Steve Rothery
The Ghosts of Pripyat (InsideOut Music CD SRM, 2015)
Progressive rock fans will identify Steve Rothery with Marillion. He was the lead guitarist and co-founder of the band. Rothery has launched a solo career that is attracting the attention of progressive rock and guitar music fans alike.
Steve Rothery has an elegant melodic and multidimensional guitar style. He uses all forms of guitar techniques, ranging from gorgeous spacy slide guitar and atmospheric passages to spectacular solos, exquisite guitar overdubs, occasional excursions into mesmerizing guitar synthesizer and a small dose of hard rock.
His solo album The Ghosts of Pripyat (Pripyat is the abandoned city in Ukraine that used to house Chernobyl workers and their families) comes a few months after the live album Live in Rome. Although Steve Rothery has developed his own sound, stylistically, you’ll also hear echoes of Marillion, Gilmour-era Pink Floyd, North African melodies, blues-rock and even connections to Mark Knopfler-style folk-rock.
The Ghosts of Pripyat features two other iconic guitarist representing two other generations: Steve Hackett (Genesis) and Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree, No-Man). Hackett appears playing a solo on the opening track ‘Morpheus’ while Steven Wilson performs on “The Old Man of the Sea’ which is one of the best pieces on the album.
The line-up on The Ghosts of Pripyat includes Steve Rothery on guitars and keyboards, Dave Foster on guitar, Riccardo Romano on keyboards, Yatim Halimi on bass, and Leon Parr on drums. Guests include Steve Hackett (guitar solo on track 1) and Steven Wilson (guitar solo on track 3).
The Ghosts of Pripyat is an immediately accessible instrumental rock album featuring outstanding guitar work by Steve Rothery.
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