Earlier
this year, the legendary ex-guitar player of Genesis, Steve Hackett, released
his 26th studio album, named as At the Edge of Light. Having
enjoyed his two previous works Wolflight
and The Night Siren (but mostly
Wolflgiht), I didn’t hesitate at all!
I don’t know how to describe it, but this
album begins where the previous ones stopped. It is more or less in the same
style, but in my opinion is better than both of them.
Steve
Hackett (as it seems), decided that the style of music he wants to play is
this; Progressive Rock with lots of Ethnic influences, and many soft melodic turns.
He gave us a first idea of that style
with – the very good – Wolflight, he went a step back with The Night Siren, and
now it was the time for the killing blow! And that blow came with the release
of At the Edge of Light.
To be honest, I wasn’t so hopeful after The Night
Siren, and that’s why I caught by surprise. Because, I still cannot believe how good this album is!
Steve Hackett managed to “marry” his very
rich Progressive Rock heritage with tunes from - mostly - Anatolian traditional
music, and the result is simply breathtaking! Of course, the cherry on the cake
is his top-notch guitar performance, but that’s not a surprise.
The
listener gets a first idea of what’s going to follow with the 2-minute-long Fallen Walls and Pedestrals, that works
as the album’s intro. And then comes Beasts
in our Time, one of the album’s finest moments without a doubt.
But
the album’s absolute highlight is (in my opinion) the 11-minute-long, Those
Golden Wings, which, constantly shifts between gentle rhythms, orchestral
backed vocals to a real ear-worm of a riff, to a Carmina Burana-esque choral
section to be finally resolved with a three minute guitar solo.
At the Edge of Light includes 10 tracks, and
to be honest, to only one that I do not like (yet), is Shadow and Flame, because of its strong Indian influences that were
never my cup of tea.
I do not wish to continue writing more things,
because there is no point doing that. If you take a look around the internet,
read the reviews for this album, and even better, listen to it, you will understand
why everybody’s talking about it.
For me, this is a wonderful album, that shines
above most albums that has been released during the last years. As for Steve
Hackkett, I believe that this is one of
his best works ever!
It is available in CD / DVD / digital format, and in double vinyl (incl. the CD).
Not paying attention to this
album would be a huge mistake!
My Rating: 4.5 stars (out of
5.0)
If you click on the following YT link you will be able to listen to Those Golden Wings.
Check it out!
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