Iron Maiden founder and bassist Steve Harris waxed euphoric for his love of Genesis. He added that the band “wasn’t really the same” for him after guitarist Steve Hackett left after original vocalist Peter Gabriel.
The NWOBHM giants’ bossman spent his formative years on a steady diet of prog rock classics, as pieces by Yes, Jethro Tull, and Genesis all feature in the list of songs that changed his life. Steve Harris spoke to Classic Rock in a new interview via Loudersound. The bassist recalls getting hooked on the British prog institution while he was still in high school when an acquaintance told him to check out the band’s 1970 sophomore LP “Trespass”.
However, Harris’s favorite Genesis track remains “Supper’s Ready” from 1972’s “Foxtrot”.
He said:
“My introduction to Genesis came when someone at school recommended the Trespass album to me. I got into that, and then bought ‘Nursery Cryme’ and ‘Foxtrot’ after that. ‘Supper’s Ready’ is the closing track on Foxtrot and the band threw everything bar the kitchen sink into it: it’s an incredible piece of music. I saw Genesis live on the ‘Foxtrot’ tour and they were amazing.
“The Peter Gabriel-era albums still give me goosebumps, and I was devastated when he left the band. ‘A Trick Of The Tail’ was a great album to be fair, and ‘Wind & Wuthering’ is decent too, but when [guitarist] Steve Hackett left too it wasn’t really the same for me. They’re still a good band, but those early albums are magical.”
