TotW 02/20/2023 - 02/26/2023: GENESIS - Horizons

    • Official Post

    Your rating for "Horizons" by GENESIS 21

    1. 15 points - outstanding (7) 33%
    2. 14 points - very good (2) 10%
    3. 13 points - very good - (3) 14%
    4. 12 points - good + (5) 24%
    5. 11 points - good (2) 10%
    6. 10 points - good - (1) 5%
    7. 09 points - satisfactory + (0) 0%
    8. 08 points - satisfactory (0) 0%
    9. 07 points - satisfactory - (0) 0%
    10. 06 points - sufficient + (1) 5%
    11. 05 points - sufficient (0) 0%
    12. 04 points - sufficient - (0) 0%
    13. 03 points - poor + (0) 0%
    14. 02 points - poor (0) 0%
    15. 01 points - poor - (0) 0%
    16. 00 points - abysmal (0) 0%

    We invite you to share interesting facts and tidbits about this track. Let's look at the track in the context of the band's / the artist's history, at the music, the songwriting and all other aspects that are relevant for this track. Please do stick to the discussion of the track above. Comparisons to other tracks are okay, but remember that the other track you may be keen to talk about has or will have its own Track Of The Week thread. If you spot a mistake or if you can close a gap in the fact sheet above please feel free to contact martinus or Christian about it; we will gladly add and improve!


    GENESIS - Horizon
    Year: 1972
    Album: Foxtrot
    Working title: ?
    Credits: Hackett
    Lyrics: No
    Length: 1:39
    Musicians: Steve Hackett
    Played live: 1972, 1973
    Cover versions:

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    Notes: Horizons was probably never intended to be a piece that would leave a lasting mark on the band's history. It was a transition to something really big - and as a gem it became hardly less famous than Supper's Ready. To this day, the tiny instrumental still holds its appeal, probably because of its simplicity and the fact that it aptly sketches Hackett's craft alongside other gems like Firth of Fifth.
  • Have seen Steve playng this during his solo tours a lot, like this:


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    14/15 from me

    ...

  • The very first time I heard Foxtrot was a cassette someone had done for me in 1980.


    It felt at the time that Horizons was the fairly peaceful introduction to the mayhem that was about to ensue.


    I don't know if that was the intention. But to this day it still feels like the introduction to me.


    Even though it is peaceful, it has a slightly spooky atmosphere to it - especially where he plays the guitar harmonics (the very beginning and again later).


    Maybe it's just me.

  • I've never had a strong opinion about this piece; but when I first heard FOXTROT, before I even knew who any of the band members were, it struck me as odd that the "all songs written by Genesis" credit was applied to this track in particular.


    Later versions recorded by Hackett only credit it to him. This is a rare case of a Genesis song from the Gabriel era appearing in later versions without still being credited to the whole group.

    Little known fact: Before the crowbar was invented...


    ...crows simply drank at home.

  • It felt at the time that Horizons was the fairly peaceful introduction to the mayhem that was about to ensue. I don't know if that was the intention. But to this day it still feels like the introduction to me.

    Mayhem?!


    I never got the sense it was intended as an intro to SR, I've never thought of it that way but I don't think you're alone in thinking of it as such.

    This is a rare case of a Genesis song from the Gabriel era appearing in later versions without still being credited to the whole group.

    By rare, do you mean there are isolated other examples of this?

    Abandon all reason

  • It's very nice, but as a completely solo contribution by Hackett, it's a bit hard to rate in the context of the band's work. I gave it 13. I remember when I was listening learning guitar, I told my teacher at the outset that I liked Genesis. He was obviously unimpressed, although he told me he liked the opening of Jesus He Knows Me, where it shifts from major to minor. One week I brought in Horizons on cassette as the thing I wanted to learn that week. He listened with his head tilted to one side, nodding slowly and clearly very non-plussed that this was so different to the Genesis he knew, before going "hmm. Okaaaay.... That's pretty advanced, maybe we should come back to that!".


    As an aside, I did make an effort to learn Blood on the Rooftops and had it past the first few vocal lines but never persevered enough.

  • it struck me as odd that the "all songs written by Genesis" credit was applied to this track in particular.

    My dad's copy of Foxtrot has every track, including Horizons, credited as "Banks/Collins/Gabriel/Hackett/MacPhail/Rutherford". I always liked to joke that Richard MacPhail was the real writer of Horizons, a joke nobody used to get in any Genesis forum because apparently most copies give the credit just as "Genesis". Foxtrot does credit MacPhail as a regular band member though, even if it was clear he was just an honorary member.


    I always loved Horizons, though clearly a Hackett solo piece it completely sounds like Genesis to me. His later versions lost that particular Genesis sound. Also, this is one of the rare pieces of music I loved that my grandma enjoyed too.

  • Foxtrot does credit MacPhail as a regular band member though, even if it was clear he was just an honorary member.

    Yes I was always struck by that; he even gets a sleeve pic. It showed how importantly they regarded him. It was a bit like as if Beatles albums credited and had sleeve pics of Mal Evans or Neil Aspinal.

    Abandon all reason

  • By rare, do you mean there are isolated other examples of this?

    Actually, the only other case I'm aware of is the solo piano version of "Let Us Now Make Love" being credited to Ant alone on the CD version of his IVORY MOON album. Granted, there's just enough difference between the piano version and the original that this might not even be a legitimate example.

    My dad's copy of Foxtrot has every track, including Horizons, credited as "Banks/Collins/Gabriel/Hackett/MacPhail/Rutherford".

    As far as I've seen, original Gabriel-era releases always had "all tracks by Genesis," with no writing credits that actually listed the members like that. Your dad's copy is apparently a later one where the inclusion of MacPhail's photo was mistaken as meaning he was an actual member. I've also seen that "6-man" credit on vinyl copies of the old ROCK THEATRE compilation.

    Little known fact: Before the crowbar was invented...


    ...crows simply drank at home.

    • Official Post

    For many, it's just an introduction to Supper's Ready, but for me it works perfectly on its own as well!