After his much celebrated 2015 studio album, “Wolflight”, which cracked the top 40 in the UK and top 50 in Germany upon release, Steve Hackett has done something unusual for his new live release – he filmed and recorded it in Liverpool.“When InsideOut told me that I could film a gig on the British leg of the 2015 tour for release, I thought that we should do it away from London. My last three DVDs have been done at venues in the city – Shepherd's Bush Empire ('Fire & Ice', 2011), Hammersmith Apollo ('Genesis Revisited: Live At Hammersmith', 2013) and the Royal Albert Hall ('Genesis Revisited: Live At The Royal Albert Hall', 2013). I felt doing it in Liverpool had a certain ring to it. This is an extraordinary city and the Philharmonic Hall is an extraordinary venue. Besides, it's not as if Liverpool is known for having any good music – there's never been a good band from there. Ha!” Hackett's love for Liverpool goes back to his time with Genesis, as he attests.
Formed in 1973 in England, the Rubettes were originally organized as a session outfit by Wayne Bickerton of Polydor A&R. Inspired by the successes of Sha Na Na, Mud, and Showaddywaddy, they combined glam rock presentation (red and white suits with matching caps) with a rock & roll revival sound. Their first release, 1974's "Sugar Baby Love," was an instant smash, remaining at number one in England for five weeks while denting the U.S. charts at number 37 in August, and remains their best-known record. Subsequent releases would be less successful, but the band soldiered on and continued to tour on the nostalgia circuit well into the 2000s.
The album, which features 18 tracks from original cast recordings. The recording includes songs from Annie, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Cats, Chicago, A Chorus Line, Evita, Dreamgirls, Hairspray, Into the Woods, Jersey Boys, Les Misérables, The Lion King, Mamma Mia!, Matilda The Musical, The Phantom of the Opera, Rent, Wicked and The Wiz. “We’re thrilled to add this distinguished and varied collection of Broadway music to our NOW! family,” stated Jeff Moskow, head of A&R for NOW That's What I Call Music. “In curating this album, we set out to find 18 songs that represent and celebrate the rich history of Broadway from the last 40 years. I think we’ve achieved that and more. We look forward to bringing these brilliant performances to the NOW! audience.”