Steve Hackett & The Underworld Orchestra - Metamorpheus
	Released: 2005 Label: InsideOut Music America / Camino Records Cat. No.: SPV 085-5088A CD/IOMA CD 2103 / CAMCD35 Total Time: 57:04
	Reviewed by: Tom Karr, June 2005 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. Rating: 4/5 [See also Joshua's and Marcel's review -ed.] More about Metamorpheus: Track Listing: The Pool Of Memory And The Pool Of Forgetfulness / To Earth Like Rain / Song To Nature / One Real Flower / The Dancing Ground / That Vast Life / Eurydice Taken / Charon's Call / Cerberus At Peace / Under The World - Orpheus Looks Back / The Broken Lyre / Severance / Elegy / Return To The Realm Of Eternal Renewal / Lyra 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 Contact: Website: www.stevehackett.com Note: will open new browser window Discography Voyage Of The Acolyte (1975) Please Don't Touch (1978) Spectral Mornings (1979) Defector (1980) Cured (1981) Highly Strung (1983) Bay Of Kings (1983) Til We Have Faces (1983) Momentum (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) Sketches Of Satie (2000) w/John Hackett Feedback '96 (2000) Live Archive 70s 80s 90s (2001) To Watch The Storms (2003) Live Archive NEARfest (2003) Metamorpheus (2005) (w/The Underworld Orchestra) Hungarian Horizons - Live In Budapest (2003) (DVD) Somewhere In South America - Live In Buenos Aires (2003) (DVD) Live Review (September 2003) Live Review (March 2005) Live Review (October 2005) Interview (June 2005) With Genesis: Nursery Crime (1971) Foxtrot (1972) Live (1973) Selling England By The Pound (1973) Lamb Lies Down On Broadway (1974) Wind and Wuthering (1976) Trick of the Tail (1976) Seconds Out (1977) Three Sides Live (1982) With GTR: GTR (1986)
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