New Steve Hackett solo album out in January 2019!

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From Steve Hackett's website:
http://www.hackettsongs.com/news/newsAlbum26.html

Following the tremendous success of 2017's 'The Night Siren' (charted at #22 in Germany, #28 in the UK), legendary former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett announces the release of his new studio album 'At The Edge Of Light' on the 25th January 2019. The album which features ten songs, sees Steve unite a vast amount of styles ranging from guitar driven rock to epic orchestration, from world music to the reflective and atmospheric all brought together in Steve Hackett's unique style.
Steve says: "In these dangerous times, deep shadows feel even sharper than usual and we find ourselves standing at the edge of light... The contrast between dark and light weaves its way throughout the album in many ways, from the sense of good fighting evil through to the interplay of dark and light opposites magically combining in cultures, including the heartbeat of India and primal tribal rhythms. Ultimately, this album embraces the need for all musical forms and cultures to connect and celebrate the wonder of unity in this divided world."
At The Edge Of Light is released in a number of formats including a Mediabook CD plus extra DVD with 5.1 surround sound mix & behind the scenes documentary, double vinyl LP + CD, Jewelcase CD and digital album.
Steve Hackett has established himself as one of Rock music's finest and recognisable guitarists through his time with the legendary Genesis who he joined in 1971 and a solo career following his departure from Genesis in 1977 and is a hugely influential guitarist particularly in the Progressive Rock genre. 'At The Edge Of Light' will be Hackett's 26th studio album in a solo career that began in 1975 with the release of his debut solo album Voyage Of The Acolyte.
'At The Edge Of Light' was mainly recorded in Steve's own studio but also around the world. The album features international artists, including Durga and Loreley of Pink Floyd vocal fame with drummers Nick D'Virgilio and Simon Phillips from USA, Sheema on sitar from India, Icelandic drummer/percussionist Gulli Briem, tar player Malik Mansurov and Swedish bass player Jonas Reingold... This album also features Paul Stillwell on didgeridoo, Rob Townsend on sax, bass clarinet and duduk, Amanda Lehmann on vocals, John Hackett on flute, drummer Gary O'Toole, Roger King and Ben Fenner on keyboards, Dick Driver on double bass, violinist and viola player Christine Townsend... All magically honed and engineered by Roger King.

Full Track Listing:
1. Fallen Walls and Pedestals
2. Beasts In Our Time
3. Under The Eye of the Sun
4. Underground Railroad
5. Those Golden Wings
6. Shadow and Flame
7. Hungry Years
8. Descent
9. Conflict
10. Peace

Album artphotos by iconphoto.ch
The album is released shortly before Steve performs as special guest on the Cruise To The Edge in February 2019 and the On The Blue cruise featuring Justin Hayward, also in February.
Hackett recently played a series of Genesis Revisited shows with Orchestra and will perform two UK dates with acoustic sets in early December before touring Europe in April/May 2019 and has just announced a UK tour in November 2019 with a much anticipated 'Selling England By The Pound & Spectral Mornings & Album Highlights' set.

AtTheEdgeOfLightAlbumCover.jpg
 
Hokay, I got my copy delivered this morning and I'm listening to it now in DTS 5.1. The Roger King surround mix is OK though I have upped the surrounds a bit and as with the Night Siren it's bass heavy so I've had to turn the sub down, seems pretty muddy sounding to me, maybe brickwalled, I don't know I'm no expert. So overall I'm underwhelmed again, having said that I am enjoying the music if not the sound of it. I wonder if Roger (or Steve) listened to it on a few different systems or just some soundbar type of 5.1? Not much progress here it seems, could do much better Roger! I look forward to hearing some other opinions on this release.
 
Hokay, I got my copy delivered this morning and I'm listening to it now in DTS 5.1. The Roger King surround mix is OK though I have upped the surrounds a bit and as with the Night Siren it's bass heavy so I've had to turn the sub down, seems pretty muddy sounding to me, maybe brickwalled, I don't know I'm no expert. So overall I'm underwhelmed again, having said that I am enjoying the music if not the sound of it. I wonder if Roger (or Steve) listened to it on a few different systems or just some soundbar type of 5.1? Not much progress here it seems, could do much better Roger! I look forward to hearing some other opinions on this release.

I had a feeling this would happen..I've cancelled mine.
2nd rate mixing I don't like
Many thanks for your prompt review Sven.👍
 
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Ugh. I may not unwrap mine when it shows up. I'm being way more careful with my spending last 40 days or so. I had forgotten I ordered this one...so.....

As a consolation, Gene, I ordered the BD~A of Stick Men's DEEP https://surroundmusic.one/album/deep-bluray/ [5.1 remix by Neil Wilkes and BJ Cole]

LOVED their first album on DVD~A.
 
I am going to keep my preorder as price of album was same for cd or cd\dvdv and as seeing SH live later this year wanted to be familar with this album.
I preorder this 2 months ago and in typical amazon.ca fashion its delayed by at least a week.
 
I quite like the surround mix on this one - it seems to be more about creating a wide, deep sound field than placing instruments in different positions. There is quite a bit of difference between the depth of the surround mix and the stereo version. I agree with Sven that the mix suffers a bit from the compression which seems to have been applied- its still listenable but it could have been better with a bit more air left in the mix.
 
In terms of fidelity, this does sound bass heavy and slightly muddy, but it sounds fantastic to my ears when turned up loud! I find it to be a very similar sound to "Night Siren" in these respects. Musically, the songs are primarily progressive rock/orchestral fusion pieces (with exceptions). I think "Night Siren" was a little stronger from a musical standpoint, except for "Those Golden Wings", which are delicious with the right dipping sauce, er, I mean which is an epic 11+ minute song that trumps anything off "Night Siren". I don't feel any need to mess with the surrounds... there is plenty of discrete surround activity, mostly orchestral, occasional percussion, occasional guitar solo panning around the room... again, very comparable to "Night Siren". Overall I'd give this an 8, and recommend it to "Night Siren" fans.
 
This album was unexpectedly good! A lot stronger than anything I've heard from him since, honestly the 2nd one! I have to admit that I've been disappointed with pretty much everything, save the isolated moment, since then. But I keep lurking anyway. Really strong opening track! Now there were 4 songs with the awkward vocal music with music as background bit he falls into that I skipped through pretty quickly and never want to hear a moment of again in my life. But everything else was genuinely interesting and I think going stay in the playlist this time around. I'm really happy I checked this one out!

The mix itself isn't just terrible like some of what I've been calling "novelty surround mixes". Not that great all the same. Drums sound like they're coming out of a dashboard speaker in front of you. It's both muddy and thin at the same time which is something to pull off! It does get the music across though. Nothing whiz bang about the surround-ness either. Better than just listening to a stereo CD or mp3 though.
 
I was going to order this one........glad I didn't. Deep Discount has it listed for $12.99: https://www.deepdiscount.com/at-the-edge-of-light/190759043325

And a practice I hate: Lossy DTS 5.1 surround and LOSSLESS 24/48 LPCM Stereo.

I bit the bullet and bought this from AmazonUS. GLAD I DID. Not an awesome album but a solid one at that and the mix is very discrete. Will have to watch the documentary.

What I do really miss is the lack of MELODY.... Genesis, collectively, had them in SPADES♠♠♠...memorable tunes which endure to this day!

I once mused "Have all the GREAT MELODIES been written ..and are there NONE left?" If you listen to modern music .... I'd say YES!
 
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