Steve Hackett - Highly Strung

[progman1975]

Love this and Cell 151.....Hows the rest...I never bought it...**sigh**

[Casey]

I've never seen this video before. Thank you for posting.

Not a fan of the sound of Steve's guitar on this version.

[Wah3]

Group Therapy, a longish instrumental jam, is another excellent track.

As I recall the British and American releases of this album had different takes of some songs, and the British versions were slightly better. Anyone remember the details?

[JJ88]

I like this one quite a bit, but there are some reservations. There are a few songs like 'Give It Away', 'Weightless' and 'Walking Through Walls' which are poppier songs than he usually records. I like 'Give It Away' on those terms, but IMHO Steve has rarely sounded so vocally strained as he does on them. He's singing way above his usual range IMHO.

However the rest I find really quite strong. There are a few great instrumentals and I've always rated 'Camino Royale' as well, though some here don't. 'Cell 151' is a good one too, with a certain macabre humour and a neat instrumental finish.

[bRETT]

Hadn't realized that "Cell 151" was about Steve's problems with alcohol (think I learned that here). Certainly makes the song more resonant, and it was already one of his strongest from that era. Interesting that there's a theme in the instrumental party that recurs elsewhere on the album...makes me think the album would have been more conceptual if made in a different year.

[Kai]

I’ve always liked “Give It Away” and “India Rubber Man” a lot. However, they are indeed pop songs, and as such they, as some of the production values, may make you break out in rash and pimples, if you generally don’t like such things. But the instrumentals are indeed great in a more traditionally progressive way. I suppose in some way this is a much improved version of Cured, with Hackett singing at the bleeding edge of his abilities, but there is more instrumental work, the songs are better and he has a real backing group providing excellent playing, including a drummer called Ian Mosley who later joined some little-known neo-prog group whose name I can’t quite recall. “Mullion” or something, I think it was.

So not what I’d think as Hackett’s best release, but certainly one of his most enjoyable ones.

[Paulrus]

I’ve always liked “Give It Away” and “India Rubber Man” a lot. However, they are indeed pop songs, and as such they, as some of the production values, may make you break out in rash and pimples, if you generally don’t like such things. But the instrumentals are indeed great in a more traditionally progressive way. I suppose in some way this is a much improved version of Cured, with Hackett singing at the bleeding edge of his abilities, but there is more instrumental work, the songs are better and he has a real backing group providing excellent playing, including a drummer called Ian Mosley who later joined some little-known neo-prog group whose name I can’t quite recall. “Mullion” or something, I think it was.

So not what I’d think as Hackett’s best release, but certainly one of his most enjoyable ones.

Good summary. This isn't one I pull out often but it's not a difficult listen, other than a certain early 80s brittle glossiness and Steve's singing. I can understand why he's gone to the heavily layered/auto-tuned approach he uses today.

I've never seen this video before. Thank you for posting.

Notice who's playing keyboards? They did more stuff for that show, and even mentioned working together. Here's the interview part of the program:

[Progatron]

I recently completed my Steve Hackett collection with the two titles I had been missing for years: Till We Have Faces and Feedback '86 (both were reissued). Although I never cared much for either of them in the past, I think I actually now prefer them to Cured and Highly Strung. They are both better than I remember. Either way, I could probably make one really good disc of the best tunes from all four of them.

[ThomasKDye]

No love for "Always Somewhere Else?" That's my favorite, I think. I like how he revisits the melody on "India Rubber Man," too.

[Splicer]

No love for "Always Somewhere Else?" That's my favorite, I think. I like how he revisits the melody on "India Rubber Man," too.

Ditto. "Always Somewhere Else" is the one song that stands out in my memory of this album. I have no idea what happened to my vinyl version -- I guess it went with all the stuff junked from my late mother's house.

[Classic Progressive]

I gotta admit, sometimes you guy's have so much knowledge threads can get tedious to a point. But for me skimming through I always seem to find things I did not know, and its always fun to find material I am not familiar with. Thanks

[mozo-pg]

I think Feedback 86 is absolutely dreadful. I have always liked Highly Strung and Camino Royal is great live but I can't recall the specific tracks but do remember really liking this release.

[bill g]

No love for "Always Somewhere Else?" That's my favorite, I think. I like how he revisits the melody on "India Rubber Man," too.

Always Somewhere Else was always far and away my favorite, and the favorite of everyone I knew back in the day. As to the rest, the instrumental bit at the intro, and recurring theme at the end of the album was pretty cool, Steve's answer to the intro and conclusion of 'Duke'. 'India Rubber Man' was nice, including the main theme of 'Always Somewhere Else' in the instrumental break. Was never much of a fan of 'Cell 151' though.

[Splicer]

I always imagined "Cell 151" (besides being a song about alcoholism) was Steve's answer to "Abacab".

[Casey]

Cell 151 & alcoholism? Very interesting. Please explain.

[bRETT]

Cell 151 & alcoholism? Very interesting. Please explain.

151 proof alcohol (rum, probably). The double meaning, alcoholism as a prison, works for most of the song, but some of the lyrics ("Sharing with me is a man who shot his wife, and I'm afraid to fall asleep at night") don't make much sense outside the prison scenario. Good song though.

[Paulrus]

I recently completed my Steve Hackett collection with the two titles I had been missing for years: Till We Have Faces and Feedback '86 (both were reissued). Although I never cared much for either of them in the past, I think I actually now prefer them to Cured and Highly Strung.

I remember finding Til We Have Faces as a used import somewhere back in the 90s. I thought it odd that I'd never even heard of it -- a standard album of SH prog music. It must have come out at a time when Steve basically had no label support and no interest in his work. But it does have some nice things on it.

[ThomasKDye]

"Sharing with me is a man who shot his wife, and I'm afraid to fall asleep at night") don't make much sense outside the prison scenario.

The assumption could be that alcohol can also bring out murderous tendencies in a man. So people who "share his vice" aren't exactly pinnacles of society.

[Splicer]

Just finished listening to this record again for the third or fourth time over the last few days. I think it has grown on me quite a bit in recent years. The recurring themes over multiple songs remind me quite a bit of Genesis -- certainly the Lamb through Wind. There is a quality about those Genesis years that was lost when Tony stopped doing the musical themes and motifs that held an album together. This album hearkens upon that idea. Some of the songs are absolutely top notch with great playing: "Camino Royale", "Cell 151", "Always Somewhere Else", "Group Therapy", "Hackett to Pieces" -- these stand out. The album is marred a bit by Steve's sub-par singing in parts (especially when he's straining to hit high notes), but overall more than half the songs on the record are terrific to very good.

I think I'll give this one a couple more listens.

[rael74]

I know there is a line on Defector where it mentions smoking joints,
But Steve is hardly Keith Richards now is he?

[Fracktured]

Always liked this one from the time it was released. Haven't played it in years now. I'll have to give it a spin and see if I still like it. I've always struggled with Steve's vocals and this one I either started getting more used to them or he was just better on it, not sure which. But the music was what really caught my ears. "Till We Have Faces is the other one that I really liked from that era.

[firth5th]

I know there is a line on Defector where it mentions smoking joints,
But Steve is hardly Keith Richards now is he?

I saw Steve pretty wasted after a show once in the early 90s. In fact, he said "I'm so fucked up!"

He's pretty much on the straight and narrow now and focused all on the music, which is great for him and for us!

[whatwherewhywhen]

Ah my first Hackett album so I have a soft spot for it. I must have been 12-13 at the time, I borrowed it from the library with no idea who he was nor was I old enough to have memories of 70's Genesis. So I got in to Genesis and Hackett entirely seperately and happily discovered they converged as I worked my way backwards through their catalogues. These days I don't go back to it very often, I tend to stick to the first four and the classical albums. For the rest I either use a playlist which I just top up with highlights or I just hit shuffle and take my chances.