The Worst Genesis Album?

I know you all hate negative polls, but some questions just need to be asked!

I remember Tony Banks saying similar things (about the band playing better and recording their strongest material after W & W) in an interview accompanying the recent reunion concert in Rome.

I can see he's got a point. In the 1980s they became a succesful conventional rock band, a well-oiled machine, and they probably had more fun than in the 1970s. Some of their later tunes (e.g. "Jesus He Loves Me") are (almost) delightful.

But you can count me in among those who believe they never did anything better than SELLING ENGLAND!

Actually, for me, The Lamb was and is still the hardest Genesis album to get into. I have never really got to grips with it and in comparison with earlier and the much maligned albums of the 80's period such as "Abacab" and the s/t "Genesis", The Lamb, imo is long, ponderous and boring!! The best album they ever did and never surpassed was SEBTP.

From Genesis To Relevation and Calling All Stations.

Edited by Snow Dog - October 29 2009 at 07:08

I think Invisible Touch is excellent, even the songs over-killed on the radio. For me I can't think of a "bad" Genesis album, but I think "ATTW3" is a bit weak (with the notable exception of "Motherlode", "Burning Rope" and a couple others)

As ever, thisbegs the question: what would have Kevin Gilbert bought to the party with the possibility of fresh and invigorating ideas, if he had not died just before an audition to replace Collins

Invisible Touch is the worst Genesis album, from the point of view of a Prog fan.  

Edited by The Quiet One - October 29 2009 at 08:46

Like Blacksword, I love everything they have done from 1970 - 1980.

Like Snow Dog, for many years Genesis' first and last studio albums were my least favourite, though in  the past few years my opinion towards From Genesis To Revelation has changed a bit : I start to like it a bit after all.

Abacab: I admire them for making something really fresh, but I don't like it as much as I did anymore. It's not a bad album at all, though, and every song is good. Just not brilliant.

I'm not a big fan of Genesis ("Shapes" / The Yellow album), though when it came out back in 1983 I was absolutely crazy about it. I still like Mama and Home By The Sea / Second Home By The Sea a lot, but the rest is a big weak for Genesis standards. Still not a bad album, with no bad song on it. I remember Tony Banks saying in an old interview that he really liked side one, and thought that side two (from "Illegal Alien" on) was easily the worst they had ever done.

Invisible Touch: they invested in a modern production, and modern drum and synth sounds, which is nice. Once again, I used to be crazy about it when it came out. I remember Rutherford saying that it was their best album since A Trick Of The Tail. It's interesting to see that their opinions have changed about the album. Once again, decent album, but somehow something is missing. Substance? Depth? Well, maybe it's simply prog that is missing, though on a pop level it is quite a good album. And Domino is still a nice epic. So is Tonight, Tonight, Tonight, but it has the worst Genesis lyric ever done ("Tonight tonight tonight we're gonna make it right"). But it's not like the old stuff anymore.

We Can't Dance: decent, and never a bad song, like with all the '80's albums, but it sounds even more 'flat' than Invisible Touch. The drums sound a bit tame. Where's the adventurous Collins? Still, even that one is not a bad album. But it's certainly one of my least favourite albums. They were good craftsmen at that time, but the artistic level has dropped immensely. I don't blame them, but I'm just not happy with it.

I admire Banks and Rutherford in their effort to make a 'darker' Genesis with Calling All Stations, but I have the feeling that somehow the album doesn't work out. Not for me, but I guess neither for many other Genesis fans. I think the compositions are not so good (except for "Calling All Stations" and "Congo", though the latter song needed to be abbreviated ).

Objectively, I'd say that the worst album is Genesis, because there it seems that the did the least trouble to make a great album. As it comes to personal taste, I choose Calling All Stations.


Edited by Moogtron III - October 29 2009 at 09:47

Roland113 wrote: Honestly, "From Genesis to Revelation" is their worst for me with Abacab coming in second.   Worst album is "From Genesis to Revelation", best is Selling England, Invisible Touch gets an unfair rap on this site.

I think that a little slack needs to be given seeing that From Genesis to ....is their first album. Most bands don't come out of the gate with a great album or an album that people migrate to. I think that Genesis didn't hit their stride till SEBTP.

Something else to consider would you rather put out a great album as your first then have mediocre albums to follow or slowly refine your songwriting skills and be more successful in the long run. Case in point PF had a great first album then some lesser ones till they got to Meddle/DSOTM.

crimhead wrote: Roland113 wrote: Honestly, "From Genesis to Revelation" is their worst for me with Abacab coming in second.   Worst album is "From Genesis to Revelation", best is Selling England, Invisible Touch gets an unfair rap on this site. I think that a little slack needs to be given seeing that From Genesis to ....is their first album. Most bands don't come out of the gate with a great album or an album that people migrate to. I think that Genesis didn't hit their stride till SEBTP. Something else to consider would you rather put out a great album as your first then have mediocre albums to follow or slowly refine your songwriting skills and be more successful in the long run. Case in point PF had a great first album then some lesser ones till they got to Meddle/DSOTM.

Crimhead,

I think both of your points are certainly valid, I wouldn't expect any band's first album to be their best.  If it is, the band will be plagued by questions of 'what happened' for the rest of their career which is kind of what you were getting at in your second point (if i understand that correctly). 

Regardless of whether or not I give it slack, it remains the only Genesis album that I don't listen to with any kind of regularity and thus for me, it's their worst.

Tom