Favourite rock/metal concept albums (Part 9) – Steve Hackett’s Voyage of the Acolyte

It’s been 14 months since the last entry in this series, which was Sufjan Stevens’ Illinois. This time around, I am going back in time again the 70s to an artist I only recently discovered, Steve Hackett, the lead guitarist for Genesis in the 70s when they were a prog rock band. Hackett decided to record his first solo album during a break after touring for Genesis’ 1974 megahit A Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. When putting together the musicians for the recording sessions, he invited two of his bandmates from Genesis – Phil Collins on drums and Mike Rutherford on bass. He rounded out the core band with his brother John Hackett, who I think then appeared on all his subsequent solo albums. The album was very well received and Hackett went on to record more than two dozen solo albums with his latest having been released a few weeks ago at the age of 71!

Artist: Steve Hackett (guitars, mellotron), accompanied by John Hackett (flute, synthesizer), Phil Collins (drums, vocals on Star of Sirius), Mike Rutherford (bass guitar, 12-string guitar), Sally Oldfield (vocals on Shadow of the Hierophant), John Acock (all keyboards), Robin Miller (oboe, English horn), Nigel Warren-Green (cello on The Hermit)

Album: Voyage of the Acolyte (1975)

Narrative genre: Pastoral/medieval

Album theme/concept: Song titles linked to Tarot cards

Best songs: Ace of Wands, A Tower Struck Down, Star of Sirius, Shadow of the Hierophant

What makes it special: For starters, we get half of the band Genesis for free on the album! This is a predominantly instrumental album, showcasing not just Steve Hackett’s prowess as a guitarist, but also in the departments of production and musical arrangement. The songs have an easy flow and feel layered and textured, on account of the use of the Mellotron and synthesizer, as well as additional instruments like flute, oboe, cello and English horn on some songs.

The album kicks off with a strong track, Ace of Wands, characterized by a catchy riff. It’s a great showcase of Hackett’s guitar playing, while giving plenty of room for the Mellotron, flute and bells.

The standout song on the album, however, is not an instrumental. It’s the 7-minute epic Star of Sirius, which one reviewer described as the best Genesis song that Genesis never recorded, has Phil Collins on vocals…and he would go on to take over as lead vocalist for Genesis on their next album, following the departure of Peter Gabriel. The songs starts off in dream-like fashion with guitars and mellotron, and then at the 2’30” mark, Collins’ drumming kicks in and ramps up the pace.

Another favourite is the instrumental A Tower Struck Down, with a strong percussive sound which manages to sound rather sinister, and could well have been the soundtrack for a thriller or horror film.

Singer-songwriter Sally Oldfield who made a name for herself singing on her brother Mike Oldfield’s hit 1973 album Tubular Bells, provides her distinctive vocals for Shadow of the Hierophant, which is the longest track in the album, clocking in at over 11 minutes. There is also a 17 minute version available as a bonus track on the album. It’s quite a musical journey, with different parts of the track sounding quite different from each other; in fact I had to check if I was still on the same song!

An interesting footnote, the album cover is a watercolour painting by Brazilian artist Kim Poor, who went on to marry Steve Hackett and designed many of his subsequent solo album covers.

Although this was the only concept album that Steve Hackett released, two of his other early albums, Spectral Mornings (1979) and Defector (1980) contain equally outstanding tracks.

Guilty pleasures – favourite pop albums of the 80s: Part 2

Continuing to reminisce about my favourite pop albums of the 80s, here are the next three in chronological order:-

The Police – Synchronicity (1983): I discovered The Police just as they were breaking up. After four successful albums in as many years, Synchronicity was recorded in an atmosphere of interpersonal tension, which would eventually lead to the breakup of the band. But they sure went out on a high with their most commercially and critically successful album. I can’t remember why, but I really disliked the lead single Every Breath You Take when it first came out and not having heard any of their earlier work, I didn’t understand why the radio DJs were so excited about this band. A couple of months later, when Wrapped Around Your Finger was released, I fell in love with the song and realized there was something special about this band (and of course, Sting’s voice); I loved the mystical lyrics (“You consider me the young apprentice, Caught between the Scylla and Charibdes”). And some months later, when Synchronicity II was released and I listened to the brooding and disturbing lyrics (“Many miles away there’s a shadow on the door, Of a cottage on the shore, Of a dark Scottish lake”) and saw the dystopian music video, I was hooked! My favourite song from the album is the final single, King of Pain; the lyrics spoke to me (“There’s a fossil that’s trapped in a high cliff wall, that’s my soul up there”), as I’m sure it did to many an angsty adolescent, each of whom thought it was his destiny to be the King of Pain! I also really liked Miss Gradenko, both for its humorous take on Cold War paranoia and for the groovy mix of piano and drums. The meditative Tea in the Sahara was a welcome change of pace (indicative of what was to come in Sting’s solo career, I think).

Genesis – Genesis (1983): The self-titled 12^th album from the group kicked off a new phase in the evolution of their music; for most of the 70s, Genesis were known as an avant garde prog rock band and now they were moving to a very commercial pop-rock sound. In what now appears to be a trend, I didn’t really like the lead single Mama – it was too experimental and harsh for me, but subsequently once I developed a taste for hard rock (the song has been covered by Brazilian metal band Angra), this song grew on me and I love listening to it now. My other top songs from the album are 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th singles – Home by the Sea (which has a largely instrumental companion piece called Second Home by the Sea), the controversial Illegal Alien (“But I’ve got a sister who’d be willing to oblige, She will do anything now to help me get to the outside”) and Taking it All Too Hard. I love the simple, catchy pop hooks and Phil Collins’ everyman voice. While the easy-going That’s All is one of the popular songs from this album, it’s not one that I really enjoy listening to (too “happy” to be part of this album, I think). I do like the slow, groovy vibe of the last song in the album, It’s Gonna Get Better. The two ‘filler’ songs I don’t much care for are Just a Job to Do and the repetitive Silver Rainbow.

Nik Kershaw – The Riddle (1984): The album is best known for the title track and lead single (and good luck trying to figure out what the lyrics mean). I picked up the album because I loved this song and also because I loved Wouldn’t It be Good from his debut album Human Racing. I was obviously looking for songs with a similar sound and was initially disappointed. But after listening to it a few times the songs grew on me and eventually became one of my favourite discs that I can listen to and sing along with any time. Many of the songs have a strong guitar driven sound that combines well with the synthesizer. The wistful lyrics and vocal delivery of Don Quixote (the third and final single from the album) contrast with the driven and propulsive nature of the music. The philosophical and deep lyrics of Wild Horses, refer to a man caught in the corporate rat race – “He got indecision and indigestion, and he wonders where the last ten million went”. Easy has a funky sound underlined by a wonderful synthesizer line that makes it as easy to listen to as the song title implies! Other fun songs are the foot-tapping Wide Boy and the fast-paced You Might, with intriguing lyrics (You might be an oil tycoon, You might be a Cobb cartoon..You might be but you’re not!”). And finally, a real change of pace, but a suitable end to the album is the plaintive and sombre Save the Whale is as relevant today as it was 34 years ago!