octopus92
“Renouant avec une vrai section rythmique (et le futur batteur de Marillion Ian Mosley), cet album de qualité comporte deux classiques du répertoire de Steve : “Camino royale” et “Cell 151”.
Le reste est souvent enthousiasmant avec notamment un côté jazz-rock inédit chez Steve (les instrumentaux “Always somewhere else” et “Group therapy”) et des passages joyeux (“Give it away”)
Parfois oublié, cet album, certes de transition, marque une vrai cassure avec son passé et confirme les dispositions de Steve a assuré pleinement son chant, domaine dans lequel il a fait des progrès.”
WhiteWinter
“L’album des années 80 de toutes les qualités, pas seulement le mieux chanté et composé, tout simplement le meilleur à mon goût et celui de beaucoup (parmi les électriques).
Il y a bien sûr ces deux poids lourds placés en début d’album, Camino royale (au doux accent d’un “Dance on a volcano” plus FM) au thème souvent repris dans l’album (notamment dans l’instrumental “Hackett to pieces”) et “Cell 151” (la chanson qui a le mieux marché de la carrière de Steve). Il y a ces deux instrumentaux détonnants (“Always somewhere else” et “Group therapy”) auxquels il ne manque qu’une vraie basse (une contrebasse est créditée, mais elle ne joue, parait-il, que sur “Cell 151”), et c’est franchement dommage car Ian Mosley fait un super boulot. Il y a aussi d’excellentes chansons comme le très joyeux “Give it away”, “Walking through walls” (rigolo, avec tous ses bruitages), et la douce “India rubber man” et son petit harmonica.
Un album de rock FM aux relents jazz, très réjouissant.”
Tracklist
Walking along the Camino Royale
The Mississippi sighs
Soft in the night when the wind starts to rise
And I’m lifted high around the corner
So I spin
Fast as a ride at the fair
Like a snake that flies through the air
When I cry enough i’m fired from a gun
And thrown through the doors
Only the fool learns to get through
Ahead I see candles floating in pails
Each placed upon a chair
Into a tent where they turn round the bend
Through a kitchen leading to a staircase
Now I stop
Seems that I’ve been led astray
There are no new answers today
This road is blocked
Only the fool learns to get through
My lucky number is on a prison door
And it’s found on everything I wear
And I’ve got to get away
From 151
Cell 151
Sharing with me is a man who shot his wife
And I’m afraid to fall asleep at night
Hear me when i cry
I can’t see the sky
Too much time
I left the world behind
And it makes me sad
Thinking about the past feeling bad
I know I’ve been blind
All I need is a space to unwind
But I can’t stay
In 151
(instrumental)
Time improves you or dilutes you
But there is no standing still
If you don’t scream nobody hears you
If you won’t fight then no-one will
When I’m walking
Walking through walls
Walking through walls
You can breathe under water
You will find it hard at first
Getting used to ritual slaughter
Feeling like your head might burst
Bare your teeth and bang your drum
Get up on your legs and start to run
No no no you can’t sit down
No-one’s friend and no-one’s clown
You can’t argue with a mad man
Age of reason’s sinking fast
As your arms become steel girders
Crashing through a sheet of glass
When I’m walking
Walking through walls
Walking
Walking through walls
Bare your teeth and bang your drum
Get up on your legs and start to run
No no no you can’t sit down
No-one’s friend and no-one’s clown
Walking
Walking through walls
A broken heart’s not easy to mend
Why must you break it again
When you lose your prize possession
Look around you’re no exception
Give it away
Your mind is all made up
When you lose your first love
You’ll never feel that way
No-one can take her place
When you lose your self-expression
It’s just time to change direction
Give it away
When you start you’re lovers and friends
But when you part you’re strangers again
Now the time just passes slowly
Time to live for yourself only
You watch the years go by
And she’s no longer there
Then one day you will find
That you no longer care
When you lose your prize possession
Look around you’re no exception
When you lose your self-expression
It’s just time to change direction
There’s no need for more protection
Far in the distance and way up high
Circling slowly beneath the sky
Lone in the air and the world is turning
Looking the eagle straight in the eye
What goes up must come down
And you circle all around
On your own
You’re seeing things in a dream
You learn to swing
Over trees
In the clouds
It’s a breeze
Blowing around
Leaving the ground and you’re feeling weightless
To the sea sparkling in the sun
There’s a beach and it’s time for landing
But it seems that you’ve just begun
(instrumental)
India rubber man
How far can you bend
Way across the sea far and wide
India rubber man
How long can you extend
The more I stretch the more you ask
Illusion has no end
India rubber man
How high can you ascend
Up and up and disappear
I’ll show you with my magic rope
India rubber man
How far will you go
I really have no plans
I work in a medicine show
(instrumental)
Infos générales
Sorti en 1983
Steve Hackett : chant, guitares, harmonica
Nick Magnus : claviers
Chris Lawrence : contrebasse
Nigel Warren-Green : violoncelle
Ian Mosley : batterie
Produit par Steve Hackett et John Acock