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MIKE RUTHERFORD

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Mike Rutherford biography
Michael John Cleote Crawford Rutherford - Born 2 October 1950 (Guildford, Surrey, UK)

Michael RUTHERFORD was (is?) a founding member of seminal prog-rock giants GENESIS. From humble beginnings on guitar for UK schoolbands, RUTHERFORD found his niche as chief bassist and backing guitarist with GENESIS, duties he would chiefly apply from 1978 onward. In the mid 80's, he formed MIKE & The MECHANICS, featuring Paul Young and Paul Carrack on vocals. This decidedly "pop"rock outfit was a far cry from the earlier days of GENESIS, but not too dissimilar from the 80's-90's incarnation of the band. As is evidenced by RUTHERFORD's two 'solo' discs, he has the knack for fusing progressive and straight-ahead rock tunes.

"Smallcreeps Day" is half-concept album, and half singles-minded rock. The first part details the adventures of a shy worker named Smallcreep who dares to travel beyond closed factory doors into a hidden world. Musically, there are some similarities to GENESIS of the late 70's here. With the 80's, RUTHERFORD abandoned the prog trappings and released "Acting Very Strange", a hard-rocking LP that hinges on punk and new wave, given the screamed out vocals by Mike himself and the synthlines that carry several tunes.

Catchy, to be sure, and less soft-rock than his work with The MECHANICS, these solo albums are testimony to the creativity of RUTHERFORD as a chief writer for GENESIS.

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MIKE RUTHERFORD discography


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MIKE RUTHERFORD top albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

3.72 | 187 ratings
Smallcreep's Day
1980
1.70 | 93 ratings
Acting Very Strange
1982

MIKE RUTHERFORD Live Albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

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MIKE RUTHERFORD Official Singles, EPs, Fan Club & Promo (CD, EP/LP, MC, Digital Media Download)

3.22 | 4 ratings
Working in Line
1980
3.46 | 9 ratings
Time and Time Again
1980
4.00 | 3 ratings
Moonshine
1980
2.12 | 7 ratings
Maxine
1982
2.08 | 6 ratings
Halfway There
1982
3.12 | 7 ratings
Hideaway
1983

MIKE RUTHERFORD Reviews


Showing last 10 reviews only
 Smallcreep's Day by RUTHERFORD, MIKE album cover Studio Album, 1980
3.72 | 187 ratings

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Smallcreep's Day
Mike Rutherford Prog Related

Review by alainPP

4 stars 1980 the new GENESIS is long overdue, hop a solo album from one of its members to wait!

- Smallcreep's Day in a unique piece, that's already a cause, with 1. Between the Tick and the Tock begins with a melodic crescendo, soft at the start and with the sound of 'And Then'; high voice, airy organ, for the time it was devilishly well done; guitar arpeggio like drops of frozen water, Japanese sound in the distance 2. Working in Line therefore continues for these 7 titles; a musical interlude which sends into the spheres of creation, which rises 3. After Hours follows, interlude now for a dark and captivating melody, bringing respect and contemplation, just the sequence is a pleasure at the time when the titles were dangerously shortened 4. Cats and Rats (In the Neighborhood) comes along, a title that fits well into the new decade with synthetic, electro pads; the chorus on an energetic future 'Duke', Noel aggressive again and this tune which makes me say that Mike was in charge with his friend Tony on the flagship; sound that goes away and passes to 5. Smallcreep Alone for another orchestral interlude, a title which could have passed as the end of the previous title if it were not for the cues and 6. Out into the Daylight arrives as if it were just the sequel; a beautiful sequel to be said when thinking about this first side; always orchestral and its between 'And then' and 'Duke' for an air specific to the album; there the reminiscences are gone, it's pure Mike with a dithyrambic drums which amplifies; end yes which reminds and 7. At the End of the Day concludes this side by releasing an atmospheric, languorous title; yes, from gentle we move on to a solemn symphonic construction ideal for resting after this astonishing moment; 24 minutes of pure happiness.

8. Moonshine arrives with a sound from GENESIS, of course with the synths, the voice ouch yet it is indeed him who is going to play with the fabulous MMEB; well apart from that Anthony from the first GENESIS ah not by chance and Simon who played for TOTO, it's a nice skewer and a sound that smells like 'And then' from 2 years ago 9. Time and Time Again for a warm, marshmallow ballad, soft, sticky synths and a slow song that will melt any groupie; the most this invasive keyboard as if Elton JOHN used it in his titles 10. Romani drives the point home with an ersatz Genesisian, a different voice, well it's Mike but otherwise we have the intonation and the sense of the ballad of the Genesis of the 80s; fresher, more singing, dancing and an interesting melodic drift; the finale pleasantly disturbs me by putting back a nostalgic layer, a musical ersatz as if GENESIS stopped 11. Every Road in the intro and metronomic verse, Noel uses his voice better there, I often found him to have remarkable depth; this repetitive tune reminds me of one of the BJH, who grabbed the tune first, who pumped 2 notes on it, it's a nice reference; the acoustic guitar is powerful and the progressive ending is very gentle 12. Overnight Job with this high-pitched voice that reminds me of TOTO, yes if the drummer had been someone else, would I have thought so? Steady rhythm, aggressive and jerky sound to keep a progressive touch, normal for Mike who did it without realizing it; the instrumental finale dives back into Genesis sounds and allowed many fans to hope for a prog sequel to GENESIS.

 Smallcreep's Day by RUTHERFORD, MIKE album cover Studio Album, 1980
3.72 | 187 ratings

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Smallcreep's Day
Mike Rutherford Prog Related

Review by VianaProghead
Prog Reviewer

4 stars Review Nš 597

As many of we know, Mike Rutherford is one of the founding members of Genesis with Peter Gabriel, Tony Banks and Anthony Phillips. Along with Banks he was the only band's member to belong to Genesis throughout their entire musical history. Initially, in Genesis, Rutherford was the bassist of the band but with the departure of Hackett of the group, he took also the guitarist duties. His guitar style isn't considered as technical as Hackett's, still he has a guitar style with some harmony and creativity. While touring, Rutherford switches between bass and guitar with the American guest musician Daryl Stuermer. The bass line of Rutherford is known for being well done and with great innovation and technical base, having been prominent in the movement of progressive rock. Rutherford also exceeded as a performer of 12 string guitar and backing vocals on Genesis. However, he described his playing as average and said that he always considered himself as a songwriter, first and foremost. He also collaborated on some albums with other artists.

After the release of Genesis' ninth studio album "And Then There Were Three?" released in 1978, during the musical hiatus of Genesis, Rutherford recorded two solo albums, "Smallcreep's Day" in 1980 and "Acting Very Strange" in 1982, and he also created and leads the AOR band Mike And The Mechanics with a great and enviable commercial success.

The line up on "Smallcreep's Day" is Mike Rutherford (guitar and basses), Anthony Phillips (keyboards), Noel McCalla (vocals), Simon Phillips (drums) and Morris Pert (percussion).

As I wrote above, "Smallcreep's Day" is his debut solo studio album and was released in 1980. The album is divided into two distinct parts. The first part is a conceptual piece of music where the title suite occupies all the A side of the original vinyl disc. It's based on the dark and surrealist novel of the same name by Peter Currell Brown. The second part occupies the entire B side of the vinyl disc and waith a handful of five individual songs without common points. "Smallcreep's Day" has six tracks, all written by Rutherford. The title track suite "Smallcreep's Day" is divided in seven parts: "Between The Tick & The Tock", "Working In Line", "After Hours", "Cats And Rats (In This Neighbourhood)", "Smallcreep Alone", "Out Into The Daylight" and "At The End Of The Day". As I said before, this piece is based on a novel with the same name by Peter Currell Brown edited in 1965. The story is a surreal satire on the modern industrial life. The book explores some of the author's ideas about human relationships, freedom and the values of the human life. Some passages on the book are hilarious, some depressing and some macabre. About the music itself, I can say that it has many elements of Genesis' early progressive sound and that it's truly a progressive music piece. In reality, there is nothing to be in debt to some of the best musical moments produced by Genesis in all their musical history, and for that reason, it deserves to be considered truly a masterpiece. The second part has the five songs mentioned by me. They're all more guided into a pop style and in general they have less quality. "Moonshine" and "Time And Time Again" are the best. "Moonshine" has lots of bass, bombastic keyboard cascades that remind me "Behind The Lines". This is a pretty and solid track with an excellent harmony. "Time And Time Again" is a nice song pleasantly sung by Noel. The chorus breaks out of the melancholy with some optimism. The middle section of the song has a nice brief solo by Mike. This is another good song. "Romani" has interesting vocals and rhythmic niceties like frequent changes in signatures and speed making it enjoyable. This is the typical Rutherford's songwriting that sounds clever and ease. "Every Road" is carried mainly by the acoustic guitar. It sounds like a symbiosis of "Over My Shoulder" and "Open Door" and spreads some good vibrations along the way. "Overnight Job" is a dynamic song. In the middle the song changes directions completely and proves yet again one of the Mike's strengths lies in writing strong and catchy riffs.

Conclusion: What remains to me is the overall impression this is an album of Genesis under an assumed name, if you don't count the five individual tracks. The title track "Smallcreep's Day" reaches a length of 25 minutes and it can perfectly replaced "Supper's Ready" as the lengthiest Genesis' related piece of music ever made by them. However, as I wrote before, we have to separate the two parts of the album. The first part is a masterpiece but the second part has in general slightly lower quality and isn't progressive. As our colleague Easy Livin noted, and I fully agree with him, there are many similarities between "Smallcreep's Day" and "Tarkus" of Emerson, Lake & Palmer. I also would add "2112" of Rush. The similarities aren't, of course, on the type of the music but how the album was made. On all these three albums, the side A is a masterpiece but the side B has significantly an inferior quality level. Unfortunately, because the differences between the two sides on the album, "Smallcreep's Day" is somewhat an unbalanced album. Because of that it failed to be a masterpiece, being only a half-masterpiece as "Tarkus" and "2112". It deserves the same 4 stars.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

 Time and Time Again by RUTHERFORD, MIKE album cover Singles/EPs/Fan Club/Promo, 1980
3.46 | 9 ratings

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Time and Time Again
Mike Rutherford Prog Related

Review by Matti
Prog Reviewer

3 stars Mike Rutherford was the next in line after Tony Banks to make his solo debut while still in Genesis, one year before Phil Collins charted with 'On the Air Tonight' and with the album Face Value. Rutherford's album Smallcreep's Day was produced by the trusted Genesis producer David Hentschel and its performing line-up is excellent. The finest thing on it is perhaps the sidelong, 7-part title suite inspired by Peter Currell Brown's novel of the same name (1965) about a factory worker's journey of self-discovery. One could call the suite progressive pop.

The other side has separate songs that follow more closely the regular adult oriented pop form, and this single contains two of them. 'Time and Time Again' is my favourite track of Smallcreep's Day. The sensitive ballad has a beautiful, autumnal mood, and Noel McCalla's clean and tender voice fits the song perfectly. The single version is slightly edited.

The vinyl single's B-side was wrongly stated as 'At the End of the Day', the romantically mellow and cathartic final part of the album's title suite. But it's actually 'Overnight Job', which is a more upbeat pop song and also pretty finely crafted. Personally I'm not so fond of it though. (As for the rating, let's stick to three stars which I gave the album too, but 'Time and Time Again' is easily a four-star pop ballad for me.)

 Smallcreep's Day by RUTHERFORD, MIKE album cover Studio Album, 1980
3.72 | 187 ratings

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Smallcreep's Day
Mike Rutherford Prog Related

Review by FalconBleck

4 stars #30 Review

After reviewing the 80s hit "Acting Very Strange" with the lowest score i have given to an album ever, i decided to finish the reviews of Mike's solo efforts (not Mike + The Mechanics cause they're not in this site and i also don't care that much about that) with Smallcreep's Day, compared to the previous album, i already listened to this one and quiet enjoyed it, while "Acting Very Strange" was a first and last listen.

1 - 7.- Smallcreep's Day - Between the Tick and the Tock 8/10 Really atmospheric, good lyrics, everything sets you for this adventure. Reminds me of a SNES/Sega Genesis era theme, really nice. Still, some parts get a little bit boring and repetitive.

- Working in line 10/10 Reminds me a little of "Yes", really vibrant and happy, it is also brilliant, the guitar, battery, everything works really well. My only complaint would be that is short, but it works in the context of the story.

- After Hours 10/10 Pretty start, i can already picture the day fading away, brilliant keyboard by Anthony Phillips.

- Cats and Rats (In The Neighbourhood) 8/10 Reminds me of "Back in NYC" and like that theme, this one also falls in repetition, but is still good nonetheless.

- Smallcreep Alone 10/10 I'm getting the conception that people named Anthony are really good at atmospheric chords on keyboards, this also serves really well for the perception of loneliness, a nice little soundtrack that keeps the flow going.

- Cut Into the Daylight 10/10 Really interesting instrumental all through, just amazing. Nothing to envy from Yes or your Genesis mates, this is great.

- At the end of the day 7/10 Really beautyful, is repetitive the first half but then it keeps adding, reminds me of "Afterglow" a little.

8.- Moonshine 5/10 The wanna be single of the album, its ok and repetitive. This the theme that you would play in the credits of a movie. The rythm bores me.

9.- Time and Time Again 7/10 Another song that tries to be a single, this one gets me a little more because of the keyboards and its sudden changes near the end, that includes the beautyful piano part and solo.

10.- Romani 7/10 I like the chords, the really good bass and the 5/6 to 4/4 changes through the song, and the different ending, but i think that everything could've been a little bit more, maybe as a longer instrumental.

11.- Every Road 5/10 Simple use of the guitar for a melancholic sounding song, with beatutyful ending, i'm seeing a patern here, this theme is ok for what it does and for me what it does is bore me mostly because i'm not that much into ballads... maybe it would've worked better if it were shorter and added to the Smallcreep's Day suite somehow.

12.- Overnight Job 7/10 The final attempt at a single, this one also sports a repetitive rythm through the song and a noticeable structure, its a well done job, like an all working clean machine that doesn't impress me that much, people could say that i discovered a gem that sadly isn't the kind of thing that i'm into mostly. While the structure is recycled again with the aweosome ending, this one is the best and it sadly ends too soon, that part had more potential than the entirity of the song.

So, in the end this album is really good, i obviusly recommend the Smallcreep's Day suite. The final score for this one is: 78/100 wich is 4 stars.

Now its the time that i go and review Steve Hackett!

 Acting Very Strange by RUTHERFORD, MIKE album cover Studio Album, 1982
1.70 | 93 ratings

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Acting Very Strange
Mike Rutherford Prog Related

Review by FalconBleck

1 stars #29 Review

I expected to go on here and just say "This album is bad, end of review" but i just can't do that, but lets start with the basics, the title of this album and cover make this look embarrasing... like, why was this even released? Who said that this was ok?

Then when you know that he is singing, that sounds a little interesting, but if you're like me and have followed Genesis a little too much, you should already know that he doesn't sing well, so whatever pop he ever attempted here is going to fail atleast to some degree because his voice just doesn't work.

1.- Acting Very Strange 5/10 A harmless 80s sounding song, not very special, just average. Reminds me a little of Genesis B-Side You Might Recall, except that one is much better.

2.- A Day to Remember 3/10 Now the voice is getting annoying, the rythm is ok but even more repetitive than the previous theme.

3.- Maxine 2/10 A single? Why this one? The first theme is much better than this one! This one even reminds of Who Dunnit? for some reason, and thats horrible.

4.- Halfway There 5/10 Nice name, its like telling me "You're halfway through this nightmare, you're almost there!", i thought that Maxine was pretty bad and that we can't go worst than that, and this one is better, it sounds like a less spectacular The Police.

5.- Who's Fooling who? 4/10 He has some good ideas here, and in almost every song just a little set of ideas that he could use later, i don't know though, i don't listen to Mike + The Mechanics and i don't have an urgent need too, that group isn't even on this web page, it's a surprise that this album is here though. This song is another average 80s schlock.

6.- Couldn't Be Arrested 2/10 Illegal Alien beta... that song is not good and this one is even less than that. The vocals and repetition ruin this song even more than the boring chorus idea itself.

7.-I Don't Wanna Know 2/10 Starts a little interesting and dies with the vocals and repetition, just like before. In the midle it has a little ugly change.

8.- Hideaway 7/10 This could've been a Genesis song... with a little more development that is, but really, this song is a surprise, a beautyful song in a horribly lackluster album, this song has been lost to the ages. Its as if something professional was finally done in this album. I'm going to cry, all of this was like a journey through weird, boring and average stuff and finally found a really pretty theme, unexpected. The last minute made it winner of a 7, because otherwise, the theme was a little repetitive.

I really ended surprised here, with the last song, wich i recommend. Acting Very Strange and Halfway There where decent at best... i mean, the last song made me look at the album a little different, but sadly at the end of the day it gets a 38/100, an score that gets my lowest ranking so far.

 Maxine by RUTHERFORD, MIKE album cover Singles/EPs/Fan Club/Promo, 1982
2.12 | 7 ratings

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Maxine
Mike Rutherford Prog Related

Review by Guillermo
Prog Reviewer

2 stars MIKE RUTHERFORD's second solo album ("Acting Very Strange" from 1982) was a disappointment for me in many ways when I bought it in 1983. Anyway, the song which was played sometimes in one FM Radio station in my city was "Maxine", and at that time I was buying any new album related to GENESIS, being it a new album from the band or a new solo album from any of the members or former members of the band. And it was a bit of a surprise for me that some songs from those new solo albums were in fact played in that FM Radio station (called "Rock 101"). Songs from solo albums by PHIL COLLINS ("You Can't Hurry Love"), PETER GABRIEL ("Shock the Monkey") and this, MIKE RUTHERFORD's "Maxine", songs which made me buy the LPs which coincidentally all were released in my country in the LP and cassette formats by Mexican record companies in 1982. So, it was even easier to buy those LPs between late 1982 and mid 1983, during another hard time for my country due to another "economical crisis" which made very hard for some record shops (which in fact disappeared from the market) to sell imported copies of all these albums. I think that some FM Radio stations like "Rock 101" in my city really helped artists like MIKE RUTHERFORD to be listened in the Radio in my country and to release his second solo album in my country. Another thing that helped that album to be released here and to have "Maxine" played in the Radio was the fact that all the albums from GENESIS from 1978 to 1982 were previously released here by Mexican record companies, maybe due to their more accessible music to be played in the Radio.

"Maxine" has some similarities to RUTHERFORD's previous work in the early eighties with GENESIS. It sounds a bit like being influenced by "Abacab", a simple song from the album of the same name by GENESIS. It has distorted guitars, a bass part which sounds like being played with bass pedals, and a simple Rock Music beat. It also has RUTHERFORD singing lead vocals like in all the other songs from his "Acting Very Strange" album (from which "Maxine" was selected to be released as a single), and backing vocals by Noel McCalla and other singers which really sound better than the lead vocal parts. The song is good, heavy in parts, and also has some very good lead guitar parts at the end of the song, maybe played by RUTHERFORD and Daryl Stuermer together. "Maxine" is one of the best songs from the "Acting Very Strange" album. An obvious choice to be released as a single. I don't know if it was a Hit Single in any country, but at least I listened to it being played by "Rock 101" several times. It is not a Prog Rock song in any way. It sounds more like a Pop Rock / Hard Rock song from the early eighties.

"A Day to Remember" is a more "quiet" song, with drum machine, some synthesisers, and lead and backing vocals. A Pop Rock song, too. Not very interesting for my taste.

I think that one of the problems of the "Acting Very Strange" album was that MIKE RUTHERFORD decided to sing the lead vocals. He is not a very good lead singer, as he also said in interviews years later. In fact, the album was released in the early nineties on CD, and was later put out of print. During the early 2000s there were plans to release it again on CD, but it seems that RUTHERFORD finally decided to not release the album again, considering it more like an "experiment" on which he sang lead vocals. In fact, when he decided to try again as a solo artist in the mid eighties, he decided to form a band called MIKE AND THE MECHANICS with two very good lead singers (Paul Carrack and Paul Young). But the "Acting Very Strange" album and the "Maxine" single were (in my opinion) the first steps of RUTHERFORD's Pop Rock music objectives as a soloist. Unfortunately, despite having two very good lead singers I even liked less the music from that band. In fact I only like some of their songs ("All I Need is a Miracle", "The Living Years", for example) and I never bought one of their albums (too much Pop Rock Music for my taste).

 Acting Very Strange by RUTHERFORD, MIKE album cover Studio Album, 1982
1.70 | 93 ratings

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Acting Very Strange
Mike Rutherford Prog Related

Review by stefro
Prog Reviewer

2 stars Whilst Rutherford's 1981 solo debut 'Smallcreep's Day' wasn't exactly a masterpiece, it did feature a handful of decent, well- written tunes, some interesting ideas and an over-arching concept - the little-read novel of the same name - that was strong enough to hold it together. Issued a couple of years later and much lighter in shade and tone, the same cannot, however, be said of 'Acting Very Strange'. The second-and-final solo effort from the original Genesis member before the formation of his blockbusting 1980's pop-rock act Mike + The Mechanics, this is essentially a straight-ahead commercial pop album designed to appeal to a mainstearm audience of housewives, pre-teenage girls and guys with no style. Prog-Rock this ain't. As a result, 'Acting Very Strange' really does struggle to justify it's place on this website, with the only explanation being the overall thoroughness of progarchives and the rule of: if you include one, you have to include the rest. And I wholeheartedly agree. Sadly, however, that means you will get occasional albums such as 'Acting Very Strange' slipping through the net. In this case, it's due to the light progressive textures found dotted throughout 'Smallcreep's Day', yet even that enjoyable record leans more towards casual pop-rock stylea than it does prog. The point being that even if you liked Rutherford's debut, you might struggle with this. However, if Mike + The Mechanics and unexceptional 1980's pop is your thing, you may just be tempted to take a look... STEFAN TURNER, STOKE NEWINGTON, 2015
 Halfway There by RUTHERFORD, MIKE album cover Singles/EPs/Fan Club/Promo, 1982
2.08 | 6 ratings

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Halfway There
Mike Rutherford Prog Related

Review by Guillermo
Prog Reviewer

2 stars Some years ago (maybe more than ten years ago) I read in one of the Forums of one of the official websites of GENESIS (a band which has changed their official websites at least three times) that MIKE RUTHERFORD was planning then to re-issue again his second solo album titled "Acting Very Strange" (1982) on CD in a remastered form (being first released on CD in 1991 in the U.S. and in 1993 in the U.K.). Maybe Rutherford and /or the record labels changed that plan. Maybe Rutherford was not very happy with this album, and more particularly with his lead vocals on it, which in my opinion, are not very bad but also not very good. He and TONY BANKS were very important members in GENESIS in terms of being two of the main songwriters. Unfortunately, they are not very good lead singers and in this respect they have to depend in someone else to sing their songs in a better way. But "Acting Very Strange" (and in Banks`s case with his album titled "The Fugitive" from 1983) were both brave attempts to try to sing their own songs, but unfortunately without much success.

Both songs from this single were taken from Rutherford`s "Acting Very Strange" album, a very Pop Rock album from the eighties. In my country the song from that album which was played a lot in the radio was "Maxine", which I think that it was the best choice for a single release in those days when Pop Rock music was competing with Heavy Metal music in some FM Radio stations in my city. I never listened to "Halfway There" being played in those radio stations. But this song and "A Day to Remember" are also good for radio playing, but less important. "Halfway There" has some distorted guitars and very good drums by Stewart Copeland. "A Day to Remember" has some synthesiser playing plus a programmed drum machine.

 Working in Line by RUTHERFORD, MIKE album cover Singles/EPs/Fan Club/Promo, 1980
3.22 | 4 ratings

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Working in Line
Mike Rutherford Prog Related

Review by Guillermo
Prog Reviewer

3 stars I think that the time that the members of GENESIS took out of the band in 1979 really was a good opportunity for them to take a rest from the band and to "re-charge their batteries" for new things to be worked as a band. I also think that it was a good time to record two solo albums by Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks, respectively, and with Phil Collins working with BRAND X for a last time. Both solo albums by Rutherford and Banks (and also later with Genesis` s "Duke" album) also were showing the first signs of a transition that many Progressive Rock bands were increasingly doing about moving their music more towards the Pop Rock market of the eighties (while still having some Progressive Rock influences in some songs). A change in decade also marked a change in musical styles for most of them. Maybe it was a thing more dictated by the record companies, the radio stations, the media, and/or by their managers , or maybe it was a move done in collaboration with some of these musicians who maybe also wanted this change to happen. In my opinion, most of their music in the eighties, despite the changes, was better than most of the music which other new Pop Rock bands of that decade were releasing then. At least for me, it was much better and interesting to listen to their music than to DURAN DURAN`s music, for example..

This single by Mike Rutherford is an example of those two musical forces which I mentioned above, but still being very Progressive Rock in style. "Working in Line" is an energetic song which has an acoustic gutiar (I don`t know if it is a 12- string guitar) being the main instrument of the song, playing a riff, with Rutherford also playing a distorted lead guitar particularly during the last part of the song. Maybe Rutherford then was becoming more confident about his role as lead guitarist and this is showed in his new sound with the use of distorted guitars, which became very characteristic from him since Genesis`s "...and then there were three.." album from 1978, but sounding increasingly more confident in his lead guitar playing with the passing of time. I think that this song was a very good choice to be released as a single in 1980, but I don`t know how much success had in the Hit Parade charts or in the radio.

The single releases also have been a good opportunity for many musicians to release songs which are not included in their albums. So, in the "B" side of this single there is a song called "Compression" which only was originally released in this single. In this case, it is a more slow song, maybe a ballad or a love song, with Mike Rutherford playing arpeggios in a distorted guitar, with very good keyboards arrangements played by Anthony Phillips. There are also bass pedals played by Rutherford. I think that in the particular case of Rutherford (who I think that he does not have a very good voice to be a lead singer) having other singers like Noel McCalla to his sing his songs was a good idea. "Compression" is a good song, maybe more influenced by Prog Rock arrangements than "Working in Line".

 Smallcreep's Day by RUTHERFORD, MIKE album cover Studio Album, 1980
3.72 | 187 ratings

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Smallcreep's Day
Mike Rutherford Prog Related

Review by Guillermo
Prog Reviewer

4 stars This first solo album by Mike Rutherford is much better than his second solo album ("Acting Very Strange" from 1982), and it really a very Progressive Rock album with some Pop Rock influences. It was recorded during 1979, a year on which the members of Genesis took a hiatus from activities as a band, maybe to take a rest, but also due to Phil Collins`s personal problems with his marriage which he tried to resolve without success during that time and which finally ended with his first divorce. So, Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks took that time out of the band to record their first solo albums that year, while Collins worked a bit with the band Brand X releasing a new album titled "Product" and also working in the studio with Peter Gabriel for Gabriel`s third solo album which was released in 1980 (plus an appearance with Gabriel as part of his band a the Reading Festival also in 1979). Both this album and Banks`solo album ("A Curious Feeling") were recorded at ABBA`s Polar Studios in Stockholm but I don`t know if both were recorded at almost the same time, but I doubt it. Banks`s solo album was released first, in October 1979, while Rutherford`s was released until January 1980. By late October of that year Genesis started rehearsing and composing new songs for their new album titled "Duke", which also was going to be recorded at Polar Studios and also was produced by David Hentschel like both solo albums. "Duke" was released in March 1980 and then Genesis toured again unitl June 1980.

For his first solo album Rutherford had some very good musicians, like drummer Simon Phillips, former Genesis member Anthony Phillips on keyboards, Noel McCalla on vocals and Morris Pert on percussion. The long suite titled "Smallcreep`s Day" is very good sounding a lot like Genesis in some parts, but my favourite part from it is the last which is titled as "At the End of the Day". Phillips is a good keyboard player playing very good keyboards atmospheres particularly during this last part of the suite. The suite is very good as a whole but a bit long (at almost 25 minutes in duration).

I prefer the rest of the songs which are shorter and more varied in styles. I can hear to some inlfuences from Camel, particularly in some arrangements and in some parts Noel McCalla`s vocals sound a bit like Chris Rainbow`s from the Alan Parsons Project and Camel. I think that McCalla is a very good singer and that Rutherford had the very good idea to have this singer for this album. McCalla`s vocals also sound a bit similar to the vocals of future lead singer of "Mike and the Mechanics", the late Paul Young.

With this solo album from Rutherford, with Banks `"A Curious Feeling" solo album, and with Genesis`s "Duke" album I can hear some of the musical transitions that the members of the band were doing from the music of the seventies to the music of the eighties: they were still retaining some of the Prog Rock influences while still incorporating new sounds and more influences from Pop Rock music. So, Rutherford`s guitar playing was moving more to the use of distorted electric guitars and guitar riffs than to the use of arpeggios which were more characteristic to the sound of Genesis`s music during the seventies. He still uses the bass pedals in several parts.

Thi is a very good solo album by Mike Rutherford. Mostly Progressive Rock in style.

Thanks to ProgLucky for the artist addition. and to Quinino for the last updates

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