What a shock this album must have been when it was first released back in '81. Had Steve Hackett sold out to pop trends and abandoned his progressive roots? Twenty years later the controversy hardly matters. Only the music remains, and to this listener it has aged very well.

Although Cured is mostly a collection of pop songs, a distinct progressive edge still remains. The instrumental numbers (Air Conditioned Nightmare and Cradle of Swans) prove this, but even the most radio airplay friendly songs contain their share of intense guitar work and electronic atmospherics. The most important thing about this album is that it's an enjoyable listen. The songs are candy for the ears - addictive and easy to like. On earlier albums there are times when the music seemes designed to turn the listener off, taking sudden turns into strange territory in a constant attempt to push the boundaries. On Cured, Steve Hackett has refined and sugar coated his sound. The effect is to make the music more accessible while retaining the key elements that made his previous albums great. The electronic drums don't detract from the music as previous drummers were never allowed a really large role; and although Hackett isn't possessed of a strong voice, his vocals work well enough and add a certain genuineness to the music as he's singing his own songs. The title Cured seems to refer to Hackett's attempt to cure himself of the darkness that haunted his previous albums. There is a brighter sound on this one, but the lyrics describe a host of unpleasant feelings and experiences. This is the central contradiction of the album: The cover art depicting Steve Hackett in paradise complete with a frosty drink and palm trees, while he sings on Picture Postcard, "I don't want to be here on my own"... upbeat, boucy songs about heartbreak and depression...a smooth pop sound studded with mind bending guitar work. It all comes together perfectly, with both opposing elements complimenting each other. You don't have to be a Steve Hackett fan to like this album. Just take a listen to Hope I Don't Wake and tell me it isn't a good song. And if you're a fan already, well you haven't lived life fully until you listen to our hero sing "I'm givin' you all of my loving..." Far from a sellout, Cured makes life more worth living.

I remember once reading that, if Genesis lost their brains when Peter Gabriel left, then they surely lost their heart when Steve Hackett left. "Cured" was Hackett's 5th solo album and his most commercial sounding up to that time, although it seems to have turned off his progressive fans and failed to recruit many new followers. But this work should not be dismissed out of hand. On repeated listens the songs wear far better than ordinary pop efforts of the early 80s, thanks to a keen melodic sense and an uncanny instinct for how to exploit limited vocal talents to best effect. "Hope I don't Wake" and "Funny Feeling" are gems of bittersweet pop that settle in for the day when you hear them, while "Can't Let Go" and "Overnight Sleeper" work well as basic rock songs retrofitted to a more extended progressive format. "Cured" is one of those albums that the artist himself might look back on 20 years later with some embarassment, but for those who are not fixated on Steve Hackett as a soldier for the original Genesis' theatrical meanderings, it offers simple yet lasting pleasures.

As the least impressive of Steve Hackett's rock/band format albums, Cured still has a few shining moments, but please don't start with this one. Cured is a brighter collection in contrast to his previous album, the brooding 'Defector', and the two couldn't be more different. With Cured, Hackett was experimenting with new technology and trying to develope his songwriting as well as his guitar playing. He may have also had his eye on the success of his ex-bandmates Genesis and the solo projects of both Collins and Gabriel, which may explain the more streamlined pop sound on half of this album. His vocals are mediocre at best(he would develope into a better singer later on, but not on this one), and some of his worst lyrics are found here(Picture Postcard). It is also a rather short album(a paltry 33+ minutes) in comparison to his ex-bandmates in Genesis who put out hour-long albums(Duke etc.). On Cured, Hackett had also ditched his band for financial reasons, retaining only keyboardist Nick Magnus and guesting his brother John on flute. The drums are programed synth drums, though they are done somewhat tastefully. Those are the flaws. On the other token, one of Hackett's coolest instrumentals graces this album, 'the Air Conditioned Nightmare', with plenty of proggy solos and trademark Hackett atmospherics. The other instrumental almost doesn't fit in this collection, but is a welcome if not unusual contrast to the rest of the vocal-oriented album. 'A Cradle Of Swans' is a short and pretty nylon acoustic solo, similar to his work on 'Bay Of Kings'. 'Overnight Sleeper' is the one track that harks back to 'Defector' or 'Spectral Mornings', while the best of the simpler tunes is 'Funny Feeling'. Another note is that all of the songs have references to sleep or dreams in one way or another. Don't get this one first, go for Spectral Mornings and Defector(for his Genesis/70's progressive sound), Guitar Noir(for maturity, clarity and atmospheres) and Bay Of Kings(for his classical acoustic work).

It's all too easy to compare Steve Hackett's 1981 album "Cured" with the concurrent work of his former band Genesis. That's not to say that "Cured" sounds very much like "Abacab", but "Cured" does mark a definite shift toward pop-rock songwriting and arrangements, albeit with a lot of progressive rock touches (also true of '80s Genesis). The change in style is kind of surprising, but the results are incredible. Maybe Hackett felt he had reached an artistic dead-end following the release of "Defector".

Unlike the Banks-Collins-Rutherford lineup of Genesis, who modified their sound gradually from album to album, Hackett made sudden changes with "Cured". In a big turnaround from his previous solo albums, "Cured" is pretty much a two man show--Hackett and keyboardist Nick Magnus--and this seems to go hand in hand with the change in style, a change that's partly reflected in the album cover. Hackett also takes over completely on lead vocals, and most of the album consists of vocal numbers--out of the 8 tracks, there are just two instrumentals. Actually, I believe Hackett handles ALL of the vocal parts on the album, and he does an extremely admirable job--although his voice is rather thin, he neatly manages to breathe life into some lyrics that look corny on paper, and his earnestness and sincerity give the album a winning homely charm, plus he really does a heck of a job with the harmonies.

Steve appears to be extremely content on the album cover, and many of the songs on here are indeed very upbeat from a musical standpoint. However, in a curious contrast, the lyrics on the album are uniformly downbeat, frequently reflecting on the concept of people drifting apart and coping with the loss, with Steve taking a flat-out defeatist tone on songs such as "Hope I Don't Wake" and "Funny Feeling".

Hackett wrote 6 of the 8 tracks here himself, and co-wrote the other two, and he displays an amazing pop-rock sensibility. The album-opening "Hope I Don't Wake" is a beautiful, unbelievably catchy, breezy pop-rocker, musically upbeat with wonderful ringing guitar lines and rich vocal harmonies. The ballad-ish "Picture Postcard" sets a really captivating mood with its arpegiatted electric guitars and pensive melody, plus it has a bridge section that's pleasantly reminiscent of the chorus to Genesis' "Dutchess". "Funny Feeling", co-written by Magnus, is a mind-bogglingly catchy song, with an infectious vocal melody and a cool keyboard riff--compulsively listenable stuff indeed. "Can't Let Go" is also an absolutely irresistible, hook-heavy pop-rocker, stuffed with great keyboard riffs and great guitar and bass licks. "Overnight Sleeper", co-written by Kim Poor, has a captivating instrumental intro (even though it contains a 9/8 section that sounds like it's ripped off from one of his previous albums), nicely dramatic verses, and a lovely, melancholy section that arrives at 2:20 of the track. The slow-paced album-closing ballad "Turn Back Time" is reflective, extremely tender, and beautiful, fading away in mesmerising fashion.

As for the two instrumentals... "A Cradle Of Swans" is one of Hackett's classical guitar excursions--after about a minute it starts getting head-scratchingly aimless, but on the whole it's quite lovely, and serves as an effective link between "Funny Feeling" and "Overnight Sleeper". And "The Air-Conditioned Nightmare" is a blast, with its toe-tappingly catchy beat, amusingly mock-ominous sound, and Hackett's wailing guitar heroics--it totally rocks, and it's almost as if it's been beamed in from a completely different album.

To say I'm pleasantly surprised with "Cured" is a big understatement. This is an incredibly addictive album that I'm simply blown away by. For any serious music fan, but ESPECIALLY fans of '80s Genesis, "Cured" is an absolute must.

-about the vocals. Everybody seems to have said the same thing for 21 years. I don't care. Steve Hackett was taking a big step by performing all the vocals for the first time in his career. I give him credit--he hired a coach, took lessons, learned about what he could do and gave it a shot. Taken in context, I say it works. This album is pure 80's but Steve is still in there. He scores another trademark instrumental classic with "Air-Conditioned Nightmare." Steve even came up with an anthem in "Overnight Sleeper", though many people may not have thought of it as such. And here is Steve's first radio-friendly single, "Hope I Don't Wake." You cannot dislike it.