From Genesis to Glenmorangie
From Genesis to Glenmorangie: Genesis's "Foxtrot" and Glenmorangie 10
RRWS Episode 8 | Originally published November 17, 2023
A few days ago I had the chance to see Steve Hackett, guitarist best known for his contributions to Genesis between 1970 and 1977, the period of the band known for their progressive rock music and theatrical, artistic stage shows led by vocalist Peter Gabriel. This is the second time I've gotten to see Hackett and his band.
His tours, known as Genesis Revisited, feature a first half of music from his solo career, seven or eight songs from an illustrious catalog. The second half features the music of his era in Genesis. In 2022 I went up to Minneapolis and saw him performing the "Seconds Out" live album, which came out shortly after Phil Collins had moved from just playing the drums to being both the drummer and vocalist in the band. It's a great live album, and it was a great performance of that live album.
Last Sunday in Des Moines, Iowa, Hackett and his amazing band performed 1973's "Foxtrot" from start to finish, along with a couple other Genesis favorites in the encore. It was amazing. Hackett's solo music was tremendous and mesmerizing, but it was the Genesis portion that made me feel like I was witnessing something really special and unique.
Steve Hackett
After seeing him last year and again this year, I believe (and I don't think I'm alone in this) that he's among the most underappreciated and greatest guitarists in rock. He's amazing, and I suspect most people have never heard of him, even though he does sell pretty well when he tours, and he tours quite extensively.
If you do know him, you may know the story that Hackett was using innovative guitar techniques like the two-handed tapping technique made famous by Eddie Van Halen, quite a few years before Van Halen came along. He seems to be really inventive, and he loves the music that he makes. He even quipped at the beginning of the show that he mainly toured so he could stand in the middle of his amazing band and watch them play. They're all amazing. Hackett loves music. He's clearly happy to be up there performing. I'm really glad I got to see him twice. He's in his 70s, and hopefully I'll get to see him again. But it was really something special to see them perform "Foxtrot" from start to finish.
Foxtrot
Released in 1972, "Foxtrot" is Genesis's fourth studio album, and it was a major record in their career, featuring the band's signature blend of rock, classical, and contemporary music along with theatrical elements and complex arrangements. The lineup at the time included Peter Gabriel on lead vocals and flute, Tony Banks on keyboards, Mike Rutherford on bass and guitar, Phil Collins on drums and backing vocals, and Steve Hackett on guitars.
I think "Foxtrot" is probably the most celebrated record of the Gabriel era, mainly because of the 23-minute epic "Supper's Ready," which we'll get to in a little while. Supper's not quite ready yet. But it's a great album from start to finish, full of engaging moments and fantastic musicianship.
Track by track
"Watcher of the Skies" opens the album. This track is famous for its Mellotron introduction. The Mellotron is an interesting keyboard-type instrument that makes a real distinct sound. You hear it in a lot of prog rock, particularly from the '70s. Even the Beatles experimented with it a little bit toward the end of their career. Tony Banks plays that Mellotron intro, and it gives the song an otherworldly atmosphere. The lyrics, inspired by sci-fi, reflect the loneliness of an alien observer looking upon a deserted Earth. Musically, it features dynamic shifts and a really powerful rhythm section highlighting Collins's drumming and Rutherford's bass. The live version featured Gabriel in a crazy costume with a batwing headdress and glowing eye makeup, creating a real otherworldly appearance. If you see Genesis Revisited with Hackett, singer Nad Sylvan pays tribute to that in the live show. He stands above the stage in costume with glowing red eyes and a telescope, gazing out over the crowd as he performs the song. It's really kind of cool.
"Time Table" is a quieter, more reflective piece. It shows the band's ability to create a medieval atmosphere with its piano-driven melody and poetic lyrics that talk about the rise and fall of civilizations. While most of the music from this era of Genesis feels somewhat out of time for me, this one feels very 1970s but with a tinge of the 1270s too. It walks both lines of '70s rock and medieval music. Kind of fun.
"Get 'Em Out by Friday" is a character-driven piece with a strong narrative, typical for Gabriel at this time. It discusses corporate greed and the dehumanization of urban development. Some of these themes could be used in music in 2023, for better or for worse. Gabriel famously performed different characters in the song with different vocal styles and funny voices during his live shows and on the record.
"Can-Utility and the Coastliners" is inspired by the legend of King Canute, an early king of England and Scandinavia. Hackett's guitar work is very notable here, with delicate and aggressive textures and just beautiful playing. That closes out side one.
"Horizons" opens side two. It's a short classical guitar piece by Hackett, an instrumental that serves as a gentle interlude on the album, showing off his skill in fingerpicking and his ability to convey emotion through that instrument. He played it live last week and it was beautiful. It serves as a nice, gentle opening of side B, and it's the only other music on this side besides the amazing "Supper's Ready."
But it's always good to have a drink before supper, don't you think?
The pairing: Glenmorangie 10 (The Original)
Before we talk about "Supper's Ready," let's get out a bottle of whisky. And it's going to be one that's worthy of the Watcher of the Skies, so let's look to the north. Let's look to the Highlands of Scotland.
I'm talking about Glenmorangie Distillery, a Highland distillery in the northern part of Scotland known for their extraordinarily tall stills. That's part of their marketing: they claim to have the tallest stills in Scotland. We're going to look at the main whisky of their line, called The Original. It's Glenmorangie 10, a Highland single malt that has a complexity I think complements "Foxtrot" pretty well. It's balanced and elegant.
The flavor profile has some citrus, some vanilla, some floral notes, maybe a little peach. It's not intense and not too complex. It's just really versatile and accessible as a single malt. Over the last couple of weeks we talked about some Islay whiskies with their smokiness. Those don't appeal to everybody. Glenmorangie has enough complexity to be a good whisky for scotch enthusiasts, but it's also approachable for people who are new to drinking scotch or only drink whisky from time to time.
Those tall stills
As I said, Glenmorangie boasts the tallest stills in Scotland. What does that mean? Here's what I can gather from what I've read and from what I know of the distillation process (some of this is probably a little exaggerated). A taller still means a longer path for the alcohol vapors to travel during distillation. That could allow for greater condensation and reflux of the heavier elements and impurities that might make it into the final product of a still without that height. In Scotland they're using pot stills for the most part, which is a little different from the U.S. where column stills are more common and a lot of those impurities get removed before the final product.
The taller still also means more interaction of the vapor with copper, which helps purify the spirit further. Only the lightest vapors make it to the top. The heavier alcohols and oils, which can contribute to a harsher taste, condense earlier and fall back into the still to be redistilled. That's why they say Glenmorangie is able to have such a delicate flavor profile. Taller stills also result in a slower distillation because the vapor has farther to travel, and they say that gives the distiller more control over the process.
Is all that true? I don't know. But that's what they claim, and it all sounds reasonable to me. All I know is the final product, Glenmorangie 10 and the other whiskies in their line, are really pretty rich, engaging, and quite accessible to most whisky drinkers, both in taste and availability. It's one you'll find just about anywhere, in any bar that's got even a small single malt collection.
In those ways, it's kind of like the listening experience for "Foxtrot." It's got some nuance. It's got a lot of artistic depth. But it's also pretty accessible, very listenable, even to somebody who's not really accustomed to prog rock. There are great hooks, beautiful melodies. And who doesn't like listening to Peter Gabriel? Glenmorangie 10 is a really good whisky to drink with "Foxtrot."
Now that we've had our whisky, it's time for supper.
Supper's Ready
This 23-minute epic is considered one of Genesis's masterpieces and a defining moment of progressive rock in general. I'm not as deeply versed in prog rock as some, but I haven't really found anything in the genre that truly tops it for me. I think it's an incredible song.
"Supper's Ready" is divided into seven distinct sections, each telling a different part of a larger story that touches on themes of love, war, good versus evil, and redemption. Gabriel's theatrical flair is on full display. He adopts various characters and narratives throughout while the band navigates through diverse musical landscapes.
"Lover's Leap" opens the song with a gentle, acoustic setting featuring Gabriel's vocals. It introduces the narrative theme of two lovers in a surreal, changing landscape. The lyrics are filled with symbolic imagery, setting the tone for the rest of the epic.
"The Guaranteed Eternal Sanctuary Man" becomes more dynamic and complex, shifting to a fuller band sound. This part introduces the character of the Sanctuary Man, a messianic figure, and explores themes of salvation and spiritual conflict.
"Ikhnaton and Itsacon and Their Band of Merry Men" takes a turn toward a more aggressive and discordant sound. The lyrics reference the historical figure Akhenaten and blend historical and biblical imagery to evoke themes of revolution and change.
"How Dare I Be So Beautiful?" is a reflective and quieter interlude that acts as a bridge, both musically and lyrically. It contemplates beauty and its transient nature, serving as a calm before the storm of the following segments.
"Willow Farm" is the most avant-garde and whimsical part of the song, marked by abrupt changes in tempo and style. It's a surreal, almost psychedelic journey through a bizarre, dreamlike landscape, filled with strange imagery and unexpected turns.
"Apocalypse in 9/8 (Co-Starring the Delicious Talents of Gabble Ratchet)" features a driving 9/8 rhythm and is one of the most intense and complex sections. It showcases Tony Banks's powerful keyboard work and Phil Collins's dynamic drumming. The apocalyptic theme is at its most explicit here, with a sense of impending climax.
"As Sure as Eggs Is Eggs (Aching Men's Feet)" concludes the epic with an uplifting and triumphant finale. The music resolves into a more harmonious and melodic form, suggesting rebirth and renewal. The lyrics, full of hope and resolution, bring closure to the journey both musically and narratively.
The piece is a showcase for every band member, with intricate time signatures, extended instrumental passages, poignant lyrics, and listenable melodies. The epic is a common thing in progressive rock, but not all epics are equal. While there are a lot of epic tracks in prog, there are also a lot of record-side-filling pieces that contain filler, where you lose the listener. They lose attention, and maybe they get it back later, maybe they won't. Happens to me a lot with prog.
But that's not the case with "Supper's Ready." The song is listenable from start to finish, made that way by the incredible vocals of Gabriel and the musicianship of the whole band. Is it my favorite Genesis song? I don't think so. "Firth of Fifth" from the next album, "Selling England by the Pound," I think that's my favorite Genesis song. But "Supper's Ready" is certainly my favorite epic, and I'm not afraid to say it almost brought me to tears when I saw Hackett perform it live this last time.
The legacy
"Foxtrot" was met with critical acclaim, and it's often cited as one of the best progressive albums of all time. It solidified Genesis as a leading band in the genre and set the stage for their subsequent success over the years, even after losing Hackett and Gabriel along the way. It was a good starting point for what came next for the band, and it stands as a testament to their innovative spirit during these early years, combining their musical talent with the storytelling that would become a hallmark of the Genesis legacy.
At this point, Genesis is no longer really a going concern. Not in a real way where they're making new music and touring. Of course their music is going to live on forever, but the band (which for most of the last couple decades featured Collins, Rutherford, and Banks playing mostly the post-Gabriel era music with a couple exceptions) has wound down. Collins can't really perform that way anymore, and the band is no longer touring. They had a big world tour a couple years ago, and that seems to be it.
Peter Gabriel is out there making new music. He had a new record out last year and he's done a world tour. But you're not going to catch any Genesis music on that show.
So if you're looking to see the closest thing you can get to the classic era of Genesis with the real stage show and amazing musicians, you've got to check out Steve Hackett and Genesis Revisited if they come to your town or a town near you. I traveled six hours and two and a half hours to see both of the shows I did, and both were worth it. I think you'd find it worth it too.
Pour yourself a dram of Glenmorangie 10 or your favorite scotch and have a listen to "Foxtrot."