Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
More Genesis than Genesis!, 26 Sep 2005
After Peter Gabriel left Genesis, the remaining members took some time out to decide on what to do next. Guitarist Steve Hackett worked on his first solo album and the results were almost a Genesis album in all but name, with both Phil Collins and Mike Rutherford making guest appearances. It is clear from this album that Steve's contributions within Genesis were very significant indeed. The same autumnal, English, pastoral feel that pervaded albums such as "Foxtrot" and "Selling England By the Pound" is prevalent on "Voyage Of The Acolyte". This album has a dark, haunting feel to it, emphasised by brother John's flute playing and the heavy use of mellotron and acoustic guitar. The album opens with the storming instrumental "Ace Of Wands" which has become a firm live favourite ever since. Hackett is very, very good at writing rock instrumentals. His back catalogue is littered with brilliantly executed pieces like "Clocks", "Sierra Quemada" and "Twice Around The Sun". Next up is the beautifully haunting "Hands Of The Priestess Part 1". This then segues straight into the fuzzy menace of "A Tower Struck Down", another classic instrumental. "Star Of Sirius" is significant in featuring a lead vocal from Phil Collins, a sign of things to come. The album is completed with the mighty "Shadow Of The Hierophant", with beautiful lead vocals by Sally Oldfield and ending with typical instrumental aplomb. This was an excellent debut for Hackett. A bridge between the Genesis of old and the new and emphatically showcased not just what an excellent instrumentalist Hackett was, but that he had the compositional skills to match. Eventually the success of this album and his frustrations working within the confines of the band would lead to his departure. This re-release is part of the remastering of Hacketts' first four albums he recorded for Charisma. The remastering was overseen by Hackett and sounds excellent. The sleeve notes and packaging have been put together by the highly esteemed team of Mark Powell and Phil Smee. Included as bonus material is an electrified live version of "Ace Of Wands" and an extended "Shadow Of The Hierophant". So all in all a truly impressive package and at this price you can't go wrong.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Top notch prog from Genesis axeman ..., 24 Dec 2005
The first of a slew of great value reissues of the former Genesis axeman’s solo output, 1975’s Voyage Of The Acolyte was made shortly after the release of the band’s Lamb Lies Down On Broadway and the departure of singer Peter Gabriel. It was a time of solo projects for the band: Phil Collins drumming with Brand X (amongst others) and Mike Rutherford working on projects with former member, guitarist Anthony Philips. Hackett’s guitar-work played a major role in trade-marking the Genesis sound and with Collins and Rutherford guesting here together with Sally Oldfield, this debut complements well the band’s period prog output. Performance and production values are constantly high and the album showcases Hackett’s compositional talents, herein applied to a form of concept album based on the Tarot, with each track based on an individual card. Cello and oboe vie with mellotron and ARP synth in a space occupied in the main by Hackett’s precise yet fluid playing, with plenty of variation of pace and runs of pure melody punched with sufficient staccato dissonance as to keep us sitting up and paying attention. Critical and public acclaim greeted the release of this record, boosted here with a live version of "Ace Of Wands" and an extended 17-minute version of "Shadow Of the Hierophant" almost solely asserting its credentials as a slice of top notch prog of the time.
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A lovely album re-visited!, 27 Mar 2007
I remember a sunny afternoon over 30 years ago when a customer visited the audio dealers where I worked clutching a couple of LP's that were to become a big part of my listening sessions over the years. One was "Olias Of Sunhillow" by Jon Anderson and the other was this beautiful outing by Steve Hackett.
The music here is very haunting. It draws you in with great textures of light and shade to keep you on your toes. I wasn't a big fan of Genesis then (Trick Of The Tail changed all that!), but I can now see that the music on this recording shows just what a big part of Genesis Steve was. This may be regarded as a "prog" album by many, but it's stood the test of time far better than many prog LP's of the period in my view.
Along with many others I bought the CD as soon as it was available to replace my well played LP and it exhibited many of the failings of the LP, namely distortion in the kick bass and a certain thin-ness of tone typical of CD's made from masters intended for LP production. The re-mastering here has restored much of the "body" of tone, making the acoustic instruments sound much better and more natural. The distortion's still there a bit, but nothing like as noticeable as before.
In a time when I should be putting my money into new music, I can't help but return to some of my favourites and replace them with the latest issues, especially at the prices they can be obtained for. This a supremely rewarding album to listen to and I can't recommend it highly enough.
In closing, I wish some of the great "unwashed" looking newby bands (all beginning with "The *****") would take a listen to Dads old Genesis LP's, together with other great music from this era - the sort John Peel used to play(!)- Maybe then they'd learn just how far they need to go to come anywhere near great artists like this......
RECOMMENDED!
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