Blog

  • Raunchy – Premiere ‘Darkest Self’ Song & Video

    Denmark’s Raunchy have released a video clip for “Darkest Self”, the third single off their forthcoming Prisoner album. The latter will be their first since 2014.
    Read more

  • Album Review: Motörhead – Kiss of Death

    Album Review: Motörhead – Kiss of Death

    Reviewed by Dan Barnes

    Motörhead ’s eighteenth album, Kiss of Death, turns twenty this year and BMG have decided to mark the occasion with a new anniversary edition. Being issued on a double vinyl and double CD, the new master is taken from the original tapes, with fresh liner notes and an acknowledgement of the recently passed, Phil Campbell’s, contribution to the Motörhead phenomenon. The CD also includes three bonus tracks, and both editions include a second disc featuring the full performance at Holland’s Lowlands Festival from 2007.

    As with the previous album, Inferno, Kiss of Death was produced by Cameron Webb and is in many ways continuation of the that record’s heavy sound, it garnered a generally positive reception from critics across the board. Strangely, Kiss of Death is mentioned only once in passing in the revised edition of Lemmy’s autobiography, White Line Fever (Simon & Schuster: London, 2016) in reference to its success in the German charts.

    To the casual Motörhead listener, it is business as usual from the outset, with the screaming guitars and blistering pace of Sucker; Lemmy’s vocals are sufficiently snarling, and this driving tune sketches out some classic ‘Head heavy rock. Trigger matches in tempo as its speedster riffs bully the track along; closing tune, Going Down is a rapid run-through countless references to the band’s past and makes a fun drinking game.

    To the more intense listener, you know Motörhead have always been more than the speed machine some would assert. Lemmy openly insisted the band took its influences from old school Rock & Roll, which comes through on the bluesy swing of One Night Stand, the Fifties feel of Christine and the sharp riffage throughout Devil I Know, notable for Mikkey Dee’s pre-chorus drum fill.

    But that’s only half of Kiss of Death’s story. Alice in Chains / Ozzy bassist, Mike Inez, lends additional weight to Under the Gun’s relaxed tempo and outlaw attitude, Sword of Glory turns its attention to the theatre of war, going for a more punk styling as it does, and Be My Baby shows the band can modernise their sound without losing its core dynamism.

    The only single issued from this record was Kingdom of the Worm, a monstrous, grooving, sludgy piece that threatens to overwhelm in the same way Nightmare/ Dreamtime did from 1916. Living in the Past is built from dark riffs and ominous vocals, proving – should proof be needed- Motörhead were always far more nuanced than the mainstream may have you believe.

    Sitting central on Kiss of Death is God Was Never on Your Side, a doomy consideration of the nature of the world and of that other Motörhead fascination: Religion. Lyrically phrased in a cause-and-effect reflection on the nature of God, and the relationship He has with the people who claim to speak for Him, this one is up there with 1916 itself for poignancy and pathos. Poison’s CC Deville provides a guest solo and former Pennywise and Ignite singer, ZoltĂĄn TĂ©glĂĄs, adds backing vocals.

    Some additions featured alternate bonus tracks when Kiss of Death was issued back in 2006, and those are both included here: R.A.M.O.N.E.S. from 1991’s 1916 album, rerecorded in 2006, and Motörhead ’s cover of Metallica’s Whiplash, only available on the SPV limited edition CD digipack. For good measure, they’ve also included a live version of R.A.M.O.N.E.S. unavailable elsewhere.

    Disc two is a dozen live tracks from the 2007 Lowlands Festival in Biddinghuizen, Netherlands, which have not previously been available. No Motörhead show could be complete without the likes of Stay Clean, Metropolis, Killed By Death and the obligatory Ace of Spades, but there’s also a rare outing for Another Perfect Day’s I Got Mine and 1916’s manic Going to Brazil.

    As this was recorded during the Kiss of Death touring cycle, we have renditions of Be My Baby and One Night Stand, as well as Killers and In the Name of Tragedy, both from Inferno, and all four fitting in among the older, more establish live favourites. There’s even the opportunity to hear rarities Snaggletooth and Over the Top being dusted off and having an airing. As would be expected, the band is tight and focused. Lemmy entertains and is at his self-deprecating best, particularly when introducing I Got Mine from 1983, “Before you lot were born.”

    Kiss of Death feels like one of Motörhead ’s records that came and went. Little remained in the live set for long, with perhaps the exception of One Night Stand. Which is a shame as Kiss of Death, like those other overlooked Motörhead records, has much to offer, whether you’re after balls-out blasts, bluesy rock & roll, ominous terror, or just want to sit and ponder the nature of God Himself, it’s all here.

    It’s a great opportunity to revisit a hidden gem from one of rock’s greatest bands; and to fill that gap in your collection if, for some reason, it’s missing.

    For all the latest newsreviewsinterviews across the heavy metal spectrum follow THE RAZORS’S EDGE on facebooktwitter and instagram.

    The post Album Review: Motörhead – Kiss of Death appeared first on The Razor's Edge.

  • Eleine – Unveil New Track

    Symphonic metal outfit Eleine are streaming a new single, “We March”. The latter will be part of the upcoming album The Water Taste Of Blood, set for release in December 2026 via Reigning Phoenix Records.
    Read more

  • Live Review: Acid Bath – Manchester

    Live Review: Acid Bath – Academy, Manchester

    25th June 2026
    Support: Green Lung, Conan
    Words: Oli Gonzalez
    Photos: Tim Finch

    Perhaps the hottest gig of the year, in more ways than one! Whilst there’s no promises that this will be last joke about or reference to the heat, tonight was no joke. This wasn’t an ordinary gig. This was big. A night many thought would never happen.

    The UK debut of the legendary Acid Bath!

    The O2 Ritz was simply not going to be big enough so an upgrade to Manchester Academy was needed, and the sold out stamp was pressed for the second time, and months before this night too! Being at Manchester Academy, we huddled in the cover of Kro Bar’s beer garden, comparing on the events that would transpire a few hours before doors. We weren’t alone as the place littered with black shirts; it was obvious where they were all headed. Those not here or in another bar were braving the fierce Manchester sun (probably the first time you’ll ever read that sentence) in the queue in order to get an optimal viewing spot at the venue. A good decision as the place was absolutely packed out long before the first note of tonight’s opening act was played…

    The lights went down, and the ensuing roar tested the decibel meter on the sound desk. The room filled with the epic and frosty soundtrack to Skyrim, with the nerds in the audience purring in admiration (myself included). Though this was quickly and abruptly cut by Conan‘s sludgy tones of ‘Hawk Is Weapon’.

    There was barely enough room to swing a cat on the stage as the power trio squashed themselves in somehow. Still, their presence was felt as within seconds the entire Academy was headbanging, under the hypnotic trance of the doom infused attack on the venue. This was the antithesis of aesthetic, with the grimmest distorted walls of noise bellowing out. Only 2 songs in and the pits were already open. Not a band you’d normally expect to have a pit for, but then again this night was unlike any other. Frontman Jon surely knew he had the crowd right in the palm of his sweating hand tonight, and a simple circular motion with his other hand was enough to send them into a circle pit during the aptly named ‘Levitating Hoax’. Would the young pups in the pits be able to keep the energy going for the rest of the night?

    From the moment the doors opened, the merch stand was packed out, and only grew after Conan’s set. But £45 a t-shirt? Is that worth it? Is that capitalism gone mad, capitalising on the event and bleeding the consumer dry, or a genuine reaction to venues taking an unfair merch cut and band’s desperately trying to break even ?

    There wasn’t too much time to ponder this as a band set to headline this venue in 6months time was up next


    The tune of Type O Negative’s ‘My Girlfriend’s Girlfriend’ blasting over the PA was interrupted by the deafening roar of the crowd.

    It was time.

    The crowd now red hot in more ways than one, Green Lung’s set opened with the instantly recognisable riffs to ‘Evil In this House’. All part of an excellently paced set packed full of blazing guitar solos, chunky headbanging riffs, all underlined with a satiating psychedelic spice, and spearheaded by the towering presence and soaring lead vocals of Tom Templar! Play a studio recording of the band and compare it to this live rendition and you’ll barely notice the difference, such is their exquisitely tight and polished live sound. See, Green Lung are one of those names I had seen crop on headline shows and festival posters all over the country for many years. It had been a mystery as to how and why they had got so popular,

    and how they had headlined Desertfest London only a few weeks prior. But if you were there whilst ‘Let The Devil In’ was bellowing out, you’d understand why. Even so far away from London, their popularity in Manchester could not be understated. No matter where you looked, you could see people singing along at the top of their lungs; a song as crushing yet anthemic will do that. Green Lung have headlined and sold out pretty much every venue they’ve played in Manchester to date. This will only continue in their seemingly unstoppable ascendancy to the top.

    It was hot. A sauna. An oven. Pick your analogy. People were not even trying to hide their discomfort. The bar staff were kept busy as hydration breaks were a necessity to survive, with plenty of free drinking water readily available too. Surely this was all worth it for such a rare gem of a headline set though?

    With Green Lung’s backline removed from the stage and the cloth removed from Acid Bath’s, a gargantuan wall of amplifiers revealed themselves! From the line check, we could see they were going to shift some serious air. Only to be matched by the sheer venom of the drums. They were pulling no punches with the production either with what was going to be a dazzling lighting display.

    Over the PA we could hear the song that started the entire metal genre; ‘Black Sabbath’ by Black Sabbath. Everybody was clearly in the mood for a sing along too! Then in the mood to thrash around and dance within seconds of Acid Bath’s first notes being struck. Some even decided to go airborne and towards the barrier and the waiting arms of the security staff who kept everybody safe and hydrated tonight. A slow and steady stream of crowd surfers was a recurring theme of the night. Though the main theme was nostalgia. Fulfilment. Manifestation. A genuine ‘I was there’ and bucket list moment. Call it what you want, this was special. Take ‘Bleed Me An Ocean’ as an example.

    Vocalist Dax didn’t need a backing vocalist on stage as he had over 2000 in the arena! The crowd was only a few decibels away from drowning him out. That’s how you know you’ve won as a band! Whether it was calmer slower ballads like this or the primitive and crushing riffs that engulfed the venue, Acid Bath were omnipotent on that stage!

    Schedule for seventy five minutes, sadly the heat became too much for me at roughly the 60 minute mark, and I weaselled out! Being able to beat the rush to get home and the prospect of a cool shower feeling more desirable than ever, perhaps this was the right choice at the time. I’ve seen some rare sets in recent times, whether it’s the Uk debut of Blackbraid, a rare set from the ever elusive Portal, or the worldwide live debut of Gallowbraid. Seeing Acid Bath resurrected and in the flesh definitely ranks up there in terms of prestige!

    Photo credits: Tim Finch

    The post Live Review: Acid Bath – Manchester appeared first on The Razor's Edge.

  • How David Bowie Created the ‘Labyrinth’ Soundtrack

    In addition to starring in the movie as the Goblin King, he also wrote half the soundtrack. Continue reading…
  • Bastard – "Doctor Gong" b/w "Comfort"


    Well it only took 52 years, but Bastard finally has a record out! Famously, Bastard was the early-to-mid ’70s U.K. and Belgium–based heavy rock band that featured Brian James (later of The Damned) and Alan Ward (later of Elton Motello). When we talk about “proto” punk rock, Bastard was a prime example. Listening to the single “Doctor Gong” (recorded in 1974), you can hear a band building off of The Stooges, MC5, Alice Cooper, etc. and cultivating a sound that has much in common with punk rock as we know it. The songwriting and musical approach aren’t quite as lean as what “New Rose” would be a couple years later, but you can hear the raw energy and hard-pounding sonic attack starting to take shape. In celebration of issuing its 30th release, the red hot Dutch label Wap Shoo Wap Records did something special and rescued these two tracks from the dustbin of history. For those who thought these recordings might be interesting for music historians or Brian James super-fans but not exactly essential tracks in their own right, I’d say this record pretty much erases the skepticism. These tunes rip! Man, that Brian James sure could play the guitar! I honestly can’t believe these tracks went unheard for five decades plus. The classic punk recordings of 1976 and ’77 certainly weren’t created in a vacuum, and it’s thrilling to find one of the most direct precursors to first wave punk finally getting a record out. With a pressing limited to 300 copies, this thing is bound to be gone before you can blink twice. Pounce, my friends!

  • Adult Learners – self-titled EP


    A few months since they released a super-promising demo online, Boston’s Adult Learners have a 7″ record out on Saccharine Tryst Records. Just in case you wondered if having properly released music would cause this wicked awesome foursome to sell out and record in a pricey studio with some overbearing slick producer, I can assure you that the band’s lo-fi, low-budget charm remains fully and enthusiastically in tact. There’s really only one word that rightfully sums up this EP, and that’s fun! Adult Learners may be a very hard band to Google, but they’re a joy to listen to with their high-energy, organ-driven mashup of garage rock, punk, and power pop. No songs cross the two-minute mark, and they don’t need to. Each track gets to the hook as fast as possible, and that leaves room for more songs on the record. That’s genius! This band keeps it simple and catchy, and these tunes will make you wanna get up and dance around the house (or whatever other physical space you happen to be inhabiting as you blast these tunes — you could do a lot of damage in a drug store or dentist’s waiting room). There’s definitely a ton of Boston garage rock DNA in Adult Learners’ music, and at times I’m picking up early Blondie vibes as well. What’s not to love? Push play and bop ’til you drop!

  • DS Record Review: Almighty Trigger Happy and HET UP! Split

    Toronto, Ontario based Cursed Blessings Records release provides an opportunity for smaller bands to get their records on wax for more ears to hear bands that may not have a far reach. Their latest release features two of Toronto’s best: Almighty Trigger Happy and Het Up! This four-song split features two songs from each band and is perfect for that 1990s punk rock fan in your life.

    A lot of bands want to move on from the melodic skate punk sound that they started playing in their youth, but Almighty Trigger Happy leans into it with their two contributions to the record. Their first song, “The Ghost of Jim Cherry,” is about the fallen punk rock bass player of Strung Out, Pulley, and his own band Zero Down. Their two-minute ode is the strongest song on the split and a fantastic way to start this record. Working simultaneously as a memorial and a song in the vein of the era, Almighty Trigger Happy Tribute is a riffy remembrance for a fallen friend. Much faster in tempo, Almighty Trigger Happy’s half also includes a cover of “Cops Ain’t Tops” by Chronic Submission. The band is currently working on a full-length LP, but these two songs are a good sample of what’s ahead.

    While HET UP! may have been formed during the pandemic, they sound like they’ve been around for much longer. After releasing an album in 2023, the band continues to release a couple of songs here and there to keep their fans satiated. Their first song, “Down with You,” is a pop-punk song with fingerprints of genres from a decades-long history. The best way to describe it would be melodic and fun. “Smile
 (See You In Hell)” is a different beast, although from the same era. A double-bass-pedaled punk song that sounds straight from Fat Wreck Chords in the mid-1990s.

    This is a solid EP. The musicianship, the sound, and, more importantly, the songs are all top-notch. These songs feel more like contributions to the era, rather than homage. Pick up the Almighty Trigger Happy/Het Up! split on Cursed Blessings Records.

  • “With two 12-strings and harmonies we’ve got Yes and Genesis, really. But that wasn’t the intention”: Was Chris Squire and Steve Hackett’s only Squackett album worth the wait?

    It was a long time coming, but after several years under wraps, Yes bassist Chris Squire and former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett released A Life Within A Day – the only album they made as Squackett – in 2012. Three years before Squire’s passing, they gave Prog the backstory.

    The union of Chris Squire and Steve Hackett has been mentioned in dispatches for almost half a decade. In recent years Squire has guested on Hackett’s solo albums, contributing his distinctive bass guitar to tracks on 2009’s Out Of The Tunnel’s Mouth and last year’s Beyond The Shrouded Horizon. But a full-blown collaboration between the Genesis and Yes legends has taken longer to come to fruition. At one point, Squackett looked like it would become an elusive, mythical beast – until the release of A Life Within A Day.

    At just 46 minutes it might seem a modest dividend for the patience invested those awaiting this rare foray from Squire outside Yes and Hackett’s most notable collaboration since GTR (with Yes’ Steve Howe). But never mind the quantity of music on offer – just revel in the quality: A Life Within A Day’s nine tracks both surprise and delight.

    While they’ve never until now been in a band together, Squire and Hackett have shared history. “I first started working with Steve in 2006 on my Christmas album [Chris Squire’s Swiss Choir],” he explains. Squire’s original vision was to involve a number of guitarists on different tracks. “I was hoping to get Jeff Beck, Brian May
 but everyone was busy.”

    His drummer, Jeremy Stacey, suggested asking Hackett. Surprisingly, given their respective track records, Squire and Hackett’s paths had barely crossed. “I haven’t done a lot of things outside of Yes,” acknowledges the bassist. Initially he sent Hackett a couple of the songs destined for Swiss Choir. The guitarist took little persuasion. “I would have worked on anything that Chris had offered me because he’s such an icon,” he says. “When people think of bass sounds, they think of Chris.”

    Squackett

    (Image credit: Future)

    “What Steve did was so good that I immediately asked if he could do the whole album,” says Squire. “After that, I said that I’d be happy to reciprocate with anything he needed me to play or sing on.” As a result, he guested on Hackett’s last two solo albums. They considered writing a musical together, but ultimately settled for the more realistic album solution.

    At the time, though, the bassist wasn’t actively seeking an outlet outside Yes. “I was living in London, doing the Christmas album, and Steve and I just developed a relationship.” It was uncomplicated and remarkably free of the titanic clash of egos that can bedevil such projects. “We got on easily and were able to create at a fast pace without feeling any pressure. That’s very valuable and helped move things along really smoothly.”

    But A Life Within A Day has had a lengthy gestation, due to the belated return of Yes, the search for a suitable record label and simple geography. “When we started, Chris lived in this country and we were near neighbours,” Hackett recalls. “Suddenly America beckoned, and I had to put the album on hold for a while.” But the interregnum had an upside. “It meant that when we came back to it, it was all the stronger for that gap and there were things that we shifted around.”

    Unusually in an age when many records are tracked by solitary musicians sending files to each other, the pair recorded most of the songs together in Hackett’s studio or at his house. “Most of it was done eyeball to eyeball,” he confirms. “I didn’t want to work in splendid isolation.”

    He reports the writing sessions were painless. As a starting point he’d suggested that they pooled material, and Squire offered Aliens – which had already been performed live by Yes – while Hackett contributed Stormchaser. “I had three or four songs that I had written ostensibly for a solo project,” says Squire. “But that never happened, which is the story of my life!” In the end he, Hackett and keyboardist Roger King are all credited on each composition, with the tour-de-force title track and another highlight, Tall Ships, written specifically for the album.

    Tall Ships came from Squire experimenting with a new bass and playing a sinuous, muscular riff that inspired Hackett. “It sounded like it had some swing to it,” the guitarist recalls. “Ninety nine per cent of people I‘ve worked with can’t remember the wonderful thing they’ve just played. So unless the tapes were running, you’ve had it. But Chris remembered it, and we had the rhythm which runs throughout the whole song. There was the unvarying link which provides the engine to the journey.”

    He added a guitar phrase, the lyric and the chorus tune, while Squire provided the verse melody. “It was very easy to write together – a bunch of mates sat round in the living room, chipping in ideas,” Hackett continues. “It was like a giant jigsaw puzzle with three people going, ‘Here’s another piece – does that fit?’ We avoided the downside of composition by committee where people whittle each other down to the bare essentials and often end up with the lowest common denominator. That can be the downside of working with a group.”

    My voice and Steve’s blend well together. That’s something I was surprised about

    Chris Squire

    The Squackett scenario of avoiding the dilution of ideas and feeding off but also deferring to each other was largely unfamiliar to Hackett as, since 1986’s GTR album with, he’s largely been captain of his own ship with his solo band. “I didn’t mind handing the wheel to Chris and we didn’t have too many moments where we thrashed it out,” he says. “Most of the time it was plain sailing. Occasionally we’d hit a sticky patch, but it seemed as if Chris and I had been working together all our lives.”

    He cites the intensely commercial Divided Self as an example: “Chris played wonderfully and transformed it. He doesn’t just play a bass line. It must be his choral background; he comes up with another melody, counterpoint, descant, and makes it swing. He does things naturally that I suspect other bass players dream of. He plays with a guitarist’s sensibility. There‘s that sense of the size of the bass sound, but there’s also that twang and ring, so you can always focus on the bass part. It’s always clear as a bell and it’s not just all about how loud it is in the mix.”

    Another striking feature of A Life Within A Day is the significant use of harmony vocals. “Chris and I are both fans of the great harmony bands – The Beatles, The Who, Crosby Stills & Nash,” says Hackett. While vocal harmonies featured prominently in Yes, they were less prevalent in Genesis. “I was often trying to steer it that way with my own stuff. We made them a raison d’ĂȘtre on this album.”

    Squackett

    (Image credit: Travis Shinn)

    “My voice and Steve’s blend well together,” adds Squire. “That’s something I was surprised about, and the more we worked on harmonies the better they became.” Hackett and former choirboy Squire are responsible for all the vocals on the album, save for an appearance from Amanda Lehmann, a Hackett band regular who supplies some backing vocals, most notably on the smooth-as-silk Can’t Stop The Rain. Hackett thought that the track had an “a Burt Bacharach aspect to the chorus, so I suggested we go the whole hog and make it sound really luxurious and get some girls in. It needed something feminine.”

    As the Bacharach reference suggests, A Life Within A Day contains some surprises, but it shouldn’t disappoint fans of Hackett or Squire. Hackett confirms the tempo for much of the album is very laidback, but it’s hugely atmospheric and rich in detail. There are some exceptions – most notably the frenetic middle section of the title track, which should sate the appetites of those wanting the two to cut loose instrumentally.

    For years I’ve been trying to deny the fact that I love slow powerful rhythms – I thought they might be a bit soggy for people who want their rock to be fast

    Steve Hackett

    Any suspicions that the record might be a cynically contrived ‘GeneYes’ product prove wide of the mark. It’s not an album you might expect two such veterans to make, mainly because there was no masterplan. “It happened naturally,” Hackett explains. “We were working on a number of things for each other, and from the very first thing that Chris did on something of mine, I could see he was genuinely enjoying it. His whole body was moving. I realised that I had this top bass player – such a hero to a lot of people – giving it everything. Chris runs on enthusiasm.”

    While they didn’t set out to cater to the Yes/Genesis audience, one track comes close. “The Summer Backwards is a nod to all things psychedelic and the 1960s,” reveals Hackett. “Listening to it a few days ago, I came to the conclusion that with two 12-strings and harmonies we’ve got Yes and Genesis, really. But that’s not what I was intending to do at the time.” In fact, The Summer Backwards was originally earmarked for a Hackett solo album before Squire intervened.

    They drew on a wide array of reference points. Led Zeppelin influences are most apparent on Stormchaser and the title track. “It’s John Bonham meets Phil Collins meets Jason Bonham meets Jeremy Stacey meets the production values of the 1980s,” laughs Hackett. “Many years ago in Genesis, we were driving around the Shepherd’s Bush roundabout, having just driven back from Belgium or Italy with no sleep all night, and Kashmir by Zeppelin came on. We all stopped in our tracks, particularly Peter Gabriel and myself. The drums were enormous. It was Radio Luxembourg so it was probably even more distorted and strange coming to us in mono.

    “It was nectar to the ears, a breath of fresh air. I loved the simple, demonic, relentless, mechanical approach to drums that just marched through time itself. It was a huge influence on Phil, Peter and me. Chriss favourite Zep track is Kashmir – surprise, surprise! In a sense it’s the model for something that can be both orchestral but minimal; something that has pauses.

    “For years I’ve been trying to deny the fact that I love slow powerful rhythms – I thought they might be a bit soggy for people who want their rock to be fast. Again, I noticed these slow, heavy rhythms crop up on Joe Bonamassa’s stuff, like The Ballad Of John Henry. There’s something about the earthiness of that.

    I’d like to think there’s time in our busy schedules to play live. But I don’t want to make promises I can’t keep

    Steve Hackett

    “I’m like a gannet,” adds Hackett. “I don’t have any prejudice against any musical form any more, because I’ve been caught out before.” He doesn’t disagree with the suggestion that he’s a musical contrarian. After all, choosing to exit Genesis in 1977 was a brave move. “I’ve always tried to prove a point,” he admits. “I’ve always wanted to prove people wrong.”

    While Squackett is certainly varied, Squire is keen to point out that Yes have always been willing to head off in different musical directions: “I never put limits on Yes. We’ve delved into so many different areas over the years. We were more of a rock band in the 80s, more of a proggy jazz band in the 70s. I’m not afraid of moving in and out of different areas with Yes.”

    An album whose longest tracks are under seven minutes might confound anyone expecting prog rock epics. Squire: “There was no conscious effort to go, ‘This is what we’ve done in our various bands, so let’s do something different.’ We just got on with it. If something had turned out to be a 10-minute plus track and we’d liked it, we’d have used it. There were no guidelines.”

    As a teenager, Porcupine Tree mainman Steven Wilson was a swift convert to Hackett’s solo material. “When I was discovering the wonderful world of progressive music, one of the first albums I happened across was Steve’s Please Don’t Touch album, which totally blew me away,” Wilson says. “The second side especially remains for me one of the most inspiring 20-minute sequences of music ever recorded, covering everything from beautiful orchestral soul ballads to the dark nihilism of the title track, and all points in between.”

    Prog 26

    This article first appeared in Prog 26 (Image credit: Future)

    Wilson declares himself a fan of Hackett’s other early solo albums, and also an enthusiast of his more recent work: “It’s been inspiring to hear how Steve’s last few albums have recaptured the very best of that 70s work, but with a modern twist. His music is epic and musically dazzling – but always retains great songwriting and melody at its core.”

    While Hackett’s recent solo albums have many merits, Squackett arguably has greater commercial potential. Whether that potential will be fully realised may depend on how much time and effort the musicians put into promoting it. Hackett relishes the opportunity to continue the partnership: “There’s a sense of harmony between us. Nobody was trying to knock anyone down.” But it’s unclear whether Squackett will tour – Squire’s schedule with Yes having nixed a potential opportunity to play at last year’s High Voltage festival in London.

    “I would like to think there’s time in the midst of our busy schedules to play live together,” admits Hackett. “But I don’t want to make promises I can’t keep.” He continues to put in plenty of time on the road. “My attitude is that the clock is ticking for me. I love playing live. I do it because I must. I always want to do everything at 100 miles an hour. I think Chris has a more measured approach.”

  • 18 Essential ’90s Metal Albums You Absolutely Need on Vinyl

    Look to these essential albums to help you understand what metal in the '90s was all about. Continue reading…