Well let's do another poll

Although DT would be better with Moore, it would only be a matter of keyboards, the compositions wouldn't have evolved very differently if Kevin Moore had stayed in my opinion, Portnoy and Petrucci playing the frontman role quite well.

So I went with the dreamy 5th universe. Never wanted Ian Anderson to quit Jethro Tull, don't need Greg Lake when you got Fripp... (exagerated but true).

That was a no brainer for me.  ELP never forming would have been a sad thing, though I'd have been interested to hear more Crimson with Greg Lake.  Couldn't really care less about two and three and Genesis worked out just fine the way that it was.  I think a more compelling option five would have been 'What if Steve Hackett remained in Genesis'.

With that being said, I easily chose option 4 within the allotted five seconds.  While I like some of their later albums, I think Kevin Moore was the perfect balance to Portnoy and Petrucci.  His lush melodies and chords really complimented the shredding the other two.  I'd have enjoyed seeing more with that line up.

When I found out about Peter Banks, and the fact that he left Yes, I almost cried, so guess what. Yep, I'm taking 5. Haha! Joking, it's 2 for me.

It has to be number 5 for me

It wouldn't have been 'Genesis' anymore - it would have evolved into someone rather wondrous, I feel

Ahem... back in the real world

Raff wrote: Option 5 is by far the most interesting, especially for someone who, like me, has never been a big Genesis fan. However, I am curious as to why you chose Trevor Horn to play bass, and not, for instance, Tony Levin, who would have probably been the most obvious choice.

This may reveal a measure of historical ignorance on my part, but I tried to select musicians who were more or less "not committed" to any particular act around the given time period.  Wakeman had left Yes, Belew was just getting active in music, Bruford did in fact tour with Genesis, and Horn was just a backing musician for a disco performer (but formed The Buggles in 1978).

The Whistler wrote: Why is the gun warm? Ewww....

I pick #4 because I don't like Dream Theater and wouldn't care if their history is changed.  The others would have dire consequences that I don't like.

#1 doesn't work for me because even though I'm not the biggest ELP fan I'm glad they existed and I don't like the idea of Lake staying in Crimson.  It might jeopardize later albums I love, specifically their 80s output.

#2 I'm not very fond of Yes but enjoy some of their albums and this option might corrupt them (specifically close to the edge, in which wakeman has important contributions as a performer).

#3 is no good because I love Jethro Tull

#5 Genesis is nothing without Tony Banks.  Besides, I like Peter Gabriel's solo stuff as much as or more than Genesis in general.  I again would not want to corrupt the history of Yes or especially King Crimson with that lineup.  Plus, that means no "Trick of the Tail" or "Wind and Wuthering".  I agree with whoever it was above that wanted to pick "What if Steve Hackett never left Genesis"

Pekka wrote: Tarquin Underspoon wrote: But on a positive note, Kevin Moore is still in Dream Theater!...... Care to shed some light on this interesting view?

five i guess

Option one - No way ! Both bands worked out just fine thanks. While Gregy's vocals were great in the early KC, I think I found them more interesting without it.

Option two - As above I don't think Yes suffered from this departure over the long run

Option three - I don't think Jon's voice would compliment Ian's flute playing at all. Jon just doesn't have the folksy voice that's need for the other Anderson's style.

Option four - Really ? Dream Theatre ? They are so 90's ! BTW, What did this Kevin guy do anyway?

Option five - Now you're talking !! But I really think that (at least in my alternate universe) Peter Gabriel and Steve Hackett fire all the other slackers in Genesis and hire the list you proposed. Ok, maybe they let Phil play drums on one track but he doesn't get to go whith in 5 feet of a vocal mike !!