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With the Genesis genie well and truly out of the bottle, Steve Hackett continues the legacy whilst topping up his own illustrious back catalogue. Prog-tastic!
Photo: Simon Dunkerley
The ascent of GRTR! since 2003 coincides with the rise and rise of Stephen Richard Hackett.
Hackett’s revival of things Genesis actually started in the late 1990s but it was only from around 2013 that he began to seriously put together Genesis themed shows so that he became the main flagwaver for the 1970s Genesis brand in the millennium and in particular their classic period of “prog” with Peter Gabriel.
Since that time he has regularly released live albums based on these shows (with the latest due in September 2023) whilst also finding time to release his own solo material. Some fans who have followed Hackett as a solo artist since 1975′s ‘Voyage Of The Acolyte” will be miffed that his solo output seemingly plays second fiddle to his Genesis focus in the live situation.
Our first “live” sighting of Hackett was at Guilfest in July 2003 when Jason Ritchie wrote he “played a very mellow and chilled acoustic guitar driven set.” In September Jason interviewed the guitarist emphasising that he was about to embark on his first major UK tour in ten years.
In March 2004 Charlie Farrell commented “I couldn’t quite make out the audience. A lot of people there didn’t seem interested in the music at all and a substantial number left well before the end of the 2hr set. Nevertheless I thought it was a damn good show and if Steve continues to revamp his setlists like this for each tour, you can bet that I’ll be back to see him again.”
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Ticket sales would imply that staying off the road in this country for ten years is very good for the box office. I expect the reaction from audiences to range from complete bafflement to sheer delight… |
The renewed interest in Hackett’s work may have prompted a slew of reissues in 2005.
Pete Feenstra chatted to Steve Hackett for Get Ready to ROCK! Radio in September 2009, discussing his career and the new album ‘Out Of The Tunnel’s Mouth’.
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…gloriously confirms, Steve Hackett is an innovative composer and exemplary guitarist for whom quality remains a given, while other considerations can follow at a reasonable distance. ***** Pete Feenstra Album review (Out Of The Tunnel’s Mouth, 2009) |
It wasn’t until 2009 that the first review of Steve Hackett’s millennium album work appeared on the website and he promoted the album on tour in November that year. Andy Rawll, reviewing his London gig, wrote: “His music has an other-worldly intangible quality that makes it both compelling and timeless, as he amply demonstrated tonight. May he never stagnate.” In Birkenhead, Keith Thompson noted that the venue – Pacific Road – was packed with the prog faithful.
Photo: Lee Millward
“It’s strange but I was never a huge Genesis fan but could always identify with what Steve Hackett was trying to achieve musically during and after. If I want ‘Invisible Touch’, I can turn to a million other artists who do schmaltz better. There’s only a handful though who can hold a candle to Hackett’s ability to paint a landscape with his guitar.
One guy behind me shouted “The Real Genesis” and I couldn’t have put it better.”
At the same gig David Randall enthused: “It’s not been an easy year for Steve Hackett with a landmark court battle with his ex-wife for his royalties, but the crowd was right behind him tonight. The two and a half-hour show – part of an annual guitar festival – never dragged but could only brush the surface of a thirty-year solo career and a talent equally at home on acoustic guitar. Steve Hackett’s music is a rare thing of quality and longevity in these more hectic times.”
Photo: Lee Millward
Keith was back at the same venue twelve months later. “I could ramble on for another 20 lines and still not waiver from my basic premise that Steve Hackett has a band to die for and a back catalogue which no other ex-Genesis man will revisit any time soon. I mean who needs ‘Firth of Fifth’ when you can play ‘Invisible Touch’ I rest my case.”
Photo: Lee Millward
Also in 2010 Hackett appeared at the inaugural High Voltage event in London’s Victoria Park when Jim Rowland opined “With a repertoire as large as Steve Hackett now has, it must have been very difficult to narrow that down to a 40 minute set, but the band whittled it down to just five songs that fitted the occasion perfectly.”
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A definite feelgood album though for sure and one that will satiate those who felt that the other lads sold England by the pound. Album review (Beyond The Shrouded Horizon, 2011) |
Paul Stilwell reviewed the tour in November 2011 in Gloucester and reiterated the quality of Hackett’s band, including Roger King on keyboards, Amanda Lehmann (Hackett’s sister in law on guitar), Rob Townshend on sax. Gary O’Toole on drums (who handles most of the Genesis material vocals) and one-time Kajagoogoo member Nick Beggs on bass. And not forgetting guest appearances from Hackett’s brother John on flute.
Photo: Lee Millward
Photo: David Randall
The band were back on the road in February when Keith Thompson reviewed their return visit to Wirral, and the Floral Pavilion Theatre: “When one punter responded to Steve Hackett referring to his seminal past spent in ‘little known beat group,’ one chirpy voice said ‘do you mean E.L.P?’ Quick as a flash, Mr Hackett responded with, ‘If I’d have joined them, they’d have been H.EL.P.’ In the area (Wirral) where The Beatles did many of their early gigs, such repartee was all the richer.”
And, at the same gig, David Randall commented further on the audience interaction: “I mean, it could only be Liverpool where the mainman declares before ‘Firth Of Fifth’ that he doesn’t want to get ‘his knickers in a twist’ with his foot pedals. ‘That’s if you’re wearing any, Steve’ effused a female Scouse voice that resonated fully across the auditorium. Glorious stuff.”
Keith Thompson chatted to Steve Hackett in February 2012.
A less vocal audience greeted Hackett in Leamington when Andy Lock summed things up “With a Steve Hackett performance you get an incredible potpourri of musical styles and genres and can easily find yourself banging your head in time with heavy rhythms one minute and soaking up the most delicate and gentle of melodies the next (as a friend pointed out often during the same number!); the things you are guaranteed: a virtuoso guitar display by the man himself and top quality musicians on stage alongside him (many of which have been performing with him for a number of years).”
In 2012 Steve Hackett played the Weyfest event in July when Bob Singleton wrote: “the whole set just oozed the quality one expects from a man who has been at the top of rock tree for over forty years”
Throughout his career Hackett has regularly collaborated with others and provided his stellar guitar figures to countless albums. In the 1980s he was part of the short-lived GTR (with Steve Howe, 1986) and recorded with Nightwing (1984). in the 1990s he appears on albums by Mae McKenna (1991), Gandalf (1992) and Box Of Frogs (1996)
During our lifetime he has appeared on albums with Neal Morse (2005), Chris Squire (2012), Rob Cottingham (2012), Kompendium (2013), Ayreon (2013), Steve Rothery (2015), Billy Sherwood (2015), John Hackett (2016), Djabe (2017), Dave Kerzner (2017) and Carl Palmer Live (2018).
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I never considered myself in a category as I’ve approached most forms by now. I leave ‘movements’ such as ‘Prog’ to others. Markets I leave to the marketing department – I’m only interested in music – I just make a noise for a living. |
By 2013 the regular touring line up now included the quietly flamboyant Nad Sylvan on vocals and Lee Pomeroy on bass.
Photo: Steve Goudie
Also in 2013 there were the first shows that featured exclusively Genesis music based around the ‘Revisited’ albums. (Genesis Revisited II had been released in late-2012).
Live Editor Dave Wilson wanted to see what all the fuss was about, reviewing the Glasgow gig in May 2013 “This was a fantastic show and proved how the tracks aired had stood the test of time and how much interest there still is in the early Genesis catalogue. When played with this level of commitment and enthusiasm it would appear that the Steve Hackett legacy has plenty of life in it yet.”
Photo: David Randall
Dave had identified the fact that by rejuvenating core Genesis material Steve Hackett had made it more relevant to modern ears. Historically punters would debate the ins and outs of a Genesis album like they would an episode of Monty Python. The seventies iteration of the band had a zealous following who would find merit in everything from the cover artwork, the lyrics and the studied playing. In those days Hackett was sometimes seated when he played electric guitar!
Assembling a crack band of musicians around him the music now sounded better than it did “back in the day” and it wasn’t too long before the inevitable: a show themed around a specific album.
Pete Whalley summed things up reviewing the October 2013 gig:
“Like most, his 1996 reinterpretations album ‘Revisited’ passed me by, and it wasn’t until word of mouth of his Revisited II tour earlier this year that I sensed I may be missing something seriously good. A delve into the Revisited II double album revealed that, yes indeed, there was hope that jaded ears might once again thrill to the Genesis prog rock classics that were the soundtrack of my late teens.”
David Randall chatted to Steve Hackett for Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, on the eve of the ‘Genesis Extended’ tour. First broadcast 5 October 2014.
Following the “Genesis Revisited” tour there was the release of two live albums, one recorded at Hammersmith Apollo, the other at Royal Albert Hall and with only a slight tweaking of the setlist for the latter. As Whalley decreed: “Deconstruct it like this and you begin to get a decent smattering of divergence, but over three quarters of the material does overlap. Visually and audibly, there’s little to pick between these stunningly masterful performances, nor in price.”
In 2014 there was the Genesis TV documentary which brought together the original band members. Many viewers, including Hackett, thought he was sidelined in terms of the coverage which appears to focus on his other colleagues. As David Randall commented, reviewing his November 2014 gig, “with no reference to his solo output or indeed to his Genesis flag-waving for the past couple of years.”
This was probably an editing issue, but it seems that sabotage may not have been very far away back in the seventies as the guitarist recorded in his autobiography (2020) that Mike Rutherford “threw a paddy (and a bass guitar) at a soundcheck in 1976 and effectively curtailed Hackett’s idea of a joint band/solo career in the late 1970s.”
Continuing his account Randall emoted:
“But it was Hackett’s solo during ‘Firth Of Fifth’ that was for me the top spot – emotionally charged and, like much of this gig, redolent of times gone by. As Steve said to his audience – echoing the words of ‘I Know What I Like’ – “this is your show”, and thereby providing the conduit for his audience to reflect on their formative years and less complicated times.”
David Randall chatted to Steve Hackett in early March 2015 for Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, about the new album and the new tour ‘Acolyte to Wolflight’.
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‘Wolflight’ really harks back to the brilliance of Hackett’s early solo work and is undoubtedly his most varied, instrumentally dazzling and evocative work for many years. Magnificent. ***** Alan Jones Album review (Wolflight, 2015) |
The new studio album was launched in March 2015 at Cecil Sharp House to an invited audience including GRTR!’s Ioannis Stefanis.
It is not every day that you hear a highly acclaimed guitarist saying that “sometimes guitarists should learn how to shut up” when describing the balance between instruments in any decent composition or when referring to Genesis as “this little band that I joined back in the 70s”.
What pleases me the most, however, is the knowledge that, thirty eight years since he left Genesis, this intelligent, gentle, and accommodating man is still able and willing to surprise, impress and delight us with his beautiful music.
Photo: Steve Goudie
Also in 2015 there was a major retrospective box set of Hackett’s earlier solo works. The 14-CD Premontions was bolstered by several Steven Wilson remixes. David Randall urged readers to exercise caution as some of the bonus material came out on the slew of 2005 album reissues. Otherwise “For many, it will be a big enough excuse to get down to Richer Sounds with a well-stacked credit card.”
When he toured in October 2015 Hackett had the new studio album to promote along with ‘Premonitions’ and this juxtaposition of Genesis and solo works was to inform his setlists in the future.
Photo: David Randall
Perhaps the surprise, or shock, of this two-and-a-half hour show was the amount of time devoted to a further ‘Genesis Revisited’. At the outset it appeared that Steve Hackett’s autumn tour would celebrate his solo work in a year that ‘Voyage Of The Acolyte’ became 40 and Steve himself had indicated that whilst retaining the Genesis canon he wouldn’t be doing it quite as he has done in recent years.
With Roine Stolt on guitar/bass “To Hackett’s credit the Genesis set was completely refashioned from previous outings and it was plainly obvious too that the capacity Manchester crowd were here for it, judging by the way – at least in my vicinity – several were beside themselves with each announcement of a “new” piece. Others singing out the lyrics as if at a football match.”
Two more festival events were reviewed by GRTR! in 2016/7, Stone Free and Giants Of Rock.
The latter, in January 2017, proved something of a disappointment with the unenviable clash of two prog titans scheduled at the same time. David Randall:
“For me there is nowhere near enough Hackett solo material in the mix and a quick sortie to check out his prog peer Anderson confirmed that – given the context – the Tull ticket was the better bet. Now, Hackett in a club atmosphere and with a rockier setlist would really be something…”
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My introduction to Hackett’s solo work came pretty late in life, with 2009′s “Out Of The Tunnel’s Mouth”, and the very things that attracted me to his music then were the same as they are now; variety of style and an amazing sense of balance. Hackett’s latest musical offering “The Night Siren” is an eleven track album which has been created with these very principles in mind; a continuous need to indulge in new themes and sounds and an amazing compositional skill in blending those ideas in a style of playing that is so very characteristically his. Album review (The Night Siren, 2017) |
Promoting the album on tour in April/May 2017 Dave Wilson wrote that the Genesis part of the procededings was based around the album ‘Wind And Wuthering” – celebrating its 40th anniversary.
As Dave reported “…a night of great songs and first class musicianship.”
By 2018 the live band line-up included Jonas Reingold (replacing Roine Stolt) on bass and Craig Blundell (drums).
On the eve of the orchestral tour, David Randall chatted to Steve Hackett for Get Ready to ROCK! Radio. First broadcast September 2018.
In late 2018 there was the announcement of a tour with a 44-piece orchestra and another compilation of solo material ‘Broken Skies – Outspread Wings (1984 – 2006)’ which included 6 CDs and 2 DVDs.
Photo: David Randall
A year later Alan Jones witnessed the Manchester show:
“I have to say that as a musical experience, this was probably as good as it gets. The band were just immense and the orchestra added so much in texture. It was all held together with an absolutely superb sound system that pitched the band at the front of things and, of course, Hackett’s consummate guitar – never flashy, always awe inspiring.”
The orchestral tour was followed, a year later, by the release of a live recording of the London Festival Hall gig.
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‘World’ sounds abound but they all come under the umbrella of Hackett’s progressive rock roots to create an album so diverse and so damn good it rendered me speechless if I’m honest – I just sat and looked at the speakers and mouthed the word “wow”… I think most fans will regard this as the album Steve Hackett always threatened to make. It’s as if he’s distilled every high point from previous albums, infused them with a variety of sounds from around the world and topped it off with some of his finest ever guitar work – to stunning effect. **** Alan Jones Album review (At The Edge Of Light, 2019) |
In late 2019 Steve Hackett further removed the Genesis genie from the bottle with a celebration of ‘Selling England By The Pound’ and ‘Spectral Mornings’ (40th anniversary). As Alan Jones summed up:
“Had the audience not mostly comprised of “men of a certain age” there probably would not have been a dry eye in the house.”
Photo: David Randall
In 2020, as part of a website retrospective feature, Alan Jones and David Randall penned “an introduction” to his music, signposting also Alan Hewitt’s long standing biography and, more recently, Steve Hackett’s own account published in 2020.
Hackett’s last acoustic based album was released in 2008 – ‘Tribute’ – so a new acoustic offering was long overdue. Previously, from the 1980s, he released several sublime albums that demonstrated his “classical” prowess. Two of these were recorded with orchestra.
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Superbly recorded (you can almost hear Hackett’s fingernails on the strings), technically jaw-dropping and with sympathetic, rather than over-the-top orchestration complementing the staggering guitar work, it should appeal well beyond Hackett’s devoted fanbase. This is how these things should be done. **** Alan Jones Album review (Under A Mediterranean Sky, 2021) |
The COVID pandemic may have scuppered plans to take this album on the road. But by 2021, when things were easing in terms of live performance, he had already released another album. And once again he demonstrated the ability to still push the envelope.
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On first listen I hated it – its heaviness and gloomy orchestrations seemed anathema to what a Steve Hackett album usually sounds like. But there’s the rub, it is meant to sound different. It is meant to shock. It is meant to get us to sit up and listen. And the more you listen to it, like all great albums, the better it gets. Album review (Surrender Of Silence, 2021) |
For his tour in September 2021 it was ‘Seconds Out’ that received the joint billing with his solo material although with only two pieces from the new album. Dave Wilson noted there was a certain symmetry at his gig at the Playhouse in Edinburgh. 44 years earlier Genesis had recorded ‘Seconds Out’ at the very venue.
“Tonight had been my first live experience since covid hit the world, and what a way to ease myself back in! Steve and the band were in great form and the set list and performance were spot on. 44 years on Steve and ‘Seconds Out’ have never sounded better and those iconic white lights were just the icing on the cake.”
Photo: Dave Wilson
And Dave was back again in September 2022, although this time in Glasgow for Hackett’s latest tour which celebrated ‘Foxtrot’. He summed up:
“Steve Hackett may have turned 72 but he shows no signs of slowing down and his playing is as impressive as ever. Coupled with a group of excellent musicians he is keeping alive the Genesis legacy and tonight proved once more that the appetite to hear the songs live has not abated.
We are now into a run of Genesis albums reaching that 5o year milestone, fingers crossed Steve will be around to light the candles again over the next few years.”
Progressive Rock Editor Alan Jones adds: In many ways Steve Hackett was the George Harrison of Genesis – the quiet one that just got on with it whilst Gabriel and Collins garnered the adulation.
Yet he was integral to their sound – all the albums he played on from ‘Nursery Cryme’ to ‘Wind And Wuthering’ are regarded by devotees as the golden years. You only have to listen to subsequent albums to acknowledge this fact – ‘And Then There Were Three’ anyone? ‘Invisible Touch’?
And his solo output over the last 48 years has been a sheer delight – Hackett doesn’t do “average”. From ‘Voyage Of The Acolyte’ in 1975 to ‘Surrender Of Silence’ in 2021 the consistency has been nothing short of breathtaking.
Of course, since he became ‘The Keeper of the Flame’ of the Genesis back-catalogue with both the gigs and subsequent recordings, his audiences have grown exponentially, which is great, so long as people can see the bigger picture and take the time to further investigate Hackett’s solo work – they have nearly thirty albums to choose from.
What they will find is the irrefutable truth that Steve Hackett, insofar as progressive rock is concerned, is the pre-eminent guitarist of his generation and who, hopefully, will be an inspiration to the next – no drugs, no playing it with his teeth, no amp wrecking – just pure, unadulterated talent.
David Randall chatted to Steve Hackett in September 2023 as part of the GRTR!@20 promotion when Steve was the September “Grotto of Greatness” inductee. This is an edited version of the radio show that will be broadcast in its entirety on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, 1 October, 18:00 GMT. (For the web, some tracks have been edited).
Story coordination: David Randall.
Contributors: Charlie Farrell, Pete Feenstra, Alan Jones, Andy Lock, David Randall, Andy Rawl, Jason Ritchie, Jim Rowland, Ioannis Stefanis, Paul Stilwell, Keith Thompson, Pete Whalley, Dave Wilson
Album review (Foxtrot at Fifty + Hackett Highlights: Live In Brighton)
Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK
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David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 7 April 2024.
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