Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Hackett, Steve
Label: Inside Out Records
Released: 2011
Length: 57:52
Rating: 5/5
“Beyond the Shrouded Horizon” is the latest creation from the workshop of prog rock grandmaster Steve Hackett, who has long been famous not just as a guitar eminence but also as one of the most exciting musical minds in experimental music over the past four decades. Already on its excellent predecessor, the slightly darker “Out of the Tunnel’s Mouth” (2009), he stunned us with a freshly regained youthful energy and fervor, and he clearly hasn’t run out of either on this album, which many a prog fanatic has been waiting for impatiently.
Mr. Hackett once again got plenty of help in the studio from a host of fine players from the (progressive) rock world. Besides brother John, who has been a fixture of Steve’s band for decades and whose flute is key to the pastoral-tinged arrangements, the biggest addition in recent years is undoubtedly Kajagoogoo bassist/occasional singer Nick Beggs, whose Chapman Stick wizardry leaves an incredible ambient stamp on individual tracks. Yes bassist Chris Squire, a legend, also pops up as a guest on a few compositions, after the joint project between him and Steve, half-jokingly, half-seriously named Squackett, apparently fell through. Among the famous names there’s also Toto drummer Simon Phillips, who was supposed to take part in that project too, but more or less everything the trio recorded seems to have ended up on this album. Roger King, who Steve has been working with since 1996, is back on keyboards. He also helped with the superb production.
“Beyond the Shrouded Horizon”, as has become something of a tradition in Steve’s solo career, stands out for its exceptional stylistic variety, built on a symphonic prog rock foundation that this time is a touch more pronounced again than it was on the predecessor. Steve is a world traveler at heart, in love with the wonders of natural and cultural heritage, so it’s no surprise that many of his lyrics and ambient leanings draw on that. The same goes for the opening energy catalyst “Loch Lomond”, dedicated to the gorgeous lake of the same name in Scotland. Decisive jabs on electric guitar, backed by a piano-and-mellotron symphonic backdrop and ethereal harmonies, make up an old but winning recipe with which this legendary guitarist keeps charming his loyal followers again and again. The Scottish bagpipes in the background come across as a pleasant spice and add extra flavor to the all-pervading Celtic ambience. Steve sang most of the vocals on the album himself, with Amanda Lehmann as his main support, and she doubles as rhythm guitarist.
His eternal fascination with Celtic melancholy continues on the shorter instrumental “The Phoenix Flown”, dedicated to the mythological symbol of rebirth, which is either a bird of fire or a goddess-woman blessed with lush fiery hair. The short but brilliant guitar solo is soaked throughout in mystical symphonic arrangements. “Til These Eyes” is marked by immense melancholy, produced by the spontaneous interplay of a pastoral acoustic guitar melody, inconsolable vocals and an orchestral backdrop. “Wanderlust”, whose title says it all, is a chance for Steve to once again show off his remarkable subtlety on acoustic guitar and in crafting pastoral ambience, once more decorated with lavish orchestral arrangements. On “Prairie Angel”, where he voices his admiration for the vast expanses of the Midwestern prairies, he surprises with a run of distorted, almost hard rock guitar phrases, sent through a special guitar effect. A great contrast follows.
“A Place Called Freedom”, crowned with majestic harmonies, pastoral flute sounds and epic symphonic arrangements, is entirely in the style of symphonic progressive rock that Steve’s name is usually associated with, and it could easily sit on one of his solo records from the seventies. On “Between the Sunset and the Cocounut Palms”, the eternal romantic does the opposite of what anyone would expect, which would be an attempt at Caribbean ambience, and instead creates a sacred-pastoral mood where ethereal harmonies and hypnotic orchestral arrangements reign. Tracks like this have been a long-standing staple of Steve’s solo career, and they’re still damn effective at building a great atmosphere.
On the Orient-flavored “Walking to Life”, where he tackles pentatonic-tinged guitar scales, lead vocal duties go to rhythm guitarist Amanda Lehmann. It’s been quite a while since Steve last used a female voice on a solo project. And he chose wisely this time, as Mrs. Lehmann proved her vocal contribution worthy of trust. This excellent piece is above all a chance to bow to the folk music of the Middle East, which has attracted him in recent years at least as much as the Celtic world he knows best. The lovely instrumental “Two Faces of Cairo”, where pentatonic rhythms and a succession of “weeping” guitar phrases once again take over, is also inspired by Steve’s wanderings through the Middle East. With its lyrics and title he probably had in mind two different faces of Cairo: the romantic one, with its natural and cultural beauty, and the urban one, ruled by filth, crime and poverty.
“Looking For Fantasy” is one more proof that Mr. Hackett is an eternal, incorrigible romantic. His recent marriage to Jo Lehmann undoubtedly played a part in the lyrical inspiration for this acoustic ballad crowned with ethereal harmonies. The short pastoral instrumental “Summers’ Breath” is a chance for a pleasant breather on acoustic guitar, and a warm-up for the biggest surprise of the whole album. That is without a doubt the blues rock experiment “Catwalk”, on which Steve shows a completely different face, one most clearly highlighted on the album “Blues With a Feeling” (1994). Few people, apart from those who have loyally followed his solo path for a long time, know that the classicist Hackett, when he feels like it, is a very good blues guitarist, even though he deliberately steered clear of the genre through most of his career. His antics/immersion in the role of blues singer are so funny, though, that it ends up sounding good. The album’s finale has to please the prog fans, of course, and Steve gladly obliges with the almost 12-minute “Turn This Island Earth”, an epic collage of unpredictable ambient expanses. The most varied and complex piece on the album, it’s also a candidate for one of Steve’s best creations of the past ten years.
The limited double edition deserves a special mention, with a bonus disc of no fewer than nine extra tracks, every one of them worth your attention and easily able to have landed on the “regular” part of the album. All four parts of the instrumental guitar-and-piano treat “Four Winds” catch Steve in his most subtle mood. Each part has its own specific ambience, drawing on the ethnological musical heritage of a particular region/point of the compass. “Pieds En L’air”, also known as “Capricol Suite”, is a classic by composer Peter Warlock (1894-1930), rearranged for acoustic guitar, with which Steve once again expresses his love for 20th-century classical music. “She Said Maybe” is another multidimensional-ethereal creation, where symphonic and ethnic elements melt into a damn hypnotic fusion.
“Enter the Night” is a fun, almost cheekily endearing nod to Steve’s more-or-less unfortunate AOR/arena rock experiments from the eighties. Those failed mainly because Steve’s vocals weren’t polished enough for that kind of genre, but this time the guest singing crew helps him out nicely on the choruses. The symphonic requiem “Eruption: Tommy”, with its ethereal ambience, strongly recalls some of Hackett’s instrumental achievements from the late seventies and is sure to please all the “traditionalists”. “Reconditioned Nightmare” is a rearranged version of the classic “The Air-Conditioned Nightmare”, one of the few successful tracks from the dreadful album “Cured (1981), the biggest dark stain on Steve’s solo path.
“Beyond the Shrouded Horizon” is one more proof that expecting anything less than the brilliance that (once again) graces his latest studio effort would be almost insulting to a musician of Steve’s caliber. How he manages to put out such fine albums in a relatively short time remains his little secret, because it’s an undeniable fact that the last six years of his studio career stand fully on par with what he created at the start of his solo journey in the seventies. Let’s hope this period of Steve’s creative inspiration, cranked up to the max, lasts a good while longer.
Lineup
Steve Hackett – guitar, vocals, harmonica (1-13)
Nick Beggs – bass guitar, chapman stick, pink ukulele (1, 6)
Dick Driver – double bass (4, 7, 10, 13)
John Hackett – flute (9), vocals (7)
Roger King – keyboards, programming (1-13)
Amanda Lehmann – vocals (1, 6, 8), guitar (5, 6)
Gary O’Toole – drums, (1, 2, 5, 8, 9) vocals (1, 6,)
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Simon Phillips – drums (12, 13)
Chris Squire – bass guitar (10, 12, 13)
Richard Stewart – cello (4, 7, 9, 10)
Christine Townsend – violin, viola (4, 7, 9, 10)
Rob Townsend – saxophone, whistle, bass clarinet (1, 4, 5, 6, 8)
Production
Steve Hackett and Roger King
Track list
1. Loch Lomond
2. The Phoenix Flown
3. Wanderlust
4. Til These Eyes
5. Prairie Angel
6. A Place Called Freedom
7. Between the Sunset and the Coconut Palms
8. Waking to Life
9. Two Faces of Cairo
10. Looking for Fantasy
11. Summer’s Breath
12. Catwalk
13. Turn This Island Earth
