It's tasteful, introspective and lyrical, but kind of tame (in comparison, Chris Squire was the opposite of
tame), the fast part does nothing for me I'm afraid. I don't dig the guy from Tower of Power either and surf guitar sixteens generally give me headaches after a short while. There, I said it. The Dream Theater bassist overplays like that too. I'm not into that school of "how many times can I strike the same note within one second", it quickly sounds mechanical to me.
"
Tasteful, introspective and lyrical, but kind of tame" - which sort of sums this public school boy's group up.
Hackett was the only guy with some grit in that band - and he wasn't from a public school, so there!
Genesis (even though I appreciate much of their music - excellent keyboarder -, but it is perhaps telling that Calling All Stations is my favourite one
) is one of those few bands where the bass never attracts my attention, the other one is Led Zeppelin. On live recordings I always wondered why some of JPJ's bass lines were so lifeless - until I realized he was playing all those lines with his feet while he was sitting at the keyboards!
I'm gonna see Hackett pretty soon live so be gentle with my criticism!
