Steve Hackett says there’s “no excuse” for music having “imperfections” in the modern era
Steve Hackett has looked back on the “imperfection” in classic Genesis albums, and though he feels such flaws do come to sound “sweeter” over time, he’s not opposed to polishing them up when revisiting these records in the present day.
Hackett is currently amid touring with his solo band in honour of the 50th anniversary of Genesis’ The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway album, a stint which continues in Japan from July and concludes in the US this November. A live album from the tour, recorded at the Royal Albert Hall in London, will also land on 11 July.
READ MORE: Steve Hackett says he wouldn’t have taken Genesis in a “pop direction” had he stayed
On the tour, he also plays a number of other Genesis greats. During an interview on the Ultimate Classic Rock podcast, Hackett states, “I think old material sounds sweeter with the passing of time. I think you forgive its imperfections and try and change those things when you go to it again. So things that might have been recorded in haste with aspects of timing and tuning, there’s no excuse for that these days. If you’re going to do a revisit, you might as well straighten out those things.
“When we were young players all piling in, there was one set of priorities. Now, of course, it’ll be well to polish these things. [Live], it’s not as if you’re doing a medley, I tend to do the full thing. If I’m going to do something, I’ll usually [play] the full tune and possibly extend with other things.”
He continues, “The end of Supper’s Ready [from the Foxtrot album] , I tend to go off on a guitar feature right at the end of it, just because I’m moved to do so. I haven’t got to worry about anyone going, ‘Hey, that’s my moment, you can’t do that. Well, I can, because I sweated blood to put this stuff together back in the early days.”
Hacket also recalls how the original process of recording The Lamb… was complex for a number of reasons, with one of them being the location – a former workhouse “that was arguably haunted and was frankly dangerous and unsanitary”.
He adds, “The Lamb was fraught with complication. By then, many of us were married with families or about to become fathers. We were still trying to employ the philosophy of going away, isolating and coming up with stuff. It’s a bit like you’re temporarily married to the team.”
For the full list of scheduled tour dates, and to find out more about Steve Hackett’s live album, head over to his official website.
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