GTR 2 Disc Reissue in August

[JJ88]

Hackett has rather implied that Howe's original intent with GTR was to continue the commercial success of Asia.

Henry

Hackett's also been open about his dissatisfaction- he didn't hang around long- and also that its success (which was considerable, with a big US hit single) allowed him to fund things like his acoustic projects.

Based on the live album, the highlights are when Hackett and Howe play their earlier work. Some of the newer tunes like 'Jekyll And Hyde' are decent.

In light of Hackett's recent comments, I'd like to see them do something new. That AOR market just isn't there anymore as far as getting mainstream radio-play is concerned. So there's not really that much purpose in pursuing it.

[dnieper]

It's too bad nobody seems to have released any live recordings of the acoustic sets Hackett and Howe would play before a lot of their shows, since it looks like they did some interesting stuff. Here's a setlist from setlist.fm:

GTR Setlist at Syria Mosque, Pittsburgh, PA, July 7, 1986
1. Land of a Thousand Autumns (Steve Hackett song)
2. Kim (Steve Hackett song)
3. Black Light (Steve Hackett song)
4. San Sebastian
5. Horizons (Genesis cover)
6. Surface Tension (Steve Howe song)
7. Mood for a Day (Yes cover)
8. Second Initial (Steve Howe song)
9. Ram (Steve Howe song)
10. Diary of a Man Who Vanished (Steve Howe song)
11. Chet Atkins Medley
12. Clap (Yes cover)
13. From a Place Where Time Runs Slow (Steve Howe song)
14. Jekyll and Hyde
15. Here I Wait
16. Prizefighters
17. Imagining
18. Hackett to Bits
19. Spectral Mornings / After The Ordeal
20. ...In That Quiet Earth (Genesis cover)
21. I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) (Genesis cover)
22. Toe the Line
23. Sketches in the Sun
24. Pennants
25. Roundabout (Yes cover)
26. The Hunter
27. If You Can Still Get Through
28. Reach Out (Never Say No)
29. When the Heart Rules the Mind

[Scott Bails]

Hackett has rather implied that Howe's original intent with GTR was to continue the commercial success of Asia.

Henry

Okay, well, with Hackett's original intent.

[ThomasKDye]

Blah blah AOR blah blah turd blah blah. And so on, and so on. Whatever. Because obviously any AOR band would write a song like "Imagining" or "You Can Still Get Through".

I like it. But I would much rather have it remixed and remastered. The current version feels like it's been run through Edison's dictaphone.

[Scott Bails]

In light of Hackett's recent comments, I'd like to see them do something new. That AOR market just isn't there anymore as far as getting mainstream radio-play is concerned. So there's not really that much purpose in pursuing it.

I could see Frontiers Records doing something with that, however.

It's too bad nobody seems to have released any live recordings of the acoustic sets Hackett and Howe would play before a lot of their shows, since it looks like they did some interesting stuff.

Not having seen the tour, I've always wanted to hear some of that. Thanks for the setlist.

[ThomasKDye]

Hackett's also been open about his dissatisfaction- he didn't hang around long- and also that its success (which was considerable, with a big US hit single) allowed him to fund things like his acoustic projects.

I also had this idea from interviews that he was looking at Genesis's success, as if to say, "Hmm, maybe I should get back into that sort of thing again…" And then decided he didn't like it after all.

[JJ88]

^The GTR King Biscuit show is quite enjoyable- some of the newer songs hold up well enough. It would have been even better had these acoustic sections been there.

[Scott Bails]

^The GTR King Biscuit show is quite enjoyable- some of the newer songs hold up well enough. It would have been even better had these acoustic sections been there.

Absolutely.

[arturs]

It's too bad nobody seems to have released any live recordings of the acoustic sets Hackett and Howe would play before a lot of their shows, since it looks like they did some interesting stuff. Here's a setlist from setlist.fm:

GTR Setlist at Syria Mosque, Pittsburgh, PA, July 7, 1986
1. Land of a Thousand Autumns (Steve Hackett song)
2. Kim (Steve Hackett song)
3. Black Light (Steve Hackett song)
4. San Sebastian
5. Horizons (Genesis cover)
6. Surface Tension (Steve Howe song)
7. Mood for a Day (Yes cover)
8. Second Initial (Steve Howe song)
9. Ram (Steve Howe song)
10. Diary of a Man Who Vanished (Steve Howe song)
11. Chet Atkins Medley
12. Clap (Yes cover)
13. From a Place Where Time Runs Slow (Steve Howe song)
14. Jekyll and Hyde
15. Here I Wait
16. Prizefighters
17. Imagining
18. Hackett to Bits
19. Spectral Mornings / After The Ordeal
20. ...In That Quiet Earth (Genesis cover)
21. I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) (Genesis cover)
22. Toe the Line
23. Sketches in the Sun
24. Pennants
25. Roundabout (Yes cover)
26. The Hunter
27. If You Can Still Get Through
28. Reach Out (Never Say No)
29. When the Heart Rules the Mind

That is one awesome set, if accurate. I would guess the first 13 tunes were a Hackett/Howe acoustic duo? And then the full band came out?

EDIT: Just saw that you referred to acoustic sets above...

[everyday]

When do those paragraphs incline anything to be even remotely interpreted as an accusation towards something being not "acceptable prog" - which was what you said? Did you read post 18, and more specifically the last sentence?

Sorry, but I just feel that saying they should have replaced all the members and all the material is a bit rude to say the least. You don't like it, fine. You were probably expecting some great Yes/Genesis amalgam. It was what it was, get over it.

[gojikranz]

That is one awesome set, if accurate. I would guess the first 13 tunes were a Hackett/Howe acoustic duo? And then the full band came out?

EDIT: Just saw that you referred to acoustic sets above...

there are some decent bootlegs available with the acoustic set. if i recall the last song has both hackett and howe playing along with the keyboardist. the album isn't amazing though i enjoy it but the live stuff was really pretty good.

[Patelena396]

Blah blah AOR blah blah turd blah blah. And so on, and so on. Whatever. Because obviously any AOR band would write a song like "Imagining" or "You Can Still Get Through".

I like it. But I would much rather have it remixed and remastered. The current version feels like it's been run through Edison's dictaphone.

If I am not mistaken, there was a remaster released a few years ago that resolved much of the original version's problems. I haven't listened to it for a while, but as I recall, it sounded quite a bit better.

[dlm]

The album was not that bad. There were some decent prog-pop songs on it. The live show was really good.

[jamesmanzi]

Just adding another "I'd have preferred a remixed release." I don't know if remastering alone will upgradethe sonic quality enough to justify a repurchase.

[Scrotum Scissor]

Sorry, but I just feel that saying they should have replaced all the members and all the material is a bit rude to say the least. You don't like it, fine. You were probably expecting some great Yes/Genesis amalgam. It was what it was, get over it.

No, NO! NO, I WON'T GET OVER IT!!! NO, NO!!! I LIE AWAKE EVERY NIGHT, EVERYDAY, JUST THINKING THAT IT'S SUCH A SHAME THAT GTR WASN'T ACCEPTABLE PROG!! I WAS EXPECTING SOME GREAT YES/ GENESIS [that must be it!!!], WHO ARE WITHOUT A SHADOW OF A DOUBT THE BEST EVER, EVERYDAY! CAN'T GET OVER IT, EVERYDAY - I JUST CAN'T!!

Oh no.

[GuitarGeek]

I thought it was about a new Nissan.

That would be a GT-R, which Jeremy Clarkson managed to injure himself while driving in Japan.

[N_Singh]

"Acceptable Prog"
1. Pastoral dreadnaught guitar strumming some cowboy chords, while Tron mixes some viola parts with some Russian choir.

2. Monophonic Moog solo beak, as in "Save my life I'm going down for the last time " by "Head East. Perhaps they were even an early prototype of "ProgPop"? "ProtoProgPop" (c) (R) TM

3. For extra oomph, Taurus Moog pedals are a must. Maybe some cowbell ?

4. Maybe some dry ice envelopes the stage during the blistering guitar solo following "pastoral guitar strumming + Viola and Russian choir Tron intro?

Nope. No "acceptable Prog" on Clive Davis' watch. He's gonna bring in Giorgio Maurader or David Foster or perhaps even Jimmy Haun (the album is called GTR after all )

[Patelena396]

Perhaps a ban on GTR threads would be a good idea. 😀. It is one of my those albums that any time a thread is started, it just brings up some of the most ridiculous debates. Let's just say, it is an impossible album to have a reasonable dialogue about on PE. For the folks who are so vehement in their dislike of it, I would say, get over it. The album is 30 years old and is one chapter in the careers of two great guitarists. Plus, I think it's fair to say that Hackett to my knowledge has never said that he had a big problem with the album itself. More so the business politics of this particular venture. He also seems to have no problem with success and has tried on several occasions to be more commercial.

[ThomasKDye]

If I am not mistaken, there was a remaster released a few years ago that resolved much of the original version's problems. I haven't listened to it for a while, but as I recall, it sounded quite a bit better.

If that's what we'll be getting, I'm all over it. It was one of the few times I preferred the live version over the studio version (though the concert doesn't include "Toe the Line," a nice little song) because it sounded better. The Flower Hour concert also has some nice extended arrangements of the studio songs where Hackett and Howe get to do more of their thing, which is always a plus.

[Rufus]

Sounds like a missed opportunity! If it included a DVD of the live concert that was filmed for MTV and the making of documentary I be all over it!

[GuitarGeek]

Sounds like a missed opportunity! If it included a DVD of the live concert that was filmed for MTV and the making of documentary I be all over it!

They had a concert on MTV?! That I don't remember at all. I know I've seen a few clips on Youtube, but I don't remember it being on MTV back in the day.

I do remember the making of documentary, where Brian Lane explains why all of his bands had such short names, and those clips of Howe performing Sketches In The Sun (which MTV actually aired as a video at least once) and Hackett doing Hackett To Bits. I always liked Max Bacon's "Don't eat the Townhouse canteen" rant, as well. And then there's the bit where Geoff Downes is playing back Imagining and soloing the various bits as the song progresses, you hear a bit of the big power chord guitars on the intro, then the guitar/synth thing under the verse, then the full band on the chorus bit, etc.

And I always coveted that blue Schecter Strat style guitar that Hackett used as his main axe during this period. It had the guitar synth interface for the GR-300 and GR-700, and I gather he still uses it when he wants to use a guitar synth.

[N_Singh]

There's a reason Max Bacon, Jonathan Mover, and Phil Spailding are almost ungoogleble.

I saw this concert in Chicago. The first part was pretty good -solo stuff.

Apparently Hackett blew a gasket after the show, perhaps reflecting on the nature of the project, no doubt.

[dropforge]

I would buy this but I think I have to wash my hair that day, or something.

[Patelena396]

Interesting quote from Steve Hackett:

“I loved ‘When the Heart Rules the Mind'; I thought it was a great tune,” Hackett confirms. “That was the best of the band, straightaway, on that first track. It sounded great on American FM, because that compressed it and made it sound much more powerful. I was very pleased with lots of it. A lot of what GTR did, however, didn’t make it onto records. We did so much in the rehearsal rooms, but you can’t take people there. You just have to say that’s what it is; that’s what it was – a studio album, recorded totally live. What you see is what you get: A completely honest, live album.”

[gingernut]

Well I like it and have the CD, so there. I have no problems with Max Bacon's vocals either. I'll be looking at this reissue with interest, especially for the 3 extra studio tracks. Live stuff, rarely does it for me.

I do agree a remix would be nice.