(Un)Focused Definition Ep. 62: What’s New?

Small steps. Repeated Deep Purple spins morphed into repeated Uriah Heep spins (the new stuff feels like a similar flavor to new DP), and rather than bear down and get another review out this week, I enjoyed taking bit of air and just listening to some of the new stuff that came in the house. I guess technically there is a fourth review, so if you dig stoner metal you can check out my review of the new Borracho over at Nine Circles. Otherwise, here’s what I’ve been spinning (or streaming) in my personal time.

ChrisAugust 9, 2025Leave a comment

Vinyl

Steve Hackett: Please Don’t Touch (1979)

If Voyage of the Acolyte was anything, it was the expected thing from Steve Hackett. A synthesis of his progressive rock chops honed from his time in Genesis and his penchant for more pastoral, classical arrangements. And beautiful guitar playing, of course. So the surprise of the left turn he takes on his sophomore solo album makes Please Don’t Touch perhaps makes the album more of a delight than I anticipated. Hackett recorded in the United States, working with a number of incredible vocalists and a killer’s row of backup musicians, and the variety of styles on display makes this a delight, my current go-to record for lifting the spirits.

ChrisAugust 6, 2025Leave a comment

Vinyl

Steve Hackett: Voyage of the Acolyte (1975)

It was a difficult walk. We had a fight just before then, and because I wasn’t sure if it was going to continue I kept my headphones off in case I needed to listen and respond. She put hers on first, and I I did the same, reaching for something to get lost in. I’d been so enamored of Steve Hackett and his live series of discs covering large swaths of the Genesis catalog I had largely foregone his actual solo output. I found a great 1st US pressing of his debut Voyage of the Acolyte on Discogs, spun it up (virtually) and proceeded to get lost.

ChrisAugust 5, 2025August 6, 2025Leave a comment

Playlists

(Un)Focused Definition Ep. 60: Hitting the Medicated Wall

Not gonna lie: I think I’m hitting a bit of a wall. And I don’t know if that’s because of the constant churning out posts, struggling to decide in a day what album I want to cover in addition to the stress of writing for my other sites and covering work/family stuff, or if it’s the fact that I’m now on anxiety medication and my body is having some issues adjusting. It took me years to get to the point where I could finally talk to my doctor (it helped that during the appointment I had a full-blown shaking attack), and so rather than just abandon it I’m trying to get used to it until the “good” benefits take effect in a few weeks. So I don’t know how consistent I’ll be for a while, and this playlist is more of a hodgepodge of music I’m either listening to or interested in listening to.

ChrisJuly 26, 2025July 27, 20251 Comment

Playlists

(Un)Focused Definition Ep. 48: It All Sounds So Good…

It took almost two weeks for this nasty respiratory infection to go away, and today is the first morning I can actually walk around without wheezing, coughing, and otherwise sound like I’m dying. So we’re having a virtual celebration with a bunch of songs I’ve been enjoying that either came in recently or have just been hitting the spot when listening to radio shows or my own playlists. I upgraded my theater system in the basement with a new setup that supports Dolby Atmos, so it’s been a blast listening to a lot of discs I’ve collected over time I can now hear for the first time. I’m not an Atmos convert, but I’ll be honest: left to my own devices this playlist and this weekend would be almost nothing but the new incredible remix for Pink Floyd’s Live at Pompeii, so if you want an alternative to this week’s playlist you can just spin that over and over and over…

ChrisMay 3, 2025May 3, 2025Leave a comment

Miscellany

Consuming in 2024: My Favorite Music

Finally. As of this morning you can listen to my buddy Dan and I wax rhapsodic about our favorite non-metal albums of 2024 wherever you get your podcasts, which means it’s time to finally get down to bees-niss and sum up the year in new music. I already recapped most of the metal selections in my various (Un)Focused Definition playlists, and of course you can hit the “best of 2024” tag to read the reviews for many of them regardless of genre. We’ll use a lot of same categories I used back in 2021, and add a few more to talk about the stuff that wasn’t completely reviewed here on the site. Let’s get to it below the jump.

ChrisJanuary 19, 2025January 20, 20253 Comments

Consuming the Tangible

We are what we consume

Tag: steve hackett