Review Summary: Is this a lost Genesis album? I don’t know. But it’s a great start of an amazing career.
“Voyage Of The Acolyte” is the debut solo studio album of Steve Hackett and that was released in 1975. The line up on the album is Steve Hackett, Mike Rutherford, Phil Collins, John Hackett, John Acock, Sally Oldfield, Robin Miller, Nigel Warren-Green, Percy Jones and Johnny Gustafson.
“Voyage Of The Acolyte” is also the first solo album to be released by any member or ex-member of Genesis. “Voyage Of The Acolyte” was released before “The Geese And The Ghost” and “Peter Gabriel (1 – “Car”)” of Anthony Phillips and Peter Gabriel, respectively, both released in 1977, “A Curious Feeling” of Tony Banks which was released in 1979, “Smallcreep’s Day” of Mike Rutherford which was released in 1980 and “Face Value” of Phil Collins which was released in 1981. As you can see above on the line up of this album, Hackett invited to participate on his debut solo studio album two of his fellow members of Genesis, in those times, Rutherford and Collins, and some other great musicians too.
The breakup of Genesis is one of the tragedies of prog rock. The group lived, into the 80’s and behind, a pop oriented style, which was far away from the progressive epics they were first known. In a sense, Genesis became a very different band with the same name. Peter Gabriel’s departure was the first nail in the coffin, but it was Hackett’s decision to leave that set the band’s transformation in focus. Although, his solo debut “Voyage Of The Acolyte” was released while he was still in the group. The music is very compact and sophisticated and a certain Genesis’ sound is evident on the entire album. So, and mainly because of that, many consider “Voyage Of The Acolyte” one of the Genesis’ lost albums.
Steve Hackett’s solo debut remains a progressive rock classic. It has a tasteful symphonic progressive sound very much in the vein of the classic era of Genesis. But, it may not come as a surprise because, as I mentioned before, both Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins contribute on the album. For instance, the last track on the album, “Shadow Of The Hierophant” was even co-written by Rutherford and Hackett. However, his later solo albums proved that he could stand very well on his own legs too. Anyway, “Voyage Of The Acolyte” is a quite varied album too. It’s surely much more than a merely clone of a Genesis’ album. So, “Voyage Of The Acolyte” is undoubtedly one of the best solo albums from a Genesis’ member, if not the best, and personally I would rate this and Anthony Phillips’ “The Geese And The Ghost” as the best albums from ex-Genesis’ members. Curiously, “The Geese And The Ghost” has also the participation of the Genesis’ members, Rutherford and Collins, and again Rutherford co-wrote several pieces on that album with Phillips.
“Ace Of Hands” is perfect to open the album. Except for brief quiet parts, it constantly changes direction but it never seems forced, but relaxed and merry. One can almost feel the emotion of the traveller of embarking on his new journey. On “Hands Of The Priestess I” the melodies are beautiful and calm. Hackett’s electric gentle guitar and his brother’s flute swap the melody and they’re accompanied by soft violin strings and 12 string guitar works. “A Tower Struck Down” is an aggressive track. Hackett’s guitars mixed with crowd shouts, explosions and other sounds announce the final with a Mellotron at the end. “Hands Of The Priestess II” has acoustic relaxation again. On this track we realize how well Hackett can handle with various styles and combine them into a coherent whole. “The Hermit” is another soft and melancholic tune, this time with pretty decent vocals by Hackett. The song ends as gentle as it began. “Star Of Sirius” starts soft and gentle. Suddenly keyboards announce a total change into a jazzy section where the guitar in the background is perfect. “The Lovers” is a brief and quite acoustic piece. It gives some relief after all the complexity played before. “Shadow Of The Hierophant” is the epic to make the big finale of the album. This is a lengthy piece featuring the beautiful and ethereal vocals of Sally. If you are looking for great solos and great interplay you are wrong. It’s all about sweeping sound escapes and gentle acoustic guitar passages. This is a nice way to close a great album.
Conclusion: “Voyage Of The Acolyte” marks an extraordinary beginning of an ongoing career. In what would become the first solo project of any member of Genesis, “Voyage Of The Acolyte” isn’t a radical departure from Genesis. That sense of similarity of Genesis’ sound was probably further reinforced by the presence of his band mates. In fact, it’s probably Hackett’s most progressive rock sounding album to date. Hackett’s “Voyage Of The Acolyte” is undoubtedly the beginning of a great solo career, during which he has never tired of producing high quality prog music. He has embarked on a musical journey that has begun with this very powerful and multi-faceted album that begins strongly, ends great and alternately surprises and gives space to breathe in between. Is “Voyage Of The Acolyte” a lost Genesis’ album? Does it really matter? What does really matter, is that we are in presence of an extraordinary piece of music.
Music was my first love.
John Miles (Rebel)
