Reassessing GTR

I previously had the 2015 remaster via a FLAC download from Pono but there were issues with those files so I decided to just buy the two CD set to have a physical copy and check if it has the same problem. Reading the back of the album pretty much answers this question. The back says the tracks are "licensed courtesy of Boundmere Ltd./Hackettsongs Ltd." Steve Howe and Steve Hackett have the rights, as expected.

 

Hi HanowarHAIL ... Steve and Steve got the rights back from Arista but I don't know what the deal is/was. Steve Howe told me (I've seen quite a lot of him recently) about the double CD release and had one sent to me. I spoke to Max about it all and we really can't be bothered to chase any of our own 'rights' (if we really had any rights in the first place; we may have done on paper !!) and we just decided to let it go and that it wasn't worth chasing shadows for the sake of a few dollars. It's all ancient history and we (Max and I) are both pretty happy these days anyway. He's semi-retired and singing for fun having done well in business and I still have a high level, well paid contemporary music career which I'm enjoying more than ever. There's some interesting stuff coming out on a Rhino Records Steve Howe retrospective this summer (spanning his whole career) on which Max and I both have artist and writers shares (from post GTR '87 stuff that's never been heard) that Steve offered us in good faith. I don't know what Jonathon's position is because he comes and goes from my life for years at a time. I'm getting ready to write the whole GTR story so there'll be a lot to pore over and, believe me, I have a VERY good memory !!! Best wishes, Phil S

 

BTW ... Steve helped me hunt down my GTR publishing rights too which was very kind of him. PS

 

I liked the album at the time it was released, I was in High School. GTR, along with Asia and 90125 Yes, made me look into the 70's progressive scene. I only knew Genesis from the Phil Collins 80's era and was surprised at the difference in the Hackett era. I now enjoy both. Maybe that's why I can listen to the 80's output of Howe and Hackett today. Because I discovered them first.

 

Thanks for the responses, Phil. I'm looking forward to hearing the GTR material on Steve's Anthology 2 and I'd like to read the GTR story when you've finished writing about it!

 

thanks for all the interesting tidbits Phil, count me as another fan of GTR like the album but love the live performances out there.

looking forward to hearing the whole story.

 

Thanks for sharing with us, Phil. For what it's worth I saw GTR in New York and I enjoyed the show immensely. This was even after coming into the show all pissed off because I had dropped off my friend (who was on crutches) in front of the venue and then proceeded to spend an eternity trying to find parking, and barely made it back in time.
Looking forward to your stories here and in your "book".

 

This reminds me of the interview I did in Boston as the album was about to be released....Both Steves and Jonathan Mover were present. Being a huge fan of both Steves I was very respectful, but couldn't hide the fact that I had expected the album to be something much different. Steve Hackett was a real gentleman and understood that some of his fans had those expectations. Steve Howe was cranky and defensive, and insisted that nobody who'd played on "Tales From Topographic Oceans" could ever play something like that again (ha!). Jonathan Mover was a lovely guy and pointed out that the kind of music I was looking for had in fact been played before the album changed direction.

 

Listening to the GTR2 tracks on the Howe compilation now. These are demos and the mixes are still better than the issued album!!

 

Still kicking myself for missing this show.

 

Just ordered the remaster only reminding myself it's already been 3 years since it got released. Appreciate your reflections too, Phil.

Now, I suppose this would be appropriate for this thread.

 

Seldom does such a poor record get 9 pages of discussion.... i didn't read all 9 pages... there must have been a Beatles ref I missed to keep it going.

 

One man's trash is another man's treasure. Let the fans who like it have some fun.

 

Considering Phil Spalding has thought highly enough of our discussion to participate in it, there must be something to these 9 pages, don’t you think? Mighty cool of Phil to comment, too.

 

Had the cassette back in the day and a couple of months ago picked up the original vinyl for $7.00 VG+ condition and it is better than I remembered it it’s been on the turntable a couple of times since and enjoying it

 

I don't think it 'ate' him at all. Hackett is a multi-millionaire, largely on the basis of what he did in Genesis. He may be considerably poorer than four of his former bandmates but he's not exactly strapped for cash (even after his divorce) and he can do what he likes. Being able to 'do what you like' is worth any amount of money!

 

Under different circumstances, this might have come across as rather witty. However, this thread opened over 5 years ago in reference to 2 heavyweight progressive guitarists and featured other, lesser known but talented musicians. As mentioned, one of those has been contributing valuable insight through this discussion.

 

I really like this record & would welcome many more pages of discussion.

 

Reading this thread made me think I had a copy of GTR somewhere. I guess not.

I did find RTZ. Listening to it right now. Not much worthy on it, but Brad Delp can make anything sound great.
Looking forward to an RTZ thread soon....

 

The two GTR songs on Steve Howe's "Anthology 2: Groups & Collaborations" are not as dynamic as the original release but to me they sound better. The mids are not as sucked out and it actually has some bass. The light compression did these songs some good, IMO. That whole 3 CD set is worth getting. The other 'GTR' unreleased tracks are very good also.

 

I agree, to my surprise. The entire set sounds good. However, so far I have only listened to it in my car so it has been hard to hear the effects of the compression. It does cut through the road noise!

 

I've just heard this GTR album for the first time. What were Hackett and Howe thinking, what a truly awful album, a horrendous drum sound. I would never have expected two of our Prog Guitar greats to come out with this AOR drivel. It's only redeeming feature is "Hackett to Bits" (apart from the drums) and the first minute or so of "Imagining"...Horrible album..

 

My favorite review:
"GTR? SHT."

 

Oh dang. Beat me to it.

Still... it was the Best. Review. Ever.

 

Well, I love it!