FOXTROT

Genesis's 'Foxtrot" really considered today as one of the best progressive rock albums ever. Conspectually, It continues "Nursery Cryme", their previous album. "Foxtrot" was known for the B-Side of the vinyl record, "Supper's Ready", which is Genesis's absolute inalienable asset - a true wonder of inspiration & performance, with perfect structure, accurate emotional balance, brittish humor, brilliant dramatic delivering & excellent production.

The classic structure, so called sircular and satisfactory (aspecially emotionally), of the album, is mainly because of the first & last chapter. Theyre both have the same composition, but the grand finale is much more grandiose & ends in a very pleasing harmonic victory. "Supper's Ready" is dealing with different subjects: The horrors of war, humanity's stupidity and more. Peter Gabriel is a good player of the dramatic characters, and he do it with a lot of talent.

The desicion to put "Supper's Ready" in the B-Side of the album defines the commercial thinking of that era, which said that the listener would not listen to a 23-minute long track, right in the beginning of the album. In 1972, Half-record epic was an unusual sight. 1973 and the years to come, was the beginning of a new way of thinking: Many bands have started to write double albums, such as "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway".

Although Side-A is not that bad, it's not as glamorous as "Supper's Ready". The opening track, "Watcher Of The Skies", they tried to build a chart hit which sounds a little bit more complicated than a usual hit. Anyway, It is suitable to a opening act, a melotronic prologue, which gives the album a symphonic taste.

The early Genesis fans cannot miss "Foxtrot". Peter Gabriel fans simply adore this album, with a lot of justice. The album is not perfect as a unit, but it fills a progressive milestone that inspirated many other young bands, and represents an interesting phase in the evolution of a young determant band, that was lucky to have such a charismatic & funny lead singer. 5 stars are suitable.