Genesis' 1973 Hit 'Firth of Fifth' Ranked 88th in Rolling Stone's Greatest Guitar Solos
Progressive rock band Genesis' 1973 hit, "Firth of Fifth," is still getting recognition for being a remarkable piece of music.
In May 2026, Rolling Stone magazine included the track, off the album Selling England by the Pound , on the publication's list of "The 100 Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time." Rolling Stone ranked "Firth of Fifth" at the number 88th spot and complimented Steve Hackett's guitar solo on the instrument-heavy song. In a 2019 interview with Rolling Stone , Hackett said the song's conclusion was supposed to be Tony Bankson the keyboards.
"But then I started playing it on electric guitar. It happened to work particularly well with the pedal I had and the fuzzbox I had back in the day … it was a particularly good melody played on guitar," said the guitarist in the Rolling Stone interview. "Played on piano, it sounds like a French Impressionistic thing. But when played on guitar, it's got something Egyptian or Middle Eastern. Once I started playing it on guitar, Tony was like, 'Oh, let's do it as a band. Let's do it with big keyboards.'"
Other songs on Rolling Stone 's ranking included "Starship Trooper" by Yes , "Something" by The Beatles , and Derek and the Dominos ' "Layla."
Tony Banks Discussed Co-Writing 'Firth of Fifth'
While Genesis members Phil Collins , Peter Gabriel , Mike Rutherford, and Hackett are also credited with co-writing "Firth of Fifth," Rolling Stone reported that Banks had the role of primary songwriter.
In an interview , Banks said that he "was pretty pleased" with "Firth of Fifth" when it came out. However, he wasn't initially sure of the song, as he was concerned that it sounded like a track that King Crimson , another English prog rock band, would release.
"But it just sounded marvelous," said Banks.
He also said he didn't think the song would be as powerful if he hadn't collaborated with his bandmates.
"It's just an example though of how, you know, if I had written the song on my own and it would have just been credited to me, it would never have done that probably. It needed the whole band there to do the other thing with it, and that's the sort of thing you get out of a group," said the keyboardist, now 76.
This story was originally published by Parade on Sep 4, 2026, where it first appeared in the Entertainment section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
