The Gypsy" makes clear, his voice is much better suited to the material Takes the lead on a few tracks, and as the honey-fied "The Virgin and Guitarist exploits his strengths: progressive instrumentals that skipīetween heaven and hell, pastoral pop songs, and a healthy dose of With a workable backing band that includes John Shearer, Nick Magnus, and former Decameron bassist Dik Cadbury, the ex- Genesis To his credit, Steve Hackett learned from the mistakes made on Please Don't Touch, and delivered a much-improved mix of songs and instrumentals on 1979's Spectral Mornings. Hackett himself sings lead on "The Ballad of the Decomposing Man". Were very often backed with harmonies by Steve Hackett and Dik Cadbury.Ĭadbury arranged the harmony vocals, having been trained as a counter Lead vocals on most of the album were provided by Peter Hicks, which It can be heard on two tracks: "The Virgin and the Gypsy" and "Tigermoth". This is the second album for which Hackett used a Roland GR-500 Guitar Synthesizer. Previous albums, since it was material Hackett felt he could have used Had contacted Hackett to say how much they really liked this and The band that he createdįor this purpose became the band that he used in the studio for Spectral Mornings and the following album, 1980's Defector. Had essentially consisted of guest musicians. This meant that he needed to assemble a touring band since the personnel on Please Don't Touch! The new edition features updated liner notes and seven bonus tracks.Īfter the release of his previous album, Please Don't Touch!, in 1978, Hackett wished to tour the material from the album along with material from his previous solo album, Voyage of the Acolyte.
In 2005, Spectral Mornings was remastered and re-released on Virgin Records. The album is the first recording to feature Hackett's first true touring band, consisting of his brother John Hackett on flute, guitar and bass pedals, long-time collaborator keyboardist Nick Magnus, bassist/vocalist Dik Cadbury, drummer John Shearer and vocalist Peter Hicks. Spectral Mornings is the third release and the second post- Genesis album by British guitarist Steve Hackett.