FOXTROT

It was my introduction to GENESIS, and I'll be damned if it isn't yours too. "Selling England by the Pound" is, without a doubt in my mind, the superior album, but "Foxtrot" cannot be overlooked. The BEATLES and the MOODY BLUES introduced the mellotron to rock music, and KING CRIMSON made it the signature sound of progressive rock, but GENESIS took it as far as it would go on "Watcher of the Skies." Mellotron not your thing? I get it. Try "Get 'Em Out by Friday." Peter Gabriel gets one of his most intense vocal workouts of his career, and the band rocks hard. Not ambitious enough for you? No problem. "Supper's Ready" takes up almost the entire second side (at 23 minutes, it's a testament to GENESIS's ambition that they felt like they had to squeeze in one more song on that side), and it's the clearest sum of their entire vision. If you like prog but don't know GENESIS, start here. They've had plenty of essential releases, and you're damn right: this is one of them.