id" - proggish rocker with a really fat guitar riff on the
verses. "Man In The Long Black Coat" - talk-like vocals with smooth
guitar, reminds me a bit of Chris Rea. "Wolfwork" - an amalgam of
orchestra and rock with a dark and somewhat sinister mood to it. "Why" -
a short and excellent teaser in old-fashioned trad-jazz style. "She
Moves In Memories" - orchestral piece, sounds like a good film score for
a romantic drama from days long past. "The Fundamentals Of Brainwashing"
- a piano-driven ballad with lush and grandiose chorus where layered
vocals and synths are used to good effect. "Howl" - piano driven tune
with sinister rhythms and creepy guitar playing, creating a brooding and
sinister soundscape.
And yet the above descriptions doesn't really give enough credit to this
albums diversity, as it is much more diversified than you get the
impression of by reading the descriptions above. But at least it'll give
you a general idea of what to expect.
But can an album this diversified be any good, you may wonder? To that,
my answer is yes and no; depending on what your musical tastes are. If
your musical tastes aren't very broad in nature; you may become somewhat
disappointed with this release. But for those who have a liberal and
open-minded approach to music; this release is definitely worth checking
out.
Personal favorites: A Dark Night In Toytown, Waters of the Wild. Both of
them excellent tracks. Down Street - the first half of that song is
extremely well made and interesting; too bad that the second part
doesn't continue in that fashion.
Rating: 8 (out of 10)
Reviewer: Olav Björnsen
: : Visit the Artist’s Website : :
: : Discography : :
58 albums. See artist homepage for complete list |
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