What's the best Genesis album?

Foxtrot.

wind & wuthering is (a) mostly great (b) the perfect album to play on a cold dry windy morning

Foxtrot

trespass was killer when i heard it first, selling england by the pound was even greater especially that part in teh battle of epping forest where the music takes off, where it reaches this metaphysical plateau. this moment of bliss, which should last forever. but in the end nursery cryme is the one, i think. the lyric sheet with all those drawings. so english, so strange, so cruel.

Selling England by the Pound. Before that I only really love one song per album ("Stagnation," "The Musical Box," "Supper's Ready").

spent like a month last year getting acquainted with duke, abacab and the self-titled record all of which are AWESOME

cosign, this was a month well-spent

I think I was very wrong about Wind & Wuthering, which is IMO not as good as Trick of the Tail but I don't find it boring or aimless any more.

duke btw

Your Own Special Way is beyond pukey and the irredeemable ruination of that album imo

W&W i mean. Still have a soft spot for Duke though, first Genesis record I bought

That was Genesis in the era when they would regularly appear in lists of footballers' favourite music alongside the Police and jazz funk.

Foxtrot > A Trick of the Tail > Duke > Selling England by the Pound > Nursery Cryme > Invisible Touch > And Then There Were Three > Wind & Wuthering > The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway > Abacab > Trespass > Genesis > We Can't Dance > Calling All Stations > From Genesis to Revelation

*cracks knuckles* ok here we go

abacab
wind & wuthering
the lamb lies down on broadway
duke
a trick of the tail
foxtrot
nursery cryme
genesis
selling england by the pound
and then there were three
invisible touch
trespass
we can't dance

i feel like i'm underrating selling/attwt/invisible touch at the end there but i basically love all of those records except trespass (which is fine) and we can't dance (which is half great half horrible)

wau @ Foxtrot so high.

man this would be so difficult, though I'm pretty sure Selling England is #1 and Calling all Stations is at the end of the list

The first live one. Docked one point for leaving off Supper's Ready.

wau @ Foxtrot so high.

― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, July 7, 2017 1:23 PM (thirty-three minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

it's all great. ppl who think "time table" is weak need to get right

'Time Table' is one of my favourites.

ecstatic you two have kissed and made up

Man, the first part of 'Mad Man Moon' is so beautiful.

first side of trick is the best shit on earth

and then side two has the title track and the percussion-tastic 'Los Endos' ...

Hi, Brad.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AtL_Ko2KNQ

Of the ones I listen to:
Lamb >> Selling England By the Pound > Nursery Cryme = Foxtrot

"home by the sea" is the fuckin best

The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
Selling England by the Pound
Foxtrot
Wind & Wuthering
A Trick of the Tail
Nursery Cryme
Abacab
and my familiarity with the albums gets hazy after that. I will listen to everything if there's a poll coming up.

The Gabriel albums captured my heart at a formative age so I can't really be objective about them.

The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway is often cited as the pinnacle of early Genesis, but I'm not really convinced that it is. While it certainly contains more music than any other Genesis studio album, there's portions of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway that strike me as being a bit dull, and the band seem to be lacking in energy throughout - consequently, the whole thing ends up being a bit of a slog for me, even though the album has several highlights. I find the plot of the record to be a bit silly, too. A Trick of the Tail, although it captures a band in crisis due to their lead vocalist leaving, also captures a band that are re-energised and are into what they're doing.

First half of Lamb is great, second half more ... nebulous.

i love basically every part of the lamb

i'll acknowledge that the first half is basically perfect and that the second half is maybe a little more unsolid but that's as far as i'll go

The plot's no sillier than Supper's Ready, Battle of Epping Forest, other tracks where Peter is the main lyricist. I love the music and so embrace the goofiness.

I do think including the prose version of the story was a bad idea though.

I can ignore the lyrics on 'Supper's Ready' completely, but 'The Battle of Epping Forest', which has some nice musical parts, is far from my favourite Genesis epic.

The relative lack of energy (the title track, for example, has always felt like it needs to be a touch faster and more aggressive) and a little too much meandering padding are bigger issues for me on The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway than the lyrics, fwiw.

i love basically every part of the lamb

^^^^

Will admit to not even knowing what the plot is, despite having listened to this many times. A road trip favourite for me.

invisible touch is the best genesis album. not a single bad song on it.

It's about Peter Gabriel wishing Bob Fosse had directed him on stage singing "On Broadway."

xpost

alfred otm

essentially the wall of death falls over new york city and rael meets some wacky characters and then a bird steals his penis iirc

I only really listen to Nursery Cryme and Trespass, think that caught them at a great juncture. & the live sets from around teh time.
& then disown the rest of their catalogue.
Just got a lotof their early BBC stuff from a Demonoid torrent.
But picked up the 2008 remasters when they happened, also Foxtrot which I didn't get into much.

2008 remasters are controversial. Some vocals/instruments mixed down, some mixed way up, iirc.

Sometimes the first half of "Lamb" is my favorite, sometimes "Abacab," sometimes sometimes "Trick of the Tail," sometimes even "Invisible Touch," but never s/t and rarely "Duke" or "And then ..." (for some reason). Usually "Selling England" is my favorite. At the very least, I think "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight" is the band's playing apex, and Peter's lyrical peak (in Genesis) as well. Sort of ... proto Morrissey?

the remasters are also remixes which is why they're controversial beyond the "steve hoffman forum" sense

duke
a trick of the tail
invisible touch
genesis
and then there were three
foxtrot
abacab
three sides live
selling england by the pound
the lamb lies down on broadway
nursery cryme
wind & wuthering

I think you could guess which Genesis era I grew up in from that list. their prog back catalogue was my first deep dive into an artist, but the gabriel albums never spoke to me as much.
I admit to never listening to anything after invisible touch, and I'm not really familiar with anything before Nursery Cryme, so my list is truncated on each side.

On "Selling" and "Lamb" in particular, even "Trick" and "Wind," I find it remarkable how well Phil's drums in particular are recorded. They just sound great. They always do, too, especially ironic for a guy who helped invent the sound of '80s drums.

Until I read his book I never knew much about his pre-Genesis stuff. Like:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzBYib_Pko8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwG2lvssEzo

Or

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPOqAHN4T9c
^written and sung by Phil c. 1968

Like a few others here on ILM, i've been running up-and-down their catalog -- seems like i've been listening to nothing else for the last week. Lots of treats buoyed on the back of both decades of reflection and fresh ears. Side note; why "Squonk" wasn't a single, i'll never understand; the title alone?

Faves in two camps:

Trespass from Gabriel-era
Duke from Collins-era

This is lovely. Adore the ToTT and WaW period Genesis. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5Y1L2aFt8M&t=0s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wraejmyAK5w

Let's try that again: https://youtu.be/x5Y1L2aFt8M