GTR (album)
GTR is the 1986 debut album and sole official studio release from the short-lived supergroup GTR. The album peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard 200 chart, and the single "When the Heart Rules the Mind" reached No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. Another single, "The Hunter", peaked at No. 85. The instrumental piece by Steve Howe, "Sketches in the Sun", resurfaced on his solo album Motif Volume 1 and again on his Anthology album. Steve Hackett's "Hackett to Bits" was a simplified version of the title track from his Please Don't Touch album. (It had no connection with the similarly titled "Hackett to Pieces" from Highly Strung.) Asia later recorded their own version of the Downes-penned "The Hunter" for their 1997 compilation album Anthology.
GTR | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | July 1986 | |||
Recorded | The Townhouse, London, 1985-86 | |||
Genre | Progressive rock, AOR | |||
Length | 44:43 | |||
Label | Arista | |||
Producer | Geoff Downes | |||
GTR chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
Rolling Stone | (not rated)[2] |
Kerrang! | [3] |
The group, founded by ex-Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett and then ex-Yes and ex-Asia guitarist Steve Howe, disbanded in 1987. Geoff Downes, another ex-Yes and ex-Asia member at the time, produced the album.
The band's name, anecdotally, comes from the marking on the studio mixing console that indicates the 'guitar' volume control.
The album was reissued in 2001 in a remastered CD edition, it was out of print, with the exception of a Japanese mini-LP CD released in 2006, until a deluxe 2-CD version was released in 2015.[4]
Track listing
- "When the Heart Rules the Mind" – 5:24 (Hackett, Howe)
- "The Hunter" – 4:51 (Geoff Downes)
- "Here I Wait" – 4:54 (Hackett, Howe)
- "Sketches in the Sun" – 2:29 (Howe)
- "Jekyll and Hyde" – 4:42 (Bacon, Hackett, Howe)
- "You Can Still Get Through" – 4:53 (Hackett, Howe)
- "Reach Out (Never Say No)" – 4:00 (Hackett, Howe, Spalding)
- "Toe the Line" – 4:29 (Hackett, Howe)
- "Hackett to Bits" – 2:10 (Hackett)
- "Imagining" – 5:49 (Hackett, Howe, Mover)
Deluxe Reissue CD 1 - Studio Album plus bonus tracks
- "The Hunter (Special GTR Mix)" – 4:56 (Geoff Downes)
- "When The Heart Rules The Mind (single version)" – 4:28 (Hackett, Howe)
- "The Hunter (single version)" – 4:00 (Geoff Downes)
Deluxe Reissue CD 2 - Live In Los Angeles, 19 July 1986
- "Jekyll and Hyde" – 5:47 (Hackett, Howe, Bacon)
- "Here I Wait" – 5:55 (Hackett, Howe)
- "Prizefighters" – 5:17 (Hackett, Howe)
- "Imagining" – 7:12 (Hackett, Howe, Mover)
- "Hackett to Bits" – 2:22 (Hackett)
- "Spectral Mornings" – 3:57 (Hackett)
- "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)" – 6:24 (Banks, Collins, Gabriel, Hackett, Rutherford)
- "Sketches in the Sun" – 2:44 (Howe)
- "Pennants" – 4:31 (Howe)
- "Roundabout" – 8:38 (Anderson, Howe)
- "The Hunter" – 6:44 (Geoff Downes)
- "You Can Still Get Through" – 6:55 (Hackett, Howe)
- "Reach Out (Never Say No)" – 5:54 (Hackett, Howe, Spalding)
- "When the Heart Rules the Mind"– 6:06 (Hackett, Howe)
Personnel
- Max Bacon – lead vocals
- Steve Hackett – acoustic & electric guitars, guitar synthesizer, backing vocals
- Steve Howe – acoustic & electric guitars, guitar synthesizer, backing vocals
- Phil Spalding – bass guitar, backing vocals
- Jonathan Mover – drums, percussion
Production
- Geoff Downes – producer
- Alan Douglas – engineer
- John Brough – assistant engineer
- Noel Haris – assistant engineer
- Andy Mason – assistant engineer
- Howard Fritzson – art direction
- Ian Miller – design
- Mike Russell – photography
- Miki Slingsby – photography
- Tom Biondo - photography
- Jimmy Starr – remastering
- Eddie Wilner – reissue producer
References
- Erlewine, Stephen T. (2011). "GTR - GTR | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 25 July 2011.
- Hogan, R. (2011). "GTR: GTR : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone". web.archive.org. Archived from the original on February 1, 2009. Retrieved 25 July 2011.
- Wall, Mick (10 July 1986). "GTR 'GTR'". Kerrang!. 124. London, UK: United Magazines ltd. pp. 16–17.
- "Steve Hackett and Steve Howe's 'GTR' Album Receives Deluxe Reissue".