Talk:Steve Hackett

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This reads a little too much like a fan page instead of an encyclopedia article.—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 169.200.225.34 (talk • contribs) 19:29, 10 April 2006.

Ha ha, I agree! As an early 1970s guitarist, Steve Hackett was very innovative and influential, but his technical skill on the electric guitar is clearly limited when compared to the instrument's true giants, such as Allan Holdsworth. Steve is very good, but not *that* good. The comment about his Firth of Fifth solo being remembered as one of the greatest electric guitar solos of all time is particularly hilarious. I think the more NPOV-oriented audience would regard Steve as one of the electric guitar's pioneers much rather than one of its virtuosos.—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 80.145.219.142 (talk • contribs) 01:31, 7 June 2006.
The original comment related to an early version of the page back in April - I think it is a lot more businesslike now as there have been more contributions.Ndaisley 17:53, 21 June 2006 (UTC)
I think it’s important when describing an artists merit to avoid, or at least prolong the inevitable comparisons. The article does read with a favourable slant, including the dubious comparison to fast Eddie's “tapping” method, but fortunately stops short of such outlandish claims as Valerie Bertinelli crediting her then husband’s “revolutionary technique” of employing centuries old violin pizzicato. You are, like I am, simply biased in our opinions. I mean, why stop at Holdsworth as long as we’re rolling out the radar gun on notes per nano second. Hackett evokes more feeling in a single sustained note than any “virtuoso” in a shred list, including those of whom have credited him for his influence. That’s feeling, as in what Kenny G lacks and Allan Holdsworth left back in the third second of his hundred and thirty seventh note. I’m not trying to change your NPOV-orientation, just sharing my bias, and perhaps in doing so have made to lol, even to the extent of having you say that you were rotflmao.

—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.134.217.68 (talk • contribs) 0:44, 30 July 2006.

Contents

[edit] NPOV concerns

I agree with all the above comments regarding the bias in this article. I hope to do some improving over the next few weeks or so. If I screw anything up, please let me know! --cholmes75 (chit chat) 19:50, 15 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Influences

I have removed the Influences section of the article - it was full of unsourced info and non-NPOV. If anyone can find any verifiable sources for known guitarists claiming Hackett as an influence, please add them. --cholmes75 (chit chat) 17:32, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

I'll look up a reference I have of Van Halen watching Hackett finger-tap and learning it from him. Incidentally, the part in the article about Van Halen and finger-tapping is not needed it is PoV that most people credit Van Halen with originating finder-tapping. Candy 14:11, 8 October 2006 (UTC)

http://www.angelfire.com/ok3/rush/albuminfo.htmlhttp://www.angelfire.com/ok3/rush/albuminfo.html

Alex Lifeson (1984 Guitar magazine): "Yes, Steve Hackett is so articulate and melodic, precise and flowing. I think our Caress of Steel period is when I was most influenced by him. There's even a solo on that album which is almost a steal from his style of playing. It's one of my favorites, called 'No One at the Bridge'."

Do you think, are there any guitarists influenced by you? Others influenced by me? From the most famous it has to be Brian May - I was telling you in the beginning that he said he liked my guitar work on "Musical Box". He said he was influenced by... right at the end of that track, the harmony guitar solo. He tells me that he was influenced by that so he would be the most famous person that I influenced as far as I can tell.


http://www.dmme.net/interviews/hackett.html

[edit] One of the first to use tapping?

I have a problem with the assertion that Hackett was "one of the first" guitarists to use tapping. In the cited interview (footnote #5), he claims that he "learned" tapping in 1971 and that Eddie Van Halen borrowed it from him, but that doesn't lead to the conclusion that he was one of the first guitarists to use the technique. If you check the separate article on tapping, you'll see that a number of guitarists were using the technique over a decade before Hackett claimed to have "learned" it. In my view, that discredits him from being "one of the first."

Not that he didn't put an interesting twist on tapping, but I still think the "one of the first" statement should be taken out. Jphillst 22:05, 16 March 2007 (UTC)


Hackett used tapping on "Nursery Cryme" and "Foxtrot", but this article says he first used tapping on "Selling...", which is incorrect.

[edit] Equipment

I'd be interested in hearing the views of contributors as regards having an 'Equipment' section. I'd be interested to find out exactly what he's got in his Cornish pedal board. (Doozy88 14:25, 15 June 2007 (UTC))

Thanks. Will do. Doozy88 15:45, 16 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Deletion/Clean-up suggestion

Could somebody please make sense of the following paragraph:

On the rock production side, Hackett's work in the 1980s involve the LPs Cured (1981), Highly Strung (1982) and Till We Have Faces (1984). In Highly Strung, more than a nuance of electronic sound appears, making the album unique and unrepeated in Hackett's production, and surely one of the most difficult to approach. Till We Have Faces merges sounds from typical Hackett's style together with Brazilian percussions: the result is incredible, but not all the tracks keep up with this.

Doozy88 13:05, 1 July 2007 (UTC)

Yeah, I just read that and wondered what it meant - I would be inclined to delete the whole para: SH has certainly done a lot of production work on his own records, but it is difficult to say he has any particular production style, so I'm not sure the para contributes anything much, even if it read more comfortably. --Ndaisley 14:53, 24 August 2007 (UTC)
  • Aside from that, it reads like something from a press release or a fan site. --cholmes75 (chit chat) 16:45, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Tribute

An article on the new classical guitar album should be made. I won't do it because I'm not getting it.Sposato (talk) 19:18, 12 February 2008 (UTC)