OFFICIAL WEBSITE
Voyage of the Acolyte (1975)
Please Don't Touch (1978)
Spectral Mornings (1979)
Defector (1980)
Cured (1981)
Highly Strung (1982)
Bay of Kings (1983)
Till We Have Faces (1984)
Momentum (1988)
Guitar Noir (1993)
Blues With A Feeling (1994)
Watcher of the Skies: Genesis Revisited (1996)
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1997)
Darktown (1999)
Sketches of Satie (2000) (with John Hackett)
Feedback 86 (2000)
To Watch the Storms (2003)
Metamorpheus (2005)
Wild Orchids (2006)
Tribute (2008)
Out of the Tunnel's Mouth (2009)
Beyond the Shrouded Horizon (2011)
A Life Within A Day (2012) (with Chris Squire)
Genesis Revisited II (2012)[25]
Steve hackett is without a doubt, one of the finest and underrated musicians working today. Out of all the old guard of progressive rock, the man is still putting together challenging adventurous music while most of his peers have either stopped making music, or are only interested in riding the nostalgia wave.
Within the band Genesis, he was highly underrated, undervalued and underused, yet he seemed to make the most of whatever space he can get. The guitar solo in Firth of Fifth' is no doubt his crowning achievement within the band. It is still one of the best and one of the more spine tingling solos these ears have ever heard.
There are many other hackett moments in Genesis that are spectacular to be sure, but I could be here all night writing about them. His strongest point is his guitar sound. it can be alternately calm and soothing, while at other times, the qualities can be dreamy, ghostly, frightening and downright disturbing. The man is not known for fast soloing, although he can hold his own. Hackett`s forte is the atmosphere he conjures up with his guitar sound.
Whe hackett left Genesis in 1977 , he already had a solo album under his belt(Voyage of the Acolyte-1975), whcih took many critics and genesis fans by surprise at the time.. After tasting that particular freedom and feeling that his contributions were never going to be utilized as much as the others, he went for broke, carving out his own distinct direction. Genesis without him would go on to be a spectaculr pop/rock band during the 80`s, but much of the sense of adventure and exploration the band had with Hackett was gone.
Hackett`s finest moment is 'Spectral Mornings'-1979, a progressive masterwork if there ever was one , filled with great instrumentals and english comedic whimsy. Over the years, he has constantly changed directions, whether it`s acoustic albums such as bay of kings , a blues rock album , `Blues witha feeling, allying himslef with Steve Howe in the AOR group GTR, working with orchestras or revisiting Genesis masterworks
I do have his latest work ,`Out of The Tunnel`s mouth(2009). I haven`t listend to it all the way through yet , but it it is definitely shaping up to be one of his better releases. A review will ensue in the near future.
A great place to start for the unitiated would be the album 'Spectral Mornings', although' Live archive 70`s 80`s ,90`s' is a better way to absorb the styling of Mr. hackett, if you don`t mind spending a little more extra money.
