Genesis were lucky but they were also treated cruelly

Steve Hackett shared insights from his time at Genesis. The guitarist described Genesis as “an amazing band”.

Hackett played in the progressive rock group for six years, from 1971 to 1977. He transitioned from the era of Peter Gabriel to Phil Collins and played on some of the most important albums. He can be found in “Nursery Cryme” (1971), “Foxtrot” (1972), “Selling England By The Pound” (1973), “Lamb Lying Down on Broadway” (1974), “The Trick of the Way” (1976) and “Wind & Wuthering” (1976).

He wrote about his departure on his website in 2018: “I left Genesis because I had a lot of ideas that I could not implement in any other way. I needed freedom, but my time with the band was special and the music we created was very good Interview with the British weekly newspaper The Telegraph. Hackett said he was “very proud” of Genesis’ success during his time. In its six years, the musicians were “an invincible team”.

Here Steve Hackett and his band play classic Genesis music

Fierce competition

However, he had this to say about the Genesis 2022 reunion tour and his absence: “Genesis is an amazing band. They ask you, and when you say yes, they say you’re not needed. It’s that kind of competition.” About his feelings, he said: “I didn’t understand that I was part of a team that was very ambitious and often tried to use each other’s ideas. I thought that writing songs together would work collaboratively.”

Steve Hackett continued. “They knew each other since they were eleven years old. I think they were lucky but they were also brutalized,” he said. “The Charterhouse school system was created to produce India’s second Vice President, the next Prime Minister. The spirit of competition was instilled in them.” The guitarist’s conclusion: “I choose to celebrate the original songs of Genesis with a band that enjoys it.”

Today the guitarist has enough to do with his own music. His thirtieth solo album “The Circus And The Nightwhale” will be released this week.