CALLING ALL STATIONS

I never thought there came a day where I didn't really miss Phil COLLINS departure from GENESIS, but came that day in 1996, maybe GENESIS would find someone to bring the band on track. Not quite, but they wanted a GABRIEL soundalike, so they found a Scotsman by the name of Ray Wilson. Then for a drummer, they found some guy with a weird name (I presume Armenian) which I can't remember his name, and for extra help, they get in another drummer, an American who went by the name of Nick D'Virgilio, a guy who has earned his fame through SPOCK'S BEARD, one of the biggest names of modern prog rock.

"Calling All Stations" is really a mixed bag. There are songs that still sound like '80s pop, which is real odd for a 1997 recording, but true. "Congo" is that example, which got play on MTV and VH-1 for maybe just one week. There are some ballads I can't stand like "Shipwrecked" and "If That's What it Takes". "Small Talk" and "Not About Us" can be also thrown out the window. But "Alien Afternoon" is the band's attempt to return to prog rock, but actually it sounds more like a neo-prog band trying to sound like GENESIS (even though this is GENESIS). Actually a pretty good song. There are a couple of good songs here as well, but there is a lot of questionable material, it's little wonder why this album bombed. Not essential by any stretch of the imagination, but could've been worse.