While on vacation on Hutchinson Island in Florida, one of the ways we relaxed and chilled out was by listening to one of Steve Hackett‘s classical albums, Metamorpheus.Released: 28th March 2005
‘Metamorpheus’ is the natural successor to Steve’s previous orchestral album, ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’. The album is a musical expression of the legend of Orpheus and his passage through the Underworld, combining nylon guitar with orchestra, seamlessly linking the small and large musical forces.
“A subject as broad and far reaching as life and death is a challenging one for any artist, in any medium,
and the story of Orpheus is exactly that; an examination of the themes of life and death asking the eternal questions
“Why are we here”? And “Why do we have to die”? This album contemplates those questions and
the Orpheus story itself in a broad canvas of musical vignettes.”
“Steve set himself no easy task with this album. Contemplating the eternal verities, even if through
the extended metaphor of myth, is no easy task. He brings no answers to the table, for there are none.
The answers to the questions asked here are for each of us to find for ourselves in our own lives.
What you do have here, however, is an artist who is prepared to ask those questions, and present those
questions and observations in a musical way, which will set the listener to thinking about them themselves.
Can any work of art truly reflect life? I don’t honestly know, but there is more of life in this album than
can be easily described – bravo maestro!”
Steve Hackett has earned the reputation of being one of Britain’s finest composers and guitarists.
He joined Genesis in 1970 and his complex and distinctive playing contributed heavily to their early success,
developing an elegance and sophistication which have become his trademark. Steve has since achieved consistent
solo success internationally and, uniquely amongst rock players, has discovered an equal talent for composing
for the classical guitar.
Steve tours with both electric and acoustic set ups.
You can go to Amazon, listen to audio clips, and purchase this amazing CD by clicking on this link for Steve Hackett = Metamorpheus
Asia is pleased to announce that they have committed to an April 2008 tour of America. They plan to re-visit some venues while adding new venues and territories to their itinerary. In this internet age, there may well be individual venue leaks in advance of the full official itinerary. Please keep in mind that no dates are considered official until the band confirms them here on their official website.
Here’s part of a BlogCritics Music Review of the latest (August 28th, just three weeks ago) YES/ABWH DVD release, “Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman, Howe — An Evening of YES Music Plus“:
By 1980 the classic Yes lineup had begun to splinter, led by the departures of Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman. Veteran musicians Geoff Downes and Trevor Horn were brought in as replacements and the Drama album and tour soon followed, but the band eventually split up in 1981. Bassist Chris Squire and drummer Alan White continued working together and in 1983 they recruited South African guitarist Trevor Rabin for a new group that would be dubbed Cinema. Later that year Jon Anderson was invited to join the band and the decision was eventually made to simply call it Yes.
Rabin, along with producer Trevor Horn, proceeded to significantly overhaul Yes’ beloved classic progressive-rock sound with a more modern, radio-friendly, pop-rock sound that came to fruition on this new lineup’s first album, 90125. The album won over millions of new Yes fans, even producing their first #1 single with “Owner Of A Lonely Heart,” and made the band more popular than ever. Another hit album of the same formula, and a couple of hugely successful tours followed, but longtime Yes fans and especially Jon Anderson began to grow weary of this new musical direction. They eagerly wanted a return to the classic Yes sound.
Following the 1988 Big Generator tour, Anderson began working with former Yes members Rick Wakeman, Steve Howe, and Bill Bruford on what was probably originally planned as an Anderson solo album, but eventually turned into a band effort. Legally, the Yes name still belonged to the current members of the band, Chris Squire, Alan White, Trevor Rabin, Tony Kaye, and Anderson (still), so they would have to come up with something new. After floating around some interesting names, the best one probably being “No”, they eventually decided upon Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman, Howe, or simply ABWH.
Their self-titled debut album was released in 1989, and blended the classic Yes sound with some obvious world music influences. Later that year the band, including bassist Tony Levin, keyboardist Julian Colbeck, and guitarist Milton McDonald, embarked on a massive world tour, having legally secured the right to promote the tour as “An Evening Of Yes Music Plus.” Jeff Berlin filled in for Levin who was too ill to perform at this show. This amazing tour was captured on video and was initially released as a CD and VHS in 1994. This year a limited addition, two-DVD edition of the video, and more recently a single disk edition, minus any bonus features, was finally released.
An Evening Of Yes Music Plus was recorded Sept. 9, 1989 at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountainview, California. This performance is sure to please any fan of the ABWH album, and especially fans of the classic Bruford era of the band, since it focused mainly on The Yes Album, Fragile, and Close To The Edge albums. I know those are my three favorites. The ABWH album is also solidly represented by five songs – and fairly long ones at that.
For the rest of the full review and the article, click on the link below:
We here at Indra’s Net haven’t had a chance to listen and review the CD/album yet,
but when we do, we’ll give you our comments, thumbs up, and/or thumbs down.
Here at Indra’s Net, we tried for months to come up with some kind of name to describe the genre of music we write, record, and produce.
Dr. Andrew Colyer eventually named our style of music “Progressive Classical”, because none of the other traditional names seemed to fit.
We love “Progressive Rock” music, but we’re not really Rock. We also love a lot of music that is classified as “Symphonic Rock”, because of the “symphonic” part, but again, we’re not really that rock-ish.
Our music is definitely classically based, but there are way too many elements of pop, rock, jazz, world, and sound effects to be called classical.
Hence, the New Original Genre Name of “Progressive Classical.”
Anyway, part of our mission here at IndrasNetMusic.com is to spread the word about other outstanding musicians, and develop a community of friends and like-minded individuals.
The following video is something to see.
Enjoy!
Thank you.
Dr. Andrew Colyer and “MacGyver” Daniel Aggers Indra’s Net
“Progressive Classical Music for Progressive Rock Fans ”
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