Issue 2017-022: Steve Hackett - The Night Siren - DPRP Inter-review

Steve Hackett - The Night Siren - Round Table Review

Steve Hackett is an icon in the world of music. In recent years, his already significant stature in the progressive rock scene has actually grown, and rightfully so. His unbridled passion for this genre of music has always been apparent, and has resulted in not only his legendary work with Genesis, but also many excellent solo albums. One of the truly amazing things about Steve Hackett is that he has continued to be so prolific, with regular touring and seven studio album releases in the last ten years.

Though many fans seem to focus on his first few solo albums, his body of work in recent years is equal to, and often exceeds, the quality of his early work. Plus, his output always reflects that of an artist who is still aspiring to create his greatest work. It is certainly clear that he is in no way going through the motions. As respectful as I am of his talent, even I am a bit surprised to write that the The Night Siren is his best album in 20 years, and easily one of the finest albums of his entire career. Considering the extreme quality of his discography, that is no small feat.

Steve's enthusiasm, clearly on display throughout this album, is inspiring. It shines through in the songwriting, the production, and most of all, in the performances. His guitar work is simply off the charts. Fans of his early solo albums will find a lot to like here, because this album has the same quirky variety as those releases. Songs range from heavy and orchestral (Beyond the Smoke, In the Skeleton Gallery and Fifty Miles From the North Pole), acoustic, upbeat, harmonious (Martian Sea, Anything But Love, West to East and Other Side of the Wall) to adventurous prog (El Nino, Inca Terra and In Another Life). It is a truly diverse recording.

The album also contains some of the best instrumentation in Steve's career. There are very few songs that don't have at least a few minutes of extended jamming. One example, El Nino, is a corker that would have sounded very much at home on one of Steve's first few solo albums. One section of the song is actually reminiscent of the song Please Don't Touch. The beautiful instrumental album closer, The Gift, contains some of the most soulful guitar playing of Steve's career. I would be remiss to not mention the splendid work done by all of the musicians supporting Steve on this endeavour. The overall success of this album is, in large part, due to their contributions.

The Night Siren is an absolute testament to the talents of one of progressive rock's greatest musicians. Exciting, rousing, passionate, emotional and overwhelmingly entertaining, The Night Siren_ is an absolute triumph. In many ways the new Steve Hackett album The Night Siren is a continuation of his previous effort Wolflight which was released back in 2015. The use of world music instruments, textures and timbres within a rock setting, permeates throughout this exciting new album. One criticism I had of Wolflight was that "given all the cultural sign-posts within the music, he didn't make use (to even a small degree) of indigenous guest vocals from regions referenced on Wolflight. In my mind it would have complemented the use of such ancient instruments as the Azerbaijan tar, the Australian didgeridoo and the Armenian duduk. Maybe next time!".

Unfortunately, given his wide musical contacts, Steve has again not used any world vocalists in a lead role for some of these songs and I feel he's missed a trick. Hackett's vocals are not always the strongest aspect of his albums (often treated and layered).

The album's theme is about world peace, embracing music from across the globe in conjunction with working with musicians from other countries. There is an Eastern style orchestration, and the use of world instruments such as the tar, Uilleann pipes, sitar and didgeridoo, that all add to the sense of a unified world.

As with many SH albums, there's a mixture of musical elements that make up the whole. For instance Martian Sea has sometimes a Beatlesque pop feel to it, complete with catchy hooks, rocky guitar and sitar solos. Elsewhere we have contrasting arrangements such as in the opener Behind the Smoke with its slow intro, giving way to heavy riffs, orchestration and a sublime guitar solo.

And no surprises for some beautiful acoustic guitar work, as in Anything But Love, another popish song with its very catchy chorus. This song includes another great guitar solo and some nice harmonica work by SH. There is also nice folky acoustic work during In Another Lifetime.

This album is littered with great solos from Steve. There's no point in listing the tracks here, as practically every song has at least one! There's not really a bad track on this album and if you are a SH fan, then you won't be disappointed. The song arrangements, instrumentation, vocal harmonies and overall sound have a fantastic production that shows off the musicianship to the highest degree.

Once again SH has excelled himself and continues to produce very interesting and complex music that certainly keeps the listener engaged. His vocals are always the debatable point, but he gets away with it in how they are treated and layered. This is a great album and I rate this 9 out of 10 (if he'd used some world music singers in a lead role it might have been a ten). If the last few years are anything to go by, then we may very well be living in the decade of Steve Hackett. Few musicians from the "golden age" of prog are currently creating music this good. What I like most about Steve Hackett's recent output is that he has fully embraced his Genesis past, while also embracing his current creativity. None of the other former members of Genesis are doing that, and none of them are having the creative renaissance that Mr. Hackett is currently enjoying. Indeed, he recently admitted to Prog magazine (Prog 73) that he is in one of the most creative phases of his life, which is saying a lot.

The Night Siren is a logical progression from Hackett's last solo album, Wolflight. Both feature a variety of what some might call world music. This includes various instruments and musicians from Azerbaijan, to Scotland, to Iceland and everywhere in between. This wide musical scope is a reflection of the various travels Hackett and his wife have taken over the years. Both have a profound interest in history and culture, which shows in his recent output.

Musically, this album is remarkably full. Hackett masterfully balances his signature guitar work with orchestral overtones and instruments from all over the globe. This, however, is still a rock album. Drums and bass are key throughout, especially on the first track, Behind the Smoke. The pounding drums give a primal feel to the music, and the outstanding bassline is eerily reminiscent of Chris Squire's work. Interestingly enough, Squire's final appearance on an album was on Hackett's last solo album. Since I wasn't given a detailed booklet along with this review copy, I can't tell you who played bass on this song.

On The Night Siren, Hackett continues to infuse his music with moments of classical guitar, such as on the beginning of Other Side of the Wall and Anything But Love, the latter of which is a uniquely proggy love song. Eat your heart out, Phil Collins. Hackett continues to awe the listener with his skill on the guitar throughout the album, whether it be on the electric or classical acoustic guitar. I'll readily admit that he is my favourite guitarist, and much of that, has to do with his unique tone.

In addition to masterful musicianship, Hackett has a very good singing voice. I really don't understand why he never sang backup vocals with Genesis, unless his voice has significantly improved over the years. Additionally, Hackett knows when to use other vocalists to balance his own voice, such as the use of Nad Sylvan's voice in harmony on Inca Terra. Because of Sylvan's Gabriel/Collins-esque voice, as well as the mythic nature of the lyrics, this song really sounds like it could have been on Foxtrot or Nursery Cryme.

When I first heard this album, I was hooked. After several weeks of listening, it still sounds remarkably fresh. However, for those that care about this sort of thing, there is an anti-right political backdrop to the album. Upon first listen, I didn't really pick it up, except for on West to East, and even that song is more of a call for peace than a political rant. Instead, Hackett shared his thoughts on the album in an article in Prog magazine, where he briefly stated that he was inspired by recent worldwide political events to write an album pushing back against more nationalist movements. However, Hackett does this remarkably well, and his opposition is very subtle. There is no overt preaching here, and there is certainly no political bashing. I believe Hackett is too wise to create anything as sophomoric as that. With all that said, even if you find yourself on the opposite end of the political spectrum from Mr. Hackett, this album is well worth your time. While I find him to be a bit naïve with his calls for peace, he should at least be commended for his courage. Plus, when the music is this good, lyrics and politics are easy to overlook.

The biggest drawback of the music, for me, is the use of Middle Eastern sounds in a few songs. This is obviously a personal preference, but those sounds do nothing for me. They clearly make sense when considering the other world influences, so if you don't mind those influences, there should be no problem. Furthermore, the Middle Eastern sounds are used briefly in only one or two songs. The only other real issue I have with this album has nothing to do with Hackett. Rather, it is the poor sonic quality of the review copy, which is such a shame because I know how good Hackett's last album sounds on the 5.1 surround-sound Blu-Ray. The subtleties of the music can often be lost in a highly compressed MP3 file.

Overall, The Night Siren is another example of the genius of Steve Hackett. Thus far, this is my favourite album of 2017. I'm encouraged by this recent creative spurt from Mr. Hackett, and I look forward to more from him in the near future. After all, Steve Hackett is like a fine wine: he keeps getting better with age.