Is This Genesis?? - Classical Composer Reacts to STEVE HACKETT: ACE OF WANDS | The Daily Doug Ep 796
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- čas přidán 9. 07. 2024
- #stevehackett #aceofwands
In this edition of #thedailydoug, I'm sharing a reaction that I filmed in August of 2023 for my Patreon community. Ace of Wands from Steve Hackett won our Fan Favorites poll that month, and I very much enjoyed hearing music from this 'lost Genesis album'. I hope you enjoy as much as I did!
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The best Genesis record Genesis never made.
I agree that is an album you should listen from the beginning and to the end it belongs together
Turns out Steve was more Genesis than Peter.
I've always said that. Every time people would say to me that Genesis ended when Gabriel left, I've always responded with 'no, Genesis ended when Hackett left'. Even the first Genesis album after he left [And Then There Were Three] clearly has his influence on it - most likely stuff they had written before he left. Then, after that album, everything changed and it became the Collins-Banks-Rutherford pop trio.
@@EessaTubeYes! Hackett was and Is ESSENTIAL for Genesis!
Such a shame Steve left the band when he did, he put so many of ideas forward that were rejected by the band. Much of the material on this album, Please Don'T Touch, and some parts of Spectral Mornings were offered to the band and were rejected. Genesis of course continued on to great commercial success, however the Romanticism was gone, and it never really sounded the same again. This track is pure 70's Prog and Pure Hackett, just brilliant still sounds great today and especially live. Nice appreciation Doug.
It was great for him to be able to write and create and include who he invited. It didn't turn out badly for Genesis.
@@kratino It has to be said it took quite a lot of changes within their music, fitting to the 80's. It took quite a long time for the 70's prog to get the new appreciation all though it might be in small pockets to be found. Judging by the interviews the members of Genesis have given for the CD box of Gabriel era albums, Tony Banks sees the group as his band.
If I recall correctly, Tony Banks was annoyed that Steve went and did this solo album, because it was recorded and released during the period when Gabriel was on the outs with Genesis, and Tony felt that Genesis was in a precarious position and needed all hands on deck, so to speak. But Steve's reason for doing this album in the first place was that he felt his ideas weren't getting through to the band...which is the same exact reason he ended up leaving the band 2 years later after Wind and Wuthering.
This does not sound as the old real Genesis (last real Genesis album = Foxtrot)...where's your "Romanticism" ?.....this is just the continuation of technicism in prog rock that was introduced in Genesis' music since "Selling England by the pound".
it is also true the some of this material, and material on tb curious feeling and mr smallcreep day actually came out of rehearsals jams there were discarded by the band
Welcome back to prog Doug :) Glad that as a real musician yourself you can relate to and appreciate so many genres. Keep it up fella.
Rutherford is an excellent bassist who does not receive the credit he rightfully deserves.
Absolutely, and this is Rutherford's finest moment as a bassist. For some reason, none of Hackett's subsequent bassists try to reproduce Rutherford's amazingly lithe and agile syncopated lines in the last section--perhaps because they can't?
Not to forget his Lead guitar work when Hackett left.
And sometimes you could hear some great work with bass by him also on 80s Genesis songs: think for example on No Reply At All, the bass is the song
Rutherford is a costant and foundamental Presence.....His first solo Album....is Great: Smallcreep's Day...
Agreed. His bass work is amongst the best around.
What Steve Hackett is doing nowadays with the band he gathered around him is actually Genesis 2.0
It can escape the name of Genesis and still be good
He is faithfully reproducing the overall Genesis sound except sonically it is far better now than the equipment that was available in the 70's and the original pressings. Yes it would be nice if all original Genesis members got back together but that isn't going to happen. So this is what we have left. His guitar sound now I feel is actually better than his mixes on the original vinyl. Maybe its because he has complete freedom to choose the mix now. Or perhaps its a distillation and analysis of the original ideas being tweaked to perfection. I know my mixes have changed over the years; my 80's-90's songwriting sounds muddy compared to my latest stuff. Btw this isn't intended as a slur on original Genesis members. Its simply appreciating what Mr Hackett is doing currently....
Oh my God, I've waiting years for this reaction!!! Finally some Voyage dropped in the channel! ❤❤❤🎉🎉🎉🎉 I saw it already on Patreon, but it been released in CZcams makes my day. Thank you dear Doug! Steve Hackett really captured the essence of Genesis in this album, while being fresh at the same time. And he still have it, I love all of his styles.
Hit the button before beginning hahahaa. This first record in 1975 was recorded with the help of Rutherford and Collins, so it sounds very much like Genesis, but with the Hackett touch... Wonderful!
I can recommend to explore some "Brand X", Phil Collins' side project.
Euthanasia Waltz
Important to note that Collins was not the leader of Brand X, it was just another band in which he was the drummer. Fantastic band
I believe he was just a hired hand for Brand X. He was NOT a part of the band. Still, though, yes, check them out.
Funnily enough, Percy Jones does play some extra bass on A Tower Struck Down.
Hey Doug: Have you ever completed reviewing the entire Genesis catalog? Their second album "Trespass" is well worth a listen!
A few (including me) have flagged up Trespass, and from his replies I do think it is on his radar. I recall him saying precisely what you suggest, about getting through the rest of their material that he had not yet heard, and that he was not yet familiar with their very earliest material. I recommended especially "Stagnation".
@@adriangoodrich4306 Stagnation is the road map through Selling England. Perfection. Not that I dislike The Lamb - my fave.
It's sure a hidden gem, Dusk,Stagnation, only one of this songs worth the price of the Album.
I couldn`t click like fast enough. This album is part of my DNA!
Phil`s little side band Brand X had a bass player that played on Hand of Wands there, Percy Jones. Him and Robin Lumley with Brand X did a kind of one-off album that is really good called Marscape. I think you would like it too.
Steve recorded this album right after the Lamb tour. He borrowed Tony's Arp 2600 and Mellotron. Mike argues he was never paid for the job he did. While Steve was mixing the album, Tony Mike and Phil had already started to jam around, writing bits of Dancing on a Volcano and Squonk. When Steve finally came back, half of A Trick of the Tail had already been written. He had one bit he wanted to share with the others. Tony liked it and happened to have a bit in the same tonality. They worked it out together. That's how Entangled was done. Steve finally proposed a musical ending to Dance on a Volcano and wrote the guitar solo for Ripples, played backward on the record. A great period to be a Genesis fan.
Very nice that info! Thanks for sharing!!
Actually, one correction here: Steve's solo on Ripples wasn't played backwards. 😊 An EMS Synthi Hi Fli was used to create a backwards sound, so that as you play a note on the string, the actual resonance quickly fades in.
And Steve wrote the lyrics to Entangled as well, based on a painting by his then-girlfriend Kim Poor.
@@aleclewis9123 That is very cool information. I am not a guitarist, I would never have thought of this kind of trick. I always thought the whole section was recorded and then played backward, as in the good old time of The Beatles (like at the end of Rain). Thank you!
Hackett's Art is Outstanding! As a Genesis Addicted born in 1970 I was dreaming to be at a Gig like Seconds Out, He Gives reality to that fantasy! All He's Solo Work is Wonderful and Voyage is a Masterpiece!
My No. 1 Album of all times, because it's pure magic and it touches me so hard.
Steve and Mike and Phil sound so good together here.
Outstanding album from Steve Hackett. Since 1983 i keep listening to it, and I was amazed at all times!!!
That's the first time I ever saw Doug near speechless! LOL. I bought this album right when it came out in 1975-76 and played it for all my friends as well as at parties. People got into it. How could you not? There was so much happening at the time. Genesis was writing Trick of the Tail, Steve did this album, and Phil was also recording with Brand X on their first album Unorthodox Behavior. Phil kind of played down his contribution to Voyage, but his playing is on total fire. His singing was very good also. Steve's brother John always adds those beautiful touches on wind instruments that gives Steve's albums an added, magical dimension. Steve showed he was not just a guitar player on this, and his confidence soared after it started selling big, reaching number 26 in the UK.
This album is definitely a lost Genesis album, but there’s another from 2006 called Wild Orchids that, in my opinion, is an example of what Genesis could have aspired to if the group had not abandoned prog.
I love the first two albums from Steve Hackett very much! Sounds like lost Genesis albums!
thanks for your reaction (by the way, too long intro explanation!! talking about it 3 minutes and advertising... better after listening!)
I think Steve had Mike and Phil with him on this but it was definitely a Steve Hackett album in all respects and still remains one of his best works. His albums at this time had a wonderful timeless quality to them and they take me back to my late teens like almost no other music. I’ve seen Steve many times now and I’m going to see him again later this year for one of his Genesis Revisited sets, can’t wait. Doug please consider doing a couple of songs from ‘Please Don’t Touch’ or Spectral Mornings’ to really make my day! Thanks from the UK.
All his mates was playing on this album, so in a way its a Steve Hacket Solo abum with Genesis 🤭
Oh yes, i very much second Please dont touch and Spectral Mornings.
@@JoriDiculous Indeed - Tony Banks was not there.
Please Don't Touch is a better album IMO.
@@dannylgriffin - it’s my favourite too
@@dannylgriffin Not even close, actually. But if you like pop music, rather than progressive music, then I suppose that would explain it.
I was reminded of Duke's Travels from the Duke album listening to this. 👍👍😎
That's funny, I was reminded of this when I heard Duke!
@@elvwood LOL!
A fantastic track.
Still giving me goosebumps decades later!
Doug, you need to hear more of this album, it's justo amazing and beatiful
The missing Genesis Album. Glad I’ve had this age 15 in 1993, before I owned “And then there were Three”
This makes me so happy this song is getting its showcase.
Great review thank you. I saw Steve on his Foxtrot at 50 tour a few months ago. He is still as good as ever. You said you saw him in NJ. Was it in Collingswood? We might have been at the same show.
Shadow of the Hierophant is so great !
Star of Sirius is the outstanding (and most genesis like) track. You should do that.
Have you heard Steve Hackett’s new album, “The Circus and The Nightwhale” yet? Arguably, it’s the best thing he’s done in the last fifteen years.
Star of Sirius is the REAL GEM of this great album...
Big time fan of Steve's and seen him many, many times live. Collins and Rutherford played on this first album. Well worth checking out the whole album as it is superb and as some have suggested this is the best Genesis album never made. Please Don't Touch, Defector, Spectral Mornings etc.. are all musical gold too.
Great song.
Great sounds and reaction!
How about some Atomic Rooster, Doug? Not sure you've checked them out before - early stuff is better, like the 'In Hearing Of' album. 👍
Thanx Douggy. Send an ear at his Metamorpheus (2004). A classical / orchestral piece by Hackett you will definitely enjoy !
I know it's not a direct cover, (and there have been some good ones) but for me the originals always deserved such a headstart for the composition that usually it's no contest.
Steve Hackett was an essential part of Genesis, and his departure hurt more than Gabriel's. However, while there are some good ideas here, as throughout the album, it just doesn't develop. It's a collage of ideas that don't come together, ending up aimless and repetitious.
I agree.
There’s no way round it, they all needed each other and still do. That’s why their first few albums were just so good.
Hi Doug. Satyricon is a black metal band with a lot of history. Back in 2015 they released a live show with an orchestra. While I do not think you'll enjoy reacting to any of their traditional black metal songs, the one called Phoenix has the great Sivert Hoyem on vocals (clean throuout the entire song) and some really interesting music. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.
Doug. Please review In the Cage live in Birmingham 1984. A real classic.
Wow, you are absolutely right. Roughford is playing a Chris Squire baseline. I know it should be BAS s.
Always been fascinated how this song was put together. It's a collection of individual short parts that are assembled into a compelling and wonderful whole.
On day I'll move it in to Logic Pro, separate the drums and guitar and reassemble the fit to see if it can be extended... just for fun you understand.
Its a great album, very personal.A regular listen since 1978.
I bought the album with the money I earned from my Saturday job at Fine Fare: no discounts! The Wolflight/Acolyte tour was awesome. Can't wait for the Lamb tour.
Tess co-operates.
Great album. One of my favorites
Talking about prog rock… the English band national health is also worth checking out.
Something for the progrocklist?: Quatermass, I think you love it!
Doug, I really value your approach to the reaction genre, I haven't seen this Prog Rock song covered but it is in the spirit of your tastes: "Hawkwind - Assault and Battery", for your humble reaction consideration.
Havn't heard that in a while
So glad you are reacting to Steve’s solo work, I have got every single album, vast body of work. Many amazing tracks, I feel that not enough people react to his stuff, and I am so glad that you do. If you like Suppers Ready you must react to his extended version off the live album with Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall, the closing section is just sublime. I was lucky enough to go to that concert, an experience I will never forget.
Hows a bout some Jethro Tull (any will do)
I would say... in this song is enough stuff for several songs!
It's certainly worth checking the whole crew's solo stuff. Hackett, Philips, Banks, Collins, Rutherford, and of course Gabriel each brought something unique to Genesis.
Nothing to do with this song at all, but as you mentioned he is a wonderful musician and I think incredibly versatile too, I thought I would mention his version of Bach’s Chaconne. This is from his album Tribute which is all played on the classical guitar and only contains a couple of Steve Hackett compositions. I was ready to think the violin versions were better like recordings I have by Rachel Podger and Sigiswald Kjuiken and others but I sat down and intently listened to his version just this week and he made it sound like Bach’s heart breaking.
If you haven’t heard it already Please Don’t Touch is also a great album.
Fabulous.
Steve Hackett . Such an awesome musician. Ive always wonder what direction Genesis would have gone if he remained in the band. So glad he's getting the accolades he so richly deserves!
They would have been even better but I doubt Steve would have put up with the pop music that Tony and Mike wanted.
@@dannylgriffin I think Phil had more influence on the pop side of things. After all, that's what he succeeded in.
Funny you should mention Chris Squire. Both he and Steve worked together on the Christmas album Chris Squire's Swiss Choir as well as some of Steve's solo tracks, incl. Enter The Night, Nomads, Catwalk and Love Song To A Vampire.
They also had a collab called Squackett with their album A Life Within A Day, released in 2012. 🙂
From Voyage Of The Acolyte, the only song that was written by Steve and Mike was Shadow Of The Hierophant. Ace Of Wands was entirely by Steve.
I think Steve was also influenced by King Crimson.
'Love song to a Vampire' feels like a tribute to 'In the court of the Crimson King'
@@DrawingNo1 Sounds a bit like it, yeah. Steve is absolutely a big King Crimson fan. Mechanical Bride is a definite nod to 21st Century Schizoid Man. Ironically, on the album To Watch The Storms, where Mechanical Bride is from, saxophonist Ian McDonald plays on a song called Brand New.
Last but not least, Steve, Ian, John Wetton, Julian Colbeck and Chester Thompson did gigs in Tokyo, where they played not just Genesis and Steve's solo songs, but also some Crimson, incl. the one you mentioned, plus a bit of Asia. 😊
Yes ,a lot of cross pollination in prog but none the worse for that.
Love the 'Wolflight' album especially the guitar on 'Earthshine' and LSTAV is a great song imo.
If you haven't done it yet you need to look into howl's moving castle, or anything from Studio Ghibli. Howl's moving castle's main theme, Merry Go Round of Life, is an amazing piece.
a nearly 50 years time travel ! ! !
I remember ...............
Thanks for doing this wonderful old hero track, I saw hem doing this live about 1980 and it was so much fun!
Rutherford was on fire on this song. I always thought he was a much better bass player than a guitarist.
You had mentioned Chris Squire in the video, actually Steve and Chris put out an album called "Squackett".
Yes, more prog !!!
My dad absolutely loves this album. I am absolutely desperate for you to react to Sleep Token - Take me back to eden. It is absolute perfection.
Hi Doug,
The first time I saw Steve Hackett was on April 6, 1973 at the Grand Théâtre de Québec with Genesis. Moreover during Dream Theater's last visit to the same place. James LaBrie marked the 50th anniversary of the Genesis show. I then looked at my son to let him know that I was present at this spectacle.
Pls react to “Datastream,” by The Stupendium
Man... you pratically overlooked/listened to some of the more exciting initial 4 seconds of any music any genre: the initial 4 seconds of Ace Of Wands! The 4 seconds that open the album.
Doug, how about Zyma ("Thoughts" or "Brave New World") and Cathedral ("Stained Glass Stories")? How about something more complicated than Hackett?
Did John Hackett play that tubular bell part? Or Phil? Whomever came up with it deserves a lot of credit.
Very Emerson Lake and Palmer
From all the Genesis solo albums, this one, and Anthony Philips " The Geese and The Ghost" are the closest to a Genesis album.
II remember thinking "OK, this is on par with any Genesis music: 1st listen is what?where? who? and then it will grow on me". Did it ever.
I'm so glad Steve left Genesis: Imagine how much amazing music would be left on the floor of the committee!
But yes, it is a whirlwind of an opener. What a show of overflowing creativity! 1000 ideas in 6 minutes.
Compare to the opener of Wild Orchids (2006): Transylvanian Express also goes through a dozen of ideas and bits in 4 minutes, but Steve is Cured, free from any Genesis luggage. Stunning.
This and the 3 albums that follow have a haunted atmosphere to them. No wonder his 5th was called "cured".
is pure Genesis, sounds like outakes of selling England
❤
Slide whistle? LOL
I call this album 0.5 of the 4 man band, since Tony was the only one not present.
You should check out Tedeschi Trucks Band
Reminded of Babylon.
Please, react to Angra - Carry On and Shaman - Fairy Tale.
Great video Doug, have you heard Greta van Fleet - Meeting The Master? Would be great to see you dissect that track its incredible.
When Steve left Genesis they lost their soul..
I've always believed that Genesis lost more when Steve left than they did when Peter went. Yes Peter brought a quirky persona to the stage and off-the-wall ideas but when Steve left they lost the texture to the guitar lines. No disrespect to Mike he's a wonderful musician but much more orthodox in his guitar work. Steve had a different dimension and depth
Apparently now people think Steve Hackett composed most of Genesis material and was responsible for Genesis sound...
Excellent album. Cant blame you for calling this " a Genesis album?" Almost the whole crew are playing on it. Some of the songs for this album was written "for" Genesis to hopefully record, like the "Hierophant".
Please do check out some of the other early Solo album of his, like Please don't touch, and Spectral mornings (ah you've done that). He also have done a fair bit of classical albums with his Brother John Hackett. One album is "Shades of Satie". Just Flute and classical guitar. (i dare you to find any part of the album where you can here Steve's fingers doing the "slide" over the strings. you know what i mean that sound it makes when you dont lift properly while moving).
Doug has done a superb review of Spectral Mornings, and is a big Steve fan.
@@adriangoodrich4306 yes, but only on his patreon. that dont help the majority watching his CZcams
Great album. But if Steve stay in the band maybe Genesis never can escape from the prog and end like YES
Seru Giran
One minor but important correction to the "lost Genesis album" thesis. This is the lost Genesis album that would have been made *had Steve, rather than Tony Banks, been able to "shout the loudest" and control the band's direction*. Banks would never have allowed a Genesis song to begin with the crazy, Fripp-like guitar intro. here, for instance.
As an aside, Banks's hypocrisy is nauseating. On the one hand, he criticizes Steve in interviews for making a solo album at a critical time when the band needed material from all hands, yet everything from this album that Steve previously proposed for Genesis, Banks led the way in rejecting!
Anything 4:4 in the end... (Well done though. ^^)
For me, Genesis = Lamb Lies Down On Broadway.
Ya wanna do something different? Try ANGEL, The Fortune, little known prog band from the late 70's
I think steve harris may have heard this album...just maybe...
Really? Prog is great, I grew up with it. Loved it, married it like my childhood friend. But… it’s had its day. It’s a cougar now at best, and we live apart.
It's Genesis without Tony Banks. Well, Tony Banks kind of is Genesis.
This album is really great and SH's best imo.
Please for Henry cow In prise of learning.
I'd love to hear him react to some Henry Cow, or something from one of the Canterbury Scene bands. Trouble is, it would not be to the liking of many of his paying listeners, and if that's the source of your income you don't want to alienate them. It's a pity.
@@asharmstrong6730 Indeed. Gentle Giant is too progressive to be appreciated by most and Henry Cow is considered to be less accessible than them. I'm glad that I gave them a real chance and not just a cursory listen.
@@asharmstrong6730 If I remenber, caravan and gong was on the channel 😀
@@kecaj9691 Neither can be said to be at the sharp end of the genre, though I greatly enjoy both. For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night is my favourite all-time album.
@@asharmstrong6730 I love it too. For me caravan got 3 masterpieces: If I could..., In the land... and for girl...
hey Doug just found you yesterday on Yt and im rly amazed by the content your doing
So i wanted to ask if you could react to Hearts of Iron 4 Main Theme full song
i promise you you will be astonished
It's better than Genesis!
Steve Hackett's first solo album. Not a Genesis album. One of my favourite albums.
One of my all time favourite albums. Probably the best record Genesis never made. I bought it when it came out and nearly 50 years later it sounds as fresh as ever.
I'll second that, buddy. When the album was released, I had no idea of the serious tensions between Steve, and Mike and Tony, in Genesis. And I just loved the "Acolyte to Wolflight" tour - saw the band at Leeds Town Hall, an austere venue brought to life by the band.
and the lovely Sally Oldfield, brother John Hackett on synth and flutes, and even extra bass guitar from Percy Jones from Brand X. One of the most perfectly composed and realized albums of all time. Truly up there with Court Of The Crimson King and Close To The Edge.
@@adriangoodrich4306 I gather it was more Tony than Mike
I love this album.
czcams.com/video/vbm96e5Wvjw/video.html
@@aMan-or9ij Tony was to me clearly the main focus of any issues in the classic line-up. Not just with Steve - for example, there is a story about how Tony went apoplectic when Pete did a bit of ad-hoc keyboards in a writing or recording session for SEBTP one evening, through necessity, after Tony had finished for the day. He allegedly made it very clear only HE did the keyboards. Others in the band have commented that they usually ended up doing what Tony wanted!
I always felt that Steve was closer to Pete than the others, and that maybe he felt Pete's leaving more acutely as a result? Mike and Tony - and Phil - clearly work well together, and my point was more regarding the musical direction and selections where Steve clearly disagreed with Mike and Tony, and thought Wind and Wuthering should have featured more of his contributions - perhaps not least because, unlike Tony and Mike from well-off families, he needed the income from songwriting credits?
Ouch. That synth tone has not aged well.
A pale copy of "Yes"
Please Don't Touch is a better album.
sounds like Yes...yikes
A weird tune. No recurrence. No structure. It’s just a collage of different little ideas with no connection between them. I didn’t like it though I’m a big Steve Hackett fan. He completely missed it here.
I have this album, but this song has always been too much for me!🫨