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Steve Hackett: Voyage of the Acolyte | Extended Play Lounge Ep. 111 (Patreon)

Published:
2026-04-09 23:53:08
Imported:
2026-04
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I thoroughly enjoyed this debut solo album from legendary guitarist Steve Hackett. His compositions, arrangements, and playing left me always wanting more. It's hard to pick a favorite track! I hope you enjoy.

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Steve Hackett: Voyage of the Acolyte | Extended Play Lounge Ep. 111

Comments

Peter Tutak

Regarding the slide whistle, look to various parts of ‘The Lamb’, i.e. ‘Counting Out Time’, and ‘Grand Parade’ for parts where incongruous instruments make an appearance, and where probably Steve was influenced to use them and create a transition between parts. (I always felt that was Phil’s influence here.) Still my favorite Hackett album after all these many years. (BTW, you can hear John Gustafson as the bassist for Quartermass, a proggy organ trio, with their one and only album on Harvest.) Nice work on this, Doug, and thank you !

Pat Bourque

In the early Genesis shows Steve would sit through the entire show almost all the way stage right

Gary Thobaben

I love this album, first of all. But I also think it exposes some of Steve's issues with form, which keeps it from being in the Genesis pantheon for me. Star of Sirius is a great example, and one you intuitively felt. That song has some of the best and strangest harmonic ideas I've ever heard (much like Blood on the Rooftops), but I think the form suffers and never quite has the momentum I wish it had. Tony has weird ideas too but his forms are more cohesive and have more sweep.

Craig Higgins

Doug, this album has dozens of recurring themes. The backward sounds in The Lovers actually hints at the end of The Hermit themes.

Tom (the soggy one)

John Gustafson- long history as a session heavyweight, but whom we all know and love for doing the one-off Quatermass album that Doug REALLY needs to cover. Wasn't meant to be a one-off, but was so successful that all the artists got so much session work from it that they never got back to Quatermass. Quatermass II, 20+ years later, was a pale resurrection attempt.

Ralph Darvill

Very interesting to see and hear your reaction Doug. I think Steve was bursting with ideas after the intensity of writing and touring "The Lamb", and Vouage acne be a bit cluttered at times...especially with those whimsical inserts, which are a bit "Monty Python". I love the range of instrumentation we get from Steve, and it makes for a lush listen. I prefer the follow up, "Please Don't Touch", but feel we've missed out on a truly experimental album from Hackett's ideas - just think of side 2 of Wind & Wuthering! The "Sieg Heils" during "Tower" are very effective.

Ruth James

Great album and great reaction. 4 comments: 1. Pardon me if you already know - Sally Oldfield is Mike Oldfield's sister 2. I agree re the strange interruption / coughing during A Tower Struck Down - Why?? 3. My favourite comment: "He's not just a guitarist, he's Steve fucking Hackett" 🤣 4. I highly recommend you going to The Circus and The Nightwhale on your next Steve "Fucking" (🤣) Hackett album reaction - his best album imho and regarding which you interviewed him

Mike D

Steve is an accomplished orchestral composer too. He has two full albums featuring orchestra (with Steve on acoustic guitar): A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Metamorpheus, in which he tells each story through music. Truly remarkable works that I know you'll enjoy, Doug.

Bill Coonley

Acolyte is by far my favorite of Steve's albums. Apart from musical influences, he was also influenced by Alfred Hitchcock, Monty Python and Agatha Christie, in that he is not afraid to tread through "weird" territory. Another great recording of his, IMHO, is "Darktown" from the mid-90s.

Ross Pollack

A very enjoyable album and episode. While songs and albums by Yes, Genesis, and their members will almost always win these polls, it's obvious there's a reason for that!

Guitar Channel

Sally Oldfield (Mike's sister) does some beautiful vocals on this album. Some of the 12-string guitar duets, and 6/12 string duets, appear that Genesis listeners have enjoyed going back to Foxtrot, Nursery Cryme and Trespass. I assume that Rutherford probably played the 2nd guitar parts here, as was typical for Genesis since overdub construction doesn't quite yield the same quality and they had been working together in this approach for several years. (Later, Trick of the Tail would feature these twin guitars on 'Entangled' and 'Ripples' with combinations of two acoustic 6/12 string or one electric and one acoustic.)

Vic Hearnden

I think the odd passages of music/sounds that you mentioned, may be a nod to some earlier Genesis album tracks ie, Harold the barrel.

Ole Martinsen

I attended Steve´s live world premiere here in Oslo in October 78 and I will never forget it! I remember he played Star of Sirius live with Dik Cadbury doing Sallys part in falsetto... it sounded great, and there was a LARGE canvas hanging from the roof behind him with Kims Acolyte front cover painting on it. He also played Spectral mornings for the first time which hadn't been released yet. He came on doing an encore and apologized that they didn't have more songs to play, so he did I know what I like from selling England as an encore..

Richard Stoney

Thanks Doug. This was the first album I ever bought and is still a regular listen. I don’t mind the whistles and coughs and Steve has history with this, as with “Foreign Sounds” credited on The Lamb. The longer version of Shadow provides a smoother transition into the final instrumental section rather than the clumsy fade up of the band. Interestingly, the original vinyl had the track split at that point so, for years, I thought it was a separate song. The album, like all prog concept albums of the time, does need to be listened to as two 20-minute sides rather than separating the tracks.

Jeff Norman

Only tangentially relevant but...I realized that one of the moves the big closing section of "Shadow of the Hierophant" makes is almost identical to a thing described in a post I read recently describing an entirely legitimate appearance of... a TRIPLE SHARP, which I think you'd be tickled by. Briefly: the piece is in F# major. At one point, the composer wants to set up a brief modulation to the mediant key (A# minor) by way of its dominant 7th (E#7). But along the way, he decorates the third of *that* chord with an altered lower neighboring tone: namely, the sharpened second degree of the E# major scale. Half step down from the third of the E# major scale (G double sharp) must be a flavor of F...and so, yes: F TRIPLE SHARP. Hackett doesn't do that, exactly...but he does have a V-of-V (if I recall, F#7/A# to Bm) in (maybe) F# minor...the V in a minor key being enharmonic with the iii in its relative major (A).

Tom (the soggy one)

Gonna admit in public- I'm a baaad progger. This is my first listen to this album. In fact, of ANY Hackett solo work. Okay, I'm not blown away, BUT I am incredibly impressed! "Ace Of Wands" DOES blow me away, and the first time I heard that, through Doug, I was in tears by the end. It grabbed me from every direction and dragged me back through the last 40+ years of my life. Still does.

Scot Poland

Mike D noted Steve’s two orchestral albums above. You’d appreciate his 3 classical guitar albums as well; he can both play and compose in this style. Momentum and Bay of Kings feature mostly his own compositions, while Tribute is his homage to his classical influences, Bach appearing several times.

Adie

Great to listen to this again. The chant at the end of Tower Struck Down is 'Sieg Hail" i.e. the Nazi chant of Hail Victory, which would now be understood as a dark victory. I think it's a shame that the vocal on The Hermit is buried by the reverb. There are one or two production questions on this really beautiful album. It's also interesting to hear the beginnings of a Steve Hackett style that grew and grew.

Hetfield Ninno Davide

I used to adore this album back some time ago and I still love it. There's a lot of very sophisticated harmony going on , the "fantasy" feeling is preminent and fun little fact : Legend of Zelda's "Zelda Lullaby" theme sounds quite similar to "Hands of the priestess". I love the way Steve brought classical guitar into a "rock'n roll" context , he's the one that actually made me get interested in the instrument I believe and started to listen to people like Tarrega and Segovia as a result. He's like a gentlier Fripp , they both share a thinkful and "intellectual" approach on the instrument albeit less dark and dissonant than Bob. Thank you Doug for this , you should go to "Please Dont Touch" next , it got some great moments as well ;)