Anthony Phillips and Steve Hackett

[Stickleback]

The recent thread comparing the two Steves (Hackett and Howe) got me thinking about Anthony Phillips and his replacement Steve Hackett. I've read in Genesis:Chapter and Verse that Phillips himself was very impressed with the progression of the band after he left and it almost seemed like there was a tinge of jealousy or regret there.

Is the general consensus that Steve Hackett was a dramatic step up in quality as lead guitarist after Anthony Phillips left? Listening back to the early Genesis albums, I find Hackett's lead playing to be stiff at times. As I stated in the other thread, I think Hackett has evolved into a much more fluid and confident lead guitarist throughout his solo career.

IMO Phillips own lead playing was also pretty stiff on the first couple Genesis albums. And of course, his solo career has featured much more acoustic rather than electric guitar so it's hard to compare the two guitarist's later work.

There's also the question of how much influence each guitarist had within the band. Phillips seemed to contribute much more in terms of composition to Genesis than Hackett did (except maybe W&W).

[Digital_Man]

Well Phillips was an original member and Hackett was not. They were all school friends and they started the band together so in that regard Phillips was already integrated into the band where as Hackett came later as a bit of an outsider(same thing with Phil Collins). I'm not saying there was some kind of clique necessarily but I think it's important to understand the history and group dynamics. Plus maybe Hackett was hired as a guitarist and not so much as a songwriter. They both had different styles. Like you say Phillips was more acoustic guitar oriented and you can tell that even from Trespass. Did you know that Anthony Phillips guested on a track on one of Steve Hackett's more recent albums? They are both very fine guitarists in their own right. Phillips also played on Camel's "single factor" if I'm not mistaken(admittedly not one of their better albums).

[Koreabruce]

Phillips' playing on The Single Factor was mostly in the keyboard department, but he did provide some cool 12-string guitar on the instrumental "Sasquatch", which IMHO is the best track on the album.

[JJ88]

I think the biggest improvement was in the drumming department, Phil Collins was very audibly a better musician than the previous drummers IMHO. That was something Anthony Phillips mentioned on the 'Trespass' DVD interview, Phil would have given the whole band a boost. Anthony Phillips was obviously a very capable guitarist as his solo albums would prove, but at that point in time I think Steve Hackett was a more fluid player...I don't think the switch was as dramatic though.

There's no 'jealousy' between these two, very recently Steve put on his Twitter account a picture of the two of them having dinner.

[calyx]

It's important to note that Anthony Phillips was barely 18 when he *left* Genesis. No wonder he wasn't quite a fully developed instrumentalist by that time - which is precisely what he worked on for the next 5 years (work on "The Geese..." began in 1974).

[happytheman]

I guess I'm one of those who felt Anthony did a more than adequate job with the lead parts on Tresspass and while I'm not sure how much of Musical Box was completed before he left my guess his guitar flavoring was felt on that song as much as it was with The Knife.. which from what I've read would be extended some nights to 45 minutes... (hmmm.. a lot of solos from Tony and Anthony?) Both Anthony and Steve were perfect fits for Genesis.. and as indicated in one of the post above.. Phil was the perfect drummer for where Genesis' were heading..

[bill g]

Since Steve really developed as a lead player, with the constant touring and all, I think had Anthony stayed with the band, he may have developed as well. Steve really developed as a classical guitarist after he left Genesis, although he was no slouch with Genesis. But now he's great at it.

[syncopatico]

As Hackett has said many times (this is probably general knowledge for most of you), he brought more of a harder, heavier, electric guitar (distorted) edge/feel to the band when he joined. He made them more rock-guitar-oriented obviously. He talks about listening to Trespass before he joined to get a feel for the band and has remarked many times how he liked the *pastoral* 12-string acoustic guitar stuff from Phillips (and Banks), he didn't think they were 'rock n' roll' sounding enough. He talks about the energy his playing brought to the 'heavier' songs like The Knife in concert that didn't exist in the earlier incarnation.
So yeah, i think it was an improvement: before Hackett (and Collins), Genesis were more "art school" *twee* sounding and probably would have never made it out of the genteel coffee house circuit to make it big. They needed a bigger louder (but still complex) sound to reach the unwashed masses at the Reading Festival in '72 and so on!

[bill g]

Interesting that the Hackett song from 'Nursery Cryme' was 'For Absent Friends', a very mellow track. I probably prefer Trespass to Nursery Cryme myself (love them both though), I thought the acoustic stuff was stronger, although I find the heavier 'The Knife' weak compared to the heavier material on Nursery Cryme.