Photo: By Jean-Luc (originally posted to Flickr as Genesis) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
The end of the 1970s saw the release of the album Spectral Mornings in 1979. Steve Hackett continued to release albums into the 1980s beginning with Defector in 1980, Cured in 1981, Highly Strung in 1983, Bay of Kings also in 1983, Till We Have Faces in 1984, and Momentum in 1988.
The grunge movement of the 1990s had no effect on Steve Hackett’s continued output. Kicking Nirvana and Pearl Jam out of the way, Steve Hackett released the album Guitar Noir in 1993, Blues with a Feeling in 1994, Watcher of the Skies: Genesis Revisited in 1996, A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 1997 and Darktown in 1999.
At the turn of the century, Steve Hackett released Feedback 86 in 2000 and then continued with To Watch the Storms in 2003, Metamorpheus in 2005, Wild Orchids in 2006, Tribute in 2008, Out of the Tunnel’s Mouth in 2009, Beyond the Shrouded Horizon in 2011, Genesis Revisited II in 2012, Genesis Revisited II: Selection in 2013, Wolflight in 2015, The Night Siren in 2017, At the Edge of Light in 2019 Under a Mediterranean Sky in 2021, Surrender of Silence in 2021 and his soon to be released album The Circus and the Nightwhale in 2024
Besides his work as a solo artist and the years he spent with Genesis, Steve Hackett has performed on numerous other projects, including guest spots with the Hungarian Jazz fusion band Djabe. There was also the very cool GTR project in which Steve Hackett and Steve Howe joined forces to create a guitar album for the gods.
Steve Hackett has been a very busy man for a very long time. He is loved by progressive rock fans. That adoration intimidated us in creating this Steve Hackett top 10 songs list. How could we pick just 10? So we have chosen ten of our favorites that Steve Hackett has released in chronological order. We hope the article serves as a starting point for those unfamiliar with his solo work. Let us know what your favorite Steve Hackett songs are.
Remember these selections have been picked from Steve Hackett’s career as a celebration of some of our favorite Steve Hackett songs in CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER
# 10 – Ace Of Wands
This incredible progressive rock song was the opening track on Steve Hackett’s first solo album, Voyage of the Acolyte. What a way to start a list. The album featured musicians Steve Hackett, John Hackett, Mike Rutherford, Phil Collins, John Acock, Sally Oldfield, Robin Miller, Nigel Warren, Percy Jones, and Johnny Gustafson. This one will blow your mind from the intense opening all the way through to the last measure. We thought it was cool to open the list with this song since it’s the first song on his very first solo album. What a way to start out a solo career.
# 9 – Shadow of the Hierophant
We continue our Top 10 Steve Hackett Songs list with the closing track from Steve Hackett’s first solo album, Voyage of the Acolyte. released in 1975. Steve Hackett and Mike Rutherford of Genesis wrote the song. If you don’t have this album in your collection, you are missing out on some really amazing progressive rock music.
# 8 – Narnia
The beautiful song “Narnia” was the opening track to Steve Hackett’s second solo album. The song featured the great Steve Walsh of Kansas on lead vocals. This one is stunning. If we were not making this list chronologically, this song would easily fit in the top one or two spots.
# 7 – Spectral Mornings
The Steve Hackett song “Spectral Mornings” was released on his third solo album entitled Spectral Mornings. The album was released in 1979. The song “Spectral Mornings” was the album’s closing track. Listen to how beautiful the strings sound at the song’s opening. It gets even more emotional when the full band drops in at about the minute mark. The guitar line will cut right through you. It has a strong Genesis vibe to it at that point. The album featured musicians Nick Magnus, Dik Cadbury, John Shearer, John Hackett, and Pete Hicks.
# 5 – Firth of Fifth
The Genesis song “Firth of Fifth” was remade live and released on Steve Hackett’s solo album Watcher of the Skies: Genesis Revisited. With Bill Bruford on drums and John Wetton on vocals, it does not get much better than that. The song was originally released on the Genesis album, Selling England by the Pound.
# 4 – Twice Around the Sun
“Twice Around the Sun” was simply one of Steve Hackett’s most mesmerizing pieces. The song was released on the album Darktown in 1999. The album featured an all-star lineup of musicians, including Billy Budis, Julian Colbeck, Hugo Degenhardt, Jim Diamond, Ben Fenner, Aron Friedman, John Hackett, Roger King, Ian McDonald, Jerry Peal, Doug Sinclair, and John Wetton. It’s stunning how Steve Hackett makes his guitar cry through this gorgeous piece. The man plays with such emotion. We love the interaction between the bass and guitar at the three-and-a-half-minute mark. It then just sails away, becoming even more striking.
# 3 – Love Song To A Vampire
Starting with this song, we take a listen to some really recent Steve Hackett music for multiple reasons. The first reason is simple, these songs are just simply striking in their sheer beauty and musicianship. We love them. The second reason is our desire to present the significant factor that this is an artist who has been writing and recording music for over fifty years, and he still remains at the top of his game in all aspects. Love Song To A Vampire is a phenomenal, haunting song that will send chills through your body from the moment it starts to its intense, adventurous end. The song was released on the Wolflight album in 2015.
# 3 -Fifty Miles from the North Pole
As we continue with our Top 10 Steve Hackett songs, we turn to The Night Siren album. The outstanding track “Fifty Miles From The North Pole” has a sort of James Bond vibe to the beginning but then takes off on an international world of mystery. The entire album is fueled by a large assortment of musicians from around the world, giving the album a world music vibe.
# 2 – Beasts In Our Time
This beautiful piece of music was released on the At the Edge of Light album. The album was released in 2019. It starts out with a very striking cinematic vibe to it. I am surprised Steve Hackett has not done soundtrack work. Or, at least we don’t know of any that he has done. His music is impactful in an emotional and adventurous sense. This song is stunning. We love the saxophone solo at the two-minute mark. The clown does freak us out a bit. Of course, Steve Hackett’s solos are mind-blowing. The juxtaposition between the strings, the guitar work, and the visuals in this one is not to be missed.
# 1 – People of The Smoke
This is one that you may have never heard before simply because the album has not been released yet. However, the video of the song People Of The Smoke below has been pre-released. It simply just blew us away. It’s another progressive rock masterpiece to be released by Steve Hackett in 2024 on the album entitled The Circus and the Nightwhale.
Our 10 Favorite Steve Hackett Solo Songs article published on Classic RockHistory.com© 2024
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