Steve Hackett – Selling England by the Pound & Spectral Mornings: Live At Hammersmith (InsideOut Music, 2020)
Guitarist Steve Hackett continues to delight the progressive rock community with his series of fantastic live albums. Hackett is recreating some of the most iconic, and favorite, works he has been involved with in collaboration with a superb international band that includes some of the finest musicians in the current progressive rock scene.
Selling England by the Pound & Spectral Mornings: Live at Hammersmith is a multi-volume set that comes in various formats. The set includes two audio albums and the concert performance on video as well.
As the title indicates, Hackett performs two of the most cherished albums in his career, Selling England by the Pound by Genesis and his solo recording Spectral Mornings.
Hackett continues the spirit of progressive rock era Genesis on Selling England by the Pound by playing it live in its entirety. Vocalist Nad Sylvan does an outstanding job with his vocals. His voice has a similarity with Peter Gabriel’s although Nad has clearly demonstrated in recent years that he has his own style, especially on his solo albums. And, of course, the band is truly wonderful. Steve Hackett plays familiar melodies and expands and varies some of the memorable solos, making the album a new and refreshing experience. Hackett is one of the treasures of the progressive rock world.
The album includes a song called ‘Déja Vu,’ introduced for the Selling England by the Pound album by Peter Gabriel, but later finalized by Steve.
Spectral Mornings, along with Voyage of the Acolyte, is one of Hackett’s finest solo albums. This live set brings back the exquisite musical pieces. Hackett is a musical explorer and, on this album, he ventured beyond progressive rock, incorporating beautiful Asian and classical music influences.
The set also includes music from Hacket’s recent release At The Edge Of Light. Steve Hackett said: “Amalgamating three personal favorite albums, including the whole of Selling England by the Pound, most of Spectral Mornings and At The Edge Of Light highlights was a very special live experience. Both audio and visual on this product give a mind blowing experience of an unforgettable evening at Hammersmith.”
The album ends with the encores of Dance On A Volcano and Los Endos from Genesis’ A Trick of the Tail.
The concert was made at the Hammersmith Eventim Apollo (formerly known as the Hammersmith Odeon) in London. The band included Steve Hackett on guitars and vocals; Roger King on keyboards; Jonas Reingold on bass, Variax guitar, 12-string guitar, and backing vocals; Rob Townsend on saxophones, flutes, percussion, backing vocals, keyboards and bass pedals; Craig Blundell on drums, percussion and backing vocals; and Nad Sylvan on vocals and tambourine. Special guests for this concert were Steve’s brother John Hackett on flute; and Amanda Lehmann on guitar and vocals.
Buy Selling England by the Pound & Spectral Mornings: Live At Hammersmith