THE ANT BAND celebrates Anthony Phillips' 70th birthday: "A Light On The Hill" (CD available now via Burningshed)

    • Official Post

    Today is 23.12.2021 - Anthony Phillips turns 70 and the German Genesis Fanclub is very pleased to announce the release of a special CD to mark the occasion.


    THE ANT BAND - A Light On The Hill



    The Ant Band - these are musicians from your midst, in this case from the German Forum / the fan club, some of whom performed at the Anthony Phillips event in 2014. Now, coordinated by Tom Morgenstern, they have recorded an album in honor and for the birthday of Anthony Phillips. If everything works out, the album will be in the mailbox of Anthony himself, today who didn't know about this project until today.


    The album features 14 tracks. Not the usual suspects, but many hidden gems.


    01 Sistine
    02 F Sharp (feat. Steve Hackett)
    03 Sanctuary
    04 God If I Saw Her Now
    05 She'll Be Waiting
    06 Study No.1 in E Maj (excerpt)
    07 Unheard Cry
    08 Salmon Leap
    09 Postlude: End Of The Season
    10 Stranger
    11 Lucy: An Illusion
    12 Moon's Lament For The Sun
    13 Master Of Time
    14 Slow Dance (excerpt from Part I)


    Steve Hackett contributed a wonderful guitar solo.

    Jonathan Dann provided liner notes.

    The artwork was designed by Helmut Janisch.


    The album is available for preorder now:

    We have put an extensive website special online - there you will find all the information, order links, a greeting from Peter Gabriel, a review by chandelier (who was surprised by us at short notice with a request for a review), a detailed track by track description, an interview with Tom Morgenstern as well as the article on the Slow Dance project that started it all.


    Enjoy

    and Happy Birthday, Ant!

    • Official Post

    Pre-orders are available here:


    Steve Hackett Webstore (ships from UK)

    https://store.hackettsongs.com…-light-on-the-hill-cd-hak


    Bandcamp (ships from Germany)

    https://antband.bandcamp.com/


    Burningshed (ships from the UK)

    https://burningshed.com/the-ant-band_a-light-on-the-hill_cd

    • Official Post

    Digital versions of that album are also available at


    amazonMP3 (UK)

    iTunes (more countries)

    Bandcamp (high res available)

    • Official Post

    some additions:


    The poster that comes with the CD is only available at Bandcamp. The competition for the 2 big posters is closed, since the necessary number of pre-orders has been met.


    You can order the CD from either Bandcamp (it ships worldwide from Germany) or the Steve Hackett webstore (check their terms for details about shipping). Links see above.


    The album will also be available in digital format.

  • I have listened to some of the tracks and those really have interesting arrangements. Steve's solo is outstanding and both vocalists are also brilliant. Have ordered the CD!

    • Official Post

    In the meantime, Ant has sent an email to Tom, who coordinated this project:


    You must be wondering why silencio this end ……


    Well, have been out of London a lot and yesterday opened this mysterious package to find this extraordinary gift, which has obviously taken an enormous amount of planning, effort and care …and time !


    How lovely of you all and especially to you as the instigator and mastermind ! Too many people to thank individually but please convey my most sincere Danke Schön to all your fellow conspirators, none of whom it appears to have been double agents as didn't have a clue about this !


    Am going to find the right moment - or two ! - to listen properly ! (...)


    Cannot thank you (all) enough and will be in touch by the weekend. Whatever the result (and I’m sure will be worthy versions ) it is the thought that counts and am very touched by it !


    You’re a star, as we say !


    Hope you had a Frei Weinhachten (?) and let us pray for a covid-conquering Neues Jähr….!

    Ant

    • Official Post

    Poor vocals........sorry

    I disagree! Both vocalists have done an astonishing job and the feedback so far is amazing.

  • Have ordered the album and although I don't like all tracks, this project is really worth checking out.

    It may also be interesting for fans who aren't that aware of Anthony's work.

    A nice birthday gift as well.

    • Official Post

    ... in the meantime Ant himself has been listening to the album and we received this in an email from him:



    Well I wasnt expecting that !

    You’ve made many of the tracks sound better than the original, especially the songs which sound much more commercial !

    Great singing by your clan and superb playing throughout….Don’t know here to start really, difficult to single out any one player as all so very good …..! F Sharp is extraordinary and Steve’s solo scary !

    You make me think i could have done a lot better !

    It’s a fabulous, brilliant and undeserved endeavour for which i can only thank you ALL deeply !

    You’ve encouraged me to think more seriously (again !) of braving a large-scale album…Am still in demand in library world and others do depend on me in this area as well so a complex picture…..! Let’s see

    I shall never forget this, no form of thanks can be enough and will certainly talk to Jon Dann about helping to distribute (sell !) some of the copies …..can discuss that aspect in greater detail……! Ax

  • 'Out of Stock' at Steve Hackett's webstore :(


    Hope there will be another way to get the physical CD without shipping from Europe to the UK.

    • Official Post

    'Out of Stock' at Steve Hackett's webstore :(


    Hope there will be another way to get the physical CD without shipping from Europe to the UK.

    we are working on a possibility via Burningshed

    • Official Post
  • Christian

    Changed the title of the thread from “THE ANT BAND celebrates Anthony Phillips' 70th birthday: "A Light On The Hill" (CD available now)” to “THE ANT BAND celebrates Anthony Phillips' 70th birthday: "A Light On The Hill" (CD available now via Burningshed)”.
    • Official Post

    Just an additional information


    Burningshed is taking pre-orders to check the demand for this CD. Means they won't order much larger quantities than that, so make sure you place your order to avoid frustration.


    The CD will remain available on Bandcamp, but ships from Germany.

  • Really enjoyed this. I got the download from Bandcamp. I thought both the singing and the musicianship were superb throughout. Would love to see a second volume at some point - maybe some of the songs from Invisible Men given a more sympathetic arrangement? (although I love that album as it is!)

  • Just wanted to say "thank you" for this remarkable project! I really wonder what Ant is now thinking - a lot of his tracks sound so good with fill band arrangements. Would like to hear a new Ant band album!