NURSERY CRYME

With Haackett and Collins in line-up finally Genesis was Genesis. Because, true or not true, finally Gabriel was Gabriel and the magic was here. "Nursery Crime" is, still today, fresh, innovative and magical.The seven songs are all examples of true die hard Prog. In some moments the songs of "Nursery Crime" have strong connection with the future Italian Prog. This is the big defect of Italian Prog. But this is not the correct place for this discussion. This is the place for the discussions about "Nursery Crime", a beautiful album, aged too well. It is only my opinion (only my?) that with "Nursery Crime" the power of Genesis is at the top, without compromises. The songs are great examples of Symphonic Prog and in my opinion the perfect mix between Symphonic Prog and Classic Rock in this album is perfectly balanced. "The Fountain Of Salmacis" present Symphonic Prog parts and Classic Rock parts. But without the power of Symphonic Prog pats and the light moments of Classic Rock this song not had the same power and the soli section without this perfect mix not had the same magic. It is a strange sentence for me to explain, since I am not a musician. But I wrote this sentence various times. This is true also in other songs of this album ("The Musical Box", "The Return Of The Giant Hogweed" and "Harold The Barrel", especially). The music is not so complicated. In fact the melody is easy and the insertion of virtuosism are in function of the final result of the song... five men, one orchestra... And not for emphasize that they knew play complicated things, as other Prog bands. This is another magic of Gabriel, Hackett, Banks, Rutherford and Collins line-up.

Probably "Nursery Crime" is a true Prog Masterpiece. But I have a strange sensation with this album: something missing. And so I can not call it masterpiece.