Friday, October 24, 2008

Narnia:

I noticed someone uploaded the audio to Steve Hackett's song Narnia (he was the guitarist for Genesis during their classic era). Prog rockers have had a problem in that ten minute long suite form songs aren't exactly "radio friendly." So they may throw in some radio friendly songs to classic prog albums in an attempt for a hit. They may try to make radio friendly songs that still incorporate prog elements. I think Rush were the best at doing this; think of all of their hits that are both prog and classic rock at the same time. Sometimes the groups (Genesis for example by the time they got to "Invisible Touch") might change in a more commercial oriented direction in an attempt to get more hits, more airplay, more money. Narnia is one of those prog tunes that could have been, in my opinion, a commercial hit (it wasn't). It has Steve Walsh from Kansas as guest vocalist (and my favorite rock vocalist) whom Hackett was reported to say possessed the "perfect white rock voice." From the album Please Don't Touch I think this tune perfectly captures what the book was about and if there were a rock soundtrack to the Narnia movie series could have served as its central track:

1 comment:

Skip said...

A classic song! Richie Havens sings on one song on Please Don't Touch which is great as well. Almost a shame Hackett eschewed guest vocalists after this album.