FOXTROT

I have spent a ridiculous amount of time staring at this album's cover trying to work out what "Foxtrot" is even referring to.Then I heard Peter Gabriel talk about his interest in Numerology and suddenly it was all rather obvious. F-O-X spells out of 666 in the numerology chart.The Fox is the devil and is leading us all on a merry dance hence the red dress- hence the title "Foxtrot" Phey! Got there in the end.

So much for the title- what about the music? I used to think of "Nursery Cryme"and "Foxtrot" as being joined at the hips in terms of musicality and overall production (Naughty little Cynthia's croquet mallet is floating in the water- is she in Hell after all?) Repeated listenings of both albums reveal what is probably obvious to more perceptive fans."Foxtrot is a massive (Lovers' -sorry couldn't resist) leap forward in every regard.Really every track is brilliant. The moody mellotron drenched "Watcher Of The Skies" is such a great bombastic opening track although atmospherically it absolutely pales next to the version on "Genesis Live"."Timetable" is the closest thing to a simple pop song on the album tells us a lot about the way Genesis would develop in the late 70's but in any case is a charming piano led number with a catchy chorus."Get 'em Out By Friday" is the album's most fun track by far and a biting satire about greedy landlords apparently inspired by Peter Gabriel's experiences at the time.It is a great theatrical number hinting at what he would do on the follow up album with "Battle Of Epping Forest"."Can-Utility and The Coastliners"is a superb compact Prog epic.Specifically it showed just how disciplined at compositions Genesis were becoming.The "Horizons" is an excellent showcase for Steve Hacketts rapidly developing style on the classical guitar.Then finally the Magnum Opus- "Suppers Ready".So much has been written about this brilliant piece of music that I am not sure if I can really add anything. One thing I would say is that unlike other side long suites by other major Prog bands which seem to run out of steam at the halfway mark, this one just powers along and is unbelievably entertaining. Final thought?Much as I love this album the good news is that they had not quite peaked yet- "Selling England By The Pound" is still streets ahead of this at least instrumentally.However even though the band are still finding their way instrumentally if not compositionally this still holds up as one of the greatest albums ever produced in the Prog or any era.

A solid five stars

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