Defector
	Produced by Steve Hackett and John Acock
	Released on June 1980
	UK CHART POSITION #9 . . . GOLD RECORD (UK) . . . US CHART POSIITON #144
	Find it at GEMM
CDSCDR 4018 cover [high resolution scan]

Y ou know, I thought the title referred to Hackett (and it might yet), but the concept of the Defector actually appears as a short story in the first four tracks. “The Steppes” introduces the plod--sorry, plot--of a Soviet defector who escapes to the US but is ultimately returned to Russia. Or something just like it. After “Leaving,” the defector gets harder for me to track down, so maybe “Vamps” picks the story thread up and maybe not. By the time “The Show” comes around, Hackett is clearly talking about himself again. So we’ve got half a concept album anyway. In the little coronation room I keep in my head for Hackett’s bits, Defector and Please Don’t Touch stand together, lord and lady, bodies bent slightly in deference to king Acolyte and queen Morning. (Cured is running around getting coffee for somebody.) That the first four form the cornerstones of House Hackett should entice fans to own all of them. And, honestly, what separates Spectral from Defector is so very slight; “Time To Get Out” is a bit more brittle than “Every Day,” “Sentimental Institution” doesn’t tickle all the senses the way “The Ballad of the Decomposing Man” did. Both have the same royal blood in them (“Slogans,” “Jacuzzi”), but Spectral Mornings gets the nod every time. It’s just that Defector has small defects: a rhythm section that couldn’t get it together, patches of the treacle that sapped Cured. Stacking this up against Spectral, Defector is seen to slouch slightly, much as Touch. The expanded reissue gets a boost from “Hercules Unchained” (recommended to anyone who likes Roger Taylor’s ravers) and a live version of the timeless “Clock - The Angel of Mons.”

CDSCDR 4018 gatefold sleeve	CDSCDR 4018 back sleeve

TRACK LISTING

1. THE STEPPES    6:04
2. TIME TO GET OUT    4:12
3. SLOGANS    3:58
4. LEAVING    3:04
5. TWO VAMPS AS GUESTS    1:53
6. JACUZZI    4:37
7. HAMMER IN THE SAND    3:12
8. THE TOAST    3:43
9. THE SHOW    3:41
10. SENTIMENTAL INSTITUTION    (Steve Hackett/Peter Hicks)    2:33
    
    CD reissue bonus tracks
    
11. HERCULES UNCHAINED    2:44
12. SENTIMENTAL INSTITUTION (LIVE AT THE THEATRE ROYAL, DRURY LANE)    (Steve Hackett/Peter Hicks)    2:33
13. THE STEPPES (LIVE AT THE READING FESTIVAL)    6:04
14. SLOGANS (LIVE AT THE READING FESTIVAL)    3:58
15. CLOCKS - THE ANGEL OF MONS (LIVE AT THE READING FESTIVAL)    4:17
    
    All songs written by Steve Hackett unless noted

CREDITS

STEVE HACKETT -- guitar, vocal, optigan, Roland GR500
DIK CADBURY -- bass, vocal
JOHN HACKETT -- concert and alto flute
PETE HICKS -- vocal
NICK MAGNUS -- keyboards
JOHN SHEARER -- drums and percussion
Kim Poor -- insight & cover paintings (front and back) enamels, cover design
Kobz -- cover design
Armando Gallo, Gered Mankowitz & Friends -- collage photos
Robert Ellis, Barry Plummer -- photos

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