CALLING ALL STATIONS

While it's true that Genesis suffered a blow when Phil jumped ship, IMO, Collins' shtick was to water down Banks' and Rutherford's prog tendencies. This reached an undeniable nadir with "Invisible Touch", which was one of the most awesomely bad pieces of garbage to ever reach these ears. Things picked up substanially with "We Can't Dance", which, though I have yet to review it, is stunning.

I digress. The point I'm trying to make is this: apples and oranges, people. Why compare them? Face it: The 70's are LONG gone! They ain't comin' back, and for Genesis to attempt an album along the lines of SEBTP or FOXTROT would have been a disaster. No; that cannot happen. Instead, Banks & Rutherford decided to pour their energies into this 67-minute neo-prog-pop workout.

Typically, I can tell what's on a Genesis disc by looking at the cover art. I was expecting something dark, but not this. This is BLACK dark, and 100 shades of angry. It's heavy too, and at times I'm reminded of James Hetfield singing on TLLDOB. (See my first comment.)

From the opening tirade of guitar on the title track to the last note of "One Man's Fool", I discovered that this is a metallic blast. Dunno if it was apropos, but I found myself headbanging during most of it. Nir and Nick's drumming is tasty and complex. Ray's voice is rich and throaty, and Tony's keys are EVERYFRICKINWHERE! Yes! Hot d$#%! But what really blew me away was Mike. He unleashed a display of chops here to make my head spin and eyes water. Nothing polite or subtle about his playing, or any of the playing here. This is a dark, brutally heavy, and mind-numbingly complex disc, and for that alone...my rating...wait for it...

FIVE VERY-DESERVED STARS. No apologies.

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