“Time Lapse or memory Lapse?” - Steve Hackett’s new live album reviewed by Laer Nemurs.

Steve has finally brought us the live album we have always hoped for. Timelapse has fourteen songs on it culled from the shows Steve did in Nottingham in 1990 and New York in 1981. The CD gives a fair showing of his stage production but is not edited well and is inconsistent.

It opens with Camino Royale and shows Steve’s ability to master many styles. This version is nine minutes long and includes some heavy blues jamming in the middle eight on guitar and harmonica. Please Don’t Touch is disappointing and lacks something that the original version had and is sadly lacking here.

In That Quiet Earth and Depth Charge are surprising, here Steve plays both a Genesis track and a new song. The first was always one of Steve’s finer moments with Genesis and while this is shorter, it is worth every second. Depth Charge is a return to the style of Steve’s early solo albums and is welcome after the mediocrity of Till We Have Faces and the acoustic albums. It shows great promise for the long awaited new studio album,

The album rocks along but there are also some sensitive moments in The Rad Flower Of Taichi Blooms Everywhere and the beautiful Spexctral Mornings. The Steppes never fails to send shivers down my spine during the opening bars and this version is no different!

A Tower Struck Down goes straight into Spectral Mornings which highlights the contrast between the two pieces. The CD concludes with Clocks - The Angel Of Mons which sends Steve and the band out in a display of musical fireworks. Clocks has never been a piece for anyone with a weak heart - the closest thing to a musical heart attack. The album left me hoping for new music from Steve - hopefully it won’t be long!