Having listened to the CD every day since it's release in the UK, I am still loving the different moods and sounds. I have every album of Steve's from Voyage Of The Acolyte, each time the new one is my favourite but Darktown I am sure is his best to date. If you are a fan of any one of his album's, this is a must for all of you!

This 1998 recording is a solid piece of work. Hackett has updated his sound so that it comes across as being quite relevant as the last millenium came to an end. It has, at times, a somewhat industrial sound particularly with the drums but is balanced by enough warmth to avoid a cold off-putting sound. This is a creative, reflective and yes, dark recording. Hackett has never sounded better as a vocalist. In fact, on the one cut where Jim Diamond sings it comes across as somewhat disappointing as his style just doesn't suit the music as well as Hackett's. His guitar work, as always, is terrific. Where Ian McDonald makes an enjoyable appearance on sax it is brief. Overall, this is a highly enjoyable disc one well worth buying...Simon

Steve Hackett has defined the prog-rock genre without being in its spotlight. Ask most people on the street who Hackett is and they would probably answer "Steve who?" Yet, since the years after his departure from Genesis, Hackett has produced some of the most entertaining and captivating music caught on record. He shows that he has a tender side on albums like "Momentum" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream," but then turns the tables and offers up a good dose of rock n' roll ("The Tokyo Tapes," "Guitar Noir"). "Darktown" lies somewhere between the two. The album opens with an amazing bass guitar lick that throbs throughout the course of the song. This kind of guitar play is rampant through the album; Hackett is a true master of the instrument. Some of the songs may not be cohesive; a couple lack direction completely. Still, give this album a listen. It is worth the admission price.

This pseudo-autobiographical journey evoques somewhat familiar tunes and sounds hidden away within the sequences, effects and twisted saxs that craft the personality of this album.Fragments of themes like "Los Endos" and "I know what I like" appear suddenly and unexpectedly out of the shades of this somber album. A glint of optimism shines timidly through the melancholic fog that shrouds this record.

The record is technicaly perfect and benefis from the talents of long time hackett colaborators virtuosos like Ian Macdonald and Doug Sinclair. This is the definite Hackett album of the 90's.Please pay a visit to "Darktown".

Don't let the first two songs throw you (though they are great guitar pieces, they're not typical of the rest of the recording). This is an incredible recent recording from Steve Hackett, showing maturity but still having power and creativity behind it. I have been a Genesis and Steve Hackett fan for over 25 years and this is the best discovery I've made in the last ten of those years. This guy knows how to use a guitar in more ways than I thought possible, yet it's not a "Guitar Album" because it's well balanced. Even Steve's singing has gotten better (never was great, either he's improved or fixed it with new mixing tools).
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for Genesis fans and other serious musicians.