TRESPASS

.And then Genesis got down to business. 'Trespass' is often thought of as their real debut, and why not? Here are 6 lengthy tracks, flowing with melancholy, dynamics and ambition, a sense of discovery pervading all. They seem to have taken advantage of their freedom from overbearing pop moguls and produced the first in a long line of signature Genesis epics.

"Looking For Someone" is the link from the band's early influences to the maze-like arrangements that would mark their material for years. Peter Gabriel opens up with a voice reminiscent of his soul/r&b favorites, but it isn't long before the band opens up the song like medieval sonic surgeons, rippling through peaks and valleys with a determined authority. The drums of John Mayhew are loose and lazy, somehow fitting the material nonetheless, material which is folky, mythical, psychedelic and sometimes even proto-metal ("White Mountain", "The Knife"). Flutes intertwine with the rich 12-string acoustic and lush keyboard layers of Tony Banks, who finally gets a chance to play his heart out while acting as a firm foundation for each song (and this, more than anything, would be the anchor of the Genesis sound from here on out). Each song offers more and more with each listen, the writing deep and multi-layered (note the abundant foreshadowing of themes in "Stagnation"). The entire middle of the album--4 songs--from the authoritative drama of "White Mountain" to the calming "Dusk", takes lots of listening to sink in. Remarkable as they are, the impressive body of the album merely clears the way for the ending salvo of "The Knife". A real killer, "The Knife" is 9 sinister minutes, including a good bit of thunderous riffing and damaging rhythms, more than this band usually indulges in (Genesis music is many, many things, but metallic heaviness like this would rarely be heard from them again). This song offers a complex, epic arrangement that would become the band's standard on future albums.

'Trespass' might've been better with a less flimsy production and a few more tracks with the direct impact of the 'The Knife', but it still achieves a unique mood independent of the rest of the band's discography. A more-than-satisfying jumping-off point into the 6 (or so) legendary albums that would follow.