Steve Hackett is a master!! Been a fan since 1971 when my brother said “here have this record it sounds like you might like it!! Nursery cryme “ the rest is history! A couple hundred records later.. excellent work
Just saw Steve in ft Myers Florida. Had no idea he was touring in Florida while we were on vacation. Played at the Barbra Mann theatre. Fantastic venue. Almost sold out. The band was fantastic sounded incredible and lights were magical. If he is playing in your area go see him.
Wife and I saw Master Hackett at The Ryman last October. What a show ! Nad is a really versatile singer. He can sound exactly like Collins or Gabriel and his stage presence was mesmerizing
When the Heart Rules the Mind! 1986! I thought GTR was a great band back then. Great interview John. Thank you! Thank you Mr. Hackett. You're a music legend!!
Met Steve Hackett personaly and had the priviledge of taking him on a ride in my car to Panamá s National Theater. He Is my all Time guitar Hero because he can play anything!
God, I love that album. One of my favorites of all time. Still to this day I play the Hell out of it. I wish I could have seen them live! Top 5 on my list of best albums of all time…
I understand that Steve's band are going to do Lamb highlights live in late 2024. I hope to see it and I hope he does plenty if it, including the first 3 tracks (that were done at the 1982 Genesis reunion gig). I'd like to hear Roger King doing In The Cage and Riding the Scree keyboard solos.
Steve Hackett's latest album is excellent IMO. I saw him play this week on Cruise to the Edge and he absolutely killed. He keeps getting better and better.
Those early solo albums of Steve’s were spectacular, but for me it *really* all gelled on ‘Spectral Mornings.’ What a magnificent LP, start to finish. The band was perfect, the arrangements, and Steve’s playing of course. And how did Dik Cadbury not become famous in his own right?
Steve Howe and Steve Hackett are two of my favorite guitarists, so you would think GTR would be one of my favorite albums. But it had too much of the pop 80s flavor for me and I couldn't get into it. If it had come out in any other decade and they decided to make it more prog (like Steve Hackett's more recent albums) I probably would have liked it a lot more.
Seeing Steve this year and seen him a few times with and without Genesis and GTR was not good, I bought the single “When the heart …. and b-sides were Hackett to Pieces and the Howe song Spain something ! They were good , the rest was rubbish I’m afraid.
I wonder and am surprised that Steve Hackett has not done a GTR revisited tour with his current band who have revived all his Genesis albums. There is plenty material to play and am sure the fans will respond in a positive way like they have for the Genesis tours.
"different individuals pulling in different directions" but but but the finished product was AWESOME Saw them in Kalamazoo - wish I could re-live that night a hundred times.
I love Steve Hackett’s guitar work. I wish GTR stayed together longer but obviously, it wasn’t meant to be. Had it lasted, we may not have gotten Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe. The Lamb was a masterpiece but also the end of an era. PS John, you summed it up perfectly when you said Steve describes his music like an artist describes his/ her painting! 🖼️ 🖌️🎨🎵 I dig your new theme! It rocks! 🎸
I would like to thank the interviewer here, I do not have access to his name at this time, though, this is an excellent interview with proper questions leading to the most interesting answers.
I bought the first GTR CD when it came out. When the Heart Rules the Mind was listenable, but none of the rest was up to what could be expected from prog's two biggest lead guitarists.
I pre-ordered the GTR album, and as soon as I saw the logo on the sleeve when I picked it up, I knew it wasn't going to be good. I thought it was bland, by-the-numbers Corporate rock. I only ever listened to it about three times. It actually put me off buying the next few Hackett albums. Obviously, Steve got back on track - his latest album is fantastic.
And Steve colors so well on the title song of Lamb. But there's some good solos on Fly, Anyway, Supernatural Anaesthetist, and on course Lamia. And those are some greats.
Steve was my top guitar hero for maybe 20 years. Then I discovered fellow English composer-guitarist Allan Holdsowrth - totally different level, far more challenging and rewarding. Still listening to both guys to this day.
I think GTR really suffered for the time it came out, in the middle of hair metal and new wave eras and in the middle of the 80s pop era and it seemed a bit pretentious to a lot of people, maybe it was, those of us who wanted the synth guitars and prog-rock/art-pop we were just outnumbered, I still believe with a bit more support from the record company and and little more savvy in the production they could have been a huge huge band , Steve is an amazing musician and Steve Howe also an amazing musician, I wish they had kept it going, I'm going to look up his "follow up" album
The nice thing about the GTR album is that it is just *shot through* with guitar and so many different kinds of playing. If you like guitar, man, this is the bee's knees. There are points where it's almost painful to listen to - very shrill and biting. My favorite stretch is the two "solo" pieces by the Steves through to the end. The first, "Sketches In The Sun," is something Howe did on a Martin acoustic on the ASIA IN ASIA live show in Japan but was rerecorded for this album on the intriguing choice of a Danelectro electric 12-string. The second, "Hackett To Bits," is a (IMO improved) rearrangement of his song "Please Don't Touch" with Howe either absent or providing second lead. That seques into a brilliant group bit called "Imagining" that's the most exciting number on the whole album. As for the rest of the album, it's quite good. Even the single that got them on mainstream US TV shows like AMERICAN BANDSTAND, "When The Heart Rules The Mind," has a pretty hard prog stamp on it in the bridge.
I saw the GTR concert in Dallas at the Bronco Bowl back in the day. There were a couple of hawt chicks sitting next to me at the show who seemed out of place. There's no way they were into classic Yes or Genesis or any such. My friends and I waited for the band behind the venue after the show to get autographs. The bass player came out, arm and arm with those two gals. It dawned on me that they were working girls. We got Steve Howe's autograph and headed home. Ah the memories.
Ugh, GTR was such a step down for both Hackett and Howe. I saw them on their tour, and I thought it was awful 80s tripe, except for the moments when each guitarist played some of their old band's material. GTR was a big misstep for both guys - no need for any kind of reunion tour, lol
I was a huge fan of both band for the time I was 11 years old but I never hear to GTR. Just goes to show you no matter how much you know. Another album to add to the HUNT List.
GTR was an amazing and bad idea. Howe and Hackett together is a powerful notion, but it just wasn't going to work. Maybe something more along the lines of Brand X, but nahh.
Would it be legally possible for Steve to-call a band "Genesis", as he used to be a member (and is the only one playing the tunes)? Or does Rutherford and Banks own the name, as they were the only consistent members? Its a serious question.
I wouldn't do that. I think it would be a bad move. Genesis is a dead band. Has been really since 1992. Or 1981 for anyone who didn't like the 80s material!😂 Best let it lie in my view.
Never a huge fan of Genesis or Yes. Liked Supertramp SO much more than the 2... Not that I didnt like Genesis or Yes... Just... didnt get it.. And Zappa and say Tull were so much better IMO.. I'll take Alan Parsons over the 2 also...Hell Hawkwind was better! IMO!
Agreed. To me it's everything about the 80's I can't stand all stuffed into my ears at once. Horrible mullet headed, shoulder padded, leotard aerobic poodle rock music from the Starship playbook. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love Steve Hackett but this and quite a lot of his 80's output was just a misstep to me.
Steve Hackett is a master!! Been a fan since 1971 when my brother said “here have this record it sounds like you might like it!! Nursery cryme “ the rest is history! A couple hundred records later.. excellent work
ok, ok..
Just saw Steve in ft Myers Florida. Had no idea he was touring in Florida while we were on vacation. Played at the Barbra Mann theatre. Fantastic venue. Almost sold out. The band was fantastic sounded incredible and lights were magical. If he is playing in your area go see him.
Saw them 7/21/86. Excellent concert. "Imagining" was my favorite song on the album.
Wife and I saw Master Hackett at The Ryman last October. What a show ! Nad is a really versatile singer. He can sound exactly like Collins or Gabriel and his stage presence was mesmerizing
When the Heart Rules the Mind! 1986! I thought GTR was a great band back then. Great interview John. Thank you! Thank you Mr. Hackett. You're a music legend!!
I bought that cassette and liked it.
GTR: HOWE AND HACKETT two of our greatest guitarists will ride again! I loved the recording production and supplying Fender guitars for promo
Met Steve Hackett personaly and had the priviledge of taking him on a ride in my car to Panamá s National Theater. He Is my all Time guitar Hero because he can play anything!
I was fortunate enough to see GTR in concert. Standing 2nd row center. One of the best shows I have seen. Fabulous!
God, I love that album. One of my favorites of all time. Still to this day I play the Hell out of it. I wish I could have seen them live! Top 5 on my list of best albums of all time…
i saw them live in towson or baltimore md. meet phil spaulding in lancaster pa when they were getting their sound and stage together in lititz pa.
I understand that Steve's band are going to do Lamb highlights live in late 2024. I hope to see it and I hope he does plenty if it, including the first 3 tracks (that were done at the 1982 Genesis reunion gig). I'd like to hear Roger King doing In The Cage and Riding the Scree keyboard solos.
I love listening to Steve
ok, ok...
He just seems like such a nice guy....and brilliant.
Steve Hackett's latest album is excellent IMO. I saw him play this week on Cruise to the Edge and he absolutely killed. He keeps getting better and better.
You are so correct I saw him live last year and will see him in two weeks, he is a very talented artist and a class act.
Those early solo albums of Steve’s were spectacular, but for me it *really* all gelled on ‘Spectral Mornings.’ What a magnificent LP, start to finish. The band was perfect, the arrangements, and Steve’s playing of course. And how did Dik Cadbury not become famous in his own right?
Steve Howe and Steve Hackett are two of my favorite guitarists, so you would think GTR would be one of my favorite albums. But it had too much of the pop 80s flavor for me and I couldn't get into it. If it had come out in any other decade and they decided to make it more prog (like Steve Hackett's more recent albums) I probably would have liked it a lot more.
The mix and production are also terrible, in my opinion. The remaster helped a little, but it still sounds awful.
Seeing Steve this year and seen him a few times with and without Genesis and GTR was not good, I bought the single “When the heart …. and b-sides were Hackett to Pieces and the Howe song Spain something ! They were good , the rest was rubbish I’m afraid.
I wonder and am surprised that Steve Hackett has not done a GTR revisited tour with his current band who have revived all his Genesis albums. There is plenty material to play and am sure the fans will respond in a positive way like they have for the Genesis tours.
"different individuals pulling in different directions" but but but the finished product was AWESOME Saw them in Kalamazoo - wish I could re-live that night a hundred times.
Saw GTR Hammersmith Odeon, still have the CD. I remember the singer saying "we are not going to disappear, we will be around a long time".
Still have the GTR album
I love Steve Hackett’s guitar work. I wish GTR stayed together longer but obviously, it wasn’t meant to be. Had it lasted, we may not have gotten Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe.
The Lamb was a masterpiece but also the end of an era.
PS John, you summed it up perfectly when you said Steve describes his music like an artist describes his/ her painting! 🖼️ 🖌️🎨🎵
I dig your new theme! It rocks! 🎸
I would like to thank the interviewer here, I do not have access to his name at this time, though, this is an excellent interview with proper questions leading to the most interesting answers.
I saw GTR at the Tower Theater in Upper Darby, PA. It was a great show!
GTR put on a great show at the San Jose Civic Center (California). We got the album plus solos by both Steves.
I bought the first GTR CD when it came out. When the Heart Rules the Mind was listenable, but none of the rest was up to what could be expected from prog's two biggest lead guitarists.
good interview. gets to the point a little faster than Shannon ! lol
Great interview
Gtr was an very good Pop record I sold it in 1990 but thank God I still have 600 lo s
I pre-ordered the GTR album, and as soon as I saw the logo on the sleeve when I picked it up, I knew it wasn't going to be good. I thought it was bland, by-the-numbers Corporate rock. I only ever listened to it about three times. It actually put me off buying the next few Hackett albums. Obviously, Steve got back on track - his latest album is fantastic.
Love Dare. Great to hear Steve say he was influenced by them!
It would be an interesting tour with Hackett, Rutherford, Banks & (nic Collins?) playing the long instrumental parts
And Steve colors so well on the title song of Lamb. But there's some good solos on Fly, Anyway, Supernatural Anaesthetist, and on course Lamia. And those are some greats.
Why don't there was "twilight alehouse" in nursery cryme, i don't understood!...
Steve has always been my biggest guitar hero. Fantastic music he created.
Steve was my top guitar hero for maybe 20 years. Then I discovered fellow English composer-guitarist Allan Holdsowrth - totally different level, far more challenging and rewarding. Still listening to both guys to this day.
Feedback 86 sounds like something I need to look more into.
Should have him on every week
I think GTR really suffered for the time it came out, in the middle of hair metal and new wave eras and in the middle of the 80s pop era and it seemed a bit pretentious to a lot of people, maybe it was, those of us who wanted the synth guitars and prog-rock/art-pop we were just outnumbered, I still believe with a bit more support from the record company and and little more savvy in the production they could have been a huge huge band , Steve is an amazing musician and Steve Howe also an amazing musician, I wish they had kept it going, I'm going to look up his "follow up" album
Thanks for this. I admire Steve Hackett a lot, but mostly following Genesis, I had never heard of GTR.
The nice thing about the GTR album is that it is just *shot through* with guitar and so many different kinds of playing. If you like guitar, man, this is the bee's knees. There are points where it's almost painful to listen to - very shrill and biting. My favorite stretch is the two "solo" pieces by the Steves through to the end. The first, "Sketches In The Sun," is something Howe did on a Martin acoustic on the ASIA IN ASIA live show in Japan but was rerecorded for this album on the intriguing choice of a Danelectro electric 12-string. The second, "Hackett To Bits," is a (IMO improved) rearrangement of his song "Please Don't Touch" with Howe either absent or providing second lead. That seques into a brilliant group bit called "Imagining" that's the most exciting number on the whole album. As for the rest of the album, it's quite good. Even the single that got them on mainstream US TV shows like AMERICAN BANDSTAND, "When The Heart Rules The Mind," has a pretty hard prog stamp on it in the bridge.
I saw the GTR concert in Dallas at the Bronco Bowl back in the day. There were a couple of hawt chicks sitting next to me at the show who seemed out of place. There's no way they were into classic Yes or Genesis or any such. My friends and I waited for the band behind the venue after the show to get autographs. The bass player came out, arm and arm with those two gals. It dawned on me that they were working girls. We got Steve Howe's autograph and headed home. Ah the memories.
Steve Hackett is the man who keeps Genesis music alive.
New sub , thanks from Melbourne Australia 🦘🌏
Ugh, GTR was such a step down for both Hackett and Howe. I saw them on their tour, and I thought it was awful 80s tripe, except for the moments when each guitarist played some of their old band's material.
GTR was a big misstep for both guys - no need for any kind of reunion tour, lol
I was a huge fan of both band for the time I was 11 years old but I never hear to GTR.
Just goes to show you no matter how much you know.
Another album to add to the HUNT List.
GTR was an amazing band and an amazing album ! The voice of Max Bacon the voice of an angel!!!
I have often felt that TLLDOB was in many respects proto-New Wave. It was incredibly ahead of its time.
As someone who was playing and working.. they were already dated and goofy.
What is TLLDOB?
love that GTR album
Saw him 2 weeks ago!!!!
The problem with GTR was that they made a repugnant noise and it was a cynical cash in. And I love Steve God Bless him!
Interesting, thx
GTR was an amazing and bad idea. Howe and Hackett together is a powerful notion, but it just wasn't going to work. Maybe something more along the lines of Brand X, but nahh.
No idea if this is true but I read somewhere that Hackett is worth more than Phil Collins due to some astute investments.
GTR = SHT
GTR
🔥💙🔥
The Hunter was a great GTR song
Steve Hacket and Steve Howe in the same band? What's the point of that?
Would it be legally possible for Steve to-call a band "Genesis", as he used to be a member (and is the only one playing the tunes)? Or does Rutherford and Banks own the name, as they were the only consistent members? Its a serious question.
I wouldn't do that. I think it would be a bad move. Genesis is a dead band. Has been really since 1992. Or 1981 for anyone who didn't like the 80s material!😂 Best let it lie in my view.
Never a huge fan of Genesis or Yes. Liked Supertramp SO much more than the 2... Not that I didnt like Genesis or Yes... Just... didnt get it.. And Zappa and say Tull were so much better IMO.. I'll take Alan Parsons over the 2 also...Hell Hawkwind was better! IMO!
Can anyone explain the laughable thumbnail? Does he think he is a bit spooky or something?
Just had to go watch the videos of that band. Horrible music. Easy to see why that "supergroup" failed.
Just horrible music from good musicians.
Agreed. To me it's everything about the 80's I can't stand all stuffed into my ears at once. Horrible mullet headed, shoulder padded, leotard aerobic poodle rock music from the Starship playbook. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love Steve Hackett but this and quite a lot of his 80's output was just a misstep to me.
GTR and Asia were so bad
Everything about GTR was contrived, corporate and 80's junk at its worst. Third rate Asia.
Great Guitarist