Esoteric’s series of reissues keep bringing me opportunities to discover or reassess albums I’ve overlooked in the past; some are newer than others, it seems. As I found with Nektar’s Remember the Future, it was worth giving the album a second go as my tastes had matured. Being able to enjoy that album made me wonder if I should try other albums that didn’t seem to my taste.
The union of Yes bassist Chris Squire and Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett would have been a prog fan’s wet dream… in 1975. By 2012, we’d all witnessed enough dross produced by each musician with their respective bands to be weary of anything they might assemble together; I still remember just how disappointing Fly from Here was to me as a new reviewer. For that reason, I stayed far away from Squackett, but part of me always wondered whether it would be worth investigating.
Surprisingly enough, the titular opening track is… amazing! A Kashmir-like main theme gives way to some dazzling interplay between Hackett, Squire and their other assembled musicians. Fast time signatures, unpredictable twists and turns, dissonant guitar solos – the song seems to have it all! The instrumental seems to come to an end rather abruptly for my liking; “Oi, I was enjoying that!” But given what I had expected, I’m thoroughly impressed.
And then… sigh… it’s all downhill from here. Nothing for the remainder of this thankfully brief album lives up to that initial high. In fact, it’s exactly the sort of dull, plodding, old-man music that I find so egregious and why I stayed away in the first place. So I suppose I was right all along. There’s a modicum of variation: Stormchaser, for example, has a slightly harder edge than most of the other songs, but it’s not enough to keep me coming back for more.
A Life Within a Day reminds me of Heaven & Earth except that the outstanding track on that album, Subway Walls, was placed at the end of the album, rather than the beginning. With the title track placed at the front, Squackett can swindle those who choose only to try out the first song before buying. It’s such a cynical move because this is exactly what fans want to hear, but on reflection, it seems as if they just put the effort in to crank out just one proggy, satisfying number just to advertise the album. If they really wanted to make music like this, there would be more songs like it on the record.
You’d think that the production of an album made in the early 2010s by two of the greatest musicians in prog history would be outstanding, but I actively cannot stand to listen to Squackett. Chris Squire’s signature Rickenbacker bass timbre is the stuff of legend and yet he’s hidden all the way back in the mix. How could this happen on an album that’s literally being advertised with his name?
Squire and Hackett both provide vocals… at the same time… all the time. Could they really not find any other ways to harmonise? There’s also a whiff of autotune about the vocals which really turns me off. It doesn’t help that the lyrics are generally terrible: “Aliens are only us, are only us from the future.”
As for the mix itself, the whole album seems stuck in a syrupy glaze like one of those Cinnabon® rolls. There’s no sharpness as the instruments are shrouded by hazy keyboard effects and improper mixing. It’s quite awful really. This reissue appends a Blu-ray disc so you can hear the whole thing in 5.1 surround sound; I personally can’t think of anything more nauseating.
What’s perhaps more upsetting is that this really doesn’t seem like a balanced affair. It’s perhaps to everyone’s chagrin that Squire never made any solo albums after his excellent debut Fish Out of Water – that is, until 2007’s Chris Squire’s Swiss Choir where the genesis of Squackett came about, if you’ll pardon the pun. Squire just hasn’t been anywhere near as productive as Hackett, who produced thirteen solo albums in the same span of time and hasn’t slowed down since. It’s clear who is the more dominant member, creatively, and it shows on Squackett too, with any hint of Yes being squashed by Hackett’s cheesy pastoral shtick. In the end, A Life Within a Day simply sounds like another Hackett solo album.
It says something that this is the only release by the duo; much like Storm Corrosion – whose self-titled album was released the same month as A Life Within a Day – this project was never made to last. Despite Hackett teasing potential Squackett live dates, these never came to fruition, and it wasn’t long until Squire’s untimely death in 2015 put an end to any hope of a reunion. I was expecting this reissue to comment on the album from this perspective, but the original booklet doesn’t appear to have been edited at all, containing no new liner notes. Interested in the album cover, I looked to find out what the Chinese character meant only to discover that it just says “Squackett” in Square Word Calligraphy. Rather fittingly, the album cover is just as shallow as the album itself.
TRACK LISTING
CD – A Life Within a Day
01. A Life Within a Day (6:35)
02. Tall Ships (6:18)
03. Divided Self (4:06)
04. Aliens (5:32)
05. Sea of Smiles (5:25)
06. The Summer Backwards (3:00)
07. Storm Chaser (5:26)
08. Can’t Stop the Rain (5:47)
09. Perfect Love Song (4:04)
Time – 46:13
Blu-ray (5.1 Surround Sound Mix) – A Life Within a Day
01. A Life Within a Day (6:35)
02. Tall Ships (6:18)
03. Divided Self (4:06)
04. Aliens (5:32)
05. Sea of Smiles (5:25)
06. The Summer Backwards (3:00)
07. Storm Chaser (5:26)
08. Can’t Stop the Rain (5:47)
09. Perfect Love Song (4:04)
Time – 46:13
Total Time – 92:26
MUSICIANS
Chris Squire – Bass, Vocals
Steve Hackett – Guitars, Vocals, Harmonica
Roger King – Keyboards, Programming
Jeremy Stacey – Drums
Amanda Lehmann – Backing Vocals
~ With:
Christine Townsend – Violin, Viola (track 1)
Richard Stewart – Cello (track 1)
Dick Driver – Double Bass (track 1)
ADDITIONAL INFO
Record Label: Esoteric Antenna | Cherry Red Records
Catalogue#: EANTCDB 21106
Country of Origin: U.K.
Date of Release: 31st May 2024
LINKS
Squackett – Info at Cherry Red Records
Steve Hackett – Website | Facebook
Chris Squire – Facebook