27. August 2026
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Steve Hackett & Steve Rothery – The Roaring Waves

Florian Buechtingby Florian Buechting

Steve Hackett & Steve Rothery - The Roaring Waves

Steve Hackett & Steve Rothery - The Roaring Waves
4.9

Rating

 4.9/5

Flyctory.com Pros

  • Excellent instrumental rock album
  • Amazing, cinematic atmosphere

Steve Hackett and Steve Rothery are two big names of the British (progressive) rock music scene. They joined forces and recorded the album The Roaring Waves as a collaboration album. It is available at 28th August 2026.

 

Steve Hackett – About The Artist

Steve Hackett, born on 12th February 1950 in London, is a British guitarist and songwriter. He is majorly known for his work in progressive rock and blues. Between 1971 and 1977, he was the lead guitarist of Genesis. During that time, in 1975, he also released his debut album as a solo artist, Voyage of the Acolyte. Since then, he built up a massive discography of 28 studio album, some of them as collaborations with other artists. The 1980 one, Defector, is though the only one making it into the British Top 10.

 

Steve Rothery – About The Artist

Steve Rothery is a British musician born on 25th November 1959 in Barnsley. He is best known as one of the founding members of Marillion. As such, he is the only founding member still active since the band formed in 1979. He released three solo albums in the 2010’s. In 2025, he added Gento (with Bioscope and Thorsten Quaeschning), eleven years after the previous one, The Ghosts of Pripyat. Apart from those, he appeared in multiple songs as a guest musician and had two albums with The Wishing Tree.

 

Steve Hackett & Steve Rothery – The Roaring Waves – Track by Track

The seven track album lasts 45 minutes.

1. The Storm

Already the first minutes of The Roaring Waves are catching. Hackett and Rothery start their album with a majestic marching intro and the first main riff. After more than two minutes, the song gets a more dramatic touch. Again, it is the fascination of good instrumental music that it can tell stories without any lyrics. Thus, the seven minute track does not feel lengthy at all.

2. Sandsend

The second song of the album is Sandsend. The hymnic character of the opener stays, but the song feels more melodic and has a better flow. The song has a lovely, relaxing atmosphere. A truly magical experience.

3. Red Dragon

Red Dragon is not only one of two songs the duo shared before the release of The Roaring Waves, it is also the album’s shortest listen. This still means that it lasts more than four minute. The “short” duration allows to develop a main theme over the whole listen, which leads to a very nice listen.

4. The Roaring Waves

With the title track, The Roaring Waves heads back to epic song durations. The shortest track of the remaining ones , The Black Sea, is still 6:40 minutes long. The beginning of this one, though, reminds of Asian and Oriental music. The savage water rising like the ever-spiralling title track where the rolling acoustic guitar interplay intro builds into something much more formidable, the press kit states about this one. And indeed, the song is cinematic, theatrical, intense.

5. K-129

At K-129, Hackett and Rothery remind of the Soviet submarine, which sank in 1968 in the Pacific Ocean under uncertain circumstances. The song makes you feel the claustrophobic, desperate situation of the vessel and its crew. It even uses some typical nautical sounds here and there. From quiet moments to panicking elements, this song has all in stock. Especially if you reflect the historical background of the song, it is absolutely catching and fascinating.

6. The Black Sea

The Roaring Waves stays with nautical topics and stays dramatic. In the other previously released single, it takes you to The Black Sea. You feel depth, loneliness, pressure. I couldn’t agree more to the press kit that the sound could easily be part of a movie soundtrack. Especially the middle part is superb.

7. Pacific Coast Highway

Last, but not least, Steve Hackett and Steve Rothery take you to the Pacific Coast Highway. Already the initial harmonica and the first riffs rip you away from the maritime melancholy before. The song leans towards blues rock, the fast pace, powerful guitars and catching work on the guitars lead to a very catching experience. However, the song is again great in telling its story again and definitely causes a lot of imagination.

 

Steve Hackett & Steve Rothery – The Roaring Waves – Spotify

I will add the Spotify widget once the album has been published.

 

Steve Hackett & Steve Rothery – The Roaring Waves – My View

I love well-written instrumental music – and this is definitely close to a masterpiece. Steve Hackett and Steve Rothery illustrate from the beginning to the end of this record that they are excellent musicians and great songwriters. You feel the stories of The Roaring Waves and you enjoy the strong atmosphere it is creating. I love it!

Favorite Song: K-129

 

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