GENESIS

TRESPASS (1970)

(Nick Karn's review)

HIGH POINTS: The Knife, Dusk, Looking For Someone. LOW POINTS: White Mountain.

Like Yes and later Rush after them, the second release from Genesis shows a great art rock band finding their classic sound after a debut album that was very much far removed from it. The pure pop of that debut release is gone, and it's replaced by a heavy art rock influence - there are just six songs here, and they're quite lengthy, averaging seven minutes, often going through changes within their structure and built on extended jamming. The actual songs here are mostly fine quality - the main melodies and instrumental parts they're built on are very solid, and Peter Gabriel is beginning to find himself as a vocalist, but the arrangements aren't too focused in places, as the band hasn't quite figured out how to effectively make their long compositions interesting, not being able to overcome their seemingly limited instrumental ability, with the acoustic parts in particular sounding very similar from song to song. Of course, Genesis also still didn't have the services of Steve Hackett and Phil Collins yet, as Anthony Phillips and John Mayhew were in their places respectively.

The opening "Looking For Someone", though, is certainly a fine quality song that's actually grown more on me after a few listens - Gabriel's vocals are definitely passionate (the opening acapella parts are definitely thrilling), the main melody is challenging without being overly complex and unmemorable, and the whole piece has a solid structure, with a decent driving build until the end that's rarely boring, though the jamming does get dull in parts. "White Mountain", though, is a rather hit-and-miss track, with somewhat more of the latter than necessary - it actually combines their folky, acoustic roots with bombastic parts reasonably well in places, the melody actually makes up a little for the pretentious lyrics that aren't really engaging, and it often manages to sound dramatic and mesmerizing, but the arrangement, more than any other song here, is way overlong, and a large portion of the song is forgettable.

"Visions Of Angels", meanwhile, is for me, really a could-have-been excellent ballad - it certainly has its' moments of great beauty, especially in its' fine chorus (with the cool organ burst at the end), but again, that unnecessary sprawl ensures it's mostly just enjoyable, and not anything really all that spectacular. The second half, though, is somewhat more worthwhile, and definitely brings the rating up a bit. "Stagnation", despite its' deceptive title, is actually a fine two-part ballad. The first half kind of struggles to find a melodic identity, as it kind of meanders around too much, but that second half reaches truly majestic heights in its' melody and instrumental backing, containing enough exceptionally beautiful moments (Gabriel pleading for a drink, the 'fish for bitter minnows' melody, etc.) to make it all solid.

They finally tone down the lengthy sprawl, though, in "Dusk", and the result is a truly fantastic ballad. It's really highlighted by the gorgeous backing vocals and melody in the chorus, and the atmosphere just has a hauntingly beautiful 'wintery' feeling to it. It's a very effective setup, then, for the first true classic of the band's career in the nearly 9 minute epic "The Knife", whose galloping organ part (one the most effective Tony Banks has ever come up with) and rhythm, dramatically slow middle chant of 'we... are... only... wanting... freedom', overall intensity in the heavyness (the highest in the Genesis catalog, in fact) dramatic tension and venomous lyrics (the 'some of you are going to die' yells are great!) make for a totally gripping finale. It may have been eclipsed in the Live version with Hackett and Collins in the lineup, but the original version is still an absolute classic in its' own right. So in all, the band seems to still be finding a focus in their sound, as the often weak arrangements signify they're still in transition rather than making a big breakthrough, but still, the high points of this effort are not to be missed.

OVERALL RATING: 7

(John Sieber's review)

Yes, "The Knife" is a good song. As a matter of fact, I listened to it last night, when it was randomly chosen by Winamp to serenade me. I can, therefore, elaborate on it a bit more today! Great organ line, first of all. I like how Tony Banks' keyboards often imitate guitar articulation; it really adds another dimension to Genesis' music. This, of course frees up the guitar to do its' own thing, often adding tasteful, spiraling licks to the chord progression. The middle section, though it may be a bit long for my tastes, solidifies the concept and can be quite amusing at times. But, my favorite track is no longer the aforementioned behemoth. "Dusk" has taken the throne as my favorite track on the album. Shimmering chord progressions and a great verse melody juxtapose an airy, flute-driven middle section, and the last three chords of the song are sublime. Elsewhere, "Looking For Someone" (with that great intro-less beginning) and "Visions of Angels" (piano intro supreme!) grab me from the beginning. The former's twisting coda is a high point on the album for me, as is the latter's chorus.

And here's where I make the snide comments about the other two songs. Well, "Stagnation" is actually okay, despite being stuffed with sometimes boring, other times hypnotic, guitar strumming and such. "White Mountain" (AKA that other boring song), I'll be honest with you, I can't remember much of it. And I don't feel like putting the CD on to review it. If I can't remember that song among the other gems, that obviously means something about the song, doesn't it?

Well, whatever. I have work to do, but I figured that I would chime in on yet another Genesis release, one that I find truly alluring despit the unmemorability of certain sections. One more time, let's hear it for "Dusk"!

OVERALL RATING: 8

NURSERY CRYME (1971)

(Nick Karn's review)

HIGH POINTS: The Return Of The Giant Hogweed, Harold The Barrel, The Musical Box, The Fountain Of Salmacis. LOW POINTS: Seven Stones, Harlequin.

Helped by the addition of Steve Hackett and Phil Collins, the Genesis sound became even more focused with this album, as the quality of the arrangements are much better than before, as the group became more confident crafting longer epic pieces, which take up more than half this album, to contrast the shorter ones. While the arrangements are a huge leap forward (with very little if any of the jams being overlong or boring like on Trespass), there are still a couple problems that keep the album from being in the same class with the next three that follow. First off, the production here gets extremely annoying in places - the rhythm section seems a lot louder than the rest of the instruments (which makes for an awful bass-heavy sound), the softer moments are mixed way too quietly, and just as you're turning up the sound, the louder, more bombastic moments nearly render you deaf.

The second big problem is that the shorter tunes here may as well not even exist in light of the larger epic pieces (with one major exception). They're pleasant enough while they're on, but the melodies are forgettable enough that you have to strain just to remember how they went. "For Absent Friends", the first appearance of Phil Collins on lead vocals, is pleasant enough, but the melody is much too clumsy and the song too insubstantial and short for it to be worthwhile. "Seven Stones" and the folky "Harlequin", though, don't really have anything to recommend them, as both are almost entirely forgettable apart from maybe a few seconds of each, with the first having moments of deadly boring seriousness. There is, though, a triumph in this area in "Harold The Barrel". The song does a fabulous job of compressing something that could potentially be a much longer epic into an extremely quirky 3 minute piece - entertaining and melodic, with tons of characters created by Gabriel that urge Harold not to jump, and in this way it's quite serious in the 'suicide attempt' nature of the lyrics.

But "Harold" excepting, who really cares about the shorter songs here when there are the epics? Now these are really the shining moments of the album, and there's no better way to begin this effort than "The Musical Box", which has both an intriguing as hell story based on the album cover and utterly powerful music. It builds from quietly melodic acoustic guitar and cool flute bursts after every line of 'play me my song...' and then slowly rises to an awesome and frantic lengthy jam in the middle (featuring really gripping Hackett solos and a weird synth tone that almost sounds like farting) with a vocal bridge in between ('old King Cole was a merry old soul..'). The last two minutes of the song, though, are its' most incredible, highlighted by gorgeous backing vocals first and Peter Gabriel's yells of 'touch me, touch me, touch me, NOW! NOW! NOW! NOW! NOW!' over anthemic organ. Truly one of the most exciting and explosive endings in the whole Genesis catalog.

"The Return Of The Giant Hogweed", though, is even better as a completely mind-blowing science fiction story dealing with a giant hogweed taking over a village (and his eventual victory). The song is every bit as downright silly as its' title suggests, but its' premise is hilarious and musically, it's absolutely thrilling beyond words. The fast playing of the intro to start off the song leads into extraordinarily powerful anthemic screams from Gabriel ('turn and run! nothing can stop them!'), with amazingly singable lyrics, complex but extremely memorable melodies, and there's even an enthralling duel between Hackett and Banks, where Steve arises from the fast barrage of piano to get some extremely well-crafted soloing in, and finally, the portion of the song where the hogweed finally gets his victory ('human bodies soon will know their anger...') is followed by manic explosive heavy guitar and drum bashings that cap off an extraordinary epic.

The final epic, and album closer, isn't quite as breathtakingly constructed as the other major highlights, but it's still very powerful in all. Mike Rutherford's tale of Hermaphrodites, "The Fountain Of Salmacis", is pushed forward by its' extremely well-crafted musical arrangement featuring pretty acoustic work, an enthralling instrumental passage with more vintage Hackett bursting out of the fast bass playing in the middle of the song, with the 'ahh' harmonies towards the end of the tune possibly being the most gorgeous moment of the entire album. Unfortunately, it's also the song where the production flaws are most evident - the extremely loud mellotron and cymbal (in comparison to the rest of the instruments) in the intro and outro force me to really play around with the volume control. Normally you don't hear me complaining about production too much, but it's bothersome enough here to detract from the experience a bit, though not the actual musical quality, which is quite fine. And their big breakthrough was just around the corner.

OVERALL RATING: 8

This album, the first with Steve Hackett and Phil Collins, is considered by many the first album of classic era Genesis. I couldn't really tell you (as this is the earliest Genesis album I have as of this writing), but I can tell you that it's really, really good. Basically, there are two types of songs on here - then 3 long suites and the 4 shorter numbers. The shorter numbers are nice enough, but they don't really leave an impression. Well, "Harold The Barrel" is good, with lots of fun melodies grafted together and clever lyrics, but the other 3 ("For Absent Friends", "Seven Stones", and "Harlequin") are decent and pretty but nothing more. They sound good when they're on, but you never really need to hear them again.

That leaves the 3 long songs. Are they good? Oh man, are they EVER good! The opener, "The Musical Box", is a lush, medieval sounding tune with lots of great vocals, blistering guitar from Steve Hackett, dark lyrics, and one of the best endings to a song ever. I mean that, too - the song ends with this beautiful organ line, beautiful vocals, and very appropriate guitar from Hackett. It's a really moving moment, even though the song lyrics are a bit, well, blue. "The Return Of The Giant Hogweed" is every bit as good - there aren't any moments as beautiful as the ending to "Box", but the tune is better overall, so I'll call it a draw.

The lyrics are about giant weeds that kill people. Let me tell you, it's funny as all get out. Plus, the tune is really creepy, exciting, and catchy all at once and fails to bore me for a second in its over 8 minute length. The album closing "The Fountain Of Salmacis" is a retelling of the myth of Hermaphrodites with lots of great instrumental runs and mellotron in the best tradition of the Moody Blues. Very memorable indeed. Maybe the short songs just seem dull because the surrounding material is so good. Oh well. This is a very, very enjoyable record in all. I guess my biggest complaint is that it's too short - the epic tracks make up about 26 minutes of the record, leaving the other 4 songs that just fly by and straight out of your memory, so you'll inevitably as "That's it?" at the end of the album. Still, nothing is bad and the best songs make this album well worth purchasing.

Several months later - What am I, a jerk? Those other 4 songs have grown on me like there's no tomorrow, and now I fully love them. My original grade of 8 was too low. It still isn't as perfect as the two that came after it, but it's still worth a 10, albeit a lower one. Get this!!!

* OVERALL RATING: 10 *

(Rollo's review)

HIGH POINTS: The Fountain of Salmacis, The Return of the Giant Hogweed, The Musical Box, For Absent Friends, Harold the Barrel. LOW POINTS: Seven Stones.

Though I can't tell you much history about this album (like Philip Maddox: this is the earliest Genesis album I possess in these times), the addition of Phil Collins and Steve Hackett commenced the period we normally know as "the classic one". While the boys still sound a bit inexperienced with recording, the songs are so mature that it hurts! Or maybe not: here, we see the humble beginnings of "fairy-tale prog" (as George Starostin says) that sounds like your average nursery stories (hence the album title), but the musical and lyrical arrangements are so amazing that I can't help thinking the boys definitely knew what they were up to. Yes, it sounds paradoxical, but believe me: once you hear the first notes of something like "Harold the Barrel", you are blown away! That song, by the way, is one of the most hilarious Genesis ever wrote, and its fast-moving way of describing a complicated storyline doesn't hurt one second. Maybe you'll be confused as the three minutes run by quickly, but believe me, there'll only be a benefit by listening. One complaint: the hilariousness actually is too much at places, but as long as something like "we can help you" or "your shirt's all dirty; there's a man here from the BBC" is there, I won't be angry.

But the strength here, oh boy, lies in the three epics, respectively lasting for ten, eight and...eight minutes. The first of these, "The Musical Box", is outstanding; the introduction is actually the part I like the most here, with calm guitar playing and very soft tinkling on keyboards and slow prophecies on flute. But as that section fades out, we're greeted by seven minutes of heavy Genesis: the "suite" bangs like nothing else and sets a mood that never has been recreated before. The ending is furious and fast, but never tires me. But "The Return of the Giant Hogweed" manages to be just a tad better and that's understandable; while it doesn't rock as much as "Box", it still purely paralyzed and targets you to be possessed within its spell (have I read too much Tolkien lately?). The middle sections between the verses are extremely tight (only a good thing), and the ending is like "Box"'s, but only with more power and furiousness. I'll wait with reviewing the last epic later (see the high points above)...

...meanwhile, let's have a look at the other tracks. "For Absent Friends" is filler, but it's touching and adorable filler! The way the vocals move me can't be described with words, and the only flaw of the track would be its shortness. I can certainly understand why many people don't like "Seven Stones" because off the way it just goes on and goes on without any interesting passages. There is one for me, though, which is the middle section (again again) with a nice organ solo and flute touches from Tony and Pete respectively. I don't care much about the rest of the track, though, since it's very pretentious, but hey, it's at least well-constructed with powerful vocal inputs from Pete again. Enter at own risk, still. And there's "Harlequin" that certainly is filler, but it's good and beautiful filler and I really have nothing against it. Now, for the last epic: "The Fountain of Salmacis".

And believe me, there are many prog epics, but this is one of them that I like the most. The introduction alone (with Mell'tron washes and guitar doodling) is worth a fortune, but it gets better, you see: the verses and choruses (with Phil and Pete singing different lyrics at the same time) are so nice and powerful and...whoa. And I must comment the drums, too: Phil may've been young, but he surely knew how to put a good beat in the right place. The strength of the track lies in its middle section, giving every other band member a chance to solo: first is Steve with his introductory riffs and hard guitar arpeggios. Nice goes a short drum/bass interlude, and then goes Tony and Pete, giving room for Steve to come in, then goes Pete with more vocals, back again, more vocals, back again, more vocals and back again. Tony then brings in an immaculate organ solo, along with neat tom-tom fills from Pete, and we're led back to where we originally were. The rest of the tracks consists of more vocal sections and, "finally", a mighty and majestic ending to an epic like that. Too many details, you say? Nonetheless, I don't see why Nursery Cryme doesn't deserve a 9. I may be bored sometimes, and some tracks or passages aren't really good/satisfying, but the overall product is something that you must own.

OVERALL RATING: 9

COMMENTS

[email protected]

I had the privilege of being introduced to the Genesis sound with Nursery Crime in the early seventies at the age of 10, when you still can get into fairy tales or science fiction without your critical mind stealing a good part of the magic. Foxtrot was a follow-up in all the artistic senses ( you can even find that Nursery Crime cricket field behind the Foxtrot beach on the album back cover - if the same medieval logo and Phillip Travers art weren´t enough to give you the sequence idea!). The game only changed with Selling England by the Pound, obviously an easier sounding album. The Lamb was darker, but that trash movie sounding band had to grow to survive and was forever gone, like an old incarnation. So, in the beginning of the ¨real¨Genesis there was NC - and this is the perspective that some people will never get, specially if they didn´t have a whole year to get along with that bizarre paradise album and wait for their new stuff. In time: Seven Stones was like Scherazade (Simbad`s Ship) to me and made Whiter Shade of Pale sound really easy listening. The Fountain of the Salmacis was In the Court of Crimson King influence (they said that was the last album they really heard before only "doing"music). And the Moodies sound was a presence too - they tried Threshold Moodies label before get signed with Charisma.

[email protected]

I agree with Seven Stones being not too memorable but while it is on its very peaceful and calm. A good song to put on before bed. I feel asleep listening to it twice to today! :)

FOXTROT (1972)

(Nick Karn's review)

HIGH POINTS: the 'Guaranteed Eternal Sanctuary Man", 'Willow Farm', 'Apocalpyse In 9/8' and 'As Sure As Eggs Is Eggs' portions of Supper's Ready, Get 'Em Out By Friday, Watcher Of The Skies. LOW POINTS: Can-Utility And The Coastliners.

Rapidly bringing even more focus and interesting creative ideas into their sound, the band's fourth album was their real breakthrough record as a true prog rock powerhouse (not that Nursery Cryme wasn't great, but there were enough serious flaws in that one to keep it from being a real unstoppable tour-de-force). The reasons for this improvement? The musicianship and arrangements here are even better and more epic than they were before, but more importantly, Foxtrot marked the point where Peter Gabriel was really beginning to make the most of his considerably creative lyrical abilities and appropriate characterizations to match them. His words here are filled with fantastic imagery, and even when the lyrics aren't written by him (in the less talented and more pretentious sphere of Tony Banks songwriting), his vocals can still provide an extremely enjoyable and powerful bombast, filled with strong melodies at the core.

Nowhere is this more evident than the opening "Watcher Of The Skies", which is definitely one composition owned by Banks musically and lyrically. He certainly holds his own in contributing a majestic mellotron part that really does justice to the intriguing song title, plus his organ intro effectively leads into the rest of the song, which is a fantastic anthem, with great power vocals, simply awesome alternations between slow and fast in the melody and wonderfully unpredictable musical twists. My only real complaint about the song is that it seems to lose much of its' majesty after that intro in favor of a more energetic approach, but still, it's a thoroughly impressive number. "Time Table" is a more gentle balladic piece, with gentle piano tinkling and a soul-searching vibe running through the lyrics and vocals - while it's not really that impressive, the main melody is very pretty, and Gabriel's vocals are solid.

Of course, however, it can't compare with "Get 'Em Out By Friday", a highly striking portrait of Peter Gabriel's twisted storytelling and character sketches as a worthy successor to "Hogweed" from the last album, as the premise of apartment landlords and evictions in the year 2012 turns even bleaker, detailed in the slow paced flute-led bridge where Gabriel declares the four-foot restriction on humanoid height from 'genetic control'. While I really wonder where he came up with that stuff, the music is really cool too, featuring a very weird, but somehow appropriate organ tone that merges very well with Steve Hackett's subtle but integral guitar parts, as well as Phil Collins' powerful drum parts and fast basslines (especially in the intro).

The next song, "Can-Utility And The Coastliners", is a bit of a controversial tune for me - it's built on the traditional Genesis acoustic structure, and is considered filler by many. The melodies in both the beginning and ending have a ton of beauty and anthemic power in them respectively due nearly exclusively to the vocals, but the solo section in the middle begins to drift aimlessly and rambles a lot, with the solos that each member comes up with not being too memorable. While the beginning and ending ensures that it's still a good-quality composition, it's definitely the most disappointing and least focused on the album, but then...

The record's real centerpiece comes in the final song (preceded by a pretty little minute and a half acoustic bit by Steve Hackett called "Horizon's"), the legendary epic "Supper's Ready", which pushes 23 minutes. If there was ever a song that defines everything that was great about this band during its' peak years without any of its' weaknesses, it's this one. For one thing, it's a vehicle for Gabriel to go insane with his theatrical abilities in the 'Willow Farm' section, with amazingly dynamic voice changes, hilarious lyrical blurbs like, 'mum to mud to mad to dad, dad diddley office' and 'the frog was a prince, the prince was a brick, the brick was an egg, the egg was a bird', and the lyrics that build on his deep interpretation of the apocalypse - the song in its' seven parts is modeled on the buildup to it, with an 'apocalyptic' 9/8 jam in the sixth one that is built on tricky time signatures, absolutely fantastic drumming and appropriate keyboard bits.

The epic also contains the heavy medieval elements they had become known for during this time, especially in 'Ikhnaton And Itsacon And Their Band Of Merry Men' (the third portion of the song which contains a simply glorious 'waiting for battle!' chant and powerfully anthemic organ playing), while also containing a stripped down, haunting atmosphere in 'How Dare I Be So Beautiful' (which, as part four, serves as a calm to the silliness that's about to come). More importantly, though, a couple of key melodies near the beginning of the song (namely the 'hey babe, with your guardian eyes so blue' and the 'guaranteed eternal sanctuary man...' bits) are later reprised in the last couple of parts of it, and an unbelievably cathartic effect to end the song as it fades out (the amazing 'to take them to the New Jerusalem!' portion). A simply unbelievable masterpiece without which I wouldn't have rated the album as high - it's worth getting for that song alone, although Foxtrot is definitely one of the more important cornerstones in prog rock's history, and still fine in its' own right.

OVERALL RATING: 9

Any complaints I had about Nursery Cryme have been more than rectified on this release - there aren't any short songs that fly straight out of your memory and the album lasts over 50 minutes, leaving the listener very satisfied. And let me tell you, this is one satisfying record. The record is most famous for containing Peter Gabriel's 23 minute apocalyptic epic "Supper's Ready", which is brilliant from start to finish. No joke. Every single part is totally captivating, memorable, and beautiful. It's got everything you need - beautiful flutes and acoustic guitars, uplifting anthems, goofy show tune type numbers, dark imagery, and one of the best finales on any rock record ever. It's divided into several "sub-songs", each one blending seamlessly with the last. Though the whole piece is nearly perfect, my favorite part is a little piece called "Willow Farm", which is the goofy show tune number I mentioned above. Lots of catchy, great vocal flourishes by Gabriel and an atmosphere that somehow manages to be completely goofy and fun while still being dark and creepy. This record should be in anyone's collection for that track alone.

But wait! The rest of the material is grade A, too! The opening "Watcher Of The Skies" is an insanely memorable tune with lots of great organ work by Tony Banks. "Can Utility And The Coast-Liners" is even better, with Peter's trademark passionate vocals and more great organ. "Time Table" and "Get 'Em Out By Friday" are both great as well - the former is a simple moving medieval tune, while the latter is very similar to the earlier "The Return Of The Giant Hogweed" in that it tells a goofy beyond belief story with some great musical backing. It isn't as good as "Hogweed", but what is? And, well, that's every song on the album. Oh, "Horizons" is a short, less than 2 minute acoustic guitar solo that basically serves as an introduction to "Supper's Ready", and it's extremely pretty as well. This is an essential addition to any prog rock library and is sure to entertain just about anybody,

* OVERALL RATING: 10 *

(John Sieber's review)

A seemingly super-pretentious and risky move for any prog band in the 70's was to create a side-long epic. Now, sometimes these risks paid off ("Close to the Edge", "The Gates of Delirium", "Tarkus", "Echoes") and sometimes they didn't ("2112", "Atom Heart Mother", "The Remembering"). At the very least, however, these attempts were rather daring and ballsy. Case in point: "Supper's Ready". Genesis went about this project in a truly original way. They turned their noses up at the idea of a fully cohesive 20-minute long song ("Close to the Edge") and a completely drug-fueled delusion of a psychotic armadillo tank ("Tarkus"). Nope. They, er, Pete Gabriel I mean, decided to take the story of the Apocalypse and turn it into an insanely trippy musical. Now the pertinent question is: did they succeed? The answer: Fuck yes. And now I'll tell you why.

The whole shebang starts out with "Lover's Leap", dark chords strummed in the guitar as Gabriel sings about people's faces changing and archetypal visions of seven "saintly shrouded" men. At this point, the music just SOUNDS like it's 5:00 in the morning and a sickly red-gray shade eminates from the east. God, the melody, man! Especially the "Hey babe..." chorus. The Antichrist is mentioned (I think, anyways) in "The Guaranteed Eternal Sanctuary Man" section, as the proverbial sun is rising over a world that's about to be changed forever. Next is a pure musical number, "Ikhnaton and Itsacon and Their Band of Merry Men". Please. What is this? Just a fun rompin' tune with a great melody? I mean, I sure as hell can't make heads or tails of the lyrics, however I think they might be depicting the death of the aforementioned Antichrist.

Then "Willow Farm" continues with the musical traits that make me think I'm watching "West Side Story" or something. But you CANNOT deny the great melodies, and some of the weirdest, most acid-influenced lyrics ever. Example? You bet! "Feel your body melt, mum to mud to mad to dad, dad diddley office, dad diddley office... you're all full of ball." You can tell that the sun is overhead and crazy shit is happening all around. The references to Biblical figures return in "Apocalypse in 9/8", which, despite the pretentions name, really IS in 9/8, giving this apparent turning point a decidedly unsettled feeling. And at the end, the "Lover's Leap" chorus melody returns in a truly beautiful climax, which segues into the victory march "As Sure as Eggs Is Eggs". Ah, eggs is eggs. The sun shines brighter than ever as God comes down to bring the souls of the righteous to heaven to partake of the great Wedding feast. Supper is indeed ready. You should try listening to this thing after drinking a bottle of cough syrup.Hunh? What'dja say?

Anyway, there's a side 1 to this thing, I think. Oceanic Mellotron soundscapes bookend the memorable "Watcher of the Skies", which, although not perfect, sure does have a couple good melodies and a continuous backing rhythm that almost always plays against the beat. "Time Table" is a pretty ballad, and ummm, "Get 'Em Out By Friday" is a nice little story about midgets being evicted from an apartment building. "Can-Utility and the Coastliners" has a neat little Mellotron solo, though, and while one can easily write this tune off as a rewrite of "Time Table", one shouldn't do that. Bad idea. Oh, and then there's "Horizon's", which is actually on Side 2 (I think) and serves as an instrumental prologue to "Supper's Ready". That's it, I think. Apart from some of the Side 1 material being a bit unmemorable and bland at times, this is a definite must if you're into art-rock at all, and don't mind a record with some good melodies. "And we are CHOCK FULL of that, man!" "DAMN RIGHT!"

OVERALL RATING: 8

[email protected] (Stefan Hernold)

COMMENTS

Yeah, the man hit the nail. Get yerself a copy of Foxtrot and you will learn to accept that prog music can be more than mere self-indulgent instrumental showmanship as performed by Keith Emerson. Beyond the vaguest doubt, Tony Banks and Steve Hackett have been just as skillful musicians as Emerson or Steve Howe have been - but in marked contrast to the first of the lastly mentioned, Hackett and Banks knew to curb their urge for self-indulgence and eschewed lengthy solo performances in favour of tight, elaborate song structures.

LIVE (1973)

(Nick Karn's review)

HIGH POINTS: The Knife, The Return Of The Giant Hogweed, The Musical Box. LOW POINTS: None.

By the early 70's, Genesis live shows were turning into full-scale events, mainly due to Peter Gabriel's theatrical use of costumes (dressing up as a flower during the 'Willow Farm' portion of "Supper's Ready", for one) and his famous storytelling in between songs. Unfortunately, the first live effort of the band's career lacks both the visual impact and the stories (which are left out of the mix) and to add to that, there's only 46 minutes of material here (5 songs in all), which is nothing compared to the triple live extravaganzas of Yes and ELP around that time. There's also the fact that, musically, the songs are almost note-for-note renditions of the studio originals. Yet, in spite of all these obvious faults on the surface, Live still manages to be an utterly awesome concert recording.

The track listing alone should inspire something in you if you're a fan - five of the band's best extended epics from their early years. Amazing songs by themselves, they are, and out of all these performances, only the first of them ("Watcher Of The Skies") is really noticeably weaker than the original, but only because it's taken at a somewhat sluggish tempo and almost clinically faithful to it in the end, including in the vocal aspect of things, but by itself, it's still an awesome performance. But "Get 'Em Out By Friday" is a bit more guitar heavy and energetic, with the intro flowing much more smoothly than it was in the studio, Peter's declaration from genetic control of 'it is my sad duty to inform ye of a four foot restriction of humanoid height' sounding even cooler here than before.

The Nursery Cryme tracks fare even better, especially since that record is probably one of the worst produced art rock albums I'm aware of, hearing them in a live setting with quite decent production and guitar-heavy sound makes them a bit more preferable. "The Return Of The Giant Hogweed", though lacking the initial verse screams a bit, is more than made up for through the hilarious lyrics being more clearly sung, and the final portion of the tune where the band is just going nuts pounding it out, while "The Musical Box" succeeds on account of that same improved production reason, and Steve Hackett again takes control of the sound (and not Tony Banks for once). The screams of 'Now! Now! Now!' might be even more forceful here too, and that's saying quite a bit.

But as excellent as things have been so far, nothing can compare to the tour-de-force performance here - "The Knife" with the involvement of Steve Hackett and Phil Collins. What more could you possibly want? As much as I love the original, the stage version simply blows it out of the water with its' sheer energy, the audience clapalong to the main organ part, a vintage Hackett guitar solo that may be his finest moment, those weird-ass, but terrifying effects Gabriel applies to his voice in the middle, and the total conviction of it all, so inspiring that it alone is worth owning the album for, and it may be my second favorite Genesis performance behind only "Supper's Ready", which should have also been on this album, along with maybe "Harold The Barrel", "The Fountain Of Salmacis" and "Looking For Someone" to make it a double LP. Man, even with its' disadvantages Live is still a candidate for the best prog live album ever (though I'd probably currently give that title to Yessongs). It's also a must for Hackett fans, and a solid starting point for the uninitiated.

OVERALL RATING: 9

This album, released mere weeks before Selling England By The Pound came out, serves as a document of the original Genesis progressive sound, before Peter Gabriel left the band and before Tony Banks' keyboards started to be less mellotron oriented. Before I go off on how much I like this record, let me tell you everything bad that's possible to say about it - first of all, for a prog rock band, it's short, clocking in at 5 songs and 46 minutes. "Supper's Ready", which was recorded at the same show this concert's from, would have been a nice bonus on the reissue. Second, Peter's famous stage stories are chopped off, leaving him saying the titles of the songs. This doesn't hurt the music, but his stories were famous, and aside from one bizarre story in the (scanty) liner notes, you get nothing. Third, these songs don't vary a whole lot from the studio versions - though the overall SOUND can be a bit different, the actual musical pieces remain largely unchanged.

With all that being said, this album RULES. Fans of early Genesis, this tracklist is hard to top. You wanna hear it? "Watcher Of The Skies". "Get 'Em Out By Friday". "The Return Of The Giant Hogweed". "The Musical Box". "The Knife". This is enough to send any Genesis fans into pleasure convulsions, but there's more. You see, even though the tunes aren't rearranged that much from the original (well, I've heard that "The Knife" is, but as of this writing, I haven't heard the original), but the sound, alternating between extremely gentle quiet parts and loud, screeching loud parts, actually improves on the studio sound most of the time. The guitar sounds really "in your face" most of the time, and this is especially welcome on the opening riff on "Hogweed", where it really adds to the ominous feel of the song. Plus, on the outro to the song, the whole band starts to really pound as the hogweeds take over the world. Super.

The closing bit of "The Musical Box", due to more emotional playing from Mr. Hackett, actually sounds better here than in the studio, and the studio bit is one of my absolute favorite pieces of music ever. And "The Knife", though I've never heard the original, absolutely rules, at least here (and trust me, I WILL have Trespass soon, if I haven't already gotten it by the time you read this). A majestic, powerful, LOUD tune, featuring a splendid flute and guitar passage. Very uplifting and creepy chorus, too, as contradictory as that sounds. You just need to hear the song. You need to hear the rest of this album, too. Don't be put off by its length or lack of rearrangements - you will love this album. And if you've never heard any Genesis before, this is a perfect place to get started. I'd almost give it a 10, but don't just because it could have been put together better. Get it anyway.

OVERALL RATING: 9

SELLING ENGLAND BY THE POUND (1973)

(Nick Karn's review)

HIGH POINTS: The Battle Of Epping Forest, Dancing With The Moonlit Knight, Firth Of Fifth, I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe), The Cinema Show. LOW POINTS: None.

As a further refinement of the classic sound the band had been exploring with Foxtrot, the end result is the absolute culmination of all the best musical and lyrical ideas in the entire Genesis catalog, overwhelming in its' over-the-top, but clever theatrical lyrics and vocal performance courtesy of Peter Gabriel's continued incorporation of British themes. It also doesn't hurt that throughout its' rich 53 minute running time (which is a lot by single album vinyl standards), Selling England contains quite a few of the most exceptional melodies you can ever find on a progressive rock album, endlessly inventive, exciting, hilarious, but also passionate, emotional and bombastic. As a first time listener, it's very possible you won't know what to make of the sound, as the band doesn't exactly go by conventional prog songwriting methods, but this is really one of those efforts that seemingly becomes more powerful and beautiful with every listen.

The album's vision immediately gels together perfectly in the classic 8 minute opener "Dancing With The Moonlit Knight", considered by many to be the finest Genesis song ever. While I'd say "Supper's Ready" is a more comprehensive look at their sound in one nearly sidelong piece for me to totally agree, the most powerful moments of this one are just as capable of devastating one emotionally. The acapella vocal section is a beautiful introduction to the song, and the vocal performance by Gabriel here captivates like few others I can think of, and the lyrics paint very vivid pictures of the England that was probably going through his head. The transition from that portion of the song to the beautiful yet tense synth (this was the first Genesis album in which Tony Banks began to use them, actually) parts and delicate acoustic guitar breaks is seamless.

But what really makes the song come alive is when it explodes into an a more anthemic portion ('the Captain leads his dance right on through the night...') that simply drips with emotional power, and it's followed by Steve Hackett's short, but positively glorious, solo bit that simply sends chills down my spine. The tricky instrumental middle of the song is also astonishing (and Banks' own incredibly fast solo is certainly no slouch either), and there's also the part where Gabriel sings 'there's a fat old lady outside the saloon...' with the mellotron backing that truly makes for another catharic highpoint. And although the ending fadeout, with the same few acoustic notes being played over 'crying' ambience may seem a bit boring and unnecessary at first, but it's difficult to find a more appropriate ending than this softly strummed Mike Rutherford fadeout. A very stunning opener, if you ask me.

Don't think this album is all complex prog, however. "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)" immediately puts an end to that idea as a hilarious pop tune based on the album cover painting. The melody is ridiculously catchy, and the way the lyrics are sung are truly amusing and endlessly entertaining. It might actually their best pop-flavored song a few years before that period of the band actually started, and that's saying quite a lot. And not only is it timelessly hook filled and memorable, the musical embellishments here are also rich - there's flutes, sitars, and a fun little groove on which Phil Collins works some incredible drumming. The beginning and ending sounds of a lawn mower (made by the Banksynths) are wholly appropriate for the song's flow as well.

The album then switches back to classic prog mode again with the ever controversial 9-1/2 minute "Firth Of Fifth", another absolute fan favorite in the Genesis catalog. The arrangement in the song is truly incredible, beginning with a fast barrage of immaculately flowing piano notes. The intro effortlessly switches to a fantastic melody filled with bombast that goes from gripping one minute to a contemplative, gorgeous mood the next ('a waterfall, is madrigal...'), but the real highlight of the epic is the truly amazing middle jam, featuring lengthy synth and guitar solos by Banks and Hackett respectively (and some Gabriel flute in there, too), and both of them have extraordinarily powerful melodic tendencies that ensure the whole thing never gets boring. And closing the piece on the same bombastic mode as it began is an utterly perfect way to cap it off.

Some say the experience of the song is marred by the lyrics written by Banks here, but even though they're undoubtedly pretentious and would be a precursor to even worse efforts, within the musical brilliance of the rest of the song I never seem to notice them, and even if I did, the vocal delivery actually makes some of them sound powerful, and I get a can even get a laugh out of the line 'like a cancer growth is removed by skill', just because it's so laughably bad (even Banks admits his lyrics here were extremely disposable). But no matter - the first half of this album is closed by the Phil Collins penned acoustic ballad "More Fool Me", which despite its' ridiculous title and slight awkwardness in the verses, is one of the album's most beautiful moments, particularly in the highly moving and memorable chorus - excellent melody, and definitely Collins' first (though actually not his last) great songwriting achievement.

The second half, admittedly, doesn't really knock me off my feet the way the earlier tracks did, but it actually contains my favorite song of all in the hugest centerpiece, "The Battle Of Epping Forest", which best utilizes Peter Gabriel's utterly stunning ability to create theatrical 'character sketches' and sing these parts with a whole heck of a lot of vocal presence. It may not have as many great musical ideas as the other tracks that came before it (though there are a couple extremely clever ones that really make the song a masterpiece), but I really don't care. This is definitely one the most unabashedly entertaining songs I've ever heard in my life, and I'll be damned if I can find as many high-quality melodies in any other prog epic as I can in this extended nearly 12 minute piece, and that's including instrumental melodies.

There are tons of things for me to love about this song, ranging from the 'marching' intro led by the Gabriel flute to the fabulously melodic and humorous 'medieval' middle section which seems purposely isolated from the rest of the 'battle' (and it definitely has the most messed up lyrics Gabriel ever came up with, and that's even including Lamb stuff). The synth breaks right after the 'here come the calvary..' lines are utterly perfect for that moment, and the extremely catchy chorus has a perfectly supplied piano part at the end of every vocal line. Oh yeah, and there's also an endless supply of characters and Gabriel voices, everyone from Bob the Nob to Liquid Len covered here, all of whose actions in the lyrics absolutely thrill me to no end. Wow, what an epic.

The excellently melodic, multi-faceted instrumental "After The Ordeal", meanwhile, provides a great diversion to follow - it's a mostly Hackett composed composition that features wonderful use of really pretty acoustic guitar in the first half to emotionally captivating soloing in the second. It may not be amazing on its' own, but it serves as the perfect bridge between the hilarious tension of "Epping Forest" and the next 11 minute piece "The Cinema Show". That epic starts off in quiet acoustic mode, and although it's a little too close to "Supper's Ready" in places, the delicate guitar and vocal melodies (plus the subtle nuances in the synths) are mostly terrific, and the 'take a little trip back...' bridge section is quite affecting. It does start to get slightly boring and repetitve at the halfway point of the song, but then the gripping finale sets in.

That 'finale' happens to be another fantastic jam that picks up the pace of the song - it's led almost entirely by the synth parts, which Banks really makes incredibly engaging, as a lot of this section is technically difficult, but the flow throughout it is virtually flawless, with nearly every minute of it taking my breath away. The effective backing of the instruments (particularly the acoustic guitars and drums) being also central here, as the album gets brought to a gripping close with its' extension "Aisle Of Plenty", which reprises the main acoustic melody of "Dancing With The Moonlit Knight", and its' crazy layered vocal parts about a recipe for eggs or something like that provides an amazingly perfect end to this essential prog landmark, which has grown on me enough to gain a significant portion in my 'favorite albums of all time' list, and for good reason. It's the one and only time Genesis made full use of their talents to create an ambitious album with no unsatisfying songs - just nearly perfection-filled moments from beginning to end.

* OVERALL RATING: 10 *

A masterpiece, plain and simple. This is even better than Foxtrot, and I gave Foxtrot a 10. It's an absolutely flawless musical experience. The best 2 numbers here simply can't be expressed in words, but I'll try anyway - "Dancing With The Moonlit Knight" is a simple, moving number with Gabriel's best vocals ever and a fantastic crescendo from a simple acoustic guitar and piano to an explosion of guitars and keyboards that leaves me speechless. Gabriel's lyrics have never been better, either. This number is simply one of the greatest songs ever recorded. "Firth Of Fifth" is even better, believe it or not. It starts with this great piano line which leads into a huge vocal section, which gives way to one of the most beautiful instrumental sections ever - Gabriel's flute, Banks' piano and keyboards, and Hackett's guitar blend seamlessly to create a totally moving, breathtaking, perfect experience.

Everything else on this album is almost as good - they would blow the best material on most albums away, but here they're slightly inferior to two numbers, which says a whole lot about how good those other two numbers are. The 11 minute epic "Battle Of Epping Forest" continues in the tradition of fun stories from "Get 'Em Out By Friday" and "The Return Of The Giant Hogweed", but one ups all of them with it's infinite supply of creative melodies and vocal acrobatics from Peter Gabriel. "The Cinema Show" starts as a slow, gorgeous ballad before a huge, excellent instrumental coda that leaves me speechless before reprising "Dancing", which is never a bad thing. Even the two poppier numbers here are good - "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)" is a groovy number with lots of clever lyrics, instruments, and, well, everything. Even Phil's quiet vocal number ("More Fool Me") is quite pretty, though it's certainly the weakest track here (it'd be the strongest on any of his later stuff). This album is a really unique experience - it's simultaneously more mature and sillier than previous releases, and both sides work perfectly. Prog rock never sounded so good. If you even wrote off Genesis because of their pop radio hits, give this album a listen and it'll change your opinion on Genesis forever. It sure did for me.

* OVERALL RATING: 10 *

(John Sieber's review)

Disclaimer: If you just can't stand snobby British folks at all, I strongly advise you to stay away from early Genesis at all costs. But if you're an open-minded dude (or dudette) like myself, these weirdos sure can be entertaining. Anyway, this album, my first Genesis purchase, begins with some haughty Brit asking us where his country lies. Ba-ching! There's your first example of Peter Gabriel and his entertaining voice, which really did take awhile to grow on me. Greg Lake he is not. Anyway, "Dancing With The Moonlit Knight" is that offending piece of music that asks us where his friggin' country lies, and damn it is a goodie. I've read somewhere that it's Pete's backlash at 70's British society. But who cares? Plenty of entertaining musical ideas, a bombastic chorus, and a rockin' bridge make this one a keeper, save one thing: when the main part of the song ends, there's this repeated guitar passage that goes on for 2 and a half minutes and isn't really all that necessary.

But it's okay, I just hit the Skip button at that point, skipping me to "I know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)", which further proves the theory that Brits have an obsession with transvestites, this song dealing with an alternative-lifestyle lawnmowing man. But it's cute and lighthearted with great verse and chorus melodies and a spoken-word intro and outro. Kinda reminds me of a witty Supertramp song, ya know? "Firth of Fifth" is perhaps my favorite Genesis song, if for nothing else, for that majestic piano intro. Damn, I'm going to learn that thing. Well, the main "song" part is as good, if not better, than the intro. That should tell you something there. In my opinion, Gabriel's vocal peak is in this song, in that he has just the right amount of theatrical element combined with Lake/Hayward-esque beauty. Of course, I've only heard Foxtrot and this here album, so I could be wrong.

The middle solo section is its' own song in itself, with that chord-based melody exposed in the flute, then taken by the guitar later. And damn, it is just amazing to hear those small cadences that never proceed anywhere, just back into that minor key, when all of a sudden, the band cadences in E major. You know what I'm talking about, right? Shit, it sends chills down my spine. And then, that simply majestic verse melody comes back, and then the piano fades out, thereby closing this one up. That's the ballgame! HU-AH! Goddamn I love that song. "More Fool Me" follows, a lightweight, well-sung Phil Collins tune, with a great chorus melody and backing harmonies. Perfect placement between "Firth of Fifth" and the next epic, which begins with a war march in 7/4 and follows with the main verse part which is also in the aforementioned 7/4 rhythm.

Thus begins "The Battle of Epping Forest", and this one is just friggin' genius! That off-beat verse rhythm is so infectuous that it begins to sound normal, when all of a sudden we take another left turn at the chorus, in which the boys sing in your normal 4/4 meter but the instrments play in triplets behind them! It sounds so wrong, but it's so RIGHT!!! SHIT!!! And the lyrics fucking rule, too, telling about some gang war that comes to a head in Epping Forest. Plus, there's a pretty acoustic middle section with Gabriel and his funny voices, so there's something for everyone I guess. Genius. Underrated genius. Too bad the rest of the album just can't keep up. I mean, "After the Ordeal" is a nice instrumental, and really works on the ass-end of "Battle", but nothing really comes out and grabs the listener by the balls (or breasts) like "Battle" or "Firth" does.

"The Cinema Show" suffers from the same problem, even though those opening bits are just gorgeous, and I am a fan of the end, with that big ol' 7/8 jam at the end that dissolves into "Aisle Of Plenty", which reprises the acoustic opening of "Dancing With The Moonlit Knight", and fading out just like that, except Gabriel sings about all kinds of crazy nonsense that drags it a bit, but hey, how can a minute-and-a-half section of music be labeled "bad" because of some weirdo nonsense at the end? Thus, I call it good. Good, I say! Shit, I'd go so far as to say, this album is very good. Not at all what I expected when I picked it up, that's for sure. Plus, I really got some vivid pictures in my head while listening to this thing as a whole.

Observe:"Dancing With the Moonlit Knight" begins a man's tread through the British countryside, ending with a passing through a forest (don't that eerie outro sound kinda dark-foresty?) "I Know What I like (In Your Wardrobe)" brings the dude out of the forest into a small town that kind of looks like the album cover (note: that part was aided by the fact that the liner notes credit the lyrics as based on the cover painting. Hey gimme a break, I'm reaching here!) Walking down the road, he finds a boat on a river (sorry about that Styx reference) and jumps in, thus beginning the journey of "Firth of Fifth" which brings him to the majesty of a long-abandoned oceanside castle. That middle E minor solo part is his exploring the castle, until he decides to leave, thus ending the song. Duh.

He almost decides to proceed through Epping Forest back into town, but what with that BATTLE going on, he decides to watch from afar the fighting ("Battle") and the consequences ("After the Ordeal"), which is a sobering gaze over a blood-soaked forest and the subsequent funeral for those dead. The man's sobered spirits show in the intro to "The Cinema Show", but he remembers that not all of England is like what he just witnessed, thus raising his spirits at the end as he recalls the beautiful countryside that began his journey ("Aisle of Plenty"). Plus, look at that title. Replace "Aisle" with "Isle". Get it? "Isle of Plenty"? Thus his faith in England, so-called Isle of Plenty, is restored at the end.Wow this is a good album here! Definitely worth the hype, but still not perfect, what with the two less engaging tunes near the end. But hey, for a 50-minute album, a little slow spot is certainly forgivable, ya know? Perhaps their shining moment. I dont' know enough about Genesis to tell you that. I will tell you, though, that it is a really engaging release and you won't be disappointed.

OVERALL RATING: 9

COMMENTS

[Note: The first two comments in response to the first review.]

[email protected] (John McFerrin)

Yes, YES!! It takes a number of listens for it to sink in, but this album is an absolute peak for progressive-era Genesis. The melodies are gorgeous and the songs manage to be long without seeming grating and OVERlong (a problem which plagued some other early Genesis stuff like Trespass). I give it a 10, though this particular segment in Genesis' career is ripe with such high grades. Don't listen to Alroy about this album, he's wrong (even though that violates the definition of "opinions").

Boy oh boy, I was scared to death that you were going to give this a 7 or something like that.

But yeah, this album really, really rules. How much, you may ask? In my not-so-humble opinion, this is the BEST progressive album of all time, and I've heard my share. And it's nice to see somebody else _like_ Battle of Epping Forest - I love that song, dammit. And Cinema Show, there's a number right there, especially the ending jam. It's driven by Banks' keyboards (which, thankfully, are good all throughout the album), but for a spell Hackett enters in and solos over them using his pedal (it's hard to tell the difference between Steve and Tony's playing in that part at first, but listening closely, one can tell when the sound is produced by a *pluck* and when it is produced by keys).

A ten all the way, and a .... *drum roll* 15 on my scale. I'm deadly serious here.

THE LAMB LIES DOWN ON BROADWAY (1974)

(Nick Karn's review)

HIGH POINTS: The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, it, Counting Out Time, The Lamia, In The Cage, Carpet Crawlers, The Colony Of Slippermen, The Grand Parade Of Lifeless Packaging. LOW POINTS: The Waiting Room.

After Selling England By The Pound's display of Peter Gabriel-era Genesis in all its' glory, the band naturally followed it up with a sprawling double length concept album, which, like Jon Anderson had in Tales From Topographic Oceans, enabled Gabriel to go absolutely nuts with his character creations and metaphorical images in an indecipherable story about a character named Rael and a chronicle of his 'experiences' throughout. The end result is probably one of the most truly intriguing and surreal prog rock records ever created - and it's not only Gabriel who's responsible. The synths of Tony Banks contribute heavily to the mesmerizing atmosphere - where the mood is tense, eerie, beautiful, or uptempo, he always seems to complement it perfectly with his playing, and as a result, this is probably his absolute peak, even if it's at the expense of Steve Hackett's guitars. It's also one of those conceptual releases that must be listened to as a whole for the best impact, as it flows effortlessly almost like one extended piece.

The one song, however, that can stand out on its' own the best is also the undisputed highlight of the album - the opening title track is an utterly amazing introductory tune, led by the gorgeous lightning fast piano intro that flows into a simply awesome anthem. The way the chorus majestically builds up ('and the lamb.... lies down... on BROOOOOOADWAY!!') is awesome beyond words, and the whole tune just has a great bassline to it, fascinatingly cryptic lyrics (including the infamous 'RAEL IMPERIAL AEROSOL KID' line) that confidently tell you that this isn't gonna be any normal album. "Fly On A Windshield" is a really nice followup, as it's an airy, haunting mood piece that has a definite symphonic quality to it, with interesting spoken extension "Broadway Melody Of 1974", which contains Gabriel's weird but fascinating insights on New York City.

The first pop-oriented number here "Cuckoo Cuckoon" is a brief rest from the uncertainty of before and the tension to come after in a a pretty little melodic acoustic/flute ditty with a nice chorus, but then the epic "In The Cage" hits, and it's simply a total adventure, as it lyrically captures Rael's frightening surreal experiences - it begins with calm but yet foreboding opening lines ('I've got sunshine in my stomach...') to the climactic organ bits that gradually rise in volume before Gabriel just starts screaming his guts out in such gripping fashion. Banks' solos here do a great job of conveying this downright weird and terrifying atmosphere, and the fadeout at the end does a great job of shifting to the bizarre "The Grand Parade Of Lifeless Packaging" which has vocal effects that make Gabriel sound like he's underwater, an extremely singable melody, humorous lyrics, a really loud middle bridge, and engaging dark beat. "Back In NYC", meanwhile, is often criticized for emphasizing the ugliness of the vocals and synths, but I have to confess my total love for the song, as the synth line and main melodies that drive it are powerfully anthemic - maybe the tones are an acquired taste, but I sure can't get enough of the awesome rawness of it.

"Hairless Heart" is also thrilling as an awesome short melodic instrumental that has an absolute beauty to it, and that leads into the most deliberate pop tune here, the upbeat "Counting Out Time" which is one of the few moments on disc one that emphasize Hackett, which is good - he's given a chance to shine in that heavy-hitting chorus riff - but of course, the real success of the song is the vocal melody and intruiging lyrics, both of which are just about as strong as anything the band came up with. In total contrast, "Carpet Crawlers" is a totally fantastic attempt at achieving a haunting, almost Pink Floyd-ish, atmosphere, with amazingly spooky vocals to go with powerful chorus harmonies and repeating piano line creating a very moving effect, and it's a good setup to the closer of album one, "The Chamber Of 32 Doors", which has never been one of my favorites, but I do appreciate Rael's frustration being conveyed in the song and the great shift from a slower tempo to the piano-led chorus ('I'd rather trust a man who works with his hands...').

Album number two, inevitably, doesn't possess as many strong melodies, and it lacks enough true highpoints for the album as a whole to be on the same level as Selling England, but the quality of the actual music still isn't a serious letdown by any means. The catchy guitar rocker "Lillywhite Lilith" is a rousing introduction to this portion in the verses, has a great chorus and solid backing vocals, and a slower ending that foretells the gloom of later on. That gloom, unfortunately, is shown in the most obvious filler on the album in "The Waiting Room", which is a mostly stupid and dissonant attempt at an avant-garde noise collage that really grates on me for well over half of it, though I will admit it does get better when it breaks away on a decent groove. The effect of "Anyway" turning from a peaceful (though depression-filled and reflective) piano ballad into a dark and heavy evil-sounding barrage of piano notes is breathtaking enough, though, that I can forgive that last semi-disaster.

"Here Comes The Supernatural Anaesthitist", despite its' standing as mainly a 'mood piece', is also a good one, as it has powerful melodic soloing going for it (some of Hackett's best work here, as a matter of fact). and another instrumental "Silent Sorrow In Empty Boats" has got to be one of the bleakest pieces of music I've ever heard, with choir-like synths and a subtle repeating guitar line hitting an extraordinary moving effect. The centerpiece here, though, is the frightening piano ballad "The Lamia", whose lyrics showcase one of the most intense points of the story (Rael's castration), and they work extremely well with the mood, with gentle but chilling piano parts, and an understated mood which makes things more effective, and an extremely appropriate fadeout that really paints a great picture of Rael exiting the tunnel.

"The Colony Of Slippermen" is another big venture into theatricality, and despite a rather pointless noise-laden beginning, it contains a totally silly, but highly effective synth groove, a wonderful flow from one part to the next, with quirky melody, weird character voices, and some of the most brilliantly appropriate solos Banks has ever given us. Then the location effortlessly shifts into the river, with the short instrumental filler "Ravine" (which has the right atmosphere going, but is really way too repetitive and needless) into a slower reprise of the title track, "The Light Dies Down On Broadway", which brings us towards the end. The even more river-themed "Riding The Scree" features powerful synth solos from Banks in the intro that very much rescue a melodically weak tune.

"In The Rapids", meanwhile, is the softer prelude to the gripping finale where Rael must choose between saving his brother or himself, and together with the incredibly thrilling closing rocker "it" (an absolutely awesome guitar line by Hackett running through this one, with perfect acoustic backing), contribute to leaving one wondering within the lyrics what the plot actually means. I can pick up some of the action (and other comments I've read have filled me in as well) but I'm not too concerned with focusing on it, as the music is what ultimately matters (in that final number, it actually seems like Gabriel is telling the listener not to read too much into it). What's here is quite a bit of prime stuff - exceptional melodies, excellent synth/piano lines, riffs, etc., and of course the drama flows effortlessly from one track to the next. Genesis really closed off the Gabriel era with a bang here with their second best effort.

OVERALL RATING: 9.5

Peter Gabriel's swan song with Genesis, and it's a big, pretentious double album. You know, it seems that every prog band out there put out a nearly perfect rock/prog album (Foxtrot, Fragile, Aqualung), made a follow up that was different, but just as good (Selling England By The Pound, Close To The Edge) if not better (Thick As A Brick), then followed that album up with a still decent, but much less melodic and interesting than its precedents (Tales From Topographic Oceans, A Passion Play, and, well, this). This time around, the group stopped playing ultra long, gorgeous epics like "Supper's Ready" and "The Musical Box" and packed the record with shorter, but just as complex and twisted as before, compositions.

I have no real problem with this, except that none of these songs really reach the highs of the last 3 albums. There are some exceptions, of course. The opening title track is very pretty and memorable indeed, very worthy of being on Nursery Cryme. "The Lamia" is one of the best tunes the band ever did, if not THE best tune they did - creepy-as-hell lyrics with a beautiful piano melody and even more beautiful vocal lines. It rules rules rules. The instrumental "Hairless Heart" is a gorgeous as anything, too. Beautiful melody. There's some more really good, dark, atmospheric stuff in there, too, but it all kind of sounds the same, and I don't wanna point out song titles (OK, maybe "The Carpet Crawlers" and "The Chamber Of 32 Doors" that close out disc 1, because they're both really, really pretty).

The big problem with the rest of this album is that the group seemed more focused on the story of the album (which is damn near indecipherable) than writing great tunes. Members of the band have even called the album "incomplete". As such, not a lot of the rest of the tunes are all that good. They aren't BAD, per se, but not really essential. The last 1/4th of the album really lets me down in particular. It contains a bunch of lyrically interesting but melodically uninteresting synth-o-ramas ("The Colony Of Slippermen", "Riding The Scree"). Even worse, the album closing "it" (lower case and italicized on purpose) ends the album on a totally weak, unsatisfying note. It ain't bad, but it doesn't knock you down like Genesis is capable of (the endings of their last 3 albums were perfect). If this album was cut down to one album, I'd have liked it almost as much as the last 3, but as such, it costs twice as much as other Genesis albums, and there's a lot more filler than the last 3 albums had combined. It's still good, of course. I just wouldn't recommend getting it until getting the previous 3 albums (in any order you choose - they all rule).

(Follow up - a few weeks later) - I underrated this album quite a bit. The material I used to consider weak has grown on me a good deal upon more repeated listens. I've especially grown to ADORE "The Carpet Crawlers". Lots of beautiful melodies throughout, and for a double album, the ideas never really stop coming. "it" is actually a pretty good song, too, although I wouldn't put it at the end - I'd still prefer a big, dramatic "Musical Box" style ending. Still, I docked the album a point too many for it's small flaws. I'm gonna raise that original 7 to a 9, because an album this creative deserves that, though I still couldn't give it a 10 (as there is still a bit of filler on here and a couple of the instrumental passages are a bit dull). Rich's comments below are from the original review. I agree with him more now than I used to. Give it a try and keep listening, because it WILL grow on you.

OVERALL RATING: 9

COMMENTS

[In response to the second review:]

Huh?? "it" is weak?!? That song is one of the most awesome songs in the Genesis canon! God, I love that guitar run. I personally can't think of a more satisfying way to close the album; Gabriel bows out of the band with the first true "rocker" the band ever did, and it's really really great. Regarding the album, I can see why you (and several other people) would give it a 7 or lower, but I really love long, ponderous stuff like this, and this album just keeps delivering classic Genesis in spades. I guess most of the cool melodies are used up by the time disc 2 rolls around, but the music doesn't become awful or anything; it just relegates itself to the background and sounds really pretty in the process. I give this one another 10, continuing the band's winning streak that would continue up until Wind And Wuthering.

A TRICK OF THE TAIL (1976)

(Nick Karn's review)

HIGH POINTS: Squonk, Entangled, Dance On A Volcano, Robbery Assault And Battery. LOW POINTS: Mad Man Moon.

Following the previous double length concept album, Peter Gabriel decided to leave Genesis to pursue a solo career of his own, so A Trick Of The Tail marks a huge change in that the band was reduced to a four piece (sounds like three, though, considering how astonishingly buried in the mix Steve Hackett is - where are the electric guitars?), as drummer Phil Collins finally took over the role as vocalist after the auditioning process for new frontmen. While Collins lacks the wide characteristic range of Gabriel's vocals, he certainly puts on a capable performance, though he doesn't take exactly contribute too much in the songwriting department as he would later. The resulting album is a collection of wonderfully catchy and progressive British-flavored (though not to a Gabriel extent) songs, many of them worthy of their very best, with the melodies in all still top-notch and the playing still excellent.

However, although the songs at their core are extremely well-written, there are a few problems. First off, a lot of this material seems a little overlong in arrangement (most of the songs could have had a minute or two edited out and not have lost any impact), and while the synths of Tony Banks had always been a huge focus of the sound, his choice of tones and style of playing here at various times throughout is rather iffy. The opening "Dance On A Volcano", for instance, is an extremely gorgeous song, with a heavenly instrumental break between each verse (nice mix of drama and beauty in the mood), and it has an extremely catchy chorus, but towards the end of the song in the faster paced jam (among other moments here), the synth tones get bothersomely ugly, and they just don't mix with Hackett's otherwise solid guitar work here.

Then comes "Entangled", a truly excellent ballad with the most gorgeous (and prominent) use of acoustic guitar in a Genesis song, and it conveys an otherworldly dreamy atmosphere, and the chorus ('weeeeeeeelll... if we can help you we willlll....') is extremely memorable - the lyrics are even wonderfully flowing too - but that ending is almost ruined by those dated synth sounds that really didn't need to exist in the light of the haunting acoustic interplay. But they do get the arrangement down perfectly, though, in the album's ultimate highpoint "Squonk" is one of the saddest songs I've ever heard. The lyrics paint a picture of a strange, alienated creature who's caught in a sack and melts into a pool of tears (as sung near the end of it), with the music working on a fabulous slow groove, the instrumental bridges having beautiful melody, and an ending filled with reflective sorrow ('all in all you are a very dying race...'), along with a fabulous melody helping to give the song power.

The first half closes out with the weakest single song on the album in the Banks ballad "Mad Man Moon" (which unfortunately foreshadows the not so pleasant lyrical and musical vibe of the next album - more on that to come), a very ponderous overlong raving with more structureless and boring synth/piano in the middle, though I must admit the groove which appears occasionally really works on account of energy and vocal presence, and the chorus is okay. It's made up for a bit in "Robbery, Assault And Battery", meanwhile, the best attempt at capturing the Gabriel vibe (though I can't imagine what Pete actually could have done with it), with Phil's vocals and amusing lyrics in appropriate Britishness, the melody being top-notch, and the instrumental jam being wild with nice rhythm section chops (especially the drumming!), though slightly out of place.

The Mike Rutherford contribution "Ripples", however, has the potential to be an absolutely enormous highlight, with a life affirming chorus that soars wonderfully and more beautiful acoustic guitar and lyrics, but the middle jam where Banks obscures Hackett's guitar work, plus the endless arrangement, makes the song overlong at 8 minutes. The poppy title track, which has a neat bouncy, memorable melody and funny lyrics, and the instrumental "Los Endos" (which isn't anything great, but it does reprise musical themes from earlier songs very well, with more than decent playing) end the album on a strong note. It's maybe one of the more inconsistent albums of the band's peak period, but wading through the flaws of A Trick Of The Tail, you'll find a lot of the most beautiful and rewarding music of their career, enough to grant the album a high 8 - with more effective and adequate arrangements, this could easily be a 9.

OVERALL RATING: 8.5

People thought it was the end when Peter Gabriel left the band after The Lamb. Boy, they turned out to be wrong, didn't they? But long before they turned into an eighties pop band and after Gabriel left, the group still wanted to be progressive. After all, Phil hadn't started slamming out tunes like "Sussudio" yet. The only tune he'd slammed out was "More Fool Me", and that one was great. Plus, the other members of the group were still great prog writers. The result is that this is basically no less progressive than previous efforts. It's also not much worse than previous efforts - I have no problem giving it a 9.

The opening trifecta of songs here are perfect. Absolutely, completely, totally perfect. The opening "Dance On A Volcano" is groovy and always a little off-beat, keeping you on your toes. It really DOES evoke feelings of "dancing on a volcano", and that's hard to do. Phil proves that he can sing very well, too - he's not Peter, but he certainly sounds good. And if you want to hear him sound REALLY good, look no further than "Entangled", an acoustic piece about hypnosis later joined by atmospheric keyboards. That tune is GORGEOUS. It has one of the most striking choruses ever. And hey, how about a groovy rocker? "Squonk" is, again, perfect. Cool, distorted, stretched out verses, and unpredictable song structure, great lyrics about a mythical creature who dissolved itself into tears, and a wonderful groove make it a nearly perfect listening experience.

The other songs aren't as good, but are still pretty damned great (except for one). "Ripples" is a very pretty song about aging and death, and Phil's voice makes the song a very sombre, soothing experience. "Robbery, Assault And Battery" is this album's theatrical piece, and while Peter would have helped it, it's still a lot of fun. "A Trick Of The Tail" is a fun, bouncy, unpredictable number with some of the best lyrics on the album (more stuff about mythological creatures). And the album closing "Los Endos" is a very good instrumental, reprising lots of earlier themes from the album, and with Phil making a brief tribute to Peter at the end (he quietly sings "There's an angel standing in the sun" - very nice). Super. The only real problem is the too-long, too-boring "Mad Man Moon", which doesn't seem to have any point at all. It's pleasant, but if I never heard it again, I wouldn't care. I know a lot of people would disagree, but the next album's attempt at that type of song, "One For The Vine", is much better. This isn't quite as good as prime Gabriel stuff (I've changed my opinion on Nursery Cryme - what a fantastic album! Worth a 10, sure as anything), but it's close, and this still gets a high 9. Get it.

OVERALL RATING: 9

WIND AND WUTHERING (1977)

(Nick Karn's review)

HIGH POINTS: Eleventh Earl Of Mar, Your Own Special Way. LOW POINTS: One For The Vine, Wot Gorilla?

In essence, this is the final album from Genesis as a full-scale 'prog rock' band (though elements of that sound were still present in their subsequent work), and unfortunately, it's pretty good at demonstrating why this path was a dead end. The noticeable problem of the songs being dragged out longer than they should be from the last album is even more serious here, with more in the way of non-descript and boring instrumental passages, and Tony Banks, as if he wasn't already totally dominant in the band's sound, overruns the album even more with synth atmospherics this time around, and his tone is so samey throughout that it quickly becomes tiresome and ugly. Plus, a few of these melodies leave something to be desired (though some are still wonderfully catchy), and along with Banks' synth tone, Phil Collins' emotionless, often buried in the mix, vocals, they contribute to sucking a lot of whatever life the band originally had. And despite the fact there are more electric guitar parts on this album, Steve Hackett scarcely makes a dent in the album's impact.

It's not quite awful, though. Things actually start off great with the opening "Eleventh Earl Of Mar", a powerful uptempo track featuring great driving organ riffs, a gorgeous bridge, and a wonderful melody - it's a bit overlong and the ominous tone in parts musically suggest what's to come later, but it's still a borderline classic tune. The band's first notable hit single, "Your Own Special Way", is good too - a very pretty countryish ballad featuring a moving chorus, though it suffers a bit too much from that 'drawn out verse and bridge' problem as the opener. "All In A Mouse's Night", despite the 'lifeless vocal' problem being most prominent (Peter Gabriel could have made this potentially funny but instead dumb 'cat and mouse' epic special), has pretty addictive fast sections and a good main melody, plus the acoustic intro to "Blood On The Rooftops" makes up a little for the way too morose tone of the rest of the song, and the majestic guitar in the instrumental "'Unquiet Slumbers For The Sleepers...'" is a highlight of an otherwise unspectacular stretch toward the end of the album (more on that later).

The rest of the album, though, isn't too special - the closing ballad "Afterglow" is pretty but gets bogged down by a really obvious Collins 'solo' melody, and the 10 minute Banks composed epic "One For The Vine", is unquestionably the weakest song the band came up with to that point. The overall flow isn't too bad, and the middle section is hilariously uptempo, but the melody is just too simplistic and the lyrics too full of themselves for Collins to bring them to life at all. Add to that nearly 10 more minutes of mostly pointless instrumentals spread out over three tracks that just pass by with hardly any point or distinctiveness (except for the fact the stupidly titled "Wot Gorilla?" is a ripoff of "Riding The Scree" from Lamb), and you're in trouble here. Overall, this is still a decent effort thanks to its' worthwhile moments (there are more of them than I originally gave credit for), but Banks' continued domination does more harm than good in the band's progress, and it clearly shows them running out of ideas in the prog rock department.

OVERALL RATING: 6

Genesis' final "progressive" studio album, and the last one to feature guitarist Steve Hackett, this is one of their most controversial albums. Some people consider it to be a fine addition to their cannon, while some find it to be a self parody and excessively pointless. I fall into the first category - I don't know why this album is so reviled by so many people. Most of these melodies are extremely pretty, and the synth tone throughout the record never gets in the way of the fine melodies (no matter how hard it tries).

The opener, "Eleventh Earl of Mar", is quite similar to "Dance On A Volcano" from Trick (though it isn't as good), building from an ominous intro into a fast, rocking song. The synths are REALLY in the foreground, but that hardly hurts the song. The chorus (featuring Phil screaming "Daddy! You promised! You promised!") is very memorable, as well. The second tune is this album's "epic", running for nearly ten minutes. It's called "One For The Vine", and opinion is STRONGLY divided on it. Some view it as the nadir of all things Genesis, while some really like it. Again, I fall into the second category. I like it! It starts with a quiet guitar-and-piano bit that grows into a simple vocal melody, gradually getting louder until all hell breaks loose on an instrumental section in the middle. I may be alone on this, but that section RULES! There's this awesome groove that starts at around 5:28 into the song, and it's fantastic. The song calms back down and resolves itself. It doesn't even really seem 10 minutes long. Great tune.

"Your Own Special Way" was an attempt at a single. It flopped, but it's still a good song, featuring a very pretty chorus and nice atmosphere throughout. "All In A Mouse's Night" is this album's attempt at a fun story song, and it's better than "Robbery, Assault And Battery" from the previous album. The lyrics are slight (it's about a cat and a mouse), but that makes the tune seem even cooler, in light of how over the top and grandiose the music is. I wish Peter sang it, but Phil does ok. "Blood On The Rooftops" features a great guitar introduction from Steve (who doesn't seem to be playing a lot on this album), leading into a dark tune (the darkest on the album by far) with a very striking chorus. The closing "Afterglow" is slight, but it's at least pretty, and that's worth something. It doesn't leave me disappointed.

If there's a problem with this record, it's in the 3 instrumentals. Instrumentals were never exactly Genesis' forte (except for the absolutely beautiful "Hairless Heart" and "After The Ordeal"), and these three don't really convert me. They aren't BAD, of course - they're well played and quite listenable - but they don't really have a point. The first one ("Wot Gorilla?" is even partly responsible for Steve leaving the band - he wanted one of his songs on the record, but Tony wanted "Wot Gorilla?", which might have pushed Steve over the edge. It's the best of the instrumentals, but I agree with Steve that an actual song would have been better. The other two, "Unquiet Slumbers For The Sleepers..." and "...In That Quiet Earth" are wearying, as they come one after another, but I don't really mind them. They try to reprise earlier themes from the album, but they're no "Los Endos". All in all, this is another good prog release from Genesis. It isn't quite as good as their previous work (though I can still give it a low 8), but it still has quite a few fine melodies for your listening pleasure. Give it a try.

OVERALL RATING: 8

SECONDS OUT (1977)

(reviewed by Nick Karn)

HIGH POINTS: Robbery Assault And Battery, Firth Of Fifth. LOW POINTS: I Know What I Like.

Phil Collins, despite an overly lifeless performance on Wind And Wuthering, more often than not handled the task of being Peter Gabriel's replacement well enough, and this live album documents another challenge of sorts - taking on vocals in a live setting. There wouldn't be so much pressure on the material from the last two albums he had actually sung on (especially since very capable Chester Thompson takes his place at the drumkit here), but on the old Gabriel-era material. And so is this double live set, an arrangement that Genesis Live really should have taken. Darn. Unfortunately, while he doesn't exactly fail the test he's given here, he's not always able to capture the vocal subtlety that contributed to making a few of these older songs such classics. That factor, along with the overly professional nature of the rest of the band attempting to make the songs sound just like the originals, instead helps make a potentially classic concert outing seem almost unnecessary.

It's still enjoyable enough to be considered good, though, despite its' flaws. The newer Trick and Wind stuff in particular doesn't differ much in quality from the original versions - a couple of them are a little better (I would probably name "Robbery, Assault, And Battery" as the top standout here, mostly because the Collins vocal intonations at several points of the song are more entertaining and hilarious than before, and the one Wind representative "Afterglow" is at least more noticeable and full-sounding than it was originally, even if not great by any means) and a couple are slightly worse ("Dance On A Volcano" and "Los Endos", while still very good songs here, don't really add anything to the proceedings, and just sound like thinner renditions of the originals). And "Squonk"? Well, that's still beautiful, just like it always has been, even if it is done by the book musically. No problems there.

When dealing with the Gabriel era stuff, this is where things get a bit mixed. On the relatively positive side, I can't really hear any noticeable problems with "Firth Of Fifth", which, despite the absence of the famed piano intro (why??) and Tony Banks' synth substitution of Gabriel flute, is still one of the best performances here, rocking with nearly the same power as before, effective bombastic singing and all. Even "Supper's Ready", though the lack of characterizations in the vocals (especially in the weird ass expanding/contracting part in 'Willow Farm') hurt it a little, is musically and vocally still pulled off fine overall, and the same can be said for "The Cinema Show", lack of fullness in the layers of synth during the spectacular jam nonwithstanding

But there are a few negatives here as well. "The Carpet Crawlers" lacks the moody background vocal work, which makes it lose so much of its' atmospheric power, and "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway", though musically good, is one track that's really hurt due to total lack of vocal personality (particularly the 'RAEL IMPERIAL AEROSOL KID' part), almost sung like a perfectly normal pop tune. Not the way to go. Actually, "I Know What I Like", is an even bigger misfire in that area, where Phil sounds totally stupid playing the theatrical part of the transvestite lawn mower, not grasping the concept of subtlety at all. That boring song-quoting jam doesn't help either, guys. And playing only the coda of "The Musical Box" isn't a very smart move, especially with mental images of Phil yelling... well, you know what. Eww. All in all, regardless of the problems with the experience, Seconds Out is still a good live album because it's hard to screw up a set of classics too badly, and the songs are mostly played well. Don't pay a lot for it, though.

OVERALL RATING: 7

AND THEN THERE WERE THREE... (1978)

(reviewed by Nick Karn)

HIGH POINTS: Snowbound, Deep In The Motherlode, Follow You Follow Me. LOW POINTS: Many Too Many, Say It's Alright Joe.

The band's 'pop' era gets underway here, with their first album as a trio following Steve Hackett's departure, and it's absolutely a welcome change from the style of the last album. They've finally figured out the songs don't have to be really long to be effective, and the pretentiousness of the last album's material is very much minimized. Of course, the melodies aren't all that spectacular yet (though they're mostly memorable, and better than the two surrounding albums), Tony Banks' synth tone is still virtually identical on every song, and the material on first listen doesn't sound like much more than insubstantial pop, but on repeated listens, the songs on here become worthwhile due to the fact the arrangements are very well-written, the lyrics often clever, and the prog elements that are still left are merged in an accomplished enough way with the mostly pop sound to really work.

The opener "Down And Out", though it has guitar and synth parts in the intro which assure you that this ain't gonna be a prog album, doesn't even sound that different from the last two openers in its' tricky time signatures and melody, and gets it the album off to a good start. Most of the first half is very enjoyable in its' own right - even the closest thing to a 'raving' Banks epic, the 7 minute "Burning Rope" (though it seems somewhat boring at first) has a highly memorable melody, a top notch arrangement, nice energy, and a positively wonderful solo section. Though the ballad "Undertow" has a bland tone to it in the verses, the chorus section is extremely beautiful in a reflective sort of way, and "Ballad Of Big" is an interesting 'cowboy' tale that overcomes its' weak melody with good entertaining tempo shifts and fun synth parts.

Although those initial first half tracks are certainly enjoyable, they simply can't compare with the ultimate highlights here that rank as near-classics in the Genesis catalog, and they are enough to raise the rating to 'quite good' status, including the remaining song on the opening side, Mike Rutherford's "Snowbound". Its' delicate verses tell a very charming story about a snowman, and it reaches a truly great majesty in its' refrain ('heeeeeeeey.. there's a snowman') to push it to great heights. Rutherford also contributes "Deep In The Motherlode", which has to be one of the most overlooked lost classics here - it's a Western-themed song that features a powerful drive in the synths and a really catchy chorus of 'go west... young man!' Great pace changes too. Then of course, there's also the closing "Follow You, Follow Me" (their first significant radio hit), which I have a suspicion he also had a lot to do with (this album may be his peak as a songwriter, actually). It has a great 'tender ballad' feeling, with an irresistibly pretty and catchy chorus that merges rather amusingly with the synths, and I also imagine it wouldn't be entirely inappropriate for Peter Gabriel to sing.

As for the rest of the album, there's also one more solid highlight in "Scenes From A Night's Dream", which is so dumb and childish in a cute way in chronicling the adventures of 'poor little Nemo' I can't help but enjoy it, and it has good drumming throughout. "The Lady Lies", while somewhat weaker, is at least entertaingly fast in its' chorus to make an otherwise very average and unmemorable song worthwhile. The crappy ballads "Many Too Many" and "Say It's Alright Joe" (by Banks and Rutherford respectively), though, I could care less about, as they're fairly uninteresting and generic, with their choruses being only very minor pleasures. The album as a whole, though, is somewhat more pleasurable to listen to, and while it might not be as melodically solid as their later 'pop era' stuff, it's definitely one of their more overlooked albums as a moderately successful 'new beginning' for the band.

OVERALL RATING: 7

DUKE (1980)

(reviewed by Nick Karn)

HIGH POINTS: Turn It On Again, Duke's End. LOW POINTS: Misunderstanding, Please Don't Ask, Cul-De-Sac.

What the heck happened to the songwriting? After the mildly successful pop of And Then There Were Three (which still had some slight progressive elements in it), Genesis continued its' transition from art rock to pop and started to incorporate the modern synth-pop elements of the 80's into their sound like drum machines and all (which was unexplored, fairly innovative territory at the time). While the sound may have produced excellent results on the following two albums, here it seemed like the band was caught in the crossroads - Phil Collins was starting to develop more as a pop songwriter, and there are still signs that show a desire to still be 'artsy', especially in the Tony Banks compositions - and the results are mostly boring as hell. It's the kind of album where, after a particular song has ended, I consistently get the feeling that hardly anything interesting or memorable happened during its' running time. Maybe it's the bland atmosphere, or that the melodies are weak - I'm not so sure.

This being a highly talented outfit, though, Duke does have its' share of fine moments, it's just that only once they sound fully developed into a spectacular song. The best features of the smash single "Turn It On Again" are its' fabulous chord progression and verse/chorus bridge, and while it may be somewhat overproduced, it's irresistibly catchy, particularly the 'I.... I... get so lonely when she's not there!' portion. Elsewhere, "Behind The Lines" has a completely gripping synth intro that flows so effortlessly for about a minute or two, but unfortunately, it has to get bogged down by a really pedestrian and forgettable melody during the vocal portions. Luckily the best part of it (along with the melody of "Turn It On Again") gets reprised in the ending instrumental "Duke's End", which at least closes the album on a good note. "Man Of Our Times" could also be a solid number if the verse melody was more exciting and the vocals weren't completely muffled, making the chorus lose virtually its' entire anthemic impact.

The rest of the album isn't actually offensively bad (with the exception of the ultra-generic garbage pop of "Misunderstanding", a lounge tune built on a horribly obvious melody better suited for a Collins album), but it is 'boring bad', as almost none of it makes any sort of melodic impression on me. In particular the Banks contributions "Guide Vocal", "Heathaze" and "Cul-De-Sac" have lifeless and melodyless synth atmospherics, with pretentious lyrics to boot, the sterile "Duchess" (which seems so stiff and unmemorable), and the completely bland Collins ballad "Please Don't Ask". I suppose "Alone Again" has a catchy chorus, but that's about it, and the first portion of the lengthy album-ending instrumental jam, "Duke's Travels", is rather structureless and rambling, though decent in places - it's just way overlong. Oh yeah, this actually a concept album in parts, a feature that's highly unnoticeable given the mostly weak melodies and thoroughly unengaging vibe here. But soon everything would become much more exciting...

OVERALL RATING: 5

COMMENTS

[email protected] (Pat D.)

The music on this album is actually pretty pleasant, but it serves up in droves the fatal flaw of late '70s Collins Genesis - nondescriptness. I mean, the songs are all pretty much okay, but they're all just....songs. Not particularly grating, but every single one hits basically the same mood as the one that came directly before and after it. The exceptions for me are the awesome single "Turn It On Again," the 10-minute instrumental at the end (which rules), and "Misunderstanding." Not that the last one's a good song. It just jumps out at you more than the other songs with how obnoxious, generic and banal it is. The song is built upon the basic Collins songwriting weakness -- he always tends to come up with one really obvious melody line which gets repeated over and over again until the chorus (which often has no real melody at all). Blah. I agree with the 5. Get Abacab or the self-titled one instead.

I actually did not want to review this album, because I figured that I just didn't get it. Other than the opening track, "Misunderstanding", and finally "Turn It On Again" this album says nothing to me at all. A lot of tracks seem to have mindless keyboard noodling throughout the song, and it grew very tiresome quickly. Thankfully, I am not the only one who looks at it this way! However, "Turn It On Again" is so damn good, it is nearly worth the price of the entire album (if, of course you cant find it on Napster or feel wrong for doing so). Of note here is Mr. Collins' drum playing. He's always been a very simple drummer (from what little Genesis I have heard), but DAMN, what fucking great kick and snare tone, and also he just knows where to put the beat down. I think "Turn It On Again" is the prime example of this, and kudos to Nick for appreciating the indeed phenomenally catchy keyboard chord progression. Anyways, overall, I'd give Duke either a 3 or a 4. As a whole album, it just aint that good.

ABACAB (1981)

(reviewed by Nick Karn)

HIGH POINTS: No Reply At All, Dodo/Lurker, Abacab, Man On The Corner. LOW POINTS: Like It Or Not, Another Record.

The transition from prog to pop that the three remaining members of Genesis had been moving toward since the late 70's is finally complete here. The synth-pop elements of their sound are fully embraced and naturally incorporated, but more importantly, the melodies and entertaining vibe of the songs are more prominent than they have been in quite awhile. The end result is the first big breakthrough as pop songwriters in this portion of their career. Not only are the songs highly catchy, Abacab is also one of their most musically intriguing efforts, with most of the songs on here employing interesting musical ideas in one way or another (with an almost robotic and technoish, but highly engaging sound running through many of them), and the lyrics have very much abandoned any of the ultra-serious subject matter of the past, instead ofting for a much more clever approach in them.

The opening title track, despite the addictive synth and guitar led jam towards the end of the tune being a bit to long, is a fine throbbing anthem that has a heck of a lot of catchiness and entertainment value, and it probably defines the overall ambition of the album better than anything else here. In an even more curious (and I would say more successful) approach, they even borrow the horn section of Earth, Wind And Fire for the phenomenal pop tune "No Reply At All" (my personal favorite here), which has an extremely memorable fast synth part driving the tune, a breathtakingly beautiful piano-led bridge ('maybe deep down inside...'), and very exciting 'is anybody listening?' horn-led coda that puts an appropriate end to a classic number. Even the Tony Banks number "Me And Sarah Jane" is a lot of fun, and it manages to be so engaging in its' piano line, false start-stop structure, beat and melody (plus that really cool dreamy 'down down down' portion) despite the cheezyness apparent in its' lyrics.

"Keep It Dark", meanwhile, probably defines the 'mechanical' aspect of the album, working on a nice robotic synth groove and unconventional, but eventually powerful, melody. Definitely another fun track, but it's in the next two pieces that the humorous vibe truly shows up the best. The 7-1/2 minute "Dodo/Lurker" is the most art-rock influenced piece here, and it's dramatic and menacing instrumentation (pushed forward by the anthemic synth tones) is countered by the really amusing lyrics like 'dodo ugly, so dodo must die' and that part about Davy Jones at the bottom of the sea. Nice climactic ending, too. It leads into the most controversial number here, the Clue homage "Who Dunnit?", which is a hysterically twisted 'electronic' novelty number, so incredibly stupid and over the top in its' premise and delivery (my favorite part is the 'I, I didn't, I didn't do it, I' repeated section) that it's totally high in entertainment value.

As far as the remaining three tracks, "Man On The Corner", despite a simplistic melody, is a wonderfully atmospheric Collins drum machine ballad that's highly memorable, and moving enough to be a highlight. The last two numbers, however, are by far the least impressive and let the album down just a bit. The first of these, Mike Rutherford's "Like It Or Not", is little more than a less obnoxious and more tolerable "Misunderstanding", featuring a similar dumb groove and obvious melody, though it does have a neat guitar break in the middle. The closing "Another Record" is a little better as a nostalgic piano ballad, with the coda of 'put another record on, cause you know you like it' being memorable to end the album, though the remainder of the song sounds completely forgettable. Still, nothing here is awful, and the album as a whole is a successful emergence of the band as pop stars, and they'd improve even more on the next one.

OVERALL RATING: 8

GENESIS (1983)

(reviewed by Nick Karn)

HIGH POINTS: Home By The Sea, That's All, Mama, Silver Rainbow. LOW POINTS: Just A Job To Do.

Despite the fact that they would become even more commercially successful with the following two albums, Genesis represents the peak of the Phil Collins-led 'pop' period. Maybe the material doesn't have much in the way of progressiveness, but when the melodies and hooks are this infectious and highly developed with a friendly, non-dated atmosphere, it really doesn't matter. The drum machine usage is at its' most powerful in suiting the songs, the lyrics still clever and not yet diving into generic adult pop cliches, the sound still reasonably produced with no overly generic rockers or overly soulless ballads, and Collins has finally seemed to fully emerge as a powerful singer in his own right, slowly becoming the most prominent force in the band. And to think, he was actually a commercially but not artistically successful solo artist during this period, but luckily he incorporated very little of that style into the songs here.

Good thing he decided to build on his more tasteful ideas, because if not, the first half of this album definitely wouldn't be the near classic tour-de-force that it is. Opening with a mysterious, shuffling drum machine, "Mama" creates an fabulously intense, slow, heated atmosphere with subtle synth backing and guitar lines that build up to bitter lyrics, passionate vocal yells, and sarcastic vocal yells of 'HA HA ha! ehhhh' It simply explodes with emotion, and gets even more thrilling towards the end as the music gets heavier and the actual drums join in. "That's All", meanwhile, is an absolutely perfect pop number, with a perfectly flowing, unforgettable melody over a simple piano line, and it's the catchiest and most radio-ready tune here in a good way, with nice instrumental breaks and a powerful melodic bridge ('truth is I love you...')

Probably the most thrilling moment in my mind, though, is in "Home By The Sea", a classic midtempo composition that really creates the mysterious aura around its' title, with an even better main melody than the previous track. The vocal yells of 'sit down, sit dooooown!' and 'we relieve our lives in what they telllllllllll you...' here are extremely powerful, and the 'mechanical' musicianship works perfectly with that really cool vibe the track has. Even its' 6 minute mostly instrumental companion "Second Home By The Sea" is a fine extension of it - maybe a little simplistic in what little bit of guitar and synth melody it's based on, but it still manages to be captivating and rhythmic for that entire time, and it's really much more of a thrill than a bore.

Though it falls more into the category of 'pleasurable' than 'breathtaking', the second side of the album also has its' share of very fine moments. "Illegal Alien" may be a stupid joke song, and its' ending refrain is somewhat overdone, but it's quite a well-performed one. A singable melody, funny ethnic lyrics and vocal tone and the synth embellishments give off a great Caribbean feel. Following that is "Taking It All Too Hard", which is a better than average ballad with its' effective use of drum machine and piano and very nice refrain ('oh no, not this confused again...') that allow the song to avoid sounding overproduced and dated. "Just A Job To Do", though, is the only number on here I've never cared for too much - the bassline is certainly nifty, but the melody and uptempo funk combining with the 'hitman' subject matter just sounds somewhat awkward and grating to me for some reason. Good vocals, of course, though.

Luckily, it's followed by the easy highlight of the side in "Silver Rainbow", which starts as if it's going to be a generic Collins solo style ballad in its' atmosphere, yet that atmosphere turns out to be intruigingly haunting, the melody is solid, and the way it breaks away on a memorable piano to a really majestic and anthemic chorus ('beyond the silver rainbow, you won't know if you're coming or going...') is simply excellent. "It's Gonna Get Better" is a thoroughly satisfying ending track - it's not exactly substantial, but the feeling it gives off through its' mood and melody is relaxing and optimistic enough for me to enjoy it quite a bit. Like I said before, this is the defining Genesis pop album, and one of their best efforts overall. It's almost a 9, though it doesn't quite have the consistency and power to be quite up to the level of the Peter Gabriel classics in quality. Nevertheless, if you don't have an immediate bias against the band's pop era, this may be a very good buy from that period, especially since it emphasizes well-done melody over blatant commerciality. Not that the latter is always bad, as evidenced later.

OVERALL RATING: 8.5

COMMENTS

Easily the highpoint of the Collins shiny pop era. Try as I might, I just can't dig "Illegal Alien" too much (though I like the instrumental breaks), but the rest is just heavenly. The "Home By The Sea" suite is the highpoint of Collins' tenure with the band in terms of atmosphere (at least, outside of Trick Of The Tail, but he didn't write on that album) and "Taking It All Too Hard" is the perfect example of what a Collins-sung ballad should sound like, as opposed to, say, "One More Night"(ugh, what a piece of crap song that is). I even like "Just A Job To Do," synth horns and all - it's a neat, buzzy attempt at synth-funk, and it's catchy as hell. And I don't even need to mention "Mama" and "That's All" - could there be two more perfect hits? The album gets a nine.

INVISIBLE TOUCH (1986)

(reviewed by Nick Karn)

HIGH POINTS: Domino, Land Of Confusion, Invisible Touch. LOW POINTS: Anything She Does, In Too Deep.

I guess you could say Invisible Touch was the album commerciality finally hit Genesis in a big, big way, and the results aren't always for the better. Just as in the last two albums, there are quite a few melodies here that are catchy and memorable as hell, but unlike the last two albums, they overdid the 'modern' approach to the sound. The end result is probably the most dated affair in their catalog, simply because the production lies far too much in the electronic drum sound and Banks' increasingly modernized synth tones. Plus, a few of the songs are a lot more generic than anything previously, with Collins slowly bringing elements of his solo style into the band, with his fast rockers and love ballads. I guess most of the stuff here could translate into radio-friendly pop tripe for some people, but since the songs are so catchy, and in a couple instances it sounds like they haven't totally left their creativity or art rock roots behind, I still insist it's a fairly good album.

Starting off the album is the huge hit title track, and, well, it's one of those songs that I find irresistibly catchy and energetic, but because of its' blatant commercial tendencies and generic lyrics, it's somewhat of a guilty pleasure, although a good one. Then in "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight", they actually try to create a progressive pop song at over 8 minutes, and although the main melody to the song is undeniably catchy, it's a lot more effective in a radio edit version, as the jamming comes off as directionless and uninspiring, and the instrumentation here, more than perhaps any other song, is overly mechanical and dated-sounding. Not so with "Land Of Confusion", though - as a powerful singalong as fun as its' video (great chorus), it features a great guitar riff driving it, with a lot of energy, powerful vocals, and the lyrics, although a little silly, do succeed at helping the song reach a fine anthemic level.

The next two tracks, though, are a little shakier. The ballad "In Too Deep" can be nice on the surface, but unlike similar efforts in the past, there's very little substance to it, and the lyrics can sometimes reach an unbearably sappy level that I don't appreciate too much. Plus, "Anything She Does" has only grown off me in time - its' fast paced chorus is decent, but the synth-horns are a rather annoying feature and the atmosphere just makes it sound like the utterly generic and obvious pop song it probably is. But it is followed by "Domino", the ultimate highlight of the album, and the most prominent art-rock styled showcase here. The lyrics, based on meaningless nuclear war imagery, are somehow intriguing, and are pushed forward by the great arrangement of the rest of the song - it features a nice two part shift from a slow drum machine ballad (which has good ambience) to a faster and more aggressive piece at the 'in silence and darkness...' transition where it settles into a desperate and energetic mood.

Finally, the second ballad of the album "Throwing It All Away" is, like "In Too Deep", a bit generic, but for the most part, the melody is a lot less sappy and the refrain somewhat uplifting. It's definitely not that spectacular, but hardly cringe-inducing either, and it's a good transition into the album's final track, the instrumental "The Brazilian". Another more art-rock influenced number, it features a very solid haunting synth riff that is enough momentum for Rutherford and Collins to build a reasonably good jam off of it, and it provides an enjoyable ending to this one. In all, the material here is somewhat inconsistent, and for the most part it's the last pure Genesis album, as the solo Collins style would totally take over the band after a long 5 year gap, but its' numerous virtues ensure that there's still plenty to enjoy within the songs here.

OVERALL RATING: 7

WE CAN'T DANCE (1991)

(Nick Karn's review)

HIGH POINTS: No Son Of Mine, Fading Lights. LOW POINTS: Tell Me Why, Dreaming While You Sleep.

There's nothing like perspective for altering your opinion on a certain album. You see, the band's first effort in five long years due to Phil Collins' solo commitments was one of my first exposures to the world of Genesis (the other, fittingly enough, being Invisible Touch), and while my opinion of that album has remained largely unchanged over the years, I'm afraid I can't say the same for this one. Don't get me wrong - it's not a bad effort like many would have you believe, but the problem of the Collins solo style just being the completely dominant on a Genesis album is just too heavy too take, seeing what this act as a band has accomplished over the years. This style overtaking the music, as a result, lead to Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford being relegated to almost backing band role, and the music taking on a atmospheric tone that often just sits there, acting only as a vehicle for the lyrics and vocals. It's really hard to believe all three members shared writing credits for these songs.

There are still some knockouts here, though - the opening "No Son Of Mine" is the album's introspective element at its' best. Throughout the album, you can tell Phil really believes in what he's singing about, and this song is for me the obvious proof, utilizing the standard lyric and vocal atmosphere pattern best, mostly because the melody itself is fairly epic, dramatic and moving. Likewise, this allows the 10 minute "Driving The Last Spike" to move at a wonderfully beautiful and pleading pace, overcoming its' somewhat generic melody. There's also the entertaingly uptempo 'music with a message' of "Jesus He Knows Me" and yes, even the ballads "Hold On My Heart" and "Since I Lost You". Both are quite generic, but the first has quite a beauty in its' sparse atmosphere and poignant melody (plus the chorus of 'yes I will be there' works really well with that simple but effective guitar line), and the latter one is another fine example of genuine emotion and affecting vocal hook ('my heart, is broken in pieces').

Unfortunately, the album's way overlong 71 minute length inevitably causes its' generic but pleasant nature to work against it in several places. The hit single "I Can't Dance" is way too gimmicky with its' obnoxious hook and premise running throughout, and the singalong "Way Of The World" is all too typical and lightweight. It's in the middle tracks that I appropriately didn't even mention in my original review where things get a bit weak - "Never A Time" is a really standard ballad, "Dreaming While You Sleep" has got to be the most boring and non-descript extended track the band's ever done (at over 7 minutes), the annoying uptempo rhythm and guitar line of "Tell Me Why" causes me to be thankful that song doesn't have horns, and "Living Forever" is really forgettable until its' reasonably flowing ending jam comes on.

Speaking of jamming, the closer "Fading Lights" is this album's only nod to the band's progressive rock past, but it's done in a different way than before, as the 10 minute piece is structured so it begins and ends as a pleasant soft rock ballad, and its' middle is filled with a lengthy, often haunting and gorgeous, mainly synth-led jam that has tasteful and captivating flow to it - this is probably the only album in Genesis history where I actually miss Banksynths throughout most of it, but thankfully they're preserved here. With all its' (mostly Collins created) flaws, though, I can still say We Can't Dance is a reasonably pleasant and decent, though musically harmless, effort. "Fading Lights", in fact, would have been a perfect career swan song for the group in my mind, but sadly, that was not to be the case.

OVERALL RATING: 6

The final effort from Genesis (if we discount the bastard release Calling All Stations) is, in reality, hardly a Genesis album at all. It sounds a LOT like solo Phil Collins. Now granted, it IS a little better than that for a few reasons - no stupid synth horns, SLIGHTLY fewer gratingly commercial pop numbers - but most of these songs could have come right off of one of Phil's solo records. If you read my review of No Jacket Required, you know what that means - lame "atmospheric" ballads that make my brain hurt ("Hold On My Heart", "Since I Lost You") and "rock" songs that either blow ("Way Of The World") or just pass by without much notice ("Tell Me Why"), or occasionally, they fall somewhere in between the two ("Living Forever"). These songs are all pretty much worthless, if you ask me - solo Phil Collins is NOT my thing, nor will it ever be. Sorry.

However, there are some nice diversions. Most people know that Phil is capable of tossing off some pretty catchy pop numbers, and this album is no exception - the album starts out GREAT with "No Son Of Mine", which is an atmospheric rocker (what a shock!), but it actually works, with a catchy, singable chorus. Ditto "Jesus He Knows Me", which takes a swipe at a rather easy target (televangelists), but does so in a reasonably clever manner. And "I Can't Dance" is entertaining, too. Dumb, goofy, self-parodic semi-hard rock that makes me chuckle. Not a bad guitar riff, either. Those were all the singles of course (and so was "Hold On My Heart", but let's ignore that one, shall we?) - Phil knew what the best songs were (and he knew "Hold On My Heart" was sappy enough to be a hit). There is one really good song on here that wasn't a single, though - "Dreaming While You Sleep". It's a little too long, but it builds in a very convincing manner, and the chorus is the catchiest part on the album. Don't believe me? Give it a try.

But wait, that's only fifty minutes of music! This album is seventy minutes long! To please prog audiences, Phil recorded two 10 minute numbers, "Driving The Last Spike" and "Fading Lights". Both are clearly not prog, of course - they're merely pop songs stretched past all reasonable limits. "Driving" is ok - it has a nice melody, decent lyrics, and serves as pleasant background music - though in NO WAY should it last as long as it does. And "Fading Lights" just sucks. No melody at all, cliched lyrics, dumb "progressive" jamming in the middle that goes nowhere, and, of course, a ten minute length. To quote Dana Carvey, "Bad! Bad!" So basically, this isn't a very good album. It has its moments, and it's rarely truly bad ("Hold On My Heart" and "Fading Lights" are the only real monstrocities here, with "Way Of The World" and "Since I Lost You" coming close behind), but it IS pretty boring for the most part, and it lasts seventy minutes. Caveat Emptor.

OVERALL RATING: 4

CALLING ALL STATIONS (1997)

(reviewed by Nick Karn)

HIGH POINTS: None. LOW POINTS: There Must Be Some Other Way, If That's What You Need, One Man's Fool, Calling All Stations, Small Talk, Alien Afternoon, The Dividing Line.

Following the supporting tour for We Can't Dance, Phil Collins announced that he was quitting Genesis in 1993, which could have signaled the band for good. But Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford weren't quite ready to give up yet, so they recruited a new singer in Ray Wilson, a former vocalist in Stiltskin, and decided to record a new album. Well, all I can say is that this decision was a catastrophic mistake to say the least. With Collins out of the picture, the two original band members decided to venture more into a progressive vein than the last few albums, while still incorporating the pop elements of those previous efforts. Unfortunately, the songs here amptly demonstrate Banks and Rutherford had absolutely no clue how to write decent prog numbers anymore (remember, it had been 20 years since their last full-blown prog effort Wind And Wuthering), but that's not the least of the problems within this album.

First of all, the choice of vocalist could not have been a worse one - Wilson sticks to mostly toneless whining, and even when he isn't in that mode, he's hardly capable of bringing any personality whatsoever into the songs. Not only that, but there are very few memorable melodies (instrumentally or vocally), the lyrics are extremely trite, which is disheartening for a band that once was really imaginative in this department in both eras ("Shipwrecked" and "Not About Us" are barely high school level poetry set to appropriately rudimentary melody) and the songs just drag on and on (the average length is 6 minutes, and this sucker is 67 minutes long total!), sharing almost the same atmosphere within each one, and that atmosphere gives off the feeling of cold lifelessness as if the total end of existence was approaching.

This is particularly true of the abysmal title track (totally pedestrian angst whining with stupid noises in the middle) and "If That's What You Need", which apparently evokes Mike And The Mechanics musically (not that this is a compliment) - the lifeless verses are bad enough, but the chorus droning makes me want to shoot myself. "Alien Afternoon", meanwhile, amptly demonstrates how much their art rock songwriting skills had declined, as that number rambles almost 8 minutes with practically no interesting musical ideas - it basically consists of simplistic funk-like verses with equally simplistic lyrics in the first half and a 'atmospheric' synth section in the second half that sucks the life out of me. Lead single "Congo" is probably the best of the lot, with a memorable, if generic, chorus, and it's the most energetic track here, but that doesn't mean it's good.

That was just side one - side two is another matter entirely. Unquestionably, this is the worst half of an album I've ever heard, and it's 35 minutes of virtual worthlessness. "The Dividing Line" may have an enjoyable synth part, and the chorus to "Uncertain Weather" may be pretty, but both isolated decent moments there are generic ones that merely seem good because of the trash surrounding them - they just limp along (the former at almost eight minutes again!) with nothing else memorable there. And the final three songs that take up over 20 minutes of the album are simply vile. "Small Talk" is an awful, awful attempt at an uptempo song, "There Must Be Some Other Way" is a slow number that again drags at almost eight minutes with a chorus wail that is almost like Michael Bolton altered from the depths of hell, and like the closing "One Man's Fool" (almost nine minutes here), it contains a rambling jam to add to the excruciating boring tone of most of the album.

This album is out of print now, and there's a reason for it. If you ask me, the idea of an album from a major band like Genesis going out of print less than four years after its' release is pretty damn bad, and should tell you all you need to know about its' quality - as of this writing, this is the absolute nadir of my collection, and it makes any other Genesis album look like a masterpiece in comparison (even the good moments here would be laughed off as filler on any of those records). Thankfully, this disaster was mercifully followed by a breakup of the band. Of course, it also goes without saying that you shouldn't even consider buying it unless you're a completist or happen to run a review site. I'll certainly never consider ever listening to it again (sitting through it twice straight through was bad enough). You have been warned.

OVERALL RATING: 2

COMMENTS

[email protected]

What cloth ears you have dear boy..you cannot review a genesis album on just 2 listens.the music contains hidden goodies that are just not there on two listens…the..album needs love and attention and care.i suggest you review girls aloud, Robbie,carly as you haven’t an ear for more upmarket music

All the best mike

TURN IT ON AGAIN: THE HITS (1999)

(Nick Karn's review)

HIGH POINTS: I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe), That's All, Turn It On Again, Land Of Confusion, Mama. LOW POINTS: Misunderstanding, Congo, In Too Deep.

Originally slated to be the Phil Collins-era portion of a Genesis boxed set, this compilation was released in its' place. The major attraction is comes at the very end, with a reunion of the band's classic lineup for a rerecording of the 1974 classic "The Carpet Crawlers", which has more of a slower, dancey, contemporary feel to it, so it's not as great as the original, but it still maintains at least a bit of its' eerie quality. And leading up to it are 17 tracks of pure Genesis pop, covering almost every major chart hit the band ever had, more than half of it drawn from their biggest commercial smashes Invisible Touch and We Can't Dance, with only two tracks from the 70's, "Follow You, Follow Me" (And Then There Were Three) and "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)" (Selling England By The Pound) featured here, the latter being the only track besides the aforementioned remake to feature Peter Gabriel on lead vocals.

Although a few of the tracks are a bit too lame for my liking ("Misunderstanding", "I Can't Dance", "Congo", "In Too Deep"), most of the song choice is pretty terrific and reasonable. Yes, I even like "Hold On My Heart" - bring it on. Am I really the only one that sees the haunting beauty within the generic production and contemporary love song lyrics? I guess so. But I can get less lambasted for enjoying the heck out of the other hits like "That's All", "Turn It On Again", "Mama", "Abacab", "No Son Of Mine", "Land Of Confusion" and "Invisible Touch", all of which need no explanation since I already mentioned them before in other reviews. Oh heck, no one cares about greatest hits packages anyway, but as far as compilations like this go, Turn It On Again is good, if a bit flawed.

OVERALL RATING: 7

I have a sad confession to make... with the exception of We Can't Dance, I'm not familiar with the pop era of Genesis (at least not as of this writing). My collection doesn't yet include the many, many albums in between Wind And Wuthering and Calling All Stations. So, when I saw this comp for 4 bucks at my local pawn shop, I decided "What the hell?" and plunked down a 5-spot for a chance to become familiar with the supposedly more famous numbers from the pop era of Genesis (though the only songs that I've personally heard on the radio from this comp are "That's All" and "Misunderstanding"). And I must say that, for the most part, I'm impressed. These guys were a good pop group, judging from their more radio-oriented stuff on this album.

If I have a complaint about this album, it's that it relies HEAVILY on Invisible Touch and We Can't Dance - 5 from the former and 4 from the latter - I guess they were the biggest hits, though, so I guess I can't fault them for that. Some of those songs suck, though - I never liked "Hold On My Heart" (from We Can't Dance) before, and I still don't. At least the other 3 hits from that album ("No Son Of Mine", "Jesus He Knows Me", and "I Can't Dance") are all quite decent. Invisible Touch features yet another freaking AWFUL ballad (the cringe-worthy "In Too Deep"), but the other 4 tunes ("Invisible Touch", "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight", "Throwing It All Away", and "Land Of Confusion") are decent. Espeically "Land Of Confusion", which is a really catchy tune if I've ever heard one. Not bad, not bad at all.

The rest of the album is a bit more diversely chosen, with 1 or 2 tracks taken from various albums. And Then There Were Three brings us the sweet, catchy "Follow You, Follow Me". Duke gives us "Turn It On Again" (which is one of the most awesome 80's pop songs EVER, if not the absolute best) and "Misunderstanding" (a perfectly pleasant, catchy Phil-penned number). Abacab gives us an edited version of the catchy, fun title track (with an especially cool, offbeat chorus). From Genesis we get the groovy "That's All" (which I love) and the creepy, creepy, creepy "Mama" (which I might love even more - I gotta get that album!). Hell, there's even a track from Calling All Stations here (the really not-that-bad "Congo", which isn't special, but is certainly better than "Hold On My Heart" or "In Too Deep").

Then comes the weird part - the compilers decided to include only TWO prog-era tracks for this album. And only one of them is the original recording! So, from the original Peter Gabriel era of Genesis, you get one track - Selling England By The Pound's catchy, fantastic "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)", which is my favorite song on the record, but it doesn't seem to gel with the pop numbers very well. And there's a new recording of the classic Lamb Lies Down On Broadway track "The Carpet Crawlers", which reunited the classic Genesis in the studio one last time. It doesn't really improve upon the old one, but it isn't worse, and it gives me hope that Genesis might get back together after all. You basically know if you want this album or not already - you're probably better off buying the original albums, but this is a nice sampler, and well worth paying 4 dollars for at your local pawn shop.

OVERALL RATING: 7

Post your comments about Phil Collins

SIDE PROJECTS/SOLO ALBUMS

PHIL COLLINS

Face Value 1981

Hello, I Must Be Going 1982

No Jacket Required 1985

But Seriously 1989

Serious Hits... Live! 1990

Both Sides 1993

Dance Into The Light 1996

Hits (compilation) 1998

A Hot Night In Paris (live) 1999

Ah, Phil Collins... where to start with Phil Collins? Well, first things first. The man wasn't untalented. Sure, his solo records were polluted with some of the worst crap to ever get drudged up from the eighties, but he at least sounded like he put effort into them (though that certainly doesn't make me like them more; instead, it just makes me kinda sad when I think about what his talent could be doing). Plus, though you'd never know it from listening to his drum machine addled solo hits, the man was an absolutely fantastic drummer, one of my favorites of all time. He could put some odd beats behind the music, giving it a real spark (listen to him pounding away on the "Apocalypse in 9/8" section of "Supper's Ready" on Genesis' Foxtrot album and you'll see what I mean). And, when he tried, he wasn't a bad singer even. After Peter Gabriel left Genesis and he took over lead vocals, he even sounded good! Not as good as Peter, but good regardless.

With all of these attributes, Phil Collins might be the most frustrating man ever to record. As soon as he started penning songs, problems arose. The man is obviously not quite a "prog rocker" like his compatriots in Genesis. Rather, he likes writing pop music. BAD pop music. Most of the time he either makes tuneless "rockers" that no one could possibly like and tuneless "ballads" that have absolutely NOTHING going for them. Sure, he wrote a couple of good ones ("In The Air Tonight" is very good indeed), but I don't have a lot of good things to say about Phil Collins solo records. The only one I currently own is No Jacket Required, though I have heard more. Don't expect me to review them unless I see them for under 3 dollars, though.

--Philip Maddox

NO JACKET REQUIRED (1985)

released by Phil Collins

(reviewed by Philip Maddox)

Phil's biggest hit album, so big that it even won a Grammy for album of the year back in 1985 when it came out. It spawned countless MTV and lite-rock radio hits, selling millions and millions of copies. Now, maybe this is just me, but I think that there's something REALLY wrong with this. This album is the epitome of what made the eighties mainstream music suck. This is considered one of the best albums of the decade, too! God! I just recently purchased Rio by Duran Duran, and I love it. I've owned So by Phil's more talented former bandmate Peter Gabriel, and love that one, too. This album isn't half as good as either of those albums. It isn't half as good as a compilation of the worst songs from each album slapped onto one disc. It's just... awful!

Actually, it doesn't sound TOO awful at first. Not good, but not awful. "Sussudio" was one of those big hits, an upbeat dance number with no real melody, but it's at least somewhat catchy and, if you turn your brain off, even danceable. It still sounds really dated with all those eighties horns and whatnot, though. The next song, "Only You Know And I Know" (with a song title blatantly stolen from a superior Dave Mason song), is actually a good one! I like it! It's not exactly great, but it grooves along at a very good speed, offering a memorable chorus. It sounds dated, too, but I actually don't mind hearing it every now and then.

After that, though, words begin to fail me. "Long Long Way To Go" is an utter "In The Air Tonight" ripoff, only without the creepy atmosphere or good lyrics. Just another tuneless atmospheric ballad. Speaking of tuneless atmospheric ballads, you've probably heard "One More Night", which makes me cringe in pain every time I hear it. I just think that this man could be singing "Dance On A Volcano"! Or "Entangled"! Or "Squonk"! But no, he churns out this syrupy sludge that can only give you a stomach ache and leave a bad taste in your mouth. "Ballads" like this tend to alternate with "rockers" that are better, but not by much.

The "ballads" are brain-meltingly banal and awful. The "rockers" are just tuneless and forgettable. "Doesn't Anybody Stay Together Anymore" is a good example - the tune doesn't sound AWFUL while it's playing, but it's boring boring boring, and nothing about it will ever stick to you, no matter how many times you hear it. "Don't Lose My Number" is probably the best of these songs, but that doesn't say a lot - if it came on the radio, I probably wouldn't change the station about half of the time. The album tries to get a bit more "artistic" at the end, but that hardly helps. "Take Me Home" isn't horrible, but it sounds dated and cheesy to the extreme. Peter Gabriel showing up in person to help him out doesn't even pull the tune out of the doldrums. And the closing "We Said Hello Goodbye" (what a title, eh?) is an orchestrated ballad that drags on banally while trying to sound a little bit "artsier" than the rest of the material.

A sad, sad album. Soon after this, Peter Gabriel put out So, where he proved that he could still write great tunes and give them emotional impact while attempting to cater to pop audiences somewhat. Phil Collins had no such luck. The best song here, "Only You Know And I Know", is FAR inferior to the WORST song there, the sappy but still nice and even occasionally moving "Don't Give Up". Avoid, avoid, avoid this album. It's everything you always hated about the eighties, rolled up into one 50 minute package. The only reason I even gave this album a 3 was because of the minor highlight and a couple of neat moments scattered throughout the songs. Stick to Phil's Genesis albums.

OVERALL RATING: 3

Post your comments about Steve Hackett

STEVE HACKETT

REVIEWS:

VOYAGE OF THE ACOLYTE (1975)

released by Steve Hackett

(reviewed by Nick Karn)

HIGH POINTS: Ace Of Wands, Shadow Of The Hierophant. LOW POINTS: None.

It isn't in the least bit surprising that, out of all the Genesis members in the classic lineup, Steve Hackett was the first one to go solo, since he was very often overshadowed in the instrumental mix more than any of the other members (thanks in large part to Tony Banks, of course!). But unlike Peter Gabriel, Steve doesn't display a desire to break away from the sound of his band either (not on this album, anyway), as Voyage Of The Acolyte in large part sounds extremely close to the style, with a few differences. Sure, his (soon to be former) bandmates Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins join in to help, the flute playing of John Hackett sounds almost exactly like Gabriel (and yes, it really does - it's not like we're comparing it to Ray Wilson vocals here!), plus the lyrics and/or arrangements often have a very overblown tone to them throughout, but thankfully, this is a lot more of a guitar-oriented album than the 74-77 Genesis efforts. The synths and mellotrons may still be prominent in the sound, but they are used tastefully as more of a counterpoint to Steve's playing rather than the dominant force. And, of course, five of the eight songs are instrumentals.

In fact, it's not until the fifth song here that vocals even begin to show up, but all the better for it, since just about all the instrumentals here rule. Well, maybe not rule, except for the opening "Ace Of Wands". Simply put, this piece is completely brilliant - Steve's aim here seems to be to make it as memorable, compact, and gorgeous as possible, and boy does he ever succeed. The main guitar-led theme is so highly engaging that you might not even be able to get it out of your head the first couple times you hear it, and the way it is combined with the majestic choir-like pattern afterwards is extraordinarly uplifting, and that breakaway guitar line that shows up after it shifts into a faster, bass-led groove... wow. Such a phenomenal display of minimalism here, one that takes just about any Genesis instrumental and throws it right out the window in terms of power.

Nothing on the rest of Voyage approaches that in my humble opinion, but all the rest of it's good nonetheless. The remaining instrumental stretch in particular is nice - "Hands Of The Priestess, Pt. 1" is a really haunting, yet strangely peaceful, acoustic guitar and flute piece, and its' second part a couple tracks later, even if it's less than two minutes long, features some gorgeous, highly emotional and expressive slow guitar parts. But on a heavier note, "A Tower Struck Down" is a fine power groove where Steve attempts to make all sorts of weird noises come out of his guitar, not to mention hit the listener over the head with pummeling, repeating notes over and over to a surprisingly neat effect. And is it just me, or is that crowd that comes right before the song's ambient sort of ending actually chanting, "Steve Hackett! Steve Hackett! Steve Hackett!"? How appropriate if that's the case.

As for the vocal tracks here, "The Hermit" and "Star Of Sirius" aren't particularly special, but still quite enjoyable. The first of these sees Steve taking over the lead vocal spot, and this one's probably my least favorite here - the guitar line and melody have a haunting enough effect, but the vocals are almost unnoticeable even if pleasant, and the song doesn't really make a solid impression. Still not bad, though. The latter track, featuring Phil Collins on vocals just a year before he'd become the next Genesis singer, fares better - the mellowness of the atmosphere and melody, as well as the guitar/synth flourishes, are among the most inviting moments of the album and are well suited for Collins' voice (and Hackett's playing). Just as the pace starts to get a bit bland, the song switches to a more engaging melody, assuring its' enjoyability through its' 7 minute length.

After a typically nice instrumental link "The Lovers" comes the 11 minute closer "Shadow Of The Hierophant", another totally top-notch piece, and probably second best song on the album, mostly because it is a classic example of how Steve can say so much with so little. The main attraction here is how it builds from a quiet acoustic piece (featuring Sally Oldfield's very pretty guest vocals over arguably the most moving melody on the entire album) to a really long tension-building coda that's based on a sort of echoey guitar part. This creates a simultaneously breathtaking, depressing and epic effect all at once, really leaving a whole lot of images in your mind at album's end. And a very, very good album it is - not only because many of the tricks and textures Steve employs here weren't evident before on Genesis albums, but also because he's found a way to put that talent on record in the form of effective song-based compositions showcasing his best talents (and not the ones of Gabriel or Banks!), resulting in an album comparable to the quality of what his band put out the following year.

OVERALL RATING: 8

[email protected] (Tom Hamilton)

COMMENTS

I have always considered this album to be a quintessential example of English Prog Rock. It's got most if not all the ingredients: dark/sad/moody minor melodies, haunting lyrics to match, non-blues based space guitar, mellotrons, synths, choir-style vocals, classical influences, ghostly cover art, etc.

Only downside: Steve Hackett's ego gets away from him only when he decides to take a vocal lead, both here and on his other work; he just doesn't have it.

I like to match this album up with a gloomy, chilly, autumn or winter afternoon. (If the Beach Boys were locked in an endless summer, doesn't English Prog seem stuck in an endless autumn?) Since this album always works for me that time of year I give it a strong 8.

Incidentally Nick, listen to the "crowd" chanting again before the end of "A Tower Struck Down". Now transport yourself back to Germany circa 1940. The chant is "Sieg Heil", sample lifted no doubt from some party rally. Ooops...

PLEASE DON'T TOUCH! (1978)

released by Steve Hackett

(reviewed by Nick Karn)

HIGH POINTS: Narnia, Carry Up On The Vicarage, Icarus Ascending. LOW POINTS: How Can I?

In a sense, this album is where Steve Hackett's solo career really begins, as Voyage was for the most part very close to the Genesis spirit. But with fewer and fewer of his songwriting ideas being accepted to the group, and the continued domination of the synths, it's only natural that he also became less and less interested and was gradually pushed out of the band, rather unfortunately. So on his second album, he seems to have taken that opportunity to put some of his own independent ideas on record - one of them, the title track, had previously been rejected for Wind And Wuthering by Tony Banks in favor of "Wot Gorilla?" What??? God, no wonder this guy left - "Please Don't Touch!" does so much better of a job than that boring "Gorilla" crap in creating an atmosphere (a really interesting and gripping spacey one, I must say) and an inventive dynamic structure while actually making the playing exciting that it boggles the mind. And it's not even one of the best songs on here! All the better that he left, in my opinion....

Okay, this album may be much better than Wind in general, and an admirable departure from Genesis, but when compared to Voyage it's a slightly weaker effort, mostly due to a few filler-ish songs. I'm particularly looking at the side closing "How Can I?", the first song where Richie Havens, one of three guest vocalists on here, sings - the main melody isn't unmemorable, but it has a somewhat dull tone to it, and Steve's acoustic playing is simplistic and uninteresting. The soul-ish ballad "Hoping Love Will Last" (featuring female vocalist Randy Crawford) isn't really something I'd call that good either, though the melody and singing are pretty enough. It's just somewhat insubstantial, and not really something I'm looking for out of a Hackett album. Also, the other two instrumentals that follow it besides the title track ("Land Of A Thousand Autumns", "The Voice Of Necam") are more atmosphere setters than anything memorable (though I like the carousel sounds in the latter and the ambient tone in the former).

The rest of this stuff is pretty cool, though, so much so that I almost considered giving this an 8 at one point, just like Voyage - maybe I'm just so impressed by the first two songs when thinking of the highlights. The best one is the opener "Narnia", an absolutely glorious bouncy pop song - it has such a great clear acoustic tone, sheer joy bursting out of the melody, and the vocalist employed here, Steve Walsh of Kansas fame, does a very, very capable job on the enthusiastic delivery. And I can't forget the more experimental "Carry Up On The Vicarage", a song on which Steve doubletracks himself singing the humorous lyrics, with one track sped up and the other slowed down, and the result is so neat! It's dumb, but that's partly why the song's so appealing. That and the vocal melody is close to Genesis-level gorgeousness (as is the organ break).

Out of the rest, the closing "Icarus Ascending" attains heights not far off from the two big highlights - it's an epic of pure majesty that's much more suited to Richie Havens' vocals than that "How Can I?" crud, with a gorgeous atmosphere driven by the guitars and occasional synths, plus there's another excellent atmospheric coda and even a reggae part thrown into the middle to add a sense of humor. Good idea! Finally, "Racing In A" is the other song with a Steve Walsh vocal lead, an exciting rocker with several uplifting melodies and riffs (though with a noticeable lack of flow between parts that mars it slightly), and "Kim" is another one of those guitar and flute instrumentals that's pretty much there just to be pretty, but still a nice diversion nonetheless. What else can I say - quite a bit of Please Don't Touch! is just so likeable, even when it's flawed. At its' best, it's just as effective a demonstration of Hackett's talent as before.

OVERALL RATING: 7.5

SPECTRAL MORNINGS (1979)

released by Steve Hackett

(reviewed by Nick Karn)

HIGH POINTS: Every Day, Spectral Mornings, The Virgin And The Gypsy. LOW POINTS: None.

I guess it seems like I'm bringing up Genesis an awful lot in these Hackett reviews, but it's kind of hard not to, especially in this case. Although the previous two albums certainly had their moments of unbelievably awesome quality, it's Spectral Mornings that really got me thinking on an even more consistent basis just how crucial to the whole Genesis vibe Hackett was, with his amazing talent for elegant yet majestic atmospheres and not very complex but brilliantly memorable minimalist solos - think of the instrumental passages of "Dancing With The Moonlit Knight" or "Firth Of Fifth" and you'll get a very good idea of what the best moments on here sound like. Yeah, there's not all that much actual progression from that kind of style, but when the beautiful atmosphere and instrumental hooks are of this high a quality, I personally don't care. And there's enough of Steve's genius on this album to call it probably his best ever.

Once again, the guy displays his knack for starting off with two awesome songs. The opening "Every Day" in particular should be considered a brilliant art rock classic - the main body of the song, which features an uplifting chimey verse showcasing his increasingly confident lead vocals and guitar textures to go along with a joyful 'every daaaaaaaay' chorus, is fine enough as it is, but what really puts it to near-orgasmic highs is the lengthy 'breakaway' instrumental section. I'm telling you, when Hackett finds a powerful enough rhythm/riff/theme/whatever to solo over, it's just about heaven, since he always effortlessly picks out these beautiful passages almost out of thin air. It's really hard for me to type out how shattering the effect is, in any case, but it's the kind of song that, if the rest of the album lived up to, it'd easily be one of my all-time favorites. It certainly does even "Moonlit Knight" proud, and that's a huge, huge compliment right there.

A couple of the other tracks do live up to that spectacular opening, actually. First off, the "Every Day" followup "The Virgin And The Gypsy" is a beautifully understated, folky acoustic/flute/synth ballad where Hackett's vocals almost remind me of David Crosby, and the whole sound just has a wonderfully rich, peaceful quality to it (combined with mystical lyrics, extremely well-placed harmony vocals, and another gem of a poppy chorus) that I just love to death. And don't forget the third major classic in the closing title track either, which may be based mostly on one repeated 'theme', but what a memorable and stunningly evocative one it is, also augmented wonderfully by backing Mellotron (and later organ) throughout. Once again, it's hard to describe total gorgeousness like this in words, but if you've heard enough of Hackett's work, you can imagine what the effect of him playing around with this theme for 6 minutes would be like. Awesome beyond whatever words I might use to describe it.

The other five songs in the middle don't captivate nearly as much, but are still of very good enough quality to ensure the album's excellence, and none of them are exactly weak either, whether it be the short but again evocative Japanese-influenced "The Red Flower Of Tachai Blooms Everywhere" (a Mellotron and Koto-enriched pure atmospheric beauty of an instrumental), the hilarious attempt at doing something theatrical in a Peter Gabriel way in the novelty groove "The Ballad Of The Decomposing Man" (the exaggerated vocal tone Hackett incorporates and the even more amusing Caribbean-tinged second half of the song particularly make this one a treat) or the dark, menacing "Clocks - The Angel Of Mons" (the 'menacing' aspects come mostly through the ominous keyboard and Mellotron parts as well as the ticking clock sounds, though - there's still an element of anthemic uplift in Hackett's playing throughout anyway!)

Unfortunately, while not bad at all, the remaining two songs on here coming before the title track are something of a letdown from the rest, thus eliminating a possible chance of a 9 rating. "Lost Time In Cordoba" is a certainly nice, but unmemorable, excursion into Spanish-influenced acoustic work, and the long instrumental opening half of "Tigermoth" is pretty much just an okay rewrite of "Clocks" from earlier on, though it's redeemed a bit by the vocal portion, a captivating tale of a 'boy that should never have flown was thrown a hundred yards, blown into smithereens' set to another uplifting, slightly epic melody that wouldn't sound out of place on a classic Genesis album, another that makes me appreciate Hackett's importance to the band. Actually, for any Genesis fan who appreciates his contributions, Spectral Mornings is pretty much a must own, and an excellent album in its' own right - just let yourself be carried away by the great sound on here!

OVERALL RATING: 8.5