TotW 07/03/2023 - 07/09/2023: STEVE HACKETT - There Are Many Sides To The Night

1st Official Post
    • Official Post

    Your rating for "There Are Many Sides To The Night" by STEVE HACKETT 17

    1. 15 points - outstanding (0) 0%
    2. 14 points - very good (2) 12%
    3. 13 points - very good - (2) 12%
    4. 12 points - good + (4) 24%
    5. 11 points - good (4) 24%
    6. 10 points - good - (1) 6%
    7. 09 points - satisfactory + (2) 12%
    8. 08 points - satisfactory (1) 6%
    9. 07 points - satisfactory - (1) 6%
    10. 06 points - sufficient + (0) 0%
    11. 05 points - sufficient (0) 0%
    12. 04 points - sufficient - (0) 0%
    13. 03 points - poor + (0) 0%
    14. 02 points - poor (0) 0%
    15. 01 point - poor - (0) 0%
    16. 00 points - abysmal (0) 0%

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    STEVE HACKETT - There Are Many Sides To The Night
    Year: 1993
    Album: Guitar Noir
    Working title: unknown
    Credits: Hackett
    Lyrics: Yes
    Length: 7:23
    Musicians: Steve Hackett
    Played Live: 1993/1994/2002/2006
    Cover versions:

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    Notes:
    There Are Many Sides To The Night is one of the central pieces of his 1993 "comeback" album Guitar Noir. The song received surprising attention a little later, as the basic musical theme appeared in the TUI advertisement (and was later even released as a maxi CD under the title Timeless).

    Here's Steve talking about the history of the song:

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    I have always liked this song, my favorite off Guitar Noir. It has a great intro, and a fantastic acoustic guitar progression which very slowly build up to the verse starting at minute 4 (!).


    Haven't listened to it in a while so that was a good way to start the week! 8)

    A great song, though not my favourite off this album. Steve was the only person who really got to grips with the Stepp, I feel. Ah, the good old days, when you could always expect the unexpected off one of Steve's albums. 13 points.

    Ian


    Putting the old-fashioned Staffordshire plate in the dishwasher!

    A nice enough piece, but I like most of the rest of GUITAR NOIR better. This is the only Steve piece I can think of where he does a spoken part in his natural voice, without doing a "character" voice or adding effects (like pitch lowering).


    BTW, I only have the 6:55 version from the original GUITAR NOIR release. Up until just now I hadn't heard the lengthened version from the later release, and honestly I was unable to spot the difference.

    Little known fact: Before the crowbar was invented...


    ...crows simply drank at home.

    I wasn't familiar with this so gave it a listen.


    The strings at the very start are nice but then I find the intro drags on. I like the sung part onwards and would've preferred the song to just be that. Post-Highly Strung I feel too many of his songs take too long to get to the bloody point.


    Anyway, for me it might be one of his best vocal performances.

    Abandon all reason

    • Official Post

    12 from me

    It was THAT track that triggered my interest in Steve's solo output. I remember buying this album (at the time a sequence of that track was used for a quite pupular German TV advertisement, it was also released as a single, called Timeless).

    I always liked this, but like some others I wondered why he did a spoken first verse. I also think it's a pity he did not play this live too often, especially with his band.

    Guitar Noir and Darktown are also my favorite Hackett albums, with Please Don't Touch being the third...

    I have virtually all of Steve’s albums but somehow had missed Guitar Noir until I bought it recently on vinyl. I’m very pleasantly surprised by it. This is certainly not the best track on the album but still very good indeed and his playing and singing are excellent. I wish his more recent albums had the same light and shade as this. I like the second half a lot and I suppose the first half acts as an extended introduction, but I could do with a shorter lead in to be honest.

    Of course, there's a live version of this song (only about 5 minutes long) on the LIVE ARCHIVE '90s disc. And an entire live album named after it that doesn't actually feature it, but does have an audience member loudly requesting it (but getting the title wrong: "There are many sides of the night!").

    Little known fact: Before the crowbar was invented...


    ...crows simply drank at home.

    This is the most I have enjoyed any Steve solo track that I can recall. It's enough to make me give his stuff at least another shot or two, likely starting with this album, at some point. 12.

    • Official Post

    There are many sides ... brought me back to Hackett after I lost track for a while. In fact they say it was the start of his second solo career phase and that's absolutely true. There's something about this album that's unique and won't be heard on later ones. It feels light, fresh, melodic ... I think it's one of his best and the track in question is a great example what kind of songs Steve was once able to write. It's a magic I can't find on later albums.

    14