STEVE HACKETT

STEVE HACKETT
CURED (1981)
REMASTER
320 KBPS

It's true that this is not a very proggy album, but as pop it sure beats most of what Genesis was doing around the same time. Technically, Hackett has a weak voice but it actually does suit some of the songs, especially "Funny Feeling" and "Hope I Don't Wake". There are certainly plenty of memorable melodies on Cured, including the aforementioned, and some of the lesser tunes drew me in after several listens, which is the mark of good music in certain genres, such as prog. These include Picture Postcard and Turn Back Time. Then several of the longer tracks actually show some development as well as great playing - Can't Let Go, Air Conditioned Nightmare, and the two-fer A Cradle of Swans/Overnight Sleeper. At the time it came out I did not see it as a step down from Defector, but more like a move in a slightly different direction, an accessible pop-rock album, with the techical prowess I had come to expect from Hackett. I still think it sounds good today, but I have a lot of nostalgia tied up with it. I think I would like it even if I heard it for the first time today... So, prog heavyweights stay away, the rest of you may consider what I have said and decide for yourselves.

1. Hope I Don't Wake
2. Picture Postcard
3. Can't Let Go
4. The Air Conditioned Nightmare
5. Funny Feeling
6. A Cradle Of Swans
7. Overnight Sleeper
8. Turn Back Time
Bonus tracks
9. Tales Of The Riverbank
10. Second Chance
11. The Air-Conditioned Nightmare (live)