The most overrated and underrated Genesis songs

Anyone who puts More Fool Me in the UNDERRATED category needs a shrink. It's an abomination. And f**k me, he says the chorus sounds like Strawbs; they don't deserve that sort of insult!!

Anyone who puts Watcher of the Skies in the overrated category deserves a fate FAR worse than death; it's one of the greatest songs ever.

The rest I won't argue with.


Edited by Hercules - June 02 2009 at 16:31

Overrating and underrating songs is overrated. 

The Doctor wrote: Hmmm...underrated...Domino, Home by the Sea, Mama, The Brazilian, Fading Lights, Driving the Last Spike, Heathaze, Dodo/Lurker, most of Calling All Stations...etc. Overrated...by the general populace..Invisible Touch, We Can't Dance, Throwing It All Away, In Too Deep, etc.

I have The Way We Walk - The Longs and it's really good, so I agree; not all Genesis produced after Hackett left was rubbish and some is criminally underrated. Domino, Home by the Sea, Fading Lights, Driving the Last Spike are comparable with anything on Trick of the Tail and Wind and Wuthering.

The Shorts is another matter altogether; crimes against humanity come to mind.

Prog_Bassist wrote: meh that was an alright observation even though i don't agree with some of the choices.

Yeah, I thought so too. I was expecting it to be a sort of "LOL Let's slaughter sacred cows! Firth of Fifth is sooooo overrated!" but instead it was pretty well done. I've always thought Watcher of the Skies to be overrated myself, an incredible intro and outro bookending a rather mediocre song (by Genesis standards).

I also agreed with I Know What I Like being overrated and Afterglow being underrated, those were both good catches in my books. I especially liked what they said about Afterglow being one of Phil's strongest performances. I can definately agree with that.

Overrated-Musical box, Firth of fifth, Back in NYC, The lamb lies down on broadway, Suppers ready

The Lamb is a Masterpiece ! 

Edited by tamijo - June 03 2009 at 02:59

I agree that Watcher , Squonk and Your Own Special Way (is it) are over rated.

I'll agree with most of the PG solo criticism, except that:

(1) I still love the first "Here comes the Flood" in all of its over-produced glory. My friends and I were simply blown away when it appeared. There was no piano-only version available then.

(2) In spite of its (apparent) naivety, I quite enjoy "Rhythm of the Heat". It has "cinematoscope" qualities, and a well-planned climax.

As for "Squonk"... Well, it's true that it's too long and the lyrics are silly. But it's also the best Genesis riff ever! And yes, I'll enjoy it just for the drumming. (It evokes similar feelings to the Who's "My Wife", although that has far better lyrics. )

IMHO: overrated - I know What I like, The Musical Box, Carpet Crawlers, Your Own Special Way, Follow you Follow me, Firth of Fifth (only slightly)

underrated - Harold the Barrel, Epping Forest, Anyway, Can Utility, Fly on the Windshield, Down and Out, Home by the Sea

Most overrated - Squonk (apart from the 'All in all you are a very dying race...' section). Most underrated - Entangled