SHIPWRECKED

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They survived to tell the tale!

"Shipwrecked" marked the second single to be taken from the "Calling all stations" album with Ray Wilson on lead vocals. It is undoubtedly a far more satisfactory offering than the first single "Congo", indeed I rate it as one of the best tracks on the album (along with "Uncertain weather" and the title track). The keyboard orchestrations by Tony Banks provide a lush symphonic basis for Wilson's admirably emotional vocal. As a single though, this was perhaps an overly optimistic selection, and the song failed to reach even the top 50 in the UK.

The oddly named "Phret" sound as if it is an unfinished backing track. Tony Banks dominates the piece, which has gentle plinking sections alternating with louder rhythmic passages. The even more curiously named "7/8", presumably a reference to the time signature might be the theme tune to a mid 90's TV movie. Its basic riff flows effortlessly as Banks and Rutherford engage cruise control. Only in the later stages do the duo (Wilson is apparently completely absent from the recordings) start to inject some desperately needed vitality into the piece.

The second version of the CD single contains an identical version the title track. This time however it is accompanied by three live renditions of older Genesis songs. "No son of mine" is an abridged and slightly softer version of the "We can't dance" song, which otherwise sticks faithfully to the original. Wilson offers a competent vocal performance in a slightly lower key to Phil Collins, the sparser backing affording him the space to display the strength of his voice.

On "Lover's leap" (from "Supper's ready"), Wilson's voice is surprisingly similar to that of Peter Gabriel. Rutherford provides an accomplished rendition of Steve Hackett's acoustic guitar accompaniment. The final track is a brief run through of "Turn it on again", of which the less said the better.

The two versions of the single both offer interesting and otherwise unavailable tracks for those who crave all things Genesis. Those who abandoned the band after the departure of key members may however safely pass by.

A very weak single. Not an entirely poor song as it is easily listenable but the lilting chorus does tend to get irksome after a while. Banks and Rutherford show yet again why they were so strong in the song writing department. Lyrically not as strong as ' Not about Us' but nevertheless better material than Rutherford or Banks could put out on later solo works. Good vocals from Ray Wilson. The other offerings are throwaways but diehard Genesis fans will have acquired this already if only for ' 7/8' and Wilson's rendition of ' Lovers Leap'

"The Ray Wilson Lost Tracks"

In 1997 Genesis released their last album to date, Calling All Stations. This album is unique in that it is the only Genesis album with Ray Wilson on vocals. Three singles were released from the album and all of these singles had non-album b-sides; in total eight tracks that are not available anywhere else (with the exception of three tracks that later appeared on the extra disc on the last remasters box set). Collectively, I have learned, these tracks go under the name "The Ray Wilson Lost Tracks". Recently, when the entire Genesis back catalogue was re-mastered and re-released in boxed sets with an extra disc of non-album material in each, they passed on the chance to make all of these Ray Wilson-era b-sides available even there - and maybe for good reason?

The present single contains two b-sides, Phret and 7/8. Both of these are instrumentals and after searching for these tracks for some time, I must say that I am rather disappointed. I belong to those who actually like Calling All Stations and I consider this album to be better than some Genesis albums from the 80's, but the non-album songs that are found here are far behind the material that made it onto the album. Phret is a slow keyboard dominated tune with discrete drums, both real and drum machine. While by no means bad as such, it is hardly exciting. At best it would function as an interlude or mood-setter, but there is nothing here for it to set the mood to which makes it fall rather flat. 7/8 does not help things much even if it is instrumentally a bit more diverse with discrete guitar and piano lines. Moderately pleasant, but totally unremarkable.

The a-side, Shipwrecked, is a ballad that I find quite enjoyable, but it is not the best song from Calling All Stations.

Needless to say, this is - almost by definition - only for fans and collectors.