MIKE RUTHERFORD

Mike Rutherford is not a virtuoso guitarist, Ant Phillips is not a famous keyboardist. McCalla is an acceptable vocalist. Simon Phillips was a young drummer when he participated here, one of the best I saw in action. With these clarifications, I can say that Smallcreep's Day is a good product.

Do not expect an overwhelming instrumental deployment. Good songs well produced and executed, with some contribution progressive, especially in the epic title track. In the first part, I rescue Every Road and Time and Time Again.

Nothing spectacular or outstanding, but good compositions performed well. No great harvest year, which is a mitigating factor. Moreover, quite daring for being 1980.

3.5 Round 4

I´m glad that sometimes I follow my intuition and do not listen to certain albums even if they are from people I deeply admire. Mike Ruterford´s second second solo efford is a typical exemple: I loved Smallcreep´s Day dearly, one of the best prog albums at the time (ok, it had some popish tunes too, but they were also great). Yet, I felt that Acting Very Strange would not be something I´d like (maybe the ugly cover was a warning?) and stayed away from it all theses years for one reason or another. It took me over 30 years to actually get the CD to finally listen to it. And I was right all along. If Smallcrep´s Day had some similarities to Tony Bank´s A Curious Feeling of the same time, this one is also the counterpart of Banks hideous The Fugitive (also released at the period). Both are probably the worst stuff released by any current or former Genesis members ever (yes, I´m including here the entire Phill Collins solo discography!).

Some reviewers here complained a lot about Rutherford´s decision to take on the lead vocals. He may be no singer, but clearly his voice is the least of his problems here. In fact, he does it better than Banks did on that department. But the songs... my god! I always knew Rutherford was the more pop inclined member of the band (Collins was to blame, but he was always on R&B and soul music), and Your Own Special Way was proof of that quite some time before. His first solo album had its share of ballads but, boy, do you really expected those songs to be that bad here? It´s hard to believe that such terrific musicians like Darryl Stuemer (ex Jean Luc Ponty and live Genesis guitarrist), Stuart Copeland (The Police) and Peter Robinson (Brand X) are performing here. He could have hired much cheaper studio hands and the results would be pretty much the same.

The songs: undistinguished, repetitive, boring, unimaginative. Only a few nice moments, which are killed by the arrangements and repetition. The production is aimed for the typical 80´s audience (you know, those cheesy, plastic synths sound and eletronic drums), even going as far as including a lot of very americanised syrup sax solos you heard a million times before and after. Sometimes he seems to be trying to emulate his Genesis colleague Collins like on Who´s Fooling Who (very aply title!), complete with a brass arrangement, but to no avail. All could be forgiven if the tunes were good, but really, I don´t remember Rutherford releasing such weak bunch of songs anywhere else. Even his Mike + The Mechanics delivered much better stuff. The last track, Hideaway, is a little different from the rest of the techno pop stuff, and even then, it is nothing to be proud of. He was, indeed, acting very strange.

Like Banks The Fugitive, this record is nothing but a big mistake made by a great artist and should be avoided at all costs by anyone who likes music in general and prog rock in particular.

in the 80's many prog artists went solo and Mike Rutherford of Genesis was one. SMALLCREEP'S DAY from 1980 is a pretty mellow journey through pop tinted prog. This album always made me think of Camel and DUKE by Genesis. It is not a bad album, but also it has never left a lasting impression on me either. It is better than some of the pop crap that Phil Collins put out but nowhere near what other ex-Genesis man Peter Gabriel has done. This release is Light, harmless, and sometimes forgettable but never totally drivel. 3 stars almost to a tee. 3 stars.

An underrated album, but almost understandably so. Mike sings the lead vocals, and while his vocals have many strengths, they are an aquired taste. Very scratchy, and occasionally out of tune, but also very aggressive and heartfelt, and on most of the songs that is a plus. The only song that I can easily imagine being improved by someone with a more experienced voice is "Who's Fooling Who" (I'm thinking Noel McCalla, or someone of a similar timbre), but then it doesn't sound that bad with Mike singing either. His voice seems most suited to the catchy power pop of "Maxine." The only thing is, after a whole album, the vocals do wear a little thin, and it's not something I could listen to on a regular basis, but thanks to a good amount of the songs being very, very good songs, I could put to this album on somewhat of a 2nd tier medium rotation. The first two songs don't really grab my attention much, although "A Day To Remember" does have very interesting lyrics. Actually, pretty much all the lyrics on this album are very clever and intelligently written. ("Couldn't Get Arrested" is supposedly about having a diffucult time making a mark on the music industry.) Musically, the album is very upbeat and spirited, with heavy doses of energetic, trebbly distorted guitar and synths (yes, those adjectives apply to both instruments), and Stuart Copeland sounding very much like himself does a fine job drumming on this one. As for melodies, hooks, and songwriting in general, well, you can't ask for a better hook than the ones in "Halfway There" and "I Don't Wanna Know", and that inlcudes the latter's very Police-like outro refrain "I don't wanna be another fool... " I think the album slopes down a little bit at the end, with the slow ballad "Hideaway" sounding a little genericky, but Rutherford's vocals on the chorus are very touching, so that helps. Add everything up, and you have a very exotic and unexpectedly different album of energetic pop/rock with plently of great music to jump over coffee tables to.

Mike Rutherford's debut solo release is a very ambitious and artistically successful album. It doesn't sound a lot like Genesis in general, but you can definintely tell that he was the one who wrote "Deep In the Motherlode", "Man of Our Times", and some of "Duke's Travels." The band he assembled for this album is very tight, including Anthony Phillips on keys, who's keys here have a very distinct color to them, and even showing vituostic skiil on the fast- paced "Working In Line." Simon Phillips (drums) and Morris Pert (percussion) take the prog- pop sound of the songs to a slightly left-(on the side of prog)-of-center side of the spectrum, and Noel McCalla's vocals are very strong and operatic, esepecially on the vivdly atmospheric "Between the Tick and the Tock", where his voice changes envelope in unison with Phillips' dramatically swelling mellotron chords. I had the version that ends with the side- long suite, and I imagine that's the best sequence, as the surprisingly dark mood of the suite's intro after hearing the five songs before it that are all excellent but slightly more rock than the other side gives a good effect to the telling of the story. Every track is excellent, but there are a few standouts for me, including the opening rocker "Moonshine", the expansive "Time and Time Again" (another moment of great bravado for Noel McCalla) and the great-synth- riffed "Cats and Rats (In This Neighborhood)." Not to say that songs like the very progressively arranged "Romani" or "Overnight Job" (with some of Rutherford's best soloing) aren't without their many merrits, either, though: in fact any song off this album alone shows Rutherford's strong and orginaly songwriting skills and would have fit in nicely on any Genesis album of it's time or any other of his solo albums.

When I think to this album and the high number of times I've listened to it I feel guilty respect to GTR. That album, together with Yes Big Generator, Vangelis See You Later and the 80s production of Renaissance are the worst that I own in vinyl. The reason why I've listened to it so much is that I copied it onto a 90 minutes tape and on the other side there was Smallcreep's Day.

It's the auto-reverse that made me listen to it so much times.

The reason why I have bougth it are two: the excellent solo debut of Mike Rutherford and Stewart Copeland at drums and percussions. A strange mix.

Effectively it doesn't start too bad. The title track is a Genesis song on a Police rhythm. Artsy pop, nothing progressive, but quite enjoyable. Too few to say that the album is poor.

The sad moments arrive quickly: "A Day to Remember" is a song to forget. Electropop from the 80s. Mike's vocals are surprisingly good, but the song is full of the "plastic" electronic sounds typical of the epoch. The same sounds that can be found on some songs of Richard Wright's ZEE, but without the composing skill of the former Floyd.

"Maxine" is one of the lowest moments. Like Van Halen's "Jump" in a slow-motion. I know at least one person who likes this song but personally it's one that I'm used to skip.

If "Halfway There" was sung by Sting it could have been a good Police song. Nothing prog, really and the A side is gone.

The funky side of Genesis for a song that could have been on Face Value. Even if Mike tries to sing like Phil Collins it's not the same. More brasses could have saved this pop song.

"Couldn't Get Arrested" is the only song that doesn't sound like anything specific. If put between good tracks it could have been a good filler. Nothing more than this. In addition I find Mike's singing on this song particularly bad.

"I Don't Wanna Know", together with the title track is the best thing of the album. Based on 80s electronic as "A Day To Remember" is at least a sort of Genesis song

Finally a song that could have been a highlight. It seems to be coming from Smallcreep's Day side A, but the final is really too long and boring. I remember that when I have copied it inot a tape for my car stereo tape reader I have cut it out.

It's between 1 and two stars, but I have rated 1 star GTR so I have to use the same measure.

I'm everything but a Genesis fan so it may seem strange that I like this one very much. If it wasn't for the vocals one could easily think that it's Genesis, but it's probably the absence of Phil Collins that makes it very appealing to me.

Of course I like the B side more than the A (I have it on vimyl, of course). The A side is just question of some disconnected songs, some of them nice, but none is a masterpiece.

"Moonshine" is a song that makes clear that this is a sort of lost Genesis album on which Noel McCalla sings midway between Gabriel and Collins. I like his voice, anyway. I think it's one of the best things of the album, really an added value. The song itself is good but non- essential, better in the slow chorus than in the uptime parts.

"Time and Time Again" is a sweet pop song in Collins' style, but also here McCalla transforms an average pop song into something special.

"Romani" is the song that I like less. After a symphonic intro it turns to be a missing Peter Gabriel's song. Not a bad song but it's only Genesis of the 80s.

"Every Road" is a missing Phil Collins song, instead. A sort of follow-up to Time and Time Again. Is it possible that Maike Rutherford is not able to make something "personal"? Just wait for the B side. By now this is another poppy sweet song with good vocals and the acoustic guitar reminiding more of Anthony Phillips than of Steve Hackett.

If I like less Romani, I'm used to skip "Overnight Job", so I suspect that a true Genesis fan would like it. Also this song is improved by the vocals, anyway.

Now the suite. It could have been a full concept album and it's a pity that Mike Rutherford has limited his effort to 20 minutes. An extended version of this epic to cover both the sides would have make of this album a masterpiece. The seven parts of it are strictly connected, the story is consistent and moving. It has good lyrics, too and make the A side appear like a collection of fillers. I remember myself listening to it for the first time on tape and playing continuosly the second half of the suite before going to purchase the album. "At The End Of The Day" deserves a remark, but all the suite can be intended as a single long song. Surely Marillion have been influenced by it when they composed Misplaced Childhood. 30 years after is still an album that I like to listen and I find that it's not so dependent by the time of release like other albums from the 80s are. It's full of the typical Genesis sound, not of the boring 80s fairlights and even if I usually don't like Genesis much, this is an album I would never get rid of.

The A side is a 3-stars collection of songs, the B side is a masterpiece so 4-stars.

The album 'Acting Very Strange' is a fairly enjoyable one from Mike Rutherford. Generally, Genesis solo albums are not on the same level as the Genesis albums, with the exception of Peter Gabriel, though I still prefer Genesis to his solo output.

For the purposes of this site, it is probably worth to mention that this is not a 'prog' album, although the first two songs have a slight prop-pop leaning.

However, the big change from his first solo album to this album is the quality of production. On 'Smallcreeps Day', the singer for that album, Noel McCalla, is unfortunately buried in the production, under layers of synths, bass, guitars and other noise. That's a shame because Noel is a good singer, and it didn't do justice to him. He can be heard to good effect on backign vocal of 'Who's fooling who'

On this album, Mike Rutherford's voice is loud and clear, sitting perfectly in the foreground. Yes,his voice is harsh, raspy and a bit ugly, but in my opinion he is the best Genesis singer after Gabriel and Collins. One thing he doesn't do is mumble, and he knows how to inject 'personality' into his singing. He knows how to deliver the songs. His voice is just a bit raspy, but when you're singing about being hard done by, well that's kind of a plus, isn't it?

The songs themselves are not prog, they are catchy, enjoyable pieces of new wave and a bit of reggae and soul. He is still experimenting with guitar tones, especially on the eerie 'A day to remember', which is my favourite song here.

The single from the album is 'Maxine' but 'Acting very strange' would have been my choice, much catchier, much stronger. The only song I don't like is the bare audible 'Hideaway', a ballad at the end of the album. My rating is 3 1/2 or 3 3/4 so I'll round up to 4.

Based on the novel of the same name, Rutherford's solo debut is a lively concept album that mixes elements of straight-ahead pop with tinges of prog and features a sharp, synthesizer- heavy sound and impassioned vocals from Noel McCalla. It's much more 'Duke' than 'Nursery Cryme', and the music shares a lot of similarities with 'Mike & The Mechanics', the commercially-successful band Rutherford would create several years down to give him an outlet for his burgeoning solo work. It's all very light, with ballads and workmanlike pop the order of the day, but a couple tracks do deserve faint praise, such as the atmospheric opener 'Between The Tick & The Tock', which showcases Rutherford's impressive keyboards skills, and the fist-pumping rocker 'Moonshine', which is genuinely anthemic, featuring a pulsating beat, hard-edged guitars and impressive vocal harmonies a la Foreigner circa their '4' years. As a piece of prog, however, 'Smallcreep's Day' is fundamentally limited by Rutherford's simplistic approach, and fans of Genesis will probably find very little of interest. The album's lead single, the jangly, guitar-led 'Waiting In Line', is a perfect example of Rutherford's style, giving the album a brash and breezy feel similar to the disposable chart-pop that would soon dominate the eighties. Limited stuff then, 'Smallcreep's Day' should appeal to Mike & The Mechanics fans, and will appeal to die-hard fans of the Genesis guitarist. STEFAN TURNER, LONDON, 2010

I might say that with better production this might be a much higher rating. Actually the cool thing is that the synthesisers on this album are actually being played by Anthony Phillips. He was just as good as Tony on the keyboards (okay not quite), and he's a great guitarist as well. But back to Rutherford, he's made a double personality album, one side is very 'prog' and the other side is semi-prog. I don't doubt the melodic capabilities, and 'Noel McCalla' is a great singer, it's interesting to hear an R&B singer dealing with prog, but it would be nice to hear it more clearly. The production buries the vocals deep in the mix, and the whole production is messy. I've never had a lyrics sheet to this album, my first copy was a battered 2nd hand vinyl, I paid $5 for it and it didn't come with a nice, shiny lyrics sheet, nor did it comes with a colourful, glossy one either! A lot of the vocals are hard to understand and I just keep waiting for someone to throw some hooks at me as I listen to it, but that just doesn't happen.

Still, there are strong tracks towards the end of the 'semi-prog' side, 'Moonshine' is a good prog/blues-rock tracks, similar to 'deep in the motherlode', while 'Overnight Job' is an exciting song with a catchy rhythm, and 'Every Day' is a nice, semi-acoustic song. Rating 2.5