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Steve Hackett: Guitar Noir

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: Camino Records
Released: 1993
Time:
 75:11
52Category: Pop/Rock
Producer(s): Steve Hackett
Rating: *****..... (5/10)
Media type: CD
Web address: www.hackettsongs.com
Appears with: Genesis, GTR, Peter Gabriel, Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford, Phil Collins, Chris Squire, Steve Howe
Purchase date: 2002.08.07
Price in €: 8,99





 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Sierra Quemada (S.Hackett) - 5:18
[2] Take These Pearls (A.Friedman/S.Hackett) - 4:14
[3] There Are Many Sides to the Night (S.Hackett) - 7:23
[4] In the Heart of the City (S.Hackett) - 4:34
[5] Dark as the Grave (A.Friedman/S.Hackett) - 4:38
[6] Lost in Your Eyes (Ball/Colbeck/Degenhardt/S.Hackett) - 4:56
[7] Little America (Ball/Colbeck/Degenhardt/S.Hackett) - 4:55
[8] Like an Arrow (S.Hackett) - 2:51
[9] Theatre of Sleep (S.Hackett) - 3:04
[10] Walking Away from Rainbows (S.Hackett) - 3:10
[11] Paint Your Picture (S.Hackett) - 2:57
[12] Vampyre With a Healthy Appetite (S.Hackett) - 5:29
[13] Tristesse (A.Friedman) - 4:01
[14] Sierra Quemada [demo version] (S.Hackett) - 4:30
[15] Take These Pearls [Rough Mix] (S.Hackett) - 4:10
[16] In the Heart of the City [Original Version] (S.Hackett) - 4:19
[17] Vampyre With a Healthy Appetite (S.Hackett) - 4:40  

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l

 
STEVE HACKETT - Guitar, Harmonica, Programming, Vocals, Noise, Engineer, Rainstick, String Arrangements, Mixing

ARON FRIEDMAN - Keyboards, Programming, Producer, String Arrangements, Mixing
JULIAN COLBECK - Keyboards, Backing Vocals
NICK MAGNUS - Keyboards, Programming
NICK SYKES - Keyboards
BIMBO ACOCK - Clarinet
BILLY BUDIS - Bass, Executive Producer, Mixing
HUGO DEGENHARDT - Drums, Background Vocals

ROGER KING - Mixing, Remastering
JERRY PEAL - Mixing
GERRY O'RIORDAN - Mixing
KIM POOR - Artistic Director
LIPPA PEARCE - Design
PAUL CLARK - Photograph
 

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s

 
1994 CD Viceroy 8008
1997 CD Camino CAMCD12
1999 CD Original Masters 591
1999 CD Original Masters 15591



Steve Hackett's later material is somewhat different from his '70s and '80s work, in that the guitar playing tends to be less progressive and lengthy, verging more on rock-blues and basic string arrangements. The emergence into this style is showcased on Guitar Noir, as Hackett displays a more mature side to his instrumental prowess. Each song is given one line of interpretation from Hackett in the liner notes, as the songs range from the life of a prostitute to the onslaught of television in the household. Only two of the 12 songs are without vocals, but words have no affect on Hackett's beautiful passages anyway. Hackett even plays harmonica on "Lost in Your Eyes" and "Vampyre With a Healthy Appetite," a tune about stolen pints of blood from a New Orlean's hospital. As a guitar player first and foremost, the stories behind each song tend to get lost in the instruments, which also include light keyboards, but this doesn't hinder the atmosphere of any of them. Hackett makes the guitar sound somber when it has to be, or tranquil and alluring, so every tune casts it's own shadow of mood and feel. His intricacies are somewhat missed from past progressive albums, but he doesn't have to play extended solos to be fully appreciated.

Mike DeGagne - All Music Guide
© 1992 - 2002 AEC One Stop Group, Inc.



After experimenting with a variety of musical styles on his numerous solo albums, Steve Hackett decided to throw everything into the mix on this release, and it works surprisingly well. The album manages to maintain a consistent sound while exploring different musical influences. The album starts off with "Sierra Quemada," a fantastic instrumental piece built on a slow, tortuous drum beat and electric guitar. Other highlights include "Lost In Your Eyes," a blues number on which Hackett plays harmonica, and "Little America," the closest Hackett has ever come (or probably ever will) to pure pop. The music is sharp, and the lyrics well written. This is easily Steve Hackett's most accessible album. Any fans of Genesis alumni who are afraid to delve into Hackett's massive catalog would do well to start here. Note: the 1997 re-release contains five bonus tracks, four of them demo versions of existing songs on the album.

Steve McMullen - All-Music Guide
© 1992 - 2002 AEC One Stop Group, Inc.



Der einstige Genesis-Gitarrist kündigte sein erstes Rock-Album seit zehn Jahren an. Doch Steve Hacketts Guitar Noir ist von Bon Jovi so weit entfernt wie Neu-Isenburg von New Jersey. Wabernde Keyboards und mächtige Choräle lassen immer wieder Hacketts Vorliebe für Pomp-Pop durchscheinen. Wenn auch nicht als Songschreiber, so überzeugt der Brite zumindest als Gitarrist, der seine nostalgische Traumtänzerei in fließend leichte Melodien verpackt. Einmal rockt der Senior aber doch los, daß Bon Jovi blaß werden muß: in Lost In Your Eyes.

© Audio
 

L y r i c s

 

SIERRA QUEMADA

(Instrumental)


TAKE THESE PEARLS

Take these pearls from an oyster shell
From the depths of the ocean bed
From the bottom of the sea like a wishing well

Take these stones fashioned into jewels
Like the essence of a half remembered song
From the crust of the earth to the limits of the sky

Take these stones fashioned into jewels
Like the essence of a half remembered song
From the crust of the earth to the limits of the sky


THERE ARE MANY SIDES TO THE NIGHT

Standing under the lamplight
In one of the nicer parts of hell
Behold this dreamer with rich red ruby lips
Some pay for the privilege and some just pay to talk
Because there are many sides to the night

When Father Thames lies sleeping
His ever watchful sons
divide up the spoils of the day's takings
A woman's work is never ever done
She's a child a slave a teacher and a fool
And then she vanishes from sight
Did no one ever tell you
There are many sides to the night

Standing under the lamplight
Selling perfume sweetcorn and lace
She looks beautiful from a distance
but it's too dark to see her face
I do it for my child alone
and who would say it's just not right
Verily I say unto you
There are many sides to the night


IN THE HEART OF THE CITY

Standard bearers march to the tick of the clock
It's a war against time when you're fronting the flock
Determined resolute defiant and strong
Noble and Savage know they belong

In the heart of the city

The battlefield of love a ruffled feathered bed
From fluid moist lips the benediction's said
You love them and leave them with yesterday's guilt
Everything's on schedule in the empire that you built

In the heart of the city

You close a deal Thursday at 7.45
The train home is empty you're the only man alive
You throw away your clothes in a house of clouds
The window is sealed the furniture in shrouds

In the heart of the city


DARK AS THE GRAVE

Dark as night, dark as the grave
Dark wherein my friend is laid
Sleepwalkers fill the boulevards
Pretty girls and backward boys
All the voices can be heard, an opera of the absurd

Dark as night, dark as the grave
Dark wherein my friend is laid
We welcome you, we welcome you
The world of chaos far away
As the crowd of mourners said
"Tragedy is nothing new"

Dark as night

Dark as night, dark as the grave
Dark wherein my friend is laid 


LOST IN YOUR EYES

I see the valleys, I see the streams
I see the mountains and what's in between
I hear thunder fall from the sky
I see a world lost in your eyes

In my dreams I see you smile
I feel the sun, I want to stay for a while
I hear music just makes me cry
I see a world lost in your eyes

A one horse town, A dirt road
Way in the desert where the cactus grow
I hear you calling me mile after mile
I see a world lost in your eyes


LITTLE AMERICA

With Lana Turner on the screen beside me
The frame is hardly filled by Orson Wells
We switch into a Fred and Ginger number
That they're dancing oh so well

Blowing the blues all night
I'm sure I heard someone say
Stars never fade and everyone's dying to play
In Little America

We got a Chinese Elvis painted by Norman Rockwell
His part tonight will be played by Richard Pryor
The Mason Dixon line divides the free from all the rest so you can sell
Oklahoma to Cinderella from Long Island
And everyone's dying to play
In Little America

Lower your standards raise your prices on cable TV
Pretty woman seen at the death of a salesman
All covered with cream

And everyone's dying to play
In Little America


LIKE AN ARROW

Like an arrow in the night
Like an arrow by the day

Come away from your bed at night
Leave all those empty halls behind
Have no fear of death, have no fear of life
The taste of victory ahead, the spirit never dies
Like an arrow in the night
Like an arrow by the day

A mission bell by the ghostly station
Tolling in the wind
The veins in your hand
stretch like broken trees of winter
The last call the last port of entry
Like an arrow in the night
Like an arrow by the day


THEATRE OF SLEEP

In the theatre of sleep
where no reason remains
Dreamers and drifters
make their entrance onto the stage
Non-stop scenery changes
with promptings in the dark
Trapped in unremitting violence
as trees stripped of their bark
When they’re buried in your dream

The past is a foreign country
they do things differently there
You’re back in the old schoolhouse
with rows and rows of chairs
Well it might be war or Christmas
with the tanks and guns and flares
Or a witch that wields her broomstick
the stars of your nightmare
When they’re buried in your dream

I was trapped on the edge of a waterfall
in an old riverboat
A proud queeen washed up at last
she’s giving up the ghost
Slimy green water rising
I knew that I would die
I had no time to abandon ship,
The morning had arrived


WALKING AWAY FROM RAINBOWS

(Instrumental)


PAINT YOUR PICTURE

I'd like to paint your beauty all over the world
I'd like to paint your sadness

I'd like to paint your picture all over the world 


VAMPYRE WITH A HEALTHY APPETITE

As New Orleans slips far away
When the gas lights dim and the street cars fade
When the beast within takes on a new shape
The blood runs cold make no mistake

You're just a vampyre with a healthy appetite
And you stay awake half the night

A band strikes up and they're starting to play
When the sirens wail but they're way too late
The crowds don't see they're drunk anyway
The inquest said it was coming her way

You're just a vampyre with a healthy appetite
And you stay awake half the night

Well you ran to ground as you always do
And then they finally caught up with you
Well they sent you down and Old Smokey was waiting
but pressure groups being what they are these days
you were released after five years at a funny farm
in upstate bankrupt New York
to walk the streets once more


TRIESTESSE

(Instrumental)


SIERRA QUEMADA [DEMO]

(Instrumental)


TAKE THESE PEARLS

Take these pearls from an oyster shell
From the depths of the ocean bell
From the bottom of the sea
Like a wishing well

Take these stones fashioned into jewels
Like the essence of a half remembered song
From the crust of the earth
To the limits of the sky


IN THE HEART OF THE CITY

Standard bearers match to the tick of the clock
It's a war against time when you're fronting the flock
Determined resolute defiant and strong
Noble and Savage know they belong
In the heart of the city

The battlefield of love a ruffled feathered bed
From fluid moist lips the benediction's said
You love them and leave them with yesterday's guilt
Everything's on schedule in the empire that you built
In the heart of the city

You close a deal Thursday at 7.45
The train home is empty you're the only man alive
You throw away your clothes in a house of clouds
The window is sealed the furniture in shrouds
In the heart of the city


VAMPYRE WITH A HEALTHY APPETITE

As New Orleans slips far away
When the gas lights dim and the street cars fade
When the beast within takes on a new shape
The blood runs cold make no mistake

You're just a vampyre with a healthy appetite
And you stay awake half the night

A band strikes up and they're starting to play
When the sirens wail but they're way too late
The crowds don't see they're drunk anyway
The inquest said it was coming her way

You're just a vampyre with a healthy appetite
And you stay awake half the night

Well you ran to ground as you always do
And then they finally caught up with you
Well they sent you down and Old Smokey was waiting but pressure
groups being what they are these days you were released after five
years at a funny farm in upstate bankrupt
New York to walk the streets once more

 M P 3   S a m p l e s


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