THE KNIFE

The Knife, the last track from the album Trespass was released as a single in may 1971. Due to the long running time of the song, it was cut in two, the first part featuring as the A side, the second as the B side of the record (a common practice at the time). ?Although the cover photo has the line up of Gabriel/Banks/Rutherford/Hackett/Collins, it is in fact the very same version that had Anthony Philips on guitar and John Mayhew on drums that plays on it: both former members had already left and the cover was a kind of "updated" version of the band. It did not chart and it is a very rare record to find.

Compared to their earlier singles this is a completely different tune: surprisingly aggressive, featuring marching organ, distorted electric guitars and bass, angry anti-violence lyrics. The instrumental parts are very progressive and showed how much Genesis had evolved since From Genesis to Revelation. It was in fact a whole new band and sound, with Peter Gabriel vocal performance reaching new heights. In all, a very powerful composition that was to remain in their set list for years to come (usually as an encore). The production, although far from perfect, also showed much improvement when put side by side with their previous recordings.

As a single, it was hardly the ideal cut for the charts, but it is significant as a turning point: they were now a progressive band with a whole new personalty and a very powerful and original sound. things would never be the same and they were bound to make history. All their early promises were more than fulfilled with the Trespass album, but they would produce even better and lasting masterpieces in a short time.

Rating: 5 stars for the song itself. But since it was cut in two and it was already available as a whole on the Trespass LP, this is only for collectors and completionists. So I guess 3 stars overall is a fair rating.