Steve Hackett – Genesis Revisited II
Inside Out US
www.insideoutmusic.com
Rating: B+
Hardcore Genesis fans have dreamed of a reunion of the Hackett and Peter Gabriel era of the band, clear back to the day they were no longer together. While that has not, and likely will not happen, Steve Hackett is doing his best to keep the music of that era alive and well – and he’s doing it in a big way.
Where most albums that see a performer revisiting the hits are doing so out of commercial and financial reasons, Hackett is a true artist and a visionary. He does not reproduce the songs note for note, yet he does not stray too far either. He finds the delicate balance between staying true to the original intent and breathing new life into the music.
He does this with an all star cast of musical guests that include Steven Wilson, Mikael Akerfeldt, Simon Collins (Phil Collins’ son), Conrad Keely, Francis Dunnery, Neal Morse, John Wetton, Nad Sylvan and Nik Kershaw. There are also two other guitarists apart from Hackett, namely Steve Rothery of Marillion and Roine Stolt of The Flower Kings and Transatlantic.
This prog soup allows this project to be more alive, grander and more exciting than one may have expected. “This time around, I’ve tried to satisfy what everyone wants, including myself,” states the guitarist. “Initially, I was thinking of just going for the best songs not featured on the first album. But then people thought I should do those tracks where the guitar was emphasized. So, I’ve done both. I’ve also included four songs, which have Genesis connections, where the song was written originally for the band, or rehearsed by them. For instance, there’s ‘Please Don’t Touch’, which I wrote for Genesis, but eventually ended up recording myself.
“This will be a double CD, as well as a quadruple set on vinyl, when released in October. That’s nearly 150 minutes of music – “It’s a project of Wagnerian proportions!” he says. “For the most part I’ve followed the arrangements we had first time around. But each vocalist has added their own character.”
“What I’m doing is celebrating music without prejudice, which was what Genesis stood for back then. We really had no limits, everything was possible. You could have short songs, long songs, loud bits, quiet moments, boys’ own adventures, pantomime, humor, big band sounds, jazz, classical music…there was no barrier to what we were doing.”
Genesis fans will be thrilled to know that Hackett is also gong to take this album on the road performing as many songs from this, and the first Revisited album, that will fit into a two hour set.
Genesis Revisited II is available as a 2 CD media book, a 4LP + 2CD set plus various download options. HackettSongs exclusively has the vinyl edition available on 180 gram blue vinyl – only 200 copies will be pressed on blue vinyl.
01 Chamber Of 32 Doors
02 Horizons
03 Supper’s Ready
04 The Lamia
05 Dancing With The Moonlit Knight
06 Fly On A Windshield
07 Broadway Melody Of 1974
08 The Musical Box
09 Can-Utility And The Coastliners
10 Please Don’t Touch
Disc 2:
01 Blood On The Rooftops
02 The Return Of The Giant Hogweed
03 Entangled
04 Eleventh Earl Of Mar
05 Ripples
06 Unquiet Slumbers For The Sleepers…
07 In That Quiet Earth
08 Afterglow
09 A Tower Struck Down
10 Camino Royale
11 Shadow Of The Hierophant
By Jeb Wright
