Steve Hackett - Voyage of the Acolyte 1975

Steve Hackett biography
GUITAR BASED MUSIC WITH VARIOUS STYLES
(Blues, Classical, Folk, Jazz, New Age and Progressive Rock)


Steve HACKETT needs no introduction. He is definitely one of the major guitarists of this century. Ex-GENESIS, he is now a major force in the domain of music composed for guitar, rock as well as classical. Steve is a complex musician, drawing influence from a wide variety of styles and melding them into super compositions. His music has evolved over the years, and while some of it was not up to the standards that he set with other albums. They are still excellent.

HACKETT joined GENESIS as guitarist in early 1971 and featured across ten albums of their history. He replaced Anthony PHILLIPS, and stayed with the band during their successful mid-70s progressive rock period. I remember once reading that, if GENESIS lost their "brains" when Peter GABRIEL left, then they surely lost their "heart" when Steve left. In a way, it is easy to see how HACKETT was "crowded out" of Genesis in 1977. From "Nursery Crime" in 1971 to the double-live "Seconds Out" in 1977, he created in his solo albums his own style, dominated by his guitars, sometimes very classical or at times furious. His tracks go from a symphonic Progressive style to a more energetic rock.

Steve Hackett - Cured (1981)

ArsNova records 1999 [AN99-046]

What a shock this album must have been when it was first released back in '81. Had Steve Hackett sold out to pop trends and abandoned his progressive roots? Twenty years later the controversy hardly matters. Only the music remains, and to this listener it has aged very well.

Although Cured is mostly a collection of pop songs, a distinct progressive edge still remains. The instrumental numbers (Air Conditioned Nightmare and Cradle of Swans) prove this, but even the most radio airplay friendly songs contain their share of intense guitar work and