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Genesis - Foxtrot CD (album) cover

FOXTROT

Genesis

 

Symphonic Prog

4.61 | 4044 ratings

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CVoss
5 stars Genesis was about to put it all together with Foxtrot, which I personally find to be my favorite album of the Genesis canon. Yes, they would follow with their tightest album yet, but as of Foxtrot, Genesis blends their symphonic progressive music together at a grand creative peak. Granted, Foxtrot clocks in at just over 51 minutes, making it longer than many other albums of the early 1970s, but not a note is wasted. Unlike some of their other contemporaries, Genesis did not pack in a lot of solos...more often Tony Banks and Steve Hackett tended to play a melodic lead instrument part compared to rip-roaring solo sections. I first heard this and really got into it...after I heard four other Genesis albums from the progressive period; that means something that I left it passed so long. Banks' mellotron opens the album, as the song "Watcher of the Skies" kicks into gear. It sounds a bit less raw than Selling England by the Pound would, but more polished than Nursery Cryme, which actually works out quiet nicely. The opener is very punchy, and my favorite track on this album, as all the members are very hypnotic, including Peter Gabriel vocally ("wat-cher-of-the-skies-watcherofall..."). "Time Table" is piano-driven piece, with Hackett's distorted guitar and Rutherford's upper-register bass section helping carry the piece along. This feels somewhat McCartney-esque in melody, but you know it's Genesis...much more complex lyrically and musically. "Get 'Em Out by Friday" is outstanding. At the beginning, it rocks very hard, with Phil Collins' drumkit driving each of the time shifts...the cymbals are very crisp here. Gabriel, like he would proceed to do on The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, takes on many different characters in one song. The man has one of the most unique voices to ever embark the rock atmosphere. "Can-Utility and the Coastliners" has an excellent acoustic line, and it is a very descriptive piece in terms of mood, which Genesis did not always attack. Hackett masters the classical guitar with "Horizons," which might not be as technically sound as Steve Howe's "Mood For a Day" on Yes' Fragile, but there is more warmth in "Horizons" in my opinion. Sorry to make a comparison of two great interludes from two classic albums, but it was valid. The number is a great 98 seconds of peace, more than filler but a build into the great number about to be addressed. What else can be said about THE Genesis opus, "Supper's Ready" has probably already been said, so why should I rehash it. I can only say that this and "Revealing Science of God" are the only two prog epics I know that immediately open with a vocal part ("walking across the sitting room..."). Still, it's a complicated story, but once you get it, it's a masterpiece in itself, and it flows like one number. My only complaint is that I feel the piece faded out too soon. Regardless, those 23 minutes are something else. Foxtrot was a great accomplishment to turn Genesis into a giant among the genre, and one of the first names in progressive rock. The quintet performs at their peak, looking for a musical perfection that they certaintly have accomplished.
CVoss | 5/5 |

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