Steve Hackett Says Genesis Music Got Lost in ‘Audio Space’ Battle

Steve Hackett thinks some of the best elements of the classic Genesis album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway were lost in a battle for “audio space” between Peter Gabriel and Tony Banks.

The 1974 release was their last to feature frontman Gabriel, while guitarist Hackett left three years later. In a new interview with Ultimate Guitar, he said it was obvious the lineup was about to change as the band worked on Lamb.

“I would say working with Peter Gabriel was somewhat easier in the earlier stages of Genesis’ development,” Hackett reflected. “I think we did some wonderful albums together – Foxtrot and Selling England by the Pound, I think, are phenomenal albums.”

He continued: “I don’t think there’s a weak track on either of those albums. And that's the strength of the collective songwriting team bringing that together.”

Things were changing by 1974, he said. “The band was beginning to fragment into factions. It was obvious Peter wasn’t going to stay. There seemed to be a competition between Peter and Tony to see how much audio space they could fill.

“And it means you’ve got very busy, crowded virtuosic keyboard work and very busy narrative-driven lyrics from Peter… these two paths seemed to be at loggerheads to a large degree. It became more difficult to define what the other instruments can do because there was less breathing space.”

Hackett argued that the music suffered as a result. “I think although The Lamb has many wonderful tracks on it overall, it really hasn’t been until the later remixes that you’re hearing half the detail… There was lots of detail on it. Surround sound and later mixes have brought back the detail that should have always been on it.”

“It fell into that classic conundrum of what groups have to deal with when there’s power play at work – where there are separate agendas.”

Steve Hackett Says Genesis Members Were Good For Each Other

Regardless, Hackett described Lamb as “very interesting” and hailed the solo material Gabriel’s released after quitting, going on to note that, in the mid ‘70s, he’d already been exploring the kind of unusual instrumentation that Gabriel would later become known for.

“With Genesis, I was using kalimba, autoharp – all these things I didn’t credit myself with,” Hackett recalled. “I just thought, ‘It’s a very competitive band. I’ll only get flak if I start announcing all the things I do in the credit. Be diplomatic.’”

He said the former band members remained friends, adding: “I think we were all good for each other… in the early days before it fell into factions.”