Wednesday 16 July 2014

Horizons (Genesis, 1972)

One of the shortest prog songs of this blog and also, I daresay, one of the finest ones. It's a Steve Hackett's solo performance on acoustic guitar opening the B side of the original Foxtrot LP, also including the huge suite "Supper's Ready" (taht's on this blog as well, of course). It's loosely inspired by Bach's Prelude to the First Cello Suite, but the final result sounds very different from its source. Strangely, this delicious instrumental wasn't specially conceived for inclusion in a Genesis album. In fact, producer Bob Potter asked Steve to perform something good on his guitar and he fell in love with the guitarist's track.

Steve proudly shows the Genesis albums he graced with his talents.

When the album producer changed, luckily the recording remained in in the tracklist and proved to be the best possible intro to the following monster suite. I can only describe it like this: a dream made music. And the fans reaction to it was so strong and emotional that the whole Hackett's career was influenced by this little gem. He's obliged to perform "Horizons" each time he stands on a stage,  even for public debates or book presentations, as I can personally testify. And each time the same magic fills the air.

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