Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Hackett, Steve
Label: Camino Records
Released: 1984
Duration: 41:02
Rating: 2/5
“Till We Have Faces” was the eighth studio album from legendary guitar grandmaster Steve Hackett, and his last stab at a broader commercial breakthrough. This time Steve decided to knead together synth-soaked melodic rock with the odd dash of world music and heavy use of his range-limited voice, which was never suited to just any genre. Inside this far-from-promising combo he slipped in a bunch of his guitar trademarks, led by plenty of subtle solos and sly little finesses, without which this album would be a total catastrophe. As it is, it’s only a minor debacle. Most of the album was recorded in Brazil, the homeland of his wife Kim Poor, who also did most of the artwork for Hackett’s albums. That’s also where he warmed up to the extensive use of Latin rhythms and brought in guest Brazilian percussionists. The title comes from a novel by the famous British author C.S Lewis, best known for his fantasy books about the fairy-tale land of Narnia. Lewis’s writing has always been a big influence on Hackett’s musical creations.
On “Till We Faces” maestro Hackett once again took on the role of lead singer, but within melodic rock and pop settings his limited vocal range is rarely convincing, and so he spoils even the few interesting moments on the album. While his voice is pleasant and warm in the lower register and fits great in the calmer sections, far too often, when he tries to climb higher, he comes off paranoid and off-key. On top of there being only one instrumental on the album, its other big minus is a handful of utterly botched experiments, which the sterile, plastic production does no favors. Anyone who happened to be expecting a top-notch dose of symphonic prog rock or pastoral acoustics, the areas where Steve has traditionally been strongest, got another cold shower after the thoroughly botched “Cured” (1981).
Not even the support of longtime keyboardist Nick Magnus and cult drummer Ian Mosley, whose last collaboration with Hackett this was before he left for Marillion, helped him build individual motifs and melodies more convincingly. Most of the varied ideas are well conceived, sure, but unconvincing in execution for the reasons already mentioned. The instrumentation is top-notch, as you’d expect from musicians like these, but in the context of the synthetic production it doesn’t hit the right ambient notes and leaves the listener cold. There isn’t a single composition on the album Hackett could be proud of.
Just how sterile most of the material on “Till We Have Faces” comes across is proven by the synth-waxed opener “Duel”, where the only bright spots are Steve’s use of numerous howling guitar effects and the closing solo, while the repetitive rhythm line and the maestro’s singing, going more off-key by the minute, keep this botched track from growing into anything more. “Matilda Smith-Williams Home For the Aged” is a fairly interesting experiment in its first half, with epic-sounding guitar phrases and spirited Latin percussion, but unfortunately it loses the plot later on and ends up dragging. The Latin percussion jam in the middle doesn’t help either, since it makes the whole thing sound like second-rate Santana. And as if that weren’t enough to kill your appetite, Hackett’s rather annoying vocal squeaking tops it off.
“Let Me Count the Ways (For Uncle Charlie)” is a pitiful blues experiment. Eternal classicist Hackett, whose main guitar heroes were Andres Segovia and not Robert Johnson, was simply never at his most convincing as a blues guitarist, even though he later recorded the blues album “Blues With a Feeling” (1994), which was surprisingly listenable. His slide guitar is still pure poetry compared to the grotesque attempt at suddenly transforming into a blues singer. Let me also add that the track is at least two minutes too long. He shows a bit more artistic self-respect on the mystical “A Doll That’s Made in Japan”, which features elements of oriental music courtesy of the traditional Japanese instrument koto and colorful percussion. The guitar solo in the middle is excellent, though it could have done without Kim’s moaning, which sounds like something recorded in the Hacketts’ bedroom. Steve’s singing is also mixed and pitched properly this time, so it doesn’t come across as annoying as usual. “Myopia” is a thoroughly botched hard rock attempt at sounding as punchy as possible with sharp riffs while creating a hopeless melody. Hackett’s vocals here reach downright grotesque proportions, partly thanks to the overuse of the vocoder. In my view, one of the lowest points of his career.
“What’s My Name”, which spends most of its seven minutes laid over monotone ethnic percussion rhythms, is proof that on “Till We Have Faces” Hackett was clearly trying to imitate his former Genesis comrade Peter Gabriel (I’m thinking mainly of “Rhytm Of The Heat”), who got completely different results from this kind of experiment and knew how to handle this stuff. Later on comes Steve’s thoroughly off-key bawling, and any hope that this piece might ever turn out listenable evaporates. The only bright moment is the brief buildup of a very pretty oriental melody, which sadly lasts only a few seconds. The totally average instrumental “The Rio Connection” is one of the few entirely listenable pieces on the album, helped along by a good flute solo, which says a lot about how wretched “Till We Have Faces” is.
Well, I still have to single out the romantic ballad “Taking The Easy Way Out”, which, with its ethereal, very pretty melody, is the only real bright spot on the album and a rare example of what Hackett is usually capable of, though to my taste it comes out a bit too sugary. His voice also seems made for this kind of song and, for a change, sounds good. The closer “When You Wish Upon A Star” is a barely noteworthy take on the main theme of an ancient popular song, first introduced in Disney’s Pinocchio and covered over the years in numerous versions by all sorts of musicians.
“Till We Have Faces” is a totally uninspired album and one of Hackett’s weakest efforts, one the maestro thankfully forgot about as fast as he could. “Cured” beats it to the title of his worst release by a hair, which is of course very cold comfort. With it he thankfully wrapped up a rather unconvincing stretch of chasing commercial success as a solo artist, a success he did briefly taste a year later as a member of the supergroup GTR, after which he returned to his classicist musical roots and spared his followers any further unpleasant surprises. “Till We Have Faces” is as far from Steve’s usual standards as the Earth is from the Moon, so you’re best off giving it the widest possible berth, unless you’re a die-hard fan of the maestro who simply has to have his entire discography filled out.
Lineup
Steve Hackett – guitar, guitar synthesizer, Koto, marimba, percussion, harmonica, vocals
Nick Magnus – keyboards
Ian Mosley – drums, percussion
Rui Motta – drums
Serginho (Roupa Nova) – drums
Waldermar Falcao – flute, percussion
Fernando Moura – Rhodes synthesizer
Ronaldo Diamante – bass guitar
Clive Stevens – synthesizer
Kim Poor – Japanese voice on “Doll”
Brazilian percussionists: Sidinho Moreira, Junior, Jaburu, Peninha, Zizinho, Baca
Production
Steve Hackett
Tracklist
1. Duel (4:50)
2. Matilda Smith-Williams Home For The Aged (8:04)
3. Let Me Count The Ways (6:06)
4. A Doll That’s Made In Japan (3:57)
5. Myopia (2:56)
6. What’s My Name (7:05)
7. The Rio Connection (3:24)
8. Taking The Easy Way Out (3:49)
9. When You Wish Upon A Star (0:51)
