GENESIS
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Albums reviewed:
1969 - From Genesis to Revelation (7)
1970 - Trespass (8-)
1971 - Nursery Cryme (10)
1972 - Foxtrot (8+)
1973 - Live (8)
1973 - Selling England by the Pound (9)
1974 - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (10)
1976 - A Trick of the Tail (10)
1976 - Wind and Wuthering (5)
1977 - Seconds Out (6-)
1978 - And Then There Were Three (7-)
1980 - Duke (5)
1981 - Abacab (8)
1982 - Three Sides Live (7-)
1983 - Genesis (8+)
1986 - Invisible Touch (7-)
1991 - We Can't Dance (6-)
1992 - The Way We Walk Live Volume One: The Shorts (4)
1993 - The Way We Walk Live Volume Two: The Longs (7-)
1997 - Calling All Stations (3+)

Could this be the least offensive album of all time? No. Nevertheless, it's really tame. Genesis, as a bunch of young lads with close to no direction, decided to start lightly and make a concept album about the Bible. GREAT CHOICE. They didn't sell much; the records ended up in the "religious records" piles. Also, an edition with a bunch of bonus tracks is what you should get. It's actually hard to figure out on my edition where the "official album" starts and stops, thanks to Decca who has published a million versions of it.

What you'll get is a group of pastoral songs with plenty of 12 strings and somewhat obnoxious string sections that pop up out of nowhere and deride compositions that were actually often quite clever in the first place. The Silent Sun really gathers everything that sucks about this debut album and throws it at you in one chunk. So now you're prepared to face the rest. It comes back at you on Fireside Song, which is somewhat saved by Peter's voice... I find the whole album enjoyable and that's about it. It never brings me close to strong emotions. The bonus track That's Me is almost the best thing here, so you have to track it, it's about the only thing with a crunchy guitar solo, and the chorus (That's me, that's me, and that's all I'm ever gonna be) is obvious but really catchy. One Eyed Hound has the same effect. The best thing however is The Serpent (starting with an extract from what would become Twilight Alehouse, a song that annihilates anything on this record). The Serpent has a Moody Bluesy build-up and the chorus' attack really grabs me. When I think of 'From Genesis to Revelation" though I usually remember In The Wilderness, which encompasses all of its aspects. It rules; simple beat, okay violins, Peter sounds great, the piano is nice... Wait! One Day also has a similar effect... I think in the end, the big problem with this album is the extent of its "averageness". In Limbo illustrates this; it could win a prize as the most boring and unimaginative thing ever if it weren't for the piano. The good parts are the driving acoustic guitars and Peter's very young voice. If it weren't for That's Me and One Eyed Hound (excellent songs), you could just own 'Archives I'. I usually take it out when I'm quite tired and I'd rather be taken to the farm by a shepherd than to be taken to an electric guitar blast or kraut-rock orgy.

Simon Lac, December 3rd 2004

 

We're definitely heading somewhere here. Phil Collins is still not present, and to me that's even more noticeable than Steve Hackett not being here. The drumming is muddy and lost in the mix, and most of the songs lack that "punch". Even though the pastoral feel is still embedded in the songs, it's really not the same. It used to be about quiet town pastures, now it's about isolated frosty places. You will hear a band that has started to buy instruments, plugging themselves on the electricity... But they can't totally come out of what they were doing, except at the end of the album of course... Songs are longer, with more complex and interesting structures, the moods are more defined...

I'm always a bit frustrated when I notice Looking for Someone never gets a mention; hell, I could understand why White Mountain, Visions of Angels and Dusk (all contributing to the winter feel) would never get any mentions, since they are the most direct extensions of the previous "average-filled" album, but Looking For Someone has this weird bluesy feel to it. And it also has a dramatic unexpected chord change and hymn after "And now I've found myself a name"; it goes "Leave me, leave me, all that I have I will give!", and Peter is starting to show how theatrical he can be right away. One of the understated (not to say "underrated"... ugh) songs by the band. People always go "The Knife is so out-of-place and tells where the band is heading!". Well I agree, but Looking For Someone is similar, although the band didn't exactly go in that direction, but it shows some of the dramatics. Other great moments include Stagnation, superb flute and expressions, one of my favourites again ("I wanna drink! I wanna drink! To wash out the filth that is deep in my guts!"). Of course, The Knife is DA song, but not by much really. I consider it quite equal to Stagnation and Looking For Someone. Yet, it dominates because it's such an oddball, completely changing the mood of the album (notice how the album cover is "slashed" by a knife). It still feels like the revolution tale is not happening on Earth though... 'Trespass' is different from both its predecessor and successor, but then every Genesis album is. It's crazy how this band always evolved in a linear pattern. Y = x.

Simon Lac, December 3rd 2004

 

What was I saying? Linear evolution? Y=x? Well, there are a few exceptions, because to me the jump from 'Trespass' to 'Nursery Cryme' is a big one. Yes of course, Steve Hackett and Phil Collins finally joined the band, but really, there are still plenty of ideas that were created when Ant Phillips was in the band (a huge part of The Musical Box for instance). I know I'm pretty alone on that one, 'Nursery Cryme' isn't exactly the Genesis album that gets praised like crazy... In my perspective, it is THE album that encompasses both the gentle pastoral sides of the past, and the complicated crazy arrangements of the future. It's the perfect mix of innocence and experience. Starting 'Foxtrot', everything is well sculpted; that's great, but there's a tinge of youth here that's quite charming, and creates some of the most furious moments in the band's career. Just listen to the maniac instrumental parts of The Musical Box (one of the ultimate Genesis tracks)! And the end of that song! The end! What a closing section! When I saw the band 'The Musical Box', which reproduces old Genesis concerts (not just play songs, they reproduce the whole staging), The Musical Box is always the pinnacle, when Gabriel sings with his old man's mask, leaning over a spotlight that flashes in his face every time he screams "touch me NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW!". Furious stuff I tell you. There's also fury at the end of The Return of the Giant Hogweed, maybe the most violent ending to a Genesis song, where I could easily imagine somebody throwing themselves down the stage into the crowd. By the way, Heracleum Mantegazziani exists, it's in the Apiaceae family, same as the carrots (the song is about humans being invaded by a toxic plant). When you touch it, you get a toxin on your skin that makes it very sensitive to solar radiation and you get insane sunburns. You know you've found a gem when the singer of a band sings the latin name of a plant with full "theatricity". The last track has long been one of my favourites, with great bass lines and chorus that almost sound Beatles-ish (yeah well...). It's very efficient at creating the Greek mythology atmosphere, isolated virgin forest with creatures living in... Perfect finale to the album. Even Harlequin has something to offer; very soft and beautiful vocal harmonies. There's not a bad moment on 'Nursery Cryme'. Sometimes Seven Stones can bore me a bit, but its chorus is heavenly... So get the album: you'll be taken to the birthplace of Genesis' ideology.

Simon Lac, December 4th 2004

 

Man, I lent my 'Foxtrot' to somebody and it came back smelling like rotten apples, it still does almost a year after! (If you happen to read this, I forgive you!) What do people do with CDs anyway? I keep mine well ordered, and I get really annoyed when I drop one and the case cracks. Also, when I buy used CDs and the case is sort of "eroded" and all scratched, I change it... Anyways... Ammmm.. Oh yeah 'Foxtrot'!

I'm also alone on that one. 'Foxtrot' is my least favourite "classic line-up era" Genesis album, but hey, it's still GREAT. I really can't put my finger on the general mood of the album. Even 'Trespass' has a clearer mood than this. It shows when I try to find a descriptor for 'Foxtrot', took me a while, but I found it right away for 'Trespass'. Honestly, if 'Foxtrot' had a bunch of other songs like those of the first sides instead of the sidelong Supper's Ready, I'm not sure which of 'Trespass' or 'Foxtrot' I'd prefer! As I said in my 'Nursery Cryme' review, it's here that the band settles its clean production and full-blown complex and planned structures... To me, they couldn't make it 100% emotional until the next album. Of course, Supper's Ready is excluded from that statement. As for Watcher of the Skies, I didn't understand it until I saw it performed live by "The Musical Box" (see previous review). You know right away you're into a mellotron fest. The ultimate mellotron fest however is the end of Hogweed on the previous album. And am I alone in thinking that Time Table is one of the most unmemorable Genesis songs ever? Trivial fact; I learned to play Horizons; great! Not too hard really, I thought it was more complicated than that (it's a Hackett acoustic guitar composition). There's also Can-utility and the Coastliners, about the Nordic myth of King Canute; I find it to be very representative of Genesis' style for a 5-6 minutes song. It has moody unplugged guitar riffs, an explosion of keyboards and a tongue-in-the-cheek ending... Of course, the main dish on 'Foxtrot' is Supper's Ready, where Peter tells you how his then wife got attacked by evil spirits, and relates this to the biblical Apocalypse. And it's actually moving. It's one of those 20+ minutes songs where the sub-divisions are very clearly separated. That is, all of those mini-songs are evident to spot, you know where you are exactly. In this perspective Supper's Ready is basically a collage of songs, but they flow into each other perfectly, and the mood swings are exactly what you want them to be. The end of this melodrama, where we're all taken to the "new Jerusalem", is another emotional height in Genesis' history. Put it that way; Supper's Ready is a condensé of everything Genesis had been up to now, a condensé of all their best sides.

However I rarely listen to 'Foxtrot'. As I said, I find most of the first half of the album is filled with some of PG-era Genesis' least memorable melodies. I've always "tolerated" pieces like Get'em Out By Friday more than I enjoyed them. You know, 8+ means this is a great album, and if tracks 1-3 are relatively okay to so-so by Genesis standard, the rest is awesome. I just find that when you put all those songs together, the mixture is rather sterile, and lacks the strong character of other Genesis albums... Get it, it's supposed to be their best, or their second best... Or so they say.

Simon Lac, January 21st 2005

 

There are quite a few live Genesis albums, and until the arrival of the Archives sets, this was the best one. That being said, 'Live' is only five songs... A fine selection mind you. Of course they had to stick Get'em Out by Friday somewhere. There isn't much to say really, since they try very hard to be faithful to the originals and mostly succeed. It's quite scary when the only "woohoo!" moment you get from a live album is when Hackett comes in not quite at the right time (barely), or plays a muted note by accident, or when Tony Banks screws up (in the 3-4 minutes range in The Knife). Well, that's not quite true, there are other things to enjoy. First, the performances are extremely solid. Second, two of those songs vary somewhat from the originals. The Knife has some lyrical variations (minor really...) and the instrumental parts surely RAWK even more. But my favourite track has to be the rendition of The Return of the Giant Hogweed. I read in an interview somewhere that Banks didn't like this live album (they were forced into releasing it), and he mentioned how Hogweed was particularly abysmal; I say WHAT!!! The Return of the Giant Hogweed is the Genesis song with the most violent ending, and believe it or not, they make it even more violent on this record. The tapes almost seem to want to surrender under the load of ROCK they pulled out in that performance! But apart from this, the two 'Foxtrot' tracks are very conventional. I guess for most people 'Live' would be an ideal compilation, or introduction to PG-era Genesis, I'm just wondering how much I'd like it if instead of Friday we'd get... I don't know...Harold the Barrel or Can-Utility and the Coastliners (which they did perform)... This is a bland live album, but it's a solid bland live album, with at least two tinges of increased power lodged inside somewhere.

Simon Lac, January 21st 2005

 

This is what I meant when I said most Genesis albums tend to have a character of there own (when I said 'Foxtrot' didn't have such a strong one...). With this album, the band sets a new quality standard. 'Selling England by the Pound' seems to entirely define what a british 1973 "composition" should be. You put it on, and you're there, sitting by the Thames. It's very clear from the timeless a capella opening by Peter Gabriel asking you for indications that would lead to his homeland; it's right here my friend! Don't go anywhere! In terms of everything, Dancing with the Moonlit Knight could qualify as the best effort from the band, it has some of the tightest arrangements ever... But from the beginning, I was always was fully captivated by The Cinema Show. While it borrows from songs like The Musical Box and parts of Supper's Ready, it's also one of those few songs where the Collins-Rutherford-Banks trio can captivate you with so much accuracy. The last half of that song is not boring at all, it's a dream come true; the glory of keyboards and rhythms. They even let Steve Hackett shine in Firth of Fifth, well in fact he doesn't only shine, he saves the day big time... Without his historical gut-wrenching solo, this track could be a meander of boringness if you ask me, especially considering the painful Banks lyrics. I can't deny the historical importance of 'Selling England by the Pound', but it just doesn't make it to the "perfect album" cut for me. It's probably due to that long Battle of Epping Forest for which I have slightly more affection than for Get'em Out by Friday. In fact, I always found the instrumental parts of Epping were the best; it has nice keyboards here and there... Needless to say the "reverend who gets caught in a brothel" part is funny. The last miracle of 'Selling England by the Pound' seems to be how much Peter Gabriel can deliver emotions with extremely cryptic lyrics, and still be believable... You will hear about the identity of Britain, a simple lawn-mower man, odd territory wars between gangs of England and how father Tiresias is the only human who lived both as a man and a woman... Yet, Peter breathes incredible life into all of this, and he's backed by the cleanest instrumentation and compositions you'll hear from this band of merry Englishmen... Now Petey-Pete is about to write a story with continuity, and send Genesis to the highest peaks of emotional resonance...

Simon Lac, January 21st 2005

 

Do you see the colours of the songs up there? First of all, you have a whole complete disc of RED SONGS. Yes, the second half is somewhat weaker than the first... But HEY, the second disc at least has a ratio of red songs similar to that of 'Foxtrot' or 'Trespass', except this time, I'm fully thrilled by the story (believe it or not). So Peter got alone somewhere and decided to write a whole rock-opera. The rest of the band decided to write most of the music by themselves. You'd instinctively think this was bound to suck, and you'd be WRONG (BLOODY WRONG!). This album is one of the few ones I can sing to from the beginning to the end without the lyrics sheet; there must be a reason why I listened so much to it years ago (and yes, the fact that I didn't have much music then plays a role in that, but I REALLY LISTENED TO IT A LOT). Nowadays I take it out of its case once every 6 months, maybe even less... It's a jewel that I cherish, and it gives me shivers.

'The Lamb' is extremely unique. First of all, it's really an oddball in the Genesis catalogue. You go from obscure British paintings and delicate tight productions to a slum in New York, a Puerto Rican guy, and a rock that can be both more straightforward and complicated, but that is surely more percussive and aggressive than anything they'd done (although they still have The Knife, The Musical Box and The Return of the Giant Hogweed in the percussive catalogue...). 'The Lamb' is a dirtier work, the music is more dusty, the environment closer to a kind of surreal horror movie. I never watch horror movies actually, so I wouldn't say this album is about "horror", but there's definitely something disturbing in the images it creates in your head. The music is hard to define, especially in the context of Genesis since again it's not comparable to anything they did before or after. Hackett is definitely low in the mix, but does provide very good atmospheric background. Banks fell into the world of synthesisers totally, but he doesn't lay walls of sounds that drown you like a swamp yet. Collins and Rutherford have decided to become downright nasty and play it hard rock. You'll get everything from direct rock (The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, Lilywhite Lilith) to cathedral instrumentals (Hairless Heart, what a gorgeous melody), to quiet and VERY emotional pieces (The Chamber of 32 doors, Lamia, In the Rapids) to long-winded rocking stories (In the Cage, The Colony of Slippermen) and you also get some oddball pop ditties (The Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging, Counting Out Time). I could keep going on; there's diversity through this thematic sound.

Peter still embraces 'The Lamb' nowadays, and there is this ongoing talk in the PG community about when he's going to put it to film (because he's mentioned it! One of the few things of his history with Genesis he reminds himself of once in a while). He certainly knew his story and ambition would be spat on by some people as "bloated", and that's probably why It contains the line "If you think that it's pretentious, you've been taken for a ride" (of course, taken out of context, this looks more direct than it actually is, but I still think it's very deliberate). The album is filled with memorable lines and tear-inducing moments. From the famous "RAEL IMPERIAL AEROSOL KID!" (Rael is the main character) to less known gems such as "I got sunshine in my stomach like I just rocked my baby to sleep" and finally to totally obscure favourites of mine such as "I don't care who I hurt, I don't care who I do wrong, this is your mess I'm stuck in, I really don't belong" and "I'd give you all of my dreams if you'd help me find a door that doesn't lead me back again, take me away..." (sorry about this, I'm just trying to share some of the happiness this album gives me). There is also a rather long story accompanying the lyrics, which is basically the plot from where the lyrics came from, DO READ THE TEXT.

I won't go into too many details about the story because it's obviously very here-and-there. It's basically Rael, a Puerto Rican bum living in N.Y.C., who suddenly faces death in the most odd way. He goes through many odd surrealistic events that seem to exorcise some of his most personal demons. He lives through odd deaths, changes shape, gets castrated, shops for a new body, etc. All of those are merely connected, except through a string of conscience that Peter gives you the task to create. I always like to remind myself of how Rael's brother (John) comes in a few times and never helps him, and how Rael still saves his life by the end. In opposition to many people, the end (last 3 tracks) has always been the apex of the album for me. Rael tumbles down the scree to reach his brother on one of the most intriguing and rhythmic Banks solo "Evel Knievel! You got nothing on me!", after this a gorgeous ballad (In the Rapids) tells of how Rael uses all that's left of him to try to reach his drowning brother. It is an awesome uplifting tune with a great riff where the story unlocks itself into "it". When Rael finally manages to get John out of the water, he realizes the face has changed and he's looking at himself; I take this from the text, one of the most grand images that come from it: "Rael cannot look away from those eyes, mesmerized by his own image. In a quick movement, his consciousness darts from one face to the other, then back again, until his presence is no longer solidly contained in one or the other (body)" and then they dissolve in this purple haze, the haze all around you, this intoxicating "it". Then again, if you think that it's pretentious, you've been taken for a ride...

This album is the perfect swan song for Peter, it was the one of the few things this type of band hadn't tried yet (that they could try!). I'd take 'The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway' over 'The Wall' 100 times out of 100, and I'm quite sad the latter got so much recognition and the former is unknown to everybody on the street.

Simon Lac, January 21st 2005

 

With Peter's departure, Genesis lose something huge. They lose their quirkiness, they lose some wits, they lose eccentricity. Indeed, they now sound much more conventional, closer to another usual progressive rock band. However, they certainly do not lose sense of melody. In fact, I can only wonder how convoluted another album with Peter would have been, and how most likely, their entrance in the late 70s with Peter would have been awkward, maybe even horrible. Now we're left with this quartet of great composers, writing incredible melodies that match the atmospheres of the lyrics perfectly. Just listen to the incredible end to Entangled, where you are lost in an odd slumber, soothed by Tony's wonderful synth sounds paired with Steve's guitar work. The compositions are the most "pop" compositions the band put out since their first album in 1969. This is evident when Squonk's awesome steady beat kicks in. An odd clarinet-sounding synth takes you to a little forest where you are hunting for a squonk (ever noticed the wink to Dance On a Volcano in Squonk? A bit after 5:00 in...). This is the story of 'A Trick of the Tail'; the lyrics have become relatively childish, yet they haven't become self-parodies yet. They are like kid stories, but the kind that bring you nice memories and really create wonderful sceneries in your mind. It wouldn't be like that if the music was not so well constructed and soothing. Even the overlong Banks piece Mad Man Moon, predicting some of the errors of the future, actually works okay in this setting. It has beautiful piano work and melodies, and Phil Collins' voice saves the day. 'A Trick of the Tail' must feature Phil's best vocal performances ever, full of need to be true and honest. Of course, we all miss Peter's odd moments, it's now more conventional, but it is so different now, that it is hard to compare. There is energy on 'A Trick of the Tail' too. Dance on a Volcano has what is probably one of the best riffs in the universe, "you better start doing it right!" *riff*. The end of that particular track rocks quite hard. So does the closer Los Endos, which reprises some of the memorable moments of the album in an intense instrumental track featuring awesome drumming by Phil. The truth is that Phil's drumming is intense all over the album (even in lesser tracks, like in the ending of Battery...). Despite a loss in the wits department, we can safely say that 'A Trick of the Tail' adds a lot to the Genesis legacy in the arrangement tightness department, in fact, this is probably the tightess Genesis album musically. I can't find any meandering moments (White Mountain, Seven Stones, Get'em Out By Friday, The Battle of Epping Forest, and I won't even give a 'Lamb' exemple...)

I might be easy on 'A Trick of the Tail' a bit. I am biased. This is definitely the first album I stole from my dad's collection with the intent of listening to music seriously. Boy did I listen to 'A Trick of the Tail' a lot, I was mesmerized by the "myth" atmosphere. That was after I had fallen in love with Peter Gabriel's 'Secret World Live'. At this point, I didn't know Peter Gabriel had been with Genesis. It must have been my fate to become a Genesis fan. When I realized Peter Gabriel had been with Genesis, I was kind of shocked by the coincidence and bought 'The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway'. I don't need to discuss my love for this album anymore...

Simon Lac, September 8th 2005

 

What a drop! This is disappointing. How can this happen, all within ONE year?!? The band doesn't evolve, and it produces an album that is more complicated than the previous one without adding anything else, effectively writing very few memorable songs. Just listen to One For the Vine, a prime example of what is going on. It is a lame overly complex version of Mad Man Moon from the previous album, and the lyrics sound like they're "trying very hard to be like those legends from the 'A Trick'", producing an uninteresting parody. And this is pretty much what 'Wind and Wuthering' is all about. Poor Steve Hackett is shoved very far back in the mix. This is doubly sad, considering his track with Phil Collins, Blood On the Rooftops, is a lost Genesis classic and the obvious highlight. One of my favourite Genesis songs. The main riff, with this incredible bass line and beautiful mellotron drenching, takes my breath away (still proof that the mellotron aged much better than a lot of the other keyboards instruments). There are also love songs, very long and boring ones. Your Own Special Way and Afterglow produce unstoppable yawning in me. I do think Your Own Special Way is a hint of what Mike Rutherford will bring into Genesis, and while it's popular to blame Collins for the band's "demise", I tend to point at Rutherford for a lot of the unpleasant changes; Mike and the Mechanics anyone? Living Years anyone? Anyway, most of the rest of the tracks are not memorable at all, and fall flat on their face because of overbearing synths and longueurs that only seem to want to add "more passages" to the songs. Apart from Blood on the Rooftops (listen to those chord changes!), I think that one of the few qualities of the album are its energetic instrumentals; they manage to remind me somewhat of 'A Trick of the Tail', cool riffs, especially in the 'Unquiet Slumbers For the Sleepers In That Quiet Earth' suite. The rest is a long meander of synthesizers with lesser stories. The worse is that Eleventh Earl of Mar is not very offensive, just totally eventless, and it is followed by those two bulky boring songs, so the album takes a lot of time to actually become slightly interesting. I give this a 5, and thank Steve Hackett and Phil Collins for their Blood on the Rooftops, which has to be heard to be believed, what a beautiful soft song with a powerful melody. Too bad that on the other songs, Phil just doesn't seem to care much when he sings...

Steve Hackett got pushed out after this album. Good I say, Steve was now free to eventually write his 'Spectral Mornings'; it is much better than any Genesis album after 'A Trick of the Tail'. You win Steve.

Simon Lac, September 8th 2005

 

I'd rate this lower if it weren't for the novelty factor involved in hearing Phil Collins singing Peter Gabriel era material. He's not doing a very bad job either, but as it is often told, no one will scream "RAEL IMPERIAL AEROSOL KID!" like Peter Gabriel. In fact, he seems to breath more life into the Peter Gabriel tracks than in the dull 'Trick of the Tail' and 'Wind and Wuthering' renditions present here. Supper's Ready is extremely by-the-book, but The Cinema Show rocks quite hard at the end. In fact, The Cinema Show is the only song here that comes close to compete with its original studio version. Afterglow is as boring as ever with its pretentious babbling over 3 Banksynth chords. The way Squonk starts the album is like the boring THUD of a hammer hitting, I don't know... hardened mud? It's like if the band lets out a long SIGH, yeah, many of the songs (Squonk, Robbery, Firth, Afterglow), are just long sighs. Wait? Did I hear someone yawn? Anyway, that's weird, because this tour was apparently very successful and energetic. Something's wrong, they couldn't capture the atmosphere of the show at all. I bet for people who saw it the tour, 'Seconds Out' is extraordinary. All of that being said, the second disk of this double live album is considerably more interesting than the first. It sounds less tired for sure, and has an awesome track selection (even if there are only four songs). The first disc has stinkers like Afterglow, a long useless jam in the middle of I Know What I Like (which they carried on for years and years in their live performances), and a taste of The Musical Box that in the end is more like an annoying tease. And Phil's "NOW NOW NOW NOW" isn't Peter's, for sure. Eh, I think this album should manage to give a new life to already wonderful tracks from 'A Trick of the Tail', but it even fails at that. You don't need this album unless you're mad, like me. Hell, some people say it's a good compilation for newcomers to the band. Yeah, okay, the track selection isn't THAT bad, but as I've been trying to say; who wants a newcomer to hear what sounds like bored musicians? No.

Simon Lac, September 9th 2005

 

I can already hear confused fans go "WHAT? THIS? Better than 'Wind and Wuthering' and 'Duke' (wait 'til I blast 'Duke')? You must be mad, I'm leaving this page never to return! No! I shall burn your website!" *throws matches at screen*. Well so be it! 'And Then There Were Three' IS much more interesting than the previous and following studio albums. And the departure of Steve Hackett has nothing to do with this. It is evident that he had little to do with 'Wind and Wuthering' too, 'Wind and Wuthering' was the failure of the same trio that is here. Now why would Tony Banks consider 'Wind and Wuthering' the best Genesis album and 'And Then There Were Three' the worse one is beyond me. He must be too proud of his "fabulous compositions" like One For the Vine *sigh*. Well one thing for sure: 'And Then There Were Three' beats its predecessor in that it doesn't have half as much annoying moments. I think the two albums have a pretty unique vibe, however the former is annoying or boring way too often whereas this one here is mostly enjoyable late 70s poppy music throughout. The synth sounds also don't seem to be so overbearing as on 'Wind and Wuthering', at least the tones vary much more. There's the energetic tone of Down and Out, with its ominous beat, and the wintry sounds of the beautiful Snowbound with its snowmen. Come to think of it, think of Snowbound and Deep in the Motherlode; they are both solo Rutherford compositions. I think Mike was at one of his creative peaks here! That's saying a lot. Or maybe the others had so little inspiration for uniqueness that Mike Rutherford created the most unique tunes. Snowbound does succeed at this snowy evening feeling, and Deep in the Motherlode is an awesome song about migrating west, what a powerful riff! Banks is still uninspired, but at least he makes it a little shorter. Undertow and Burning Rope aren't irritating, but hardly memorable at all. Same pompous lyrics, same long beat and keyboard fest. He does a better job with The Lady Lies, which rocks quite hard at the end. But nonetheless, Banks has kind of lost it. Concerning the half-classic-among-the-fans The Lady Lies, the version on 'Archives #2' is fiery, get it! There's of course the very popular hit single, their first, Follow You Follow Me. It's a simple ballad, very unrepresentative of the band, despite having been written by the three guys. It's enjoyable, just not very special. It's sort of sappy too, but the melody is pretty enough. The weird Scenes From a Night's Dream gets all sort of bad press, I rather like it, it's the closest you get to being weirded out by the album, and I remember how there were days when Genesis was all about being weirded out (with top notch melodies though!).

So yes, 'And Then There Were Three' is sort of longish and constant in sound. It has a few highlights, quite a lot of forgettable crap, but at least the forgettable crap isn't annoying like it had the potential to be. The tone of the album in general is quite soft and soothing even if its guitar and synth sounds are grittier than on, say, 'A Trick of the Tail'. What is lacking is the powerful drum sound and the entertaining beats. Still, in this era, the band could have done much worse. None of this is offensive and I expected to hate it much more than I do! In fact I sort of enjoy it once in a while.

Simon Lac, September 13th 2005

 

This era of Genesis, the 1978-80 era, is in my opinion the era during which Genesis was in the most serious lack of inspiration (not counting the later 90s years...) . You go and put in the 'Archives #2' boxset and listen to the outtakes and unreleased tracks from this era, and you'll notice that they are all mostly inferior to all the unreleased material of other eras. In fact, many unreleased tracks from the 'Abacab' sessions and 'Genesis' (self-titled) sessions were excessively better than most songs on 'Duke'. This 1980 release sits in a very uneasy position. That guy from American Psycho just doesn't know what the hell he's talking about. This isn't a culmination at all, it's a totally uneasy transition from the "artsy" to the "mainstream".

The album starts quite strong though. Behind the Lines and Duchess seem to be the only spot where all the synths are inspiring. The former has a good riff and beat and the sung parts are nice enough, very poppy. The change from the previous era is noticeable right away, and the new synthesizer sounds probably push that feeling forward. Duchess, one of Banks' favourite Genesis songs, is very nice. It's a story of a female singer who goes from nobody to world star to nobody again (Banks used it in a later interview as an analogy to the story of Genesis...). The synths manage to do something great again; they're all atmospheric, in fact the piece is rather minimalist, and the melody that Phil sings is strong; "and then there were the days when she performed, and nobody screamed for more!" is quite nice. The odd beat is number one too... The album's most important hit; Turn It On Again, is exactly what pop-prog should be about. It's excessively well written, thrilling and the chorus will stick to your brain forever and you won't be annoyed. The other hit, Misunderstanding, is a pure R&B Collins pop song, it's not too bad really, it's just overly catchy, and this one WILL be annoying after a while.

The rest however is mostly forgettable junk. I find 'Duke' is REALLY where Banks' synths reach that "choking" effect. They're everywhere. A bit like being stuck on a plane, in the middle seat, between two 60 years old ladies with too much sweet perfume (on a direct flight from somewhere in North America to somewhere in Asia, of course). The first sight of the phenomenon can be heard in the chorus to Man of Our Times; that one isn't that bad, although its slow beat and melody just lets you remember the abundance of synths. A repeat of that happens with Heathaze, a pure pompous Banks composition in the shape we all know... They were getting worse and worse with each album. Pompous lyrics, piles of cheese. At least the chorus is mildly beautiful (messed up at the end though). In fact, most songs have rather good choruses (chori?) on 'Duke', but they're so lost in the middle of muddiness and boredom. Who the hell remembers what Cul-de-Sac sounds like? Nobody cares. Same for Alone Tonight, forgettability! Bad synths, cheesy melody, everything, sucks, belch, argh. And the Duke's Travels/Duke's End suite is rather bad 80s prog. Don't try to do some random synth jam and pass it as intellectual genius, you fail. It's just TRYING so much! (want good 80s prog? Get Camel's 'Nude').

I tried to hate 'Duke' as much as I used too. Now I think it's just "meh" or "ugh". It seems most songs have a little part that will make you think "oh that's nice" and then it's right away "oh that WAS nice, now that's... not nice". So there you go; "ugh" (copyrighted to "darlin'" (with an Elvis accent (don't try to understand that (one more parenthesis, because I can)))).

Simon Lac, October 3rd 2005

 

Wheee! I found a cover image with the colour pattern I own! Yeah, the album was released with various colour schemes of what you see above, all of which succeeded at looking like a 1985 bathroom wallpaper (that would make them 4 years ahead of their time?).

That being said; whew!!! This album is such a relief after the crappastic 'Duke'. There is so much more space to breath on 'Abacab'! I once heard Mike Rutherford say something in an interview... He was saying how 'Abacab' was more like what they sounded like in a jam session. The inspiration was back, and they decided to freshen up a bit, or so it sounds to me. Away with the synthesizer walls of sounds; Banks probably FINALLY acknowledged that he just put too much cheesynths all over before. That makes 'Abacab' a much more FUN album to listen to. Okay, we're miles away from 'The Lamb' or 'A Trick of the Tail', but could they even try to go in that direction again? No, they chose this "clever pop melodies" direction instead, and it's great that they seem to succeed. And synth jams actually exist here; the title track is exactly that, but again, it's not "too much" and overbearing. The sounds chosen are original and it rocks through its datedness. Same synthesizers sounds come in the steady and ominous Keep It Dark. Pure Phil Collins comes in with his R&B/soul roots on the fun No Reply At All, with punches of brass sounds coming right off Earth Wind and Fire records. The closest we get to the sound of 'Duke' is on the ecologist's Dodo/Lurker... And that one would have been a chef-d'oeuvre on 'Duke' because again, it breathes so much better. Instead of "woooosh wooooosh beeeeelch" synths, Banks makes it "buzz buzz buzz" or "bleep bleep bleep" if you get what I mean... And the jerky guitars and percussions are much more prominent in the mix than on the previous record. Oh and I read somewhere that the answer to the riddle of Dodo/Lurker was something like a "nuclear submarine" (no wings to fly, heart of stone...) ... And an unreleased track from the album was indeed called Submarine (see 'Archives #2'). I don't want to mention the stupid Who Dunnit?, which I suppose is just "fun in the studio", but we all know how ugly those bleeps and voice lines are. It's sort of embarrassing in fact. Then Collins once again pens an awesome song; Man on the Corner. That's more proof to me that Collins wasn't the "problem" with Genesis... Man on the Corner is a heartfelt ballad dedicated to homeless people. It's not condescending at all. I find it to be relatively moving in fact, and it sure contains one of Collins' best vocal performances ever. Banks chooses a nice sonority and sets a minimal mood again, showcasing Phil. Very beautiful and one of my favourite Phil era Genesis songs. The rest of the record is pretty much forgotten, but still features the album's general success at being a great 80s pop record (especially Another Record, suggesting you put another record on...).

This album could have been even better had they decided to include some of the outtakes like the awesome Paperlate (sounds like No Reply At All, except better!) or You Might Recall. 81-83 was good for the band! Original renewal...

Simon Lac, October 3rd 2005

 

I've seen this on a VHS once, it was weird, as if the stage was very constricted, small, choking... But I'm sure it was more interesting than just listening to the recording of it without the images. 'Three Sides Live' is nice, but not much else. Pretty much pointless. In fact few live albums are able to be useful if you want my opinion, especially not double ones. Oh yes, it's called 'Three Sides Live' because it had one side (out of four...) of studio material in its US edition (among which were Paperlate and You Might Recall, but the rest isn't all that good I think, it's available on 'Archives #2' if you are interested). Now this UK version here has more live material, and interesting one on top of it! Renditions of old prog classics...

The music is rendered very much by the book, as you might expect by now. Sometimes Phil Collins has fun trying to adlib random things but it is seriously annoying most of the time. Again, the studio versions are more powerful than those live versions... It seems to be inevitable; 'Three Sides Live' suffers from the same problem as 'Seconds Out' although I'd say the extent of it is not as important as on the 1977 release. Hmm... What else... I'm reluctant to "highlight" songs in red up there, because most of the renderings add nothing to the studio versions and that's generally what I'm looking for in live albums. It's especially true for the more recent material off 'Duke' and 'Abacab'. But I'm sure going to say again that this 'Wind and Wuthering' stuff is boring. It was boring, it's still boring. And what crappy choices! Afterglow again? Holy turd... Hey guys, Afterglow is a song that induces painful yawning, hint hint... DON'T PLAY IT. It seems Misunderstanding isn't as catchy as it was, and frankly, that's a good thing. Who wants to be caught with THAT song? I STILL don't care. Misunderstanding makes me think of hockey, because I heard it before a face-off while watching a game of the Montréal Canadiens. I guess that tells you how much personality this song has. At least this version has some sort of "let's play with the audience" part. Phil is still annoying.

The oldies are quite good and are the most entertaining stuff on here. That means disk 1 is the most useless part of this already useless release. At least it's useless now, 23 years later. I tend to like Genesis' old medleys, it could be worse (they could ignore the oldies altogether). But it's sad to see superb songs like The Cinema Show be all chopped up so that a full rendition of One for the Vine can fit in. Hearing Fountain of Salmacis and the It / Watcher of the Skies medley is a pretty cool experience too. Great performances and for once they sort of feel a bit different. I love them enough. They are more laid-back than the originals, they have their own little style, even if they are still quite similar... Hard to explain. This is what makes 'Three Sides Live' kind of better than 'Seconds Out'. In the end though, if you're not a significantly big Genesis fan, you don't need this... I suppose it could act as a compilation. But it's pretty much stuck in what a Genesis compilation would have been in 1982, back in those years when it wasn't clearly evident yet that Dancing with the Moonlit Knight and The Musical Box were better than Me and Sarah Jane and Duchess (yeah, those years existed).

Simon Lac, October 4th 2005

 

Ooooh! Gloomy, dusty and dark? Well that's good! I mean, compared to the more recent releases, this self-titled album sure has more serious tones. The sounds are getting sparser and sparser too... Banks was mastering the 80s synthesizer production, understanding how he could use them in a way that wouldn't sound horribly dated 20 years after... Until the next album.

The catchiest song, That's All, is not very original lyrically and suffers from over-catchy syndromes... But it's still not nearly as "happy" as what it would have been with the sonorities of 'Duke' or 'Abacab' (oh yeah, another hockey face-off song too (see previous review)). Same for Illegal Alien, it's rather happy and packed with constant chord changes but it's about being an immigrant. A social topic (like the beautiful Man on the Corner) that manages to be fun and relevant. It's sort of tongue-in-cheek and ironic. Something great about 'Genesis' is that it doesn't sound nearly as "80s" as it could... Listen to 'Invisible Touch', then listen to 'Genesis' and you'll get it right away. Songs with a lot of synths like Home by the Sea manage to be quite uplifting and do so honestly; you don't have to force your brain to forget about the sonorities of the keyboards. Okay, Second Home by the Sea is TOTALLY 80s, but hell, it's generally beautiful, and I like the crunchy guitar strums inserted here and there. Also, I'm pretty sure a part of the dusty gloomy perception comes from the video to Mama, the bitter and minimalist hit song in which Phil delivers another good vocal performance; it was set to the band members in crappy outfit, in a crappy housing, smoking cheap cigarettes and such... Now that I think of it, Phil really does well vocally in the studio... Mama is an 80s classic in the same vein as Phil's In the Air Tonight. Cheesier songs like Taking It All Too Hard and It's Gonna Get Better exploit the great production by Hugh Pagdham and don't damage the album at all. The best song however is the unjustly forgotten Silver Rainbow. Phil agrees with me too, in recent interviews he's mentioned Silver Rainbow as one of Genesis' lost classics. I agree, one of my favourite Phil era Genesis songs (with Man on the Corner...). It's all watery and new agey even if it boasts loud thumping drum machines. Those drum machines are powerful though, tribal, with an awesome bass guitar melody. And Tony again understands how to use the 80s synths, creating a wonderful vibe that only attacks and rises in the chorus "beyond the silver rainbow [beyond the silver rainbow you won't know!] you won't know if you're coming or going!"... Best Genesis song in a frickin' while. Period. The chorus is so beautiful... It's full of hope. And its "natural" tone is a good contrast to the rest of the album. Aaaaanyway...

As I am writing this, 'Genesis' is sadly the last genuinely great Genesis album.

Simon Lac, October 4th 2005

 

Okay okay, 'Invisible Touch' is okay too, I hate to admit it. Yeah, I'm a jerk. Still, as soon as you'll hear the loud overly sugary drum and synthesizer sounds of Invisible Touch attacking your eardrums, you will know... You will just know that great original music ages well ('Abacab' and 'Genesis') and that less genuinely good music (read "somewhat formulaic") ages like Cher (read "not well at all" (read "disturbingly")). Yet, I don't think any of those songs are offensive or anything. So many of them are part of my childhood that I can't bash them as much as they deserve. More than 2/3 of the album has been a hit at some point. Sales were crazy, Genesis became HUGE. And want it or not, the beats and the melodies of the album are usually clever. Still... 'Invisible Touch' is severely brought down by its perverted 1986 production (and we all know 1986 had its own crazy fad production style, it was that, a FAD, and it was BAD).

So... what do I like about this album... Well, the atmospheric part in the middle of the Tonight ballad is pretty good and comes back quite mightily. And even if the drum machines of Land of Confusion are scarily dated, the melody to this social critic is insanely well crafted and well... catchy and fun to remind yourself of. And the video with the puppet Genesis members was great in its awfulness. Land of Confusion sort of tells me that one of the great things about the way the band crafted their melodies were the great choices of chord series. They're so driving. Domino is the "okay we're still serious though" song and it's pretty good. Especially the way it segues from its part 1 (In the Glow of the Night) to its part 2 (The Last Domino). Part 2 has a very uplifting rising melody and its steady drum machine beat captures my attention. And it talks of rivers of blood! BLOOD!

In Too Deep is sort of awful though. I mean, it tries to be nice and all, it doesn't totally fail, but it's just too cheesy. It's a love song, and it's only that, except it's a 1986 love song! And ewwww, those synth sounds... There's a maximum I can forgive in that department. Getting too close to bad solo Collins here. I can almost hear the sounds of Sussudio eating me alive. That's even truer for the worse song here: Anything She Does. What a piece of plastic mess. Forgettable too. But maybe everything on here would have been forgettable hadn't it been on radio so much. Except for Domino... That one's still classy... Oh and I want to mention The Brazilian, which is a synth jam that destroys anything 'Duke''s closing instrumentals ever tried to achieved. The main theme to it is quite blissful.

As I am writing this, 'Invisible Touch' is sadly the last genuinely "okay" Genesis album.

PS: The next Genesis albums I have to review are 'We Can't Dance', those awful live albums, and the [insert infamy here] 'Calling All Stations'. I really wonder when I'll have the courage to put them in my CD player... Ugh.

Simon Lac, October 4th 2005

 

Ooookay I lied, I gathered the patience to listen to this today... As for the next live albums and 'Calling All Stations', that'll have to wait.

Hhhhmf... This is another album I can't hate because I listened to it to death when I was around 10-12. For the same reason I love Tears for Fears' hits and some bad Styx songs I can tolerate (I guess I wouldn't need to say "some" bad Styx songs, since as a general rule, all Styx songs are very bad). One thing I like to do is to compare this album with the album Peter Gabriel released around the same time ('Us'). Do it! The difference is huge. It's so obvious that the artists just couldn't work together anymore; they are SO not doing similar things, no matter what they can try to tell you. They have taken very different paths and it's clear to me that Genesis had less "artsy introspection" pretences than Peter Gabriel. I won't blame them though... I'm glad Genesis were what they were, and I'm sort of glad this album exists too.

'We Can't Dance''s main problem of course is its damnable length. Why on Earth would anyone take advantage of the full 70-80 minutes of CDs is beyond me. Here is ample proof that it's not a good idea. There are fillers everywhere that just extend the same sonority of the album into self-parody. I hate to realize this, but the previous statement is one that I am more used to seeing applied to Nickelback albums for instance... The "breezy ooooh" synth sounds and the synthetic percussions (that do not really sound like drum machines) are omni-present! Some of the tracks that didn't make it on the album (Hearts on Fire and On the Shoreline) are much better than the filler material here. Again, why the bad choices? So many of the Genesis outtakes are great! Anyway, 'We Can't Dance' starts off pretty good. The two hit singles No Son of Mine and Jesus He Knows me are some of the most well known Genesis songs and manage to be quite bitter through their uplifting sounds, talking about a father rejecting his son (of course) and about bad TV preachers (Praise the Lord!). I very much love Driving Last Spike though, and I don't know why, it's probably way too long. It describes the life of workers that were exploited to build railways, and when it enters its second part, I find it quite beautiful "memories of those I've left behind still ringing in my ears, I'll always remember that night as they waved goodbye to their fathers", it's going steady and the chord choices are gorgeous. There are two other hits on there. The first one is I Can't Dance, which you've all heard, and I frankly don't care about the song. Hold on My Heart though... This ballad makes me queasy a bit. I mean, it's Genesis! This is one of the most obviously "bad Collins solo" sounding track. So past Driving the Last Spike, which is what... 20 minutes in the album? There's not much to be heard; good luck with the remaining 50 minutes. It goes from "laughably forgettable and cheesy" to "okayish but I still don't care about this 90s adult contemporary crap and omigawd Tony Banks' soul is invaded by Michael Bolton's lack of one" (I mean, listen to Never a Time!). I'm lying really... For instance there's the pretty good Dreaming While You Sleep too... It sets an interesting mood and isn't a blatantly simple and boring pop song. Did you notice how some of the more minimalist Genesis songs are often pretty good in this Phil-Genesis era? That happens again with Dreaming While You Sleep, and as in Silver Rainbow, the chorus takes the song to pretty good heights, with Phil singing for the umpteenth time the words "all my life!". The lyrics are quality words too, it's one of the few touching moments on the album. I was surprised by that song as I was listening to 'We Can't Dance' for the first time in 2 years. The chorus to Tell Me Why, a WAY TOO OBVIOUS environmentalist/socialist's song, is quite uplifting too. Damn, I guess the album isn't bad after all... But again, it's too long, and it's really past Tell Me Why that you'll notice it. Second half of the album pretty much blows. The real "Bolton" stuff arrives. And when it's not "Bolton", it's the annoying Tony thinking he's still creative on the keyboards (like the end of Living Forever (eh?) and the overlong Fading Lights (boring)). Tony, I'll give you a hint; in 1991 you weren't a creative keyboardist anymore. Oh is that a hint or just a plain insult? Sorry dude, smile! Oh wait, you can't smile either. Oh man, I'm sorry I said that too! Dude what's wrong with me? Must be the music that's sucking all my brains out... Crap! I mean... egh... ... ... My reviews are starting to be too long again, I had promised myself that on this new review website I'd keep it short! I guess that's what happens when you give me a whole 70 minutes of boredom to type a review eh!?!? Oops did I just insult the band again? I'll add to that by stating that Since I Lost You is AW-FUL.

For many people my age though, this album is full of melodies reminding them of a good time. It's just in need of editing... badly... So there, it's okay... I suppose THIS ONE is the last "okayish" Genesis album... Do you notice a trend in my affirmations here?

Simon Lac, October 5th 2005

 

The most known image of Genesis is used to sell that album; the guys in their goofy I Can't Dance walk. I won't go into the details of why this being the most well known image of Genesis is very sad, but you probably don't need to have it explained! So... Let's be frank here; this is a "best of" compilation, and one for clueless pop fans on top of it. Now, for the clueless pop fan I would dearly recommend to get 'Turn it On Again; The Hits', that is now available and wasn't in 1992. It contains more songs, and a better choice too (although way too many repeat here). And I say this because as usual for Genesis live albums, the live setting is not very well transferred to the CD, and most songs pale in comparison to their studio counterparts. In fact, I think I won't blame Phil for this, his singing is okay here, it's just the band... the sound of the music... it's just bland and they sound totally bored.

I almost forgot to point out that it's called "The Shorts" because volume 2, which was released shortly after, is for the "longer proggy tracks"... I'll review that one too. But I can already say that the live performance would make more sense to me if it was only on ONE album. I'd sure like to hear the Old Medley or Driving the Last Spike somewhere in between the onslaught of Hold On My Heart, That's All and In Too Deep!!!... ... .... *sigh and looks around for a moment*... ... ... So yeah, the songs are there, you recognize them, you go "yay, that song..."... Jesus He Knows Me has a neat guitar solo and a sarcastic preacher's speech in it so I suppose that's a highlight... It rocks a bit more than the studio version too, which is more than I can say about mostly anything else here. At least the speech in Jesus is better than the horrible "scat" babbling at the beginning of the already sort of lame Throwing it All Away. I highlighted Tonight, Tonight, Tonight too, although it misses its good middle part, at least it feels a bit different; it's more subdued and half dark... The performance of Mama is quite respectable too, with Phil always managing to put life into that one; "AH AH! eeeeeghhhh!"... Anyway, you get it, the rest is pointless if you have the other albums. Seriously, look at the tracklist; when am I supposed to want to listen to this? Hmmm, I was about to finish my review like that but as the album ended, I noticed Phil Collins replaced "mess up your life" in Invisible Touch by "FUCK up your life"!!! WHAT!? I gotta highlight that! I mean, isn't Phil some kind of Disney entertainer now? It's gotta be the best song here just for that, screw the preacher's speech in Jesus.

PS: Phil Collins should not improvise (seriously what's that crap in I Can't Dance!?!)... Unless he says "fuck" or something.

Simon Lac, October 16th 2005

 

A much more interesting release that one; still too long, but more interesting... I don't say that 'The Longs' is better than 'The Shorts' solely based on my "prog snob" attitude noticing that those are the longer and more complicated tracks of the live shows and must consequently be better. No. It's just that the song selection on 'The Shorts' could have been much better. On 'The Long' too in fact, I mean, they stuck all the "real" prog songs in an Old Medley, which is of course the best thing on here... The renditions are not as tired as they could have been considering the year, and Daryl Stuermer even does a fine job with Steve Hackett's mythical solo in the Firth of Fifth snippet. They do the usual "mixing songs in the middle of a weird jam in I Know What I Like", but since we're in 1991 or something, they don't choose the songs that TOTALLY rule anymore; now they are That's All, Illegal Alien, Your Own Special Way, Follow You Follow Me... but there's the Stagnation chant! Did ONE person recognize that in the audience? AH! Probably one...

I could mostly highlight all the songs in red here, because they are still great (well... I mean... Fading Lights... uh no). Like Driving the Last Spike, but again, I'm not sure the live setting adds anything to our Genesis fandom... Well... Yes in fact. I believe Driving the Last Spire, and to a greater extent Home by the Sea and to the GREATEST extent Domino are all somehow empowered on this live album! Unbelievable is it? The powerful "Part 2" of the latter is quite enhanced and more dramatic. Even Fading Lights seems a bit more tolerable. I suppose its presence in the middle instead of at the end of a long drag as on 'We Can't Dance' helps quite a lot. The Drum Duet is just that, a forgettable double drum solo.

'Longs' is definitely worth your money more than 'Shorts', although I still don't have many reasons to listen to it. It's looong...

Simon Lac, October 17th 2005

 

Phil Collins LEFT THE BAND!? Yes he did, and Tony and Mike hired Ray Wilson, the singer from this band called Stiltskin (modern prog (neo-prog) ugh!), apparently based on his rough voice which should fit the return to form for Genesis. A return to WHAT form I ask!? Genesis never had this form, this shape, this is sort of monstrous. Each song appears to be a long whine of Banks synthesizers. And Ray's voice is also just a long whine. The musical ideas are sort of... absent. 'Calling All Stations' is truly a pain to listen to. The same criticism again: it's soooo long. And so constantly whiny and Banksynthified. It's so atonal and longish and never-ending that you will notice the precise point when you start to be annoyed and bored. For me, it's around the end of Alien Afternoon, by that point, I had enough of this sound. Just pay attention to the drum... It is so predictably "adult contemporary" all the time! And who accused Phil of bringing THAT into Genesis hmmm? REPENT! I can't believe that all those years weren't enough to come up with new sounds and ideas... If That's What You Need for instance reminds so bad of a track on 'We Can't Dance' in sounds that it annoys me a bit, despite having an okayish melody. But then, many songs have sort of acceptable choruses (chori? damn I have to clarify that one)... But they extend the song... extend them more... and more... and more... until I die. The Dividing Line is the highlight of course. It has a crunchy guitar sound here and there, and the synthesizers are actually cleverly arranged... in parts... but it doesn't escape the length issue. Now that I think of it though, it appears that every time I think about the "length issue" is when I'm hearing Ray Wilson's voice. It could be his voice, but it's most likely the verses of most songs sucking. There's Congo, which played on radio a bit! It's a fair song. But it seems all songs have material in them that could be used to construct a good song. Everything is just an underdeveloped idea. However, I seriously doubt more time spent on the songs could have made them better... simply because of the state of mind the band seemed to be in at the time of writing the material. And boy is Small Talk an awful song with the worse synthesizer sound since that snippet in Just a Job to Do ha! Boooom bash boom boom bash boooom bash boom boom bash, same tempo all the time, same whines, same thing... By the end of the album, I have black circles under my eyes, even though a couple of "ethereal wannabe moments" work a bit (parts of There Must Be Some Other Way aren't too horrible for instance). I think the band was still honest, they just didn't know what they were doing. It's a very poor album, even though I don't think it deserves its status as "one of the 5 worse albums of all time".

You know, 'Calling All Stations' would almost be okay had it been released by Bryan Adams. At least I'd hear Not About Us instead of his even crappier songs on radio.

PS: I don't think this sounds like Bryan Adams.

Simon Lac, October 17th 2005