Sketches of Hackett: The Authorised Steve Hackett Biography [Hardcover]

Much like the long wait for an official Genesis biography that we finally got in 2007 with Genesis: Chapter and Verse, Steve Hackett, whose career spans four decades between his work with Quiet World, Genesis, and as a solo artist, was also someone whose documented history was long overdue for official biography. To this reviewer's knowledge, this is only the second Steve Hackett book ever written and the first in the English language (the first was Mario Giametti's 2005 Italian only biography, The Defector). Of course, part of the reason that you've probably not seen a bunch of biographies on Steve Hackett already is because the intricate details of his career are not as well documented and as publicly known as that of Genesis. This, of course, means that whoever would take on the daunting task of writing a thorough history on Hackett would really need to do their research. Who could possibly take on the awesome responsibility to do a job worthy of telling the history correctly and accurately, have enough knowledge of Steve's career to do it justice, and chronicle the history in a way that will keep the story interesting and appealing to Hackett fans of all eras? Well, if it wasn't going to be Steve himself, there's probably only one English speaking writer I know that could pull this off effectively: Alan Hewitt. Alan is probably best known to Genesis fans for his work on Genesis-related fanzine and website The Waiting Room and also for his well-respected, unsanctioned Genesis biographies Opening The Musical Box and Genesis Revisited (the latter of which is an updated version of the former). After 22 years of dedication to The Waiting Room and more than 30 years as a Hackett fan, Alan certainly has the history and, frankly, has probably interviewed Steve more than anyone else on the planet that I can think of. Could there be a more adept person for the job? Probably not!

The first 174-pages are the heart of the biography (along with the bonus PAL/Region 0 DVD that came with the initial printing of the book), featuring several pages of full color and black and white rare photographs. Again, like Chapter & Verse, Sketches of Steve Hackett is not a "tell all" by any means. This book is not tabloid fodder. There is no bad mouthing trash talk about former colleagues, no crazed stoned backstage antics, and no controversial details about run ins with groupies. If you're looking for that type of thing, this is not your book. What you will find in the book's 300 or so pages is an insightful, extremely honest, and candidly revealing story as told by Steve Hackett, his family, the musicians who helped create the music and, yes, even a few stories from the fans themselves. This book is about the man and the music, as it should be! Probably the greatest compliment I can give to this book is that the personality of people like Steve Hackett, his mother, and many others really shines through the pages as I read it. Sketches of Steve Hackett flows so smoothly that you'll probably read the book within one or two sittings. It's even more well written and organized than Alan's last book, Genesis Revisited, which I enjoyed very much (and is probably the best unofficial Genesis book in existence). To be constructively critical of this book is extremely difficult, because it's so well done. Overlooking minor typos, my only real criticism is that the beginning of the history seems to go into far more detail than the past decade or so. It didn't hurt the telling of the story one bit mind you, but as a fan, I would love to have that level of detail throughout.

The biography is actually broken up into several different sections offering not one, not two, but nine appendices! The first appendix following the biography is entitled "Encounters with Hackett" which highlights four fan's recollections of meeting Steve Hackett, one of which (to my surprise) was my personal contribution of meeting Steve around his U.S. promotional tour for To Watch The Storms in Pennsylvania (U.S.A.). The second appendix is entitled "Album by Album" and offers, as the title suggests, an overview of each album Steve has released as a solo artist, with the '80s 'super group' GTR, and with his two pre-Genesis projects: Canterbury Glass' Sacred Scenes and Characters (1968) and Quiet World's The Road (1970). Appendix three is entitled "Collecting Hackett" which talks very briefly about collectibles in the world of Steve Hackett. This is a very brief section and, honestly, probably the only section in the entire biography that I felt could have been flushed out much better than what was offered in the final product. Appendix four is the discography section, which offers an excellent (although not totally complete) listing of singles, LPs, cassettes, CDs, and EPs for his entire career including Genesis projects, guest appearances on other musician's projects, and so on. Appendix five is the filmography, which is extremely extensive. The filmography includes not only official video releases, but television performances, bootlegs, and promotional videos! Appendix six is a fairly comprehensive list of bootleg recordings sorted by year and tour (including the Genesis years). Appendix seven and eight are Gig Guides for Genesis and Steve's solo career respectively. Last, but not least, is an excellent chronology of Steve's life, which is superbly done (and much more complete than the Hackett chronology in Chapter & Verse).

In conclusion, Alan Hewitt's Sketches of Steve Hackett is an essential read for any Steve Hackett fan. It not only offers a wonderful telling of the history and the music, but also offers enough thoughtful analysis and detailed information to make this an invaluable resource for anyone moved by Steve's work. I'm sure I will make reference to it again and again over the years to follow. If further unsanctioned Steve Hackett biographies are written in years to come, they will certainly use Alan's book as the foundation upon which they design their own work. That being said, Alan has "placed the bar" quite high with Sketches, so good luck to them on that! There were many pieces of information revealed in this book that I never knew before and, prior to reading this biography, I considered myself fairly knowledgeable about Steve Hackett's career.

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