Steve Hackett - Please Don't Touch! (1978) [Japan Mini-LP CD 2006]

Please Don't Touch! is the second solo album by English guitarist Steve Hackett, and his first after leaving Genesis in 1977.

The album featured several guests including R&B singer Randy Crawford on "Hoping Love Will Last", American folk icon Richie Havens on two songs, the drummer and vocalist for the progressive rock band Kansas (Phil Ehart and Steve Walsh respectively), Frank Zappa alumnus Tom Fowler, Genesis concert drummer Chester Thompson, and Van der Graaf violinist Graham Smith.

This was also Hackett's first album to feature his pioneering use of the Roland GR-500 Guitar Synthesizer.

Steve Hackett left Genesis in June 1977 (following the tour that would be documented on Seconds Out), and started his solo career in earnest with Please Don't Touch. Unlike Voyage of the Acolyte, which was a largely instrumental concept album steeped in the progressive rock idiom, this record is primarily a collection of songs featuring guest vocalists Richie Havens, Randy Crawford, and Kansas' Steve Walsh (their Phil Ehart also chips in here on drums). Although the sum effect is something of a patchwork, the individual pieces are often lovely. Over his career, Hackett has shown a propensity for extremes, in this case letting the jazzy and sentimental "Hoping Love Will Last" segue into the musical maelstrom of "Land of a Thousand Autumns" and "Please Don't Touch" (which will delight fans of Hackett's first record, although the Caroline CD inexplicably pauses too long between the two). In a nod to King Crimson (specifically Lizard), the title track is quickly cut off with the quirky carousel sounds of "The Voice of Necam," which itself dissolves into a mix of airy voices and acoustic guitar. The best tracks belong to Richie Havens: "How Can I?" ("Hackett"'s take on Peter Gabriel's "Solsbury Hill") and the conclusive "Icarus Ascending." Hackett is no singer, so he wisely masks his voice in a "laughing gnome" effect on the delightful "Carry on Up the Vicarage" and hides behind Walsh's lead on "Narnia" and "Racing in A." Perhaps taking his cue from Gabriel (whose debut had appeared in 1977), Hackett seems eager to show his range as a songwriter. While he clearly has a closet full of good ideas and a genuine knack for interesting arrangements, Hackett is too much the eccentric Englishman to appeal to broad commercial tastes. Please Don't Touch remains a uniquely effective amalgam of progressive rock and pop; like his first album, he never made another one quite like it, perhaps because he again taps the concept's full potential here. ~ Review by Dave Connolly (AllMusic)







Track Listing

01. Narnia (4:06)
02. Carry On Up The Vicarage (3:10)
03. Racing In A (5:06)
04. Kim (2:12)
05. How Can I? (4:38)
06. Hoping Love Will Last (4:22)
07. Land Of A Thousand Autumns (1:37)
08. Please Don't Touch (3:38)
09. The Voice Of Necam (3:10)
10. Icarus Ascending (6:26)

Bonus Tracks

11. Narnia (John Perry Vocal Version) (3:36)
12. Land Of A Thousand Autumns/Please Don't Touch (Live) (7:52)
13. Narnia (Alternate Version) [Steve Walsh vocal] (4:30)

Produced by John Acock & Steve Hackett

Musicians

• Steve Hackett: electronic and acoustic guitars, vocals, keyboards, percussion
• John Hackett: flutes, piccolos, bass pedals, keyboards
• Steve Walsh: vocals
• Richie Havens: vocals, percussion
• Randy Crawford: vocals
• Dave LeBolt, John Acock: keyboards
• Tom Fowler: bass
• Chester Thompson, Phil Ehart: drums, percussion
• James Bradley: percussion
• Graham Smith: violin
• Hugh Malloy: cello

Notes

Digital Remaster © 2005 Virgin Records Ltd.





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