Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Largely acknowledged as the quiet man of Genesis, without whom some of the most extraordinary of musical shapes and conquests would never have seen the band survive the initial days and albums when Peter Gabriel left, and which arguably propelled them onwards, and saw his own solo output take on a more adventurous and prolific dynamic which has seen him continually push the imagination and the themes of his music to places where assuredly they might never have been seen had he not, like his former bandmate, been bold and courageous and sought his own path to tread.
Steve Hackett is without doubt a genius, time and time again he has opened his soul and allowed the music, the love, the anger, the fierce nature of his belief, and every emotion in between, to overwhelm and instruct, to playfully tease and give the listener hope…this is the genius in the musician and the man, and the truth of his nature is such that an album such as Guitar Noir, now celebrating its 30th anniversary, is even more blessed to the senses as it is reissued in the 180 gram format.
Anniversaries are there for a reason, they remind us of how far we have come in between, and that sense of prolific reasoning, that deftness of touch and mindset has only justified the thought of just how he has influenced others, how he remains, despite being seen as the quiet member of the classic line up, the one whose music has not only done all the talking, but who has been vocal of keeping the older tracks and memories alive.
Guitar Noir is an album of sincerity, it is cinematic, it is deliverance of a darkness bathed in light; and as the players perform tracks such as Take These Pearls, There Are Many Sides To The Night, Lost In Your Eyes, Theatre Of Sleep, Walking Away From Rainbows, and the excellent, gargantuan resonance of Vampyre With A healthy Appetite, musicians such as Julian Colbeck, Hugo Degenhardt, Dave Ball, Bimbo Acock, and Aron Friedman, take their lead from the screen lead and deliver a script, a film of audio delight to the listener and frame it with supple and insightful movement.
Whilst perhaps not as well known outside of the major recordings that came before and certainly after, Guitar Noir is nonetheless and important marker in the career of Steve Hackett, a recognition of the darker aspects that conjure up images of terrors and heroes willing to fight down demons.
An album of physical beauty, Steve Hackett’s Guitar Noir is as complete adventure as they come.
Ian D. Hall