Voyage Of The Acolyte [Remastered] - Steve Hackett

...a handful of session talent, Voyage represented both Hackett's future style and the first indication of the tight musical perfection Genesis would achieve in subsequent tours - Rutherford's bass is frequently mind bogglingly good and a surprise for many who simply knew him as an okay guitarist, whilst Collins's drumming was (by that time) becoming something a bit special.

Far from the pastoral oddness of Gabriel-era Genesis, Voyage ...
...much of (the largely instrumental) Voyage is darker and meaner than even The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, something which is particularly evident in A Tower Struck Down - a rumbling, minor-key instrumental monster of a tune. Not that it's all wall to wall prog show-off - much like any Crosby, Stills & Nash album, Voyage flits between "metal" and "wooden" music. Interspersed throughout are some short, delicate and haunting acoustic ... more

During Genesis's hiatus following Peter Gabriel's departure in 1975, most of the band either took a well deserved break from endless touring, or moved into side projects. Except for guitarist Steve Hackett, who decided it was the perfect time to record a solo album. Hackett was the first member of the "classic" Genesis line-up to go solo, pre-dating Gabriel's first album by two years, and what a debut it was. Often regarded, as the review title asks, as the finest album Genesis never made (and the best in Hackett's back catalogue), it proved Hackett was not only a top flight guitarist (something that only die hard Genesis fans had known up to that point), but also a brilliant composer and arranger. Roping in band mates Mike Rutherford (who also co-wrote the album's closing epic) and Phil Collins, as well as a handful of session talent, Voyage represented both Hackett's future style and the first indication of the tight musical perfection Genesis would achieve in subsequent tours - Rutherford's bass is frequently mind bogglingly good and a surprise for many who simply knew him as an okay guitarist, whilst Collins's drumming was (by that time) becoming something a bit special.

Far from the pastoral oddness of Gabriel-era Genesis, Voyage contains echoes of the band's mid to late seventies output, but is so different in tone and style that it's clearly not a Genesis album. From the frantic and technically fiddly opening salvo of Ace Of Wands (the album's first track), it's clear that Hackett wants to show the listener that this is no mere filler until the next Genesis album. Indeed, much of (the largely instrumental) Voyage is darker and meaner than even The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, something which is particularly evident in A Tower Struck Down - a rumbling, minor-key instrumental monster of a tune. Not that it's all wall to wall prog show-off - much like any Crosby, Stills & Nash album, Voyage flits between "metal" and "wooden" music. Interspersed throughout are some short, delicate and haunting acoustic passages - some (like the second part of Hands Of The Priestess, and The Lovers) are connecting passages between the noisy stuff, whilst the others (part one of Hands Of The Priestess and the Hackett sung The Hermit) are stand-out tracks in their own right, but the real meat of the album is in the lengthier "metal" blow-outs - the afore-mentioned Ace Of Wands and A Tower Struck Down, and Star Of Sirius (with vocal by Phil Collins). Undoubted masterpiece, though, is the album's epic closing track - the twelve minute Shadow Of The Hierophant. Split into two sections (a vocal, supplied by Sally "Mike's Sister" Oldfield, and instrumental), Hierophant stands up with the best that 70s prog has to offer. With beautiful melodies, a surging climax and the kind of "big sound" Pink Floyd would've been proud of, Hierophant is an awesome closer to an awesome album. In fact, Voyage is very much a classic in the careers of all involved and doesn't have a single weak point (unless, like many, you're not a fan of Hackett's singing voice, in which case The Hermit may not be for you).

Last year, Hackett released expanded and remastered editions of his first four solo albums (every one of them recommended)and, not surprisingly, Voyage was first out of the bag. With relatively little in the way of previously unheard material (anything that wasn't used here was either used on the next two Genesis albums, or tucked away until 1978's Please Don't Touch - Hackett's second solo effort and his first after leaving), the only extras here are a much bootlegged live version of Ace Of Wands from 1979 (weaker than its original studio counterpart) and an extended (to a whopping seventeen minutes) Shadow Of The Hierophant. The latter was a mouth-watering prospect for Hackett fans but, in reality, the extra six minutes are just a repeat of the closing theme, certainly not enough to warrant an uncut inclusion on the original album. Regardless of the lack of extras (the following three albums contain much juicier items), the main selling point of Voyage is the remarkable remastering. The original CD was quiet and muddy, whereas this noughties spruce-up sounds like the music was recorded yesterday - the guitars and keyboards shimmer, the bass rumbles nicely, the drums are clipped and the acoustic passages are opened up revealing hitherto unheard atmospheres. If only more remasters took a leaf out of Hackett's book, instead of merely re-recording the original tapes and just turning the volume up (Led Zeppelin, I'm looking at you!). As a bonus, the pretty packaging (card sleeve 'n all!!) replicates the original vinyl sleeve and the inlay booklet includes lyrics, new liner notes and some wonderful never before seen photos.

Voyage is many things - an influential musical shift for Genesis and proof they could carry on without Gabriel, a boost to Hackett's previous side-man profile and the first indication of his own departure from the band and, perhaps most crucially, one of the most important yet under appreciated prog albums ever made.

Listen to this if you like - early to mid-period Genesis, King Crimson 

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