Search - Steve Hackett :: Please Don't Touch

Please DO Touch This Album!

Alan Caylow | USA | 02/05/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"1978's "Please Don't Touch" is Steve Hackett's 2nd solo album, and the first one the guitarist recorded after he left Genesis. Steve gets a lot of big name help on this collection, such as singers Richie Havens, Steve Walsh of Kansas, and Randy Crawford, as well as his brother John Hackett on flute and Genesis touring drummer Chester Thompson. This is an excellent album with shades of progressive rock here & there, but also some pop & straightforward guitar rock as well. The music is awesome, Steve's guitarwork throughout fantastic. Steve also takes musical inspiration from classic fictional books for some of the songs: "Narnia" (sung by Walsh) is a fun, lighthearted number based on C.S. Lewis' childrens' classic "The Lion The Witch & The Wardrobe," the strange little tune "Carry On Up The Vicarage" is a musical tribute to mystery writer Agatha Christie, and the breathtaking finale "Icarus Ascending" (sung by Havens) is inspired by the classic Greek tale of the doomed flight of Icarus. With the exception of "Vicarage," Steve mostly sings backup or harmony vocals, leaving most of the singing duties to Havens, Walsh and Crawford, who all give great performances. Other standout tracks include the catchy rock of "Racing In A," the wonderful acoustic number "How Can I?" (sung by Havens), the stunningly beautiful instrumental "Kim" (dedicated to Hackett's wife, Kim Poor, who also paints his album covers), the lovely ballad "Hoping Love Will Last" (sung by Crawford), and, of course, the monstrous title track, a menacing rock instrumental featuring some of Steve's most scorching guitar licks ever recorded (originally, Steve submitted "Please Don't Touch" to be recorded by Genesis, but for some reason, the band turned it down. Thank goodness then that he kept it for himself!). The only misstep Steve makes on the album are the lyrics to "Carry On Up The Vicarage." Musically, the song is fine (I also like the circus sound effects at the beginning), but the words to the song are pretty awkward. Stuff about pharmaceuticals, missing floorboards, and screaming from the belfry...they don't quite gel together. Also, Steve's vocals on this track are mostly distorted through a vocoder, which doesn't help. But other than that, there's nothing else to criticize on this very impressive album. With "Please Don't Touch," Steve Hackett stepped out from the shadow of Genesis, and established himself as a solo artist in his own right. "Please Don't Touch" is a great album. By all means, DO touch it!"

And Then There Was Steve

The Old Rocker | SF Bay Area | 06/27/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"First, to set the record straight, I give this album, 4 1/2 stars but Amazon doesn't allow for such niceties.



This is light years away from the airy, esoteric progressive masterpiece "Voyage Of The Acolyte", but no less a brilliant recording in its own right. If "Voyage" represents Hackett's definitive take on pure progressive rock, then this album is his answer to radio friendly pop/rock using unusual arrangements and instrumentation to give it a classic progressive underpinning. Calling this MOR or AOR does not diminish his accomplishment by any means.



In the ten tracks on this album he runs the gamut from pop (Narnia), folk (How Can I), rock (Racing in A) and love ballads (Hoping Love Will Last). Along the way there are several outstanding instrumentals (including the title track) and a minor progressive epic with Icarus Ascending. Wisely using a number of guest vocalists these tracks sound like songs you might have heard before, but without ever sounding derivative.



As Hackett and Genesis parted ways in 1977 both, by design or chance, released pop albums that showed both Genesis and Hackett were not afraid to change with the times. Hackett released this album and Genesis released "And then there were three..." an obvious nod to Steve. It's generally agreed upon by fans and critics that Genesis released a stinker while Steve released a brilliant collection of songs.



After this, Steve would put together his classic late '70's touring band and move back into a more progressive sound. He would approach radio friendly pop one more time with "Cured", but he so fully explored the compositional and sonic possibilities of the various forms of pop music that he would never craft another album like this again.



One last note, the sound on this remaster is outstanding. The bonus tracks don't really add too much to the experience. With two alternate versions of Narnia, there's one Narnia too many for any collection and too bad there wasn't additional unused songs or demos that he could of used instead. The restored artwork and essay are excellent."

Remastered Tracks Worth It Alone

M. Elam | MO | 01/09/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I agree with one reviewer who says that there are one-too-many Narnias on this album, and, as I've mentioned in other reviews of Steve's remastered albums, the bonus material is a little disappointing. The remastering of the original album, however, is worth buying the CD by itself. Don't get me wrong: The bonus material is not terrible. But as another reviewer has said, I wish there had been other unused tracks or forgotten songs included in place of the last version of Narnia. Still, the five stars are for the remastering of the original, and the bonus material, though not great, doesn't take anything away from the whole."