Squackett - A Life Within a Day
Cherry Red
Melodic Progressive Rock
9 songs (46:19)
Release year: 2012
Reviewed by Stefan
Surprise of the month

May those who have felt somewhat betrayed by the supposed all-star band GTR (already featuring members of Yesand Genesis, namely, the “Steves”, Hackett and Howe), fear not that reunion of Hackett, again, and Yes’ bassman, Chris Squire for the long awaited Squackett debut album. A Life within a Day tries not to revolutionize a genre both leaders have great experience with, it’s just an old-school melodic andslightly poppish album of the kind you don’t hear too often, lately.

Of course, with a crystal-clean production and mainly digital keyboard sounds (both to credit to Roger King,producer and keyboard player) are not the best omens when one portrays how Progressive Rock should sound like and a few minor song almost confirm the disastrous prognosis, but even those are charming if rather toothless (Divided Self, The Summer Backwards). Gladly, there is enough skill and substance in Squackett’s music to put aside those little flaws.

From its opening eponymous song -reminiscent of Going for the One aka Yes goes Zeppelin - with a seismic lead performance from Hackett, to a slithering and well-thought Tall Ships with discreet but worthy interventions from the master axeman (again!), or a heavy and hackettian Storm Chaser, a dreamy and spacey Aliens, there’s plenty tosatisfy the prog-lover on an obviously perfectly performed set. And it’s no surprise, as ego doesn’t belong to either of those men vocabulary anymore, that both leaders harmoniously share the songwriting credits, the music is so evidently a meeting of their minds (even though the chorus-heavy vocal partsare a clear heritage from Yes’ sound) that it couldn’t have been any other way.

Some will say this doesn’t bring anything to an already overcrowded genre, that it’s old men doing old men’s music just for the fun of it and that they mainly recycle from their past inorder to achieve it. So what? Chris Squire and Steve Hackett wanted to do this album and they’ve done it and done it well, what more can you ask for? A Life within a Day is a good little melodic progressive rock album with fine melodies, just as it feels the leading pair envisaged it.

Killing Songs :
A Life Within a Day, Tall Ships, Aliens,Storm Chaser
Stefan quoted 80 / 100
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