Steve Hackett - Highly Strung

[progman1975]

What do our Hacketteers think of this record....

[Johnboy]

I really like this album... but man what horrible, horrible video. lol

[Paulrus]

but man what horrible, horrible video.

Hey, at least he GOT a video.

The album has its moments, but man oh man -- why did he fire his awesome band?

[Bass Pedals Rock]

Its pretty terrible, but i love it (the album, the song and the video)

[Splicer]

This was my first Hackett solo record so I have a soft spot for it -- "Always Somewhere Else" is one of my favorite Hackett instrumentals. That said, I don't think "Cell 151" was that great although I do like it -- it is about being an alcoholic, right? I listened to this album as it came up on my iPod rotation and it struck me that musically, "Cell 151" almost sounds like Hackett's answer to the song "Abacab".

[bill g]

'Always Somewhere Else' was always easily the standout track to my ears. I do like the intro to 'Camino Royale', and Hackett to Pieces, which has the recurring theme. 'India Rubber Man' is nice too with the recurring theme from 'Always Somewhere Else'. Never liked Cell 151 much.

[Casey]

And, as an extra bonus, that video presents Kim Poor to the (unsuspecting) world.

[GuitarGeek]

I like it quite a bit- something of a return to form after the patchy 'Cured', though a couple of songs are still in that style. I know some here don't care for 'Camino Royale' but I think it's great, an action-packed tune. I also really like the instrumentals on it.

As an actual I suppose Camino Royale isn't too bad. But I forget how many live albums I have from Steve that has that song on it. I know it's on the Time Lapse thing, as well as the NEARfest 2002 release, Tokyo Tapes, and I think I've got a couple different DVD's that it also appears on. Frankly, I was quite relieved when the Live Archive set came out and it was MIA from the track list.

[MYSTERIOUS TRAVELLER]

as with Gabriel, I like Hackett's solo work better than any Genesis, but to be sure, Hackett was hit and miss with his albums. This one is a keeper tho

[ombasan]

The Maxi-Single version of Cell 151 is way cool. In the end it features some themes from other songs of the record over the cello line (at least some of Camino Royale, but also others IIRC). Plus it has "Time lapse in Milton Keynes" on the B-side.

That video...incredible!

[firth5th]

Boy he must have dropped some serious bucks on that cell151 video!

[bRETT]

The Maxi-Single version of Cell 151 is way cool. In the end it features some themes from other songs of the record over the cello line (at least some of Camino Royale, but also others IIRC). Plus it has "Time lapse in Milton Keynes" on the B-side.

I think the 12-inch is just the album version, the quotes are already there. "Time Lapse" is nice, but when I saw the title I was hoping it would have lyrics.

[JJ88]

'Cell 151', like 'The Show', was a minor hit single in the UK, though 'The Show' charted better. I quite like the track- it's not without a certain macabre humour. But perhaps if a single was needed 'Give It Away' was a better choice- that track has the same direction much of 'Cured' went in, but does it better, I think.

There are one or two songs on here which I think suffered slightly from the vocals though; I generally find Steve Hackett an OK vocalist but he is sometimes straining on this album IMHO. 'Weightless' in particular I get that feeling.

[Paulrus]

'Cell 151', like 'The Show', was a minor hit single in the UK, though 'The Show' charted better. I quite like the track- it's not without a certain macabre humour. But perhaps if a single was needed 'Give It Away' was a better choice- that track has the same direction much of 'Cured' went in, but does it better, I think.

Perhaps, but neither song had much of chance with Steve as the singer. Why oh why was Pete Hicks (along with the rest of that band) jettisoned?

I think Steve demonstrated back then that he had a gift for catchy melodies and hooks, and was sympathetic to modern production techniques. All I can say is thank goodness he's a better singer today then he was back then.

[gojikranz]

I'm a fan of this one. me and my girlfriend did a little review of it recently in fact.

http://angiekins24.tumblr.com/post/4...t-1983-i-liked

though i can enjoy cured so maybe i am not a great barometer for some here.

[Harbottle]

Hey, at least he GOT a video.

The album has its moments, but man oh man -- why did he fire his awesome band?

Costs. Well, that's what I read somewhere. Maybe it was in an interview with Hackett. I don't think he really wanted to fire them.

[arabicadabra]

I'm a fan of this one. me and my girlfriend did a little review of it recently in fact.

http://angiekins24.tumblr.com/post/4...t-1983-i-liked

though i can enjoy cured so maybe i am not a great barometer for some here.

I, too, admit to enjoying Cured - not my favorite but his "flavors" still come thru loud and clear to me, so that "in my mind I feel elation".

I like Highly Strung better, for the reasons in your review - return to form, real drums, 3 instrumentals, etc.

Nice review, by the way - and if your guess at not being "a great barometer" for some here turns out to be true, allow me to guess that it's because you HAVE a girlfriend.

[Joe F.]

The first Hackett album I bought when it was released. A little disappointed at first, but it grew on me.

[gojikranz]

haha. i do admit i am a lucky man to have a girlfriend who beyond being a girl actually enjoys prog music to a degree (she still walks out if i even mention frippertronics though.

[Paulrus]

she still walks out if i even mention frippertronics though

Just saying the word "Fripp" is cause for instant stink-eye from my g/f. And it all goes back to the one and only time I took her to see KC live in the 90s. Transgression no. 1: her back was killing her and Fripp had decreed no booze would be served. Transgression no. 2: Adrian and the drill.

[Progatron]

Of Hackett's early-mid 80s rock albums, this one is by far the best, and I think that's largely due to the rock-trio format they used in the studio with Ian Mosley really lifting it up a notch. "Cell 151" was a pretty good track - of it's time, as these mostly are, but then very few musicians didn't embrace the sound of the new decade at the time. What I've always loved about Steve is that no matter what album it is, it sounds like his guitar and his general quirky approach. "Always Somewhere Else" is a track I always rather liked as well. It's followed though by the weakest track to me, "Walking Through Walls", which sounds like it could have been playing in the background while Crockett and Tubbs chased down criminals.

There's an interesting interview from this Highly Strung period where Steve appeared with Rick Wakeman on a show he hosted back in the day called "Gastank", and played a couple of tracks with his band after a couple of drinks together. I had a grainy VHS copy for many years. Nowadays, of course, anyone can just instantly look this stuff up and watch it, but I digress....

Overall, a much better album IMO than Cured or Til We Have Faces (or Feedback 86), and miles better too than GTR (just IMO, sorry GTR lovers) but none of them hold a candle to the beauty of Bay Of Kings - not that it's even remotely fair to compare them. I love that album so much. But apart from that one and Momentum, Steve's 80s output remains my least-listened-to period. Beginning with the excellent Guitar Noir several years later, Steve has been all win for me.