GENESIS

Review Nº 797

"In London" is one of the many DVD's released by Genesis and that was released in 2007. It was recorded and filmed at The Lyceum Ballroom, London, on May, 6th 1980. It was taken from one of the many live concerts that Genesis performed when they released the live tour of their tenth studio album "Duke", which was released in the same year.

Like my colleague prog reviewer Guillermo says, the release of this DVD is really very strange. And like him, I also bought this DVD in a legit record shop in my town. So, and apparently, it seems to me that it will be an official release from the band, apparently recorded and filmed by a TV Broadcast. However, the quality of the sound and the images of the DVD haven't quality enough in order to be considered made by a TV Broadcast. However, this is a much better version than the initial Japanese edition, released some years ago, where the technical problems were much worse.

"In London" has twenty-one tracks. The first track "Deep In The Motherlode" was released on "And Then There Were Three?". The second track "Dancing With The Moonlight Knight" was released on "Selling England By The Pound". The third track "Carpet Crawl" was released on "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway". The fourth track "Squonk" was released on "A Trick Of The Tail". The fifth track "One For The Vine" was released on "Wind And Wuthering". The sixth track "Behind The Lines" was released on "Duke". The seventh track "Duchess" was released on "Duke". The eighth track "Guide Vocal" was released on "Duke". The ninth track "Turn It On Again" was released on "Duke". The tenth track "Dukes Travels" was released on "Duke". The eleventh track "Dukes Ends" was released on "Duke". The twelfth track "Say Its Alright Joe" was released on "And Then There Were Three?". The thirteenth track "The Lady Lies" was released on "And Then There Were Three?". The fourteenth track "Ripples (Pt. 2)" is an extract of a track released on "A Trick Of The Tail". The fifteenth track "In The Cage" was released on "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway". The sixteenth track "Slippermen" is a very short extract of a track released on "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway". The seventeenth track "Afterglow" was released on "Wind And Wuthering". The eighteenth track "Follow You, Follow Me" was released on "And Then There Were Three?". The nineteenth track "Dance On A Volcano" was released on "A Trick Of The Tail". The twentieth track "Los Endos" was released on "A Trick Of The Tail". The twenty-first track "I Know What I Like" was released on "Selling England By The Pound".

"Deep In The Motherlode" is the opening number. Genesis likes to begin shows with a song from the previous album than the one they're touring for. The opening lines of "Dancing With The Moonlit Knight" provides a dramatic link to "Carpet Crawlers". Both "Squonk" and "One From The Vine" are effective pieces of dramatic musical narrative. But the weight of the show falls upon the "Duke" suite. It was a daring decision to play all of the new music in one set, "Behind The Lines", "Duchess", "Guide Vocal", "Turn It On Again" and ending with the instrumental "Duke's Travels" and the conclusion of the piece "Duke's End". Collins' dramatic sensibilities follow on "Say Its Alright Joe" and "The Lady Lies". After the "Ripples" fragment they play an old medley with "In The Cage" and ending with "Afterglow". The show proceeds with "Follow You, Follow Me" and comes to a great finale with "Dance On A Volcano" and "Los Endos" with the drum duet between Thompson and Collins. "I Know What I Like" is the encore that closes properly this live show.

Genesis always enjoyed playing in smaller venues in London. For instance, "Wind & Wuthering" was released in January 1977 with several shows at the Rainbow theatre. This venue also dictates the style of video made. Watching footage from the late 70's, it's apparent that the light show takes up as much interest and screen time as do the band. But this video has many more close ups of the band and the dramatic narrative of the music is much more emphasized.

Conclusion: "In London" is a great DVD despite some low quality of its sound and images. It has a very good selection of tracks that includes tracks from their last six studio albums until that moment. It has tracks from two albums of Gabriel's era, tracks from the two albums with Hackett era and tracks from their best two albums after the departure of those two members of the band. Sincerely, apart "Follow You Follow Me", that despite be a good track, it should never have been part of the musical catalog of Genesis but only be part of the musical solo career of Phil Collins, all the rest of the DVD is great, even the less progressive parts. So, if it wasn't due to some poor technical quality of the sound and images on the DVD, and I wouldn't have any kind of problems to rate it with 5 stars and considers it truly a masterpiece.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

Review Nº 792

Genesis is probably, with Pink Floyd, the best known former prog band, among the classic English bands, between the usual listeners of music that aren't linked with the prog rock music. Who doesn't know songs like "Invisible Touch" or "I Can't Dance", if only from the radio? But, has we know, this is only and not even half of the truth. So, who is the band that has been indispensable in the music scene for more than 30 years and is even considered by many the father of the Neo-prog? Of course, this can only be a gross overview but it isn't as far from the true as it seems at a first glance.

"Genesis" is the twelfth studio album of Genesis and was released in 1983. It was so named "Genesis" due to the three band's members have composed together, every songs. It has also been referred as the "Shapes" or "Yellow Shapes" album, because of the front cover. The shapes are taken from "Shape O Toy Ball". As we know, the toy consists of a blue and red hollow ball with different shaped holes cut into the surface, into which the shaped pieces can be inserted.

"Genesis" has nine tracks and all songs were written by Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins. The first track "Mama" was the first single from this Genesis' self-titled album. It remains the band's most successful single in UK. It's easy recognizable for its harsh drum machine introduction which leads into synthesizer musical lines and finally it follows to the Phil Collins' leaden voice. This is an excellent song that retains sufficient quality and credibility, for me, to stands in one of the highlights of the album. The second track "That's All" was the second single taken from this album. This is clearly a Phil Collins' song with all the ingredients to be a successful pop song. The song was written to be a very simple song with a very simple melody. This is a song with a catchy tune and that remains very nice to hear from the beginning to its ending. The third track "Home By The Sea" and the fourth track "Second Home By The Sea" is, in reality, a music suite of two songs. Lyrically, the song is about a burglar who breaks into a house only to find it is a haunted prison. The burglar is captured by the ghosts who forced him to listen to their stories for the rest of his life. Musically, it represents the most progressive musical effort on the album. This is another song in the same line of "Duke's Travels" and "Duke's End" of "Duke" and "Dodo/Lurker" of "Abacab". It confirms the path started by them with their two previous studio albums "Duke" and "Abacab", from the progressive rock to a more commercial pop style approach. Still, these are the best two tracks on the album and the only with some prog lines. The fifth track "Illegal Alien" was also a song released as a single. Lyrically, it represents apparently a lighter humorous song depicting the frustrations of the faces of the illegal immigrants. Musically, this is a very weak song, written in the reggae musical style. In reality, we are in presence of one of the worst and silly songs ever released by the band. This is, without any doubt, with "Who Dunnit?" of "Abacab", the two worst songs of Genesis. The sixth track "Taking It All Too Hard" was another song to be released as a single, this time was the B side of their second single "That's All". It was also released as a single in USA in 1984. This is a very good ballad, clearly with the Phil Collins' mark. It has a nice acoustic guitar and electronic percussion performance, and Phil Collins sings on it with a great emotion. The seventh track "Just A Job To Do" tells the story of a private investigator chasing down his subject. Musically, it's a very good and powerful song with great percussion, good rhythm guitar performance and a nice keyboard work. The eighth track "Silver Rainbow" represents the song released as the B side of their USA single "Taking It All Too Hard". This is another song that confirms the good quality of the album. It's a song with great harmony, nice keyboard lines and a very interesting drum work. The chorus work is also very interesting and nice. This is a song that sometimes reminds me the sound of R.E.M. The ninth and last track "It's Gonna Get Better" was the song chosen to be released as the B side of their first single of the album "Mama". This is a good song, but sincerely, it doesn't represent one of its best musical moments. This is a song that represents a soft, calm and nice way to close this album, but it doesn't represents nothing more than that.

Conclusion: In a certain way, "Genesis" is an album very close to "Abacab". It represents and confirms definitely, with "Duke" and "Abacab", one more step in Genesis' music, from the progressive rock to the pop/rock music. It's true that we can say that it's probably better than "Abacab" is. However, it maintains the same musical formula of it. It has three great songs "Mama" and especially "Home By The Sea" and "Second Home By The Sea", three good songs "Taking It All Too Hard", "Just A Job To Do" and "Silver Rainbow", two less good songs "That's All" and "It's Gonna Get Better" and a bad song "Illegal Alien". I can't see on "Genesis" a much better album than "Abacab" is, or a much worst album than "Duke" is. Sincerely, I can't see on it many of the progressive lines, which it should have. In a certain way, I think they are all very close, musically. All are good albums but with very few progressive lines. It's also a pop/rock album with some old-time splashes of color. So, I'm going to rate "Genesis" with the same 3 stars of the other two albums.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

Before Jonathan King became one of the world's biggest scumbags in music, he was a man with great ambition. Already a successful singer songwriter, his next step was to become a producer, and in 1967 he would discover one of the most important bands in Prog history. That band was called New Anon, consisting of five plucky young men who had no idea they would be making waves in music as a whole. For Jonathan King, this was the beginning of his career as a producer, the genesis you could say. And thus, New Anon were no longer anonymous, and became forever known as Genesis. And their to call their first album From Genesis To Revelation rough would be an understatement. FGTR is so rough, it's like a freshly cut down tree that hasn't been made into lumber.

So to give context, when Jonathan King first stumbled upon Genesis, he liked what he had heard. But King wanted control over the band, from small ideas like going fully acoustic, to insisting Genesis write simple pop-rock songs like the Bee Gees before they became the faces of discorama. After the recording of this album, Jonathan King would go behind the backs of the band, and with a team of audio engineers, add in some horns and strings into the music. As you might be guessing, working with Jonathan King would prove to be a frustrating experience that would revolve around the parents of the band renegotiating a predatory contract. This is a recipe for disaster, but perhaps maybe there's something we can salvage from this album knowing the direction Genesis would take.

I'll be honest, this album doesn't get off to a bad start. Where The Sour Turns To Sweet shows a few signs of what will be. I love the opening of this song that feels like a group of friends inviting you to hear their song. Unfortunately, the song fell apart for me when I heard the horns come in out of nowhere. This is going to be a problem with the album, the added strings and horns do not help to elevate these songs, they actually make them worse.

Then things get psychedelic. In The Beginning is the proggiest song on the album, and also has the hint of what Genesis could be. It has that feel of something off of Piper At The Gates Of Dawn, and Gabriel's vocals on top of the instrumentals shines greatly. You know what else makes this song great? I can't hear any added horns or string sections. If only Jonathan King didn't have his head so far up his own ass and realized what he had.

We then jump right into Fireside Song, a pretty little acoustic ballad that allows us to hear a soft Peter Gabriel. Well, I would say it's pretty, but the whole thing is marred by that same god awful added string section robbing the song of any softness and tries to make the song bigger than it needs to be. I don't need added violins Jonathan King, it's absolutely distracting and not in the good way.

The Serpent Song opens with an instrumental interlude before it begins proper, and we once again, hear Genesis as it should sound. There's definitely more of that psychedelic space rock sound to it as we heard on In The Beginning, and the band absolutely shows off what they could be. And I just dig Anthony Phillips' guitar playing on this album, it's a great song, and probably the best thing the album has going for it. Am I saying that because it's the longest song on the album? Not really, it's more about the depth of the instrumental.

Things calm down with another acoustic ballad in Am I Very Wrong, which again, lets Peter Gabriel's vocals shine. But once again, the added horn section takes away from that and creates a distraction. I know, I'm harping on it, but the added horns absolutely destroy the mood of the song. Now I'm starting to understand why No Reply At All backfired with fans, It's an annoying distraction hiding the band's true sound. Horns should never be near Genesis, I get it.

Let's try this again. In The Wilderness is the next song, and it starts off okay, until that damn string section kicks in. Well, if we take the string section out, what are we left with? Frankly, this sounds like Bubblegum Pop, right down to the chorus. This is probably one of those songs written specifically to please Jonathan King, but again, he wasn't pleased enough until he added the extra strings without realizing how much it's drowning out the rest of the band. Even when the song fades out, the strings are still too god damn loud they serve to hide the fact there's a good band underneath it all,

The Conqueror is more like it. No distracting string section, no annoying ass horn section. Just the band as it should be heard. It's fine. Thank god it's not full of horns or strings, because I can actually hear the damn band. Once again, I can hear a little bit of that early Bee Gees, and early Pink Floyd sound. The pieces are there, they just need a better producer than Jonathan King.

In Hiding is another ballad that shows off Peter Gabriel's singing... oh no, you know what that means right? Yep, a string section is going to take away from Peter Gabriel's voice and Anthony Phillips' lovely acoustic guitar. And that's exactly what happens. Only difference is I can hear the guitar against the strings, but still, the strings are too damn loud and absolutely take away from the song's beauty. Oh god, make the horns and string sections stop.

It doesn't stop though. One Day is not an acoustic ballad, but a bit more lovey-dovey song meant to please Jonathan King, but this one not only has the added strings, but it also has the added horns, and once again, everything is so loud it drowns the band out. Which is a shame because Rutherford's bass sounds great on this song, when I can hear it that is. Otherwise my ears are blasted by the same loud string and horn section I can barely hear anything other than Peter Gabriel and Jonathan Silver's drums. Now I understand why Anthony Phillips stormed out after hearing the changes, it sounds like ass.

Onto Window, and this acoustic ballad once again has that damn horn section, in the beginning at least. In the first minute, we get a hornless section where we hear what this ballad is meant to sound like, but then the strings and horns kick in. I'll be honest, if the strings were brought down on this song and used more for texture, and the horns completely eradicated, I could see this song somewhat working. Unfortunately, we cannot have that, the horns and strings need to be loud as hell.

Next, we find ourselves on the track In Limbo. Once again, we have a loud horn section drowning the band out, until eventually the horn section is finally lowered in volume. I can hear some semblance of psychedelic rock when I try to imagine the horn section not being there. In fact, I think the horn section being texture robs us of a solid song. It's not the strongest song on the album, but also not the worst. At least by this point Jonathan King found a way to make the horn section a little less distracting, but unfortunately, it's still there.

And here we go, Genesis writes the earliest attempt of Follow You Follow Me, The Silent Sun. Peter Gabriel has an amazing voice, but he's having to compete against a needless string section that makes the song a lot less romantic. Instead of being an endearing tune, it turns into one of those instances where you're at dinner with your significant other and you want to impress them so you get an entire symphony in to back you up as you sing to them. It's unnecessarily big, kind of embarrassing, and not a good way to show love to someone.

The album ends with A Place To Call My Own, a soft 2 minute song to close out what has been a mess of bad production choices. How does Jonathan King [%*!#] this up? Why don't we add a loud horn and string section to take away from Tony Banks' somber keyboard, that will kill this song's mood for sure!

And that's the best way I can describe FGTR, it's a hot mess of bad production choices well out of the band's control. Everything was working against this album, right down to the release. It's been speculated that the album was mistaken as religious music and got shoved in there by mistake, and while I believe that it's possible, it's more likely people didn't know the album existed. It's been said that the album only managed to push about 600 copies, but I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't even move that many. Well, there is a bright side to all this, and it ends in a goofy fashion for one party. After the band's parents managed to successfully renegotiate their contracts with Jonathan King, Genesis would get back together to join the famous Charisma label and make a proper opening statement in Trespass, while Jonathan King would be stuck with only From Genesis To Revelation. He has re-released the album multiple times, including an instance where he added an extra drum track, and I can recall at one point he attempted to re-release it as a greatest hits CD. If only there was a version of this album that existed without the horns and strings... if only...

Review Nº 776

"Invisible Touch" is the thirteenth studio album of Genesis and that was released in 1986. It became and is remained by far, as the most commercially successful album of their entire musical career, and it eventually sold over fifteen million copies worldwide. It received in general, favourable reviews from critics, and catch Genesis at their commercial peak. However, some of them commented that "Invisible Touch" was more a Phil Collins' solo album than a Genesis' album. Perhaps due to that, it was also the most pop album of them, mainly based on electronic percussion and synthesizers.

"Invisible Touch" has eight tracks. All songs were written by Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins. The first track "Invisible Touch" is the title track. It was also released as a single and it became the most successful single in the band's lengthy history and was also their first and only single to be # 1 in the United States. This is a typical and pure pop song that was made to be a greatest hit. As a pop song, we are in presence of an excellent song. However, it has nothing to do with the progressive music. It seems to be a song written to be part of a Phil Collins' solo work. The second track "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" was the fourth single to be released from the album. It was the first of the two extended musical pieces on the album. This is a very good song with some progressive lines and once more, when he wants, Tony Banks can show his great musical skills. It's a very nice atmospheric song with many interesting musical passages. This is, in my opinion, one of the highlights of the album. The third track "Land Of Confusion" was one more single taken from the album, one of the four tracks of the album released as a single. It became a Genesis' classic song with a catchy rhythm and a beautiful melody, very nice and pleasant to hear. Of course this isn't exactly a progressive song but it's good enough to be remembered. Undoubtedly, we are in presence of an excellent pop rock song, with nothing to do with silly songs such as, "Who Dunnit?" or "Illegal Alien". The fourth track "In Too Deep" was another song to be released as a single on the album. This is clearly a Phil Collins' song with the entire DNA present on the songs released on his solo albums. This is an excellent pop song, one of the most beautiful, mellow and sweet songs ever made by him. I must confess that in some moments I like very much to hear some Phil Collins' songs. Still, this isn't, without any doubt, the right place for him to write a song like this. The fifth track "Anything She Does" is lyrically a song about pornography. It's about a man who is in love with a porn star and that can't have a relationship with her in the real life. Musically, it isn't, in my humble opinion, a great song, and it represents also, for me, one of the weakest points on the album. It seems to be a song put out of the place, which doesn't sound anything to a Genesis' song. It sounds too much to reggae and reminds me too much a song made by The Police. The sixth track "Domino" is divided into two parts, part one, "In The Glow Of The Night" and part two, "The Last Domino". The first part was released as the B side of their single "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight", and the second part was released as the B side of their single "Invisible Touch". It was the second of the two extended musical pieces on the album. It's, without any doubt, the best track on the album and it's a song in the same vein of "Duke's Travels" and "Duke's End" from "Duke", "Dodo/Lurker" from "Abacab" and "Home By The Sea" and "Second Home By The Sea" from "Genesis". The seventh track "Throwing It All Away" was issued as the second single released from the album. The song is a soft rock ballad and is musically structured around the guitar riff of Mike Rutherford. It's a very decent song and a successful song but with nothing progressive on it. It's a soft pop song without anything more special to say about it, except that we are in presence of another Phil Collins' song that should have been released on a solo Collins' album. The eighth and last track "The Brazilian" is a song that reminds immediately "Los Endos" from "A Trick Of The Tail". This is a true fantastic and memorable instrumental track with many progressive elements and that soon became a classic Genesis' instrumental track. This is a song that features some experimental sounds and effects and that sounds a bit like a progressive song. It's undoubtedly with "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" and "Domino" the best and only progressive moments on the album. We even can say this is a wonderful and fantastic moment, and perfect enough, to close a nice and good album, really.

Conclusion: Sincerely, I don't consider "Invisible Touch" a bad Genesis' album. Probably it isn't even the weakest album of them. It's true that "Invisible Touch" is the less progressive and most popish album of all Genesis' albums. However, it has quality enough to be considered a good album and it can also be considered more balanced than some other albums from them. It's also, in a certain way, better than "Abacab" and "Genesis" is. It's much more balanced and it hasn't weak tracks like "Who Dunnit?" or "Illegal Alien". By the other hand, it isn't much less progressive than those albums are, and in terms of a non progressive album, is probably better than they are. It's true that is far from the class of most of their albums, but it has more fun than some things made by them. This is the typical 80's album. It rules.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

I got attached to this second Archives series quite heavily after I bought it and heard the material from 1976-1981 with numerous prog-rock and melancholy material. The material with Steve Hackett should fulfill the highest Genesis criteria to any progressive listener. I love the Genesis romantic period which ended some time in 1981/2 after "You might recall" These pieces are less progressive but carry poignant emotions, great Collins' vocal and tasty keyboard arrangements. Most 80's pop tracks played live and B-sides are alright, the early 90's stuff is a hit or miss. Remixes are letdown and few listeners will listen to them more than once.

After two romantic Genesis albums, the 80's started with the most melancholic and broken-hearted Genesis album - Duke. Duke retains very strong progressive rock elements for the last time ever but unabashed radio-friendly pop takes more place on the surface. The Duke's suite adheres to the highest Genesis standards (with the exception of "Duchess" which is a good experiment but a bit repetitive). "Duke's travels" is an astonishing journey by Banks and Collins that could have blown away almost any other prog-rock band in the 1980. Banks comes with two well though-out mini epics "Heathaze" and "Cul-de-sac" with great synth/grand piano background instrumentation. Semi-prog "Man of our times" is clearly heavy on bass tones and penned by Rutherford, well heavy drummed by Collins. The rest of the material corresponds to good pop/rock songs, mostly with feelings of sadness and ever improving Collins singing abilities with great harmonies and emotional depth. My only complaint is "Misunderstanding" which should have been left to a solo Collins album and is a bit of disgrace for Genesis. I listened to this album heavily along with ATTWT and Wind and Wuthering when I emotionally felt the same mood. Recommended to fans of accessible prog-rock and intelligent pop.

Review Nº 765

"14 From Our Past" is a compilation of Genesis that was released in 2007. As its name indicates, it features fourteen songs from the band which aim to be representative of the whole history of Genesis. So, practically all studio albums of the group are represented with one song except their debut and third studio albums "From Genesis To Revelation" and "Nursery Cryme". It has also a song "Happy The Man" that was never put on any official studio album at the time. However, it was recorded and released at the same time of "Nursery Cryme" and so it became the song representative of it. It's also interesting to note that all the songs on "14 From Our Past" were put strictly in the chronological order.

Thus, "14 From Our Past", like its name indicates, is a compilation album with fourteen tracks. The tracks chosen to be part of this compilation album are the following: "The Knife" from "Trespass", "Happy The Man" which is a non-album's track, "Watcher Of The Skies" from "Foxtrot", "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)" from "Selling England By The Pound", "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway" from "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway", "Squonk" from "A Trick Of The Tail", "Your Own Special Way" from "Wind And Wuthering", "Follow You, Follow Me" from "...And Then There Were Three...", "Turn It On Again" from "Duke", "Abacab" from "Abacab", "That's All" from "Genesis", "Land Of Confusion" from "Invisible Touch", "Hold On My Heart" from "We Can't Dance" and "Congo" from "Calling All Stations".

"The Knife" is a composition unusually aggressive for the band and pronounced, in a certain way, the path the band would follow up on their next albums. It's the most famous song on "Trespass" and is the heaviest track of Genesis. "Happy The Man" is a song that was never released on any studio album of the band. It was released only as a single, in a few countries, as the A side of it and with "Seven Stones" as the B side. It was later put on several compilation albums, some with slightly different versions. The song was originally recorded in 1972. It was released almost simultaneously with the "Foxtrot" album. It's a good song, but one that wouldn't have fit very well on that album. "Watcher Of The Skies" is one of the most popular and beloved songs by their fans, and one of the most played live by the band. It's a great song that gives a sense of majesty and power. "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)" is a funny song with some characteristics of a pop song. Still, it's a great song. It was the first charting single of the band. "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway" is one of the most accessible songs on the entire early Genesis' catalogue. It revolves around piano, synthesizer and Mellotron tunes, with the traditional rock instruments accompanying. It has some great lyrics too. "Squonk" is a very simple song with great choral work. It has a great memorable opening and a remarkable fantastic drumming work of Collins. "Your Own Special Way" is a straight forward pop song with excellent melody. It has very good 12 string guitars, and some superb keyboard arrangements by Banks, plus some autoharp by Hackett. "Follow You, Follow Me" is a song released for a single with the intention to be a hit that achieved the top sales. It's a good pop song that should never have been recorded by Genesis, but recorded by Collins on one of his solo albums. "Turn It On Again" is a good pop rock song, one of their greatest successes and one of their most played live songs. "Invisible Touch" is a typical pure pop song made to be a greatest hit. As a pop song, it's a great song. Still, it has nothing to do with prog. "Abacab" is a very good song that I like very much. I really think that we are in presence of one of the best songs on "Abacab" album. It's a song with a simple structure that progresses in a modern way. "That's All" is a simple song with a catchy tune that remains nice to hear from the beginning to its ending. It's a Collins' song with all the ingredients to be a successful pop song. "Land Of Confusion" became a Genesis' classic song with a catchy rhythm and a beautiful melody, very nice and pleasant to hear. Of course this isn't exactly a progressive song but it's good enough to be remembered. "Hold On My Heart" is a song that never should be part of a Genesis' album. It's a good song, but it really belongs to a Collins' solo work. "Congo" marked the debut of Ray Wilson as the vocalist of Genesis. It's a song with a pop tune with an African style drum beat. It isn't bad, but it sounds too much to a pop song.

Conclusion: "14 From Our Past" is an interesting and strange compilation. We can't say that we are in presence of a bad compilation because almost all their studio albums are represented. The only exceptions are "From Genesis To Revelation" and "Nursery Cryme". About "From Genesis To Revelation" is comprehensive and expected because, in a certain way, it's an outsider album in their discography. But, "Nursery Cryme" is unexpected and less comprehensive. In relation to the choice of the tracks, there was the concern of selecting short tracks. The overall quality of the compilation is good. Half of it is progressive. But of course it has some weak tracks like "Follow You Follow Me", "Hold On My Heart" and "Congo". So, "14 From Our Past" is a good compilation which runs almost their entire career. Still, it serves only those who are beginners with the band or those who aren't familiar with the entire band's musical career.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

Review #3: Genesis - Foxtrot

When most people think of Phil Collins they think of "In the Air Tonight," I think of "Apocalypse in 9/8." Genesis has an extensive collection of great albums which makes it difficult to choose a favorite from their catalog. For me, "Foxtrot" represents the band's peak of progression and diversity. While it shares similarities with their preceding album, "Nursery Cryme," its distinguishing features lies in the production quality and the epic track concluding the album (which I'll touch a bit more on later). Each musician can shine with their own moment, showcasing some of their finest work.

The album features Peter Gabriel on vocals, Steve Hackett on guitar, Phil Collins on drums, Tony Banks on keyboards, and Mike Rutherford on bass. The band would record Foxtrot in London's Island Studios in August and September 1972. Initially planning to work with producer John Anthony, disagreements over costs led to a search for a new producer. After failed attempts with numerous producers, they went with co-producer David Hitchcock who produced albums for band's such as Mellow Candle and Caravan at the time. Foxtrot would ultimately receive high praise, with Charisma Records' owner predicting it would define their career. Banks particularly praised the album, believing it contained no weak tracks.

The album opens with "Watcher of the Skies" which borrows its title from John Keats' 1817 poem "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer." This track stands out for its complex musicality, unconventional time signatures, and intriguing lyrics, making it one of the tracks I find myself returning to the most from the band. Notably, it features a stunning mellotron introduction. Interestingly, this mellotron was purchased from King Crimson before the recording of the album. "Time Table" showcases a more delicate side of the band, highlighted by Banks' skillful piano playing. On the other hand, "Get 'em Out by Friday" and "Can-Utility and the Coastliners" delve deeper into a progressive and theatrical direction, showcasing intricate songwriting that exemplifies the best of progressive rock. "Horizons" provides a gentle interlude, allowing Hackett to deliver a beautifully executed acoustic piece which he composed. The album culminates with the monumental "Supper's Ready," comprised of seven distinct sections with recurring motifs. Personally, I regard "Supper's Ready" not only as the band's crowning achievement but also as one of the genre's finest tracks. Banks himself acknowledged the latter parts as "probably our peak."

In essence, "Foxtrot" stands as a testament to Genesis's artistic prowess and musical innovation. It represents the pinnacle of their career, showcasing their ability to seamlessly blend complex instrumentation with thought- provoking lyrical content. Ultimately, this album remains a shining example of the band's surviving legacy in the realm of progressive music. If you are reading this review, I would hope that you've already heard the album, if not, do yourself a favor and listen to it as soon as possible.

Favorite Track: Supper's Ready (22:53)

Circa March of 1977, on their 'Wind and Wuthering' tour, Genesis made a stop at New Orleans' old Municipal Auditorium. With Chester Thompson on the drums to facilitate Phil Collins' relatively new position as lead vocalist, the band (fortunately also with Steve Hackett) delivered an entirely convincing performance. In this connection, I refer one to the album 'Seconds Out.'

After the show, one of our group responded, 'Peter who . . . ?'

In addition to the recently released 'Wind and Wuthering,' Phil and 'company' were touring 'A Trick of the Tail.' Released in early 1976, this album decidedly answered the question, could Banks, Collins, Hackett, and Rutherford carry on without 'Peter who . . .?' Although not explicitly a 'concept' album, 'A Trick of the Tail' bears affinity to a Twentieth Century phenomenon known as 'magic realism.'

In the world of literature, Gabriel Garcia Marquez' 'One Hundred Years of Solitude' and Gunter Grass', 'The Flounder' are prime examples of this tradition in literary expression in which 'the ordinary becomes extraordinary' and the 'extraordinary becomes ordinary.'

A modicum of investigation on the Internet has led me to the novel, 'The Inheritors' by William Golding, the final chapter of which is the source of inspiration for Tony Banks' song, 'A Trick of the Tail.' In 'The Inheritors,' Golding delves into the lives of a group of Neanderthals from the perspective of these individuals, who live in an 'eternal present' broken only by the passage of the seasons. Golding is concerned with the origins of religion, culture, sacrifice, and war. In this work's final chapter, the focus is on the perspective of the modern humans (homo sapiens sapiens) who coexist with the Neanderthals (homo sapiens neanderthalensis). Both groups treat each other with fear and suspicion.

In the song 'A Trick of the Tail,' Banks has kept the perspective of the curiosity of the one group for the other, but no longer maintains Golding's exploration of the Neanderthal by the modern human, rather presents the reaction of modern humans to the presence of one 'Bored of the life in the/city of gold . . . In search of another/to share his life.' Banks has transferred Golding's Neanderthal to the character of one who possesses 'horns' and a 'tail.'

And so, the album is an invitation to the listener to enter Banks, Collins, Hackett, and Rutherford's world of 'magic realism.' And, throughout, 'A Trick of the Tail' displays some of Genesis most potent instrumental prowess.

In any other work, 'Los Endos' could function as a fanfare, announcing all of the themes to follow. Here, the themes are stated in retrospect. In considering 'Los Endos,' I like to think of the Who's 'Overture' to 'Tommy.'

At this juncture, I'd like to mention that, during the mid-seventies as I became familiar with Genesis' music, I needed repeated listening to appreciate the virtuosity of Steve Hackett. As we enter 'A Trick of the Tail,' through 'Dance on a Volcano,' Hackett's guitar is considerably overt. In 'Entangled,' we encounter 'Freudian slumber empty of sound' replete with mesmerizing guitar and one of Tony Banks' truly towering final synthesizer solos.

Hackett's 'trademark' is his use of the volume peddle. The guitar work in 'Ripples' exemplifies his mastery of this device. To my '1976' ears, many of Hackett's performances initially registered as synthesizers. Simultaneously, Hackett delivers an exemplary 'rhythm guitar' performance in 'Squonk.' And employing the rubric 'less is more' during Bank's keyboard solo in 'Robbery, Assault, and Battery,' Hackett sustains a single note in an arc that transcends the proceedings.

On an individual level, I must state that 'A Trick of the Tail' holds a critical place in my appreciation of Genesis' music. With 'Selling England by the Pound,' 'A Trick of the Tail' ensured my readiness to approach 'Supper's Ready' and 'The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.'

I suppose Banks, Collins, Hackett, and Rutherford send an 'acknowledgment' of esteem to 'Peter who' in the ending of 'Los Endos,' when Collins, referring to Rev 19:17 and 'Suppers Ready,' sings 'There's an Angel Standing in the Sun . . . .'

In reference to 'magic realism,' what more authoritative source could there be than the Book of Revelation?

Review Nº 759

"The Last Domino?" is a compilation of Genesis that was released in 2021. "The Last Domino?" has tracks from nine of their fifteen studio albums. So it has four tracks from "Selling England By The Pound" released in 1973, two tracks from "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway" released in 1974, one track from "Wind And Wuthering" released in 1976, three tracks from "Duke" released in 1980, one track from "Abacab" released in 1981, three tracks from "Genesis" released in 1983, six tracks from "Invisible Touch" released in 1986 and five tracks from "We Can't Dance" released in 1991.

So, "The Last Domino?" has twenty-seven tracks. From "Selling England By The Pound" we have "The Cinema Show", "Firth Of Fifth", "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)" and "Dancing with The Moonlit Knight". "The Cinema Show" is one of the best and lengthiest epic tracks of Genesis. "Firth Of Fifth" is one of their best tracks and one of their most representative progressive tracks too. "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)" is a fun track with characteristics of a pop song. "Dancing with The Moonlit Knight" begins with Gabriel's voice very calm and that progressively gets louder and more upbeat. This is a powerful track. From "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway" we have "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway" and "The Carpet Crawlers". "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway" is an accessible track with great lyrics that gives a nice introduction to the story of that conceptual album. It became a landmark for Genesis. "The Carpet Crawlers" is a beautiful track, very solid and with a fantastic melody. It's smooth and relaxing with a great keyboard work. From "Wind And Wuthering" we have "Afterglow". It's one of the most majestic tracks of Banks. It's one of the most atmospheric, relaxing and magical moments of Genesis. From "...And Then There Were Three..." we have "Follow You Follow Me". It's a good pop song that should never have been part of Genesis. It suits better on a Collins' solo album. From "Duke" we have "Duke's End", "Turn It On Again" and "Duchess". "Duke's End" is the second part of "Duke's" suite with "Duke's Travels" as the first part. It's a great progressive track, almost instrumental, which reminds me the good old Genesis's sound. "Turn It On Again" is a pop/rock song, a great success of them. This is a good song. "Duchess" is basically a pop song with some progressive influences. It's a good track, an interesting attempt to merge prog with pop. From "Abacab" we have "Abacab". It's a song with a simple structure but those progresses in a modern way. This is an edited version. From "Genesis" we have "Mama", "Home By The Sea", "Second Home By The Sea" and "That's All". "Mama" is a great song with quality to be considered one of the highlights of that album. "Home By The Sea" and "Second Home By The Sea" is a suite of two songs. It's a great suite, in the same line of "Duke's Travels" and "Duke's End" of "Duke" and "Dodo/Lurker" of "Abacab". "That's All" is a simple song with a very simple melody. It has a catchy tune and it's nice to hear. From "Invisible Touch" we have "Land Of Confusion", "In Too Deep", "Domino Medley", "Throwing It All Away", "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" and "Invisible Touch". "Land Of Confusion" is a song with a catchy rhythm and a beautiful melody, nice and pleasant to hear. "In Too Deep" is a good pop song, beautiful, mellow and sweet. "Domino Medley" is divided into two parts, "In The Glow Of The Night" and "The Last Domino". It's a great suite in the same vein of "Duke's Travels" and "Duke's End" from "Duke", "Dodo/Lurker" from "Abacab" and "Home By The Sea" and "Second Home By The Sea" from "Genesis". "Throwing It All Away" is a soft rock ballad around the guitar riff of Rutherford. It's a decent song with nothing progressive on it. "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" is a good song with some progressive lines. It's nice and atmospheric with interesting passages. "Invisible Touch" is pop song. As a pop song it's good. Still, it has nothing to do with prog music. From "We Can't Dance" we have "Fading Lights", "Hold On My Heart", "Jesus He Knows Me", "No Son Of Mine" and "I Can't Dance". "Fading Lights" has a great atmosphere with a true remarkable work by all band's members. "Hold On My Heart" is a good song. But it belongs to a Collins' solo work. "Jesus He Knows Me" is clearly the type of songs made by Collins. It's good but never was a favourite of mine. "No Son Of Mine" is a great and remarkable song, with great feeling and clearly influenced by Collins. "I Can't Dance" is influenced by Collins' style written to be a commercial hit. It's a good song but with nothing new and exciting to offer.

Conclusion: "The Last Domino?" has an interesting name. To be the last one it would have to cover the band's entire career, which isn't true. As I mentioned above, "The Last Domino?" only covers nine of the fifteen studio albums of Genesis. It's very hard to understand the criterion of the choice of tracks. It's true that "The Last Domino?" has tracks from their most progressive phase as well tracks from their most pop/rock phase. However, I can't understand it. Three albums that belong to Gabriel's era weren't included, "Trespass", "Nursery Cryme" and "Foxtrot" and one album of Hackett's phase wasn't included too, "A Trick Of The Tail". Of course I'm discarding "From Genesis To Revelation" and "Calling All Stations". However, "The Last Domino?" remains as a good and interesting compilation album of Genesis.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)