Steve Hackett – Once
Upon A Time (DTS)
Picture: C+
Sound: B Extras: C Concert: B
Steve Hackett was the longtime guitarist for Genesis, who
arrived in 1970 with Phil Collins, succeeding original guitarist Anthony
Phillips. By 1977, he decided to go out
on his own two years after Peter Gabriel’s departure and has issued several
solo DVDs in the formats still-short life.
Despite giving us the very disappointing band GTR in the mid-1980s, a
name that is simply a shortened version of “guitar” despite being all bolded,
it did not catch on and he was solo again.
Taped on April 3rd 2004, Once Upon A Time is a set
that evokes his best work and his years with Genesis. The songs include:
1) Valley
Of The Kings
2) Mechanical
Bride
3) Circus
Of Becoming
4) Frozen
Statues
5) Slogans
6) Serpentine
Song
7) Ace Of
Wands
8) Hammer
In The Sand
9) Blood On
The Rooftops
10) Fly On A Windshield
11) Please Don’t Touch
12) Firth On Fifth
13) If You Can’t Find Heaven
14) Darktown
15) Brand New
16) Air-Conditioned Nightmare
17) Every Day
18) Clocks
19) Spectral Morning
20) Los Endos
This terrific set has the fun and energy of the best
Progressive Rock and glory days of Genesis, something GTR never came near. Roger King, Rob Townsend, Terry George and
Gary O’Toole join him in a grouping at least as “super” as the supergroup GTR
was supposed to be, but this is not something said to bash that band, but that
the talent for something more exciting was there and here is Hackett nearly 20
years later and he has not peaked yet.
No wonder he has done so many DVDs.
The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1/16 X 9 image was
taped by producer/director Egerhazi Attila and has problems with the darker
parts of the frame, but otherwise, the live performance looks and feels very
much so. Even more impressive is the
sound. Dolby Digital 5.0 and 2.0 Stereo
with Pro Logic surround are offered, but the DTS is the real winner here. Once in a while, you can have a 5.0 mix that
is superior to many 5.1 mixes, because the .1 in other mixes is bogus, or the 5
in the 5.0 is so good as it is here that it is just a remarkable
recording. Like the 5.0 on Kevin
Reynolds’ feature film Waterworld (1995), the sonics and clarity are
just too impressive to dismiss. That
these are musicians pushing music’s limits, and watching them is as great as
hearing them, especially like this.
The only extra is a program entitled Backstage At
Budapest, which has the usual interviews and music previews. The footage of the fans and the city are
also a highlight. The interaction of
the bandmates behind the scenes is as creative and has as much synergy as that
of their on-stage work. Running just
over 10.5 minutes, it is a nice plus to a great concert disc. Once Upon A Time is another
DTS-encoded winner from Eagle Vision.
- Nicholas Sheffo
