Hackett, Steve & The Underworld Orchestra - Metamorpheus


Year of Release: 2005
Label: Camino Records
Catalog Number: CAMCD35
Format: CD
Total Time: 57:04:00

Steve Hackett's latest solo release is an instrumental retelling of the Greek myth of Orpheus and his journey into the underworld to retrieve his lost love Eurydice. Accompanied by the "Underworld Orchestra," this music is richly evocative and powerfully emotional, full of sadness and, in the end, triumph. Written over the course of one year and recorded with infinite care and skill, Hackett's new work is one of the finest albums the former Genesis guitarist has produced.

In most cuts, Hackett's nylon stringed guitar speaks first, asking a question that is answered by the huge, ominous sounding orchestra. Drawing from the style of Russian composers like Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky, Hackett's guitar drips cascades of notes and melodic lines over the creeping orchestration, working like a pianist in a classical setting, busy, but simple in the end.

Hackett's technique is seemingly flawless, and there is a demanding attention paid to every detail. Hackett's Underworld Orchestra plays with ominous force, responding to Hackett's guitar with a sound that seems like the voices of the immortals. Amongst others, the orchestra includes John Hackett on flute and piccolo, who, along with the rest of the orchestral players, was heavily tracked up to allow the eight players to carry the weight of a full symphonic orchestra.

The highlights of this release include the twelve minute plus "That Vast Life" and the releases' final tracks "Return To The Realm Of Eternal Renewal" and "Lyra," both showpieces of lovely and intricate classical guitar work.

With this fine release, Hackett again gives his listeners another reason to rejoice, bringing past and present into harmony, mirroring the purpose of Orpheus himself. From the hand of Ovid, to the guitar of Steve Hackett, Orpheus lives again in the digital grooves of Metamorpheus.

Also released by InsideOut/InsideOut Music America (SPV 085-5088A CD/IOMA CD 2103)


Tracklisting:
The Pool Of Memory And The Pool Of Forgetfulness (2:14) / To Earth Like Rain (1:32) / Song To Nature (3:02) / One Real Flower (3:11) / The Dancing Ground (3:01) / That Vast Life (12:26) / Eurydice Taken (1:47) / Charon's Call (3:14) / Cerberus At Peace (2:05) / Under The World - Orpheus Looks Back (5:15) / The Broken Lyre (3:17) / Severance (3:04) / Elegy (3:17) / Return To The Realm Of Eternal Renewal (2:56) / Lyra (6:35)

Musicians:
Steve Hackett - guitar

Featured orchestral players:

Christine Townsend - principle violin, viola
Lucy Wilkins - violin
Richard Stewart - cello
Sarah Wilson - cello
Dick Driver - double bass
John Hackett - flute, piccolo
Colin Clague - trumpet
Richard Kennedy - French horn

Discography:
Genesis - Nursery Crime (1971)
Genesis - Foxtrot (1972)
Genesis - Live (1973)
Genesis - Selling England By The Pound (1973)
Genesis - Lamb Lies Down On Broadway (1974)
Voyage Of The Acolyte (1975)
Genesis - Wind And Wuthering (1976)
Genesis - Trick Of The Tail (1976)
Genesis - Seconds Out (1977)
Please Don't Touch (1978)
Spectral Mornings (1979)
Defector (1980)
Cured (1981)
Highly Strung (1983)
Bay Of Kings (1983)
Til We Have Faces (1983)
GTR - GTR (1986)
Momentum (1988)
Genesis - Three Sides Live (1982)
Genesis - Genesis Archive 1967-75 (1988)
Time Lapse (1992)
The Unauthorised Biography (1992)
Guitar Noir (1994)
Blues With A Feeling (1994)
There Are Many Sides To The Night (1994)
A Midsummer's Night Dream (1997)
Watcher Of The Skies: Genesis Revisited (1997)
The Tokyo Tapes (1997)
Darktown (1999)
Genesis - Genesis - Turn It On Again (1999)
Sketches Of Satie (2000) (w/John Hackett)
Feedback '86 (2000)
Genesis - Genesis Archive #2 (2000)
Live Archive 70s 80s 90s (2001)
Live Archive - Newcastle (2001)
To Watch The Storms (2003)
Live Archive NEARfest (2003)
Live Archive 03 (2004)
Live Archive 04 (2004)
Genesis - The Platinum Collection (2004)
Metamorpheus (2005) (w/The Underworld Orchestra)
Live Archive 05 (2005)
Live Archive 83 (2006)
Wild Orchids (2006)
Tribute (2008)
Out Of The Tunnel's Mouth (2010)
Beyond The Shrouded Horizon (2011)
Genesis Revisited II (2012)
Wolflight (2015)
THe Night Siren (2017)
At The Edge Of Light (2019)

Steve Hackett Live (VHS) (1981)
The Tokyo Tapes (DVD) (1998)
Hungarian Horizons - Live In Budapest (DVD) (2003)
Somewhere In South America - Live In Buenos Aires (DVD) (2003)
Once Upon A Time (DVD) (2004)
Spectral Mornings (DVD) (rec 1978; rel 2005)
Fire & Ice (DVD) (2011)
Genesis Revisited: Live At Hammersmith (2013)
Genesis Revisited: Live At The Royal Albert Hall (2013)
The Total Experience Live In Liverpool - Acolyte To Wolflight with Genesis Classics (2016)
Wuthering Heights - Live In Birmingham (2018)

Genre: Other

Origin UK

Added: June 14th 2005
Reviewer: Tom Karr
Score:
Artist website: www.hackettsongs.com
Hits: 3277
Language: english

  

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