Prog Album of the Week - Week 5 (09/06/2013): Steve Hackett - Voyage of the Acolyte

Welcome to the fifth week of r/progrockmusic's Album of the Week! Last week we discussed Genesis' Selling England by the Pound and that was lovely. If you'd like to peruse previous weeks' discussions, the threads are here:

1, 2, 3, [4] (http://www.reddit.com/r/progrockmusic/comments/1lg9vp/prog_album_of_the_week_week_4_08312013_genesis/)

So this week is the first "non-canonical" album we'll be covering in that very few people would regard this album as a "10/10 must-listen" (some might, and that's cool, but it isn't necessarily a top-10-prog-albums-ever type of album like we've previously been covering).

That isn't to say Steve Hackett is necessarily unknown - we'll be covering more obscure stuff later on - but I feel like it'd be easier to ease (hhehehhe) into that kind of stuff slowly.

I figured we'd discuss Voyage of the Acolyte! I'm still on a Genesis kick from last week, so who better to discuss than Steve Hackett?! Good old Steve. This one features a lot of Collins and Rutherford so it's basically Genesis minus Tony Banks.

The concept behind this album is that each song corresponds to a tarot card. Neat!

http://imgur.com/NCl86bA ###Steve Hackett - Voyage of the Acolyte (1975)

Track Listing

1. Ace Of Wands; 2) Hands Of The Priestess Part I; 3) A Tower Struck Down; 4) Hands Of The Priestess Part II; 5) The Hermit; 6) Star Of Sirius; 7) The Lovers; 8) Shadow Of The Hierophant.

• The album on YouTube
• Wikipedia page
• Allmusic review (4/5)
• George Starostin Review (12/15)

####Potential Discussion Questions:

• So! Steve Hackett's solo career begins with this one. Several questions arise: how does his solo act compete and/or compare with Genesis' albums of the same period? Is it fulfilling as his first album? How does his guitar-work and musicianship change relative to his work on Genesis?

• How would you personally rate the album?

• Collins and Rutherford contributed heavily to this album, making Voyage of the Acolyte very Genesis-esque. Without Tony Banks, what direction do you think Genesis would have gone in?

• Are there any moments on the album you consider particularly strong or particularly weak (i.e., favourite/least favourite moments)?

^contributions, ^comments ^& ^corrections ^are ^welcome. ^Message ^/u/BenBenBenBe.