WIND & WUTHERING

GENESIS demonstrated that they were a very good band without Peter Gabriel with "A Trick of the Tail". But there were some frictions between Steve Hackett and the rest of the band members in this album, as most of Hackett`s songs were not liked by the rest of the band, who wanted to compose more simple songs. Fans like to blame Phil Collins for being "responsible" of GENESIS`s most commercial songs and albums, but in 1976 he was only the lead singer and drummer who helped the band survive without the overrated Gabriel and he wasn`t the main composer, as he became a "real" composer until "Duke". So, for me, the "responsibility" for more simple songs fell more in Banks and Rutherford. But this album is still "Progressive", maybe the last true Progressive studio album from GENESIS. And Hackett`s influence from his first solo album is very present here. In this album he sounds more confident, but this confidence led him to leave the band after the 1977 tour to record more solo albums. "Eleventh Earl of Mar" (composed by Banks/Hackett/Rutherford) has very good keyboards and guitars "atmospheres", and very good drums. It also has a classical guitar section by Hackett. "One for the Vine" is one of Banks`songs, with Grand Piano and keyboards atmospheres, and lead guitar by Hackett. "Your Own Special Way" (called the most "commercial" song in this album), written by Rutherford, has very good 12 string guitars, and superb keyboards arrangements by Banks, plus some Auto-harp by Hackett. "Wot Gorilla" was composed by Collins/Banks, and has some keyboard solos with classical music influences. "All in a Mouse`s Night" has interplay by the keyboards and the guitar, and a fantasy story written by Banks, who again plays a "classical music" keyboard solo in the end of the song, with Hackett also in lead guitar. "Blood on the Rooftops" (composed by Hackett/Collins), has a classical guitar by Hackett and good keyboard arrangements by Banks. "Unquiet slumbers of the sleepers..." is another song very influenced by Hackett (composed by Hackett/Rutherford), and this song and the next ("...in that quiet earth") are for me linked very well with the very good cover design. These song titles were taken from the last paragraph of Emiliy Bronte`s book "Wuthering Heights". "...in that quiet earth" is an instrumental piece with contributions by all the members of the band, and again with keyboard solos with influences from classical music. "Afterglow" (composed by Banks) is a very good song, and in the end it has several vocals sounding like a "chorus", which in live versions in the late 70s were replaced with the mellotron.