Watch The Water

Steve Hackett's solo rock albums have grown few and far between from the '90s onward. So the release of To Watch the Storms was surrounded by a lot of expectations from fans and they shouldn't be disappointed. This is a wonderful record, full of touching, intelligent songs, stellar guitar playing, and great production. It continues in the same direction Hackett has been pursuing since Guitar Noir, a blend of mature songwriting, thoughtful arrangements, and odd rock numbers with progressive rock elements. Nothing needs to be taken out of this album. "Circus of Becoming" adds another example of Hackett's infatuation with quirky circus-sounding tunes, but this one is much better than "The Ballad of the Decomposing Man" (from Spectral Mornings)…

One would be hard-pressed to find a band more perfectly symbolic of the good-times politics-be-damned esprit de cannabis that symbolized a good chunk of 70's rock. While the Beach Boys were busy becoming an anachronism, the Doobs effectively took their mantle, fusing an array of musical Americana - be it blues, country, folk, or gospel - into a remarkably popular string of albums and radio hits by simply asking not much more of us than to "Listen to the Music." And if they didn't get much more controversial than to declare "Jesus Is Just Alright," well, that was kind of the point. This Rhino anthology is typically exhaustive. All the familiar radio hits are here, as well as a good sampling of deep catalog from the band's various line-ups, not to mention a few standout Tom Johnston and Patrick Simmons solo outings. Hardcore Doobie Bros. fans should be especially pleased by the fourth disc, which contains a wealth of outtakes and demos from the band's early '70s and '80s prime.