Whale Tales & Circus Trails

With his first proper concept album in almost 50 years, guitarist Steve Hackett transports the listener back to bombsite-littered post-war London, with the record’s fictional character, Travla, telling a symbolic tale of a journey towards self-actualisation. “It’s been extraordinary making this record,” he tells Prog. “I grew up in a time when music changed the world, and I’ve always felt the album can be a really powerful force. I really hope people enjoy listening to this one.”

James McNair

“This is solo album number 30,” explains Steve Hackett. “I suppose if I keep at it there’s a possibility of the John Wayne award for ‘Most Westerns In The Saddle’!” Pan out for the prairie wide shot, and it seems extraordinary that Hackett has done so much since leaving Genesis in October 1977. Then again, he’s one of prog’s great enthusiasts, passion undimmed. “I still so much enjoy music,” he affirms. “It’s my chosen medium, just as my father’s chosen medium was art. Dad painted the world, but I try and make it a film for the ear. And if ever I made a film for the ear, this album is it.” Chatting from his New York City hotel room, Hackett is referring to his spectacular latest record The Circus…

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Prog Italia (Digital) - 1 Issue, Issue 147

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