What's the best Genesis album?

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

is it weird of me to say that i don't think of genesis as an album band? they sounded great when everything came together, but a lot of the time it didn't.

i recall reading a story from the first half of the 20th century that reminded me of the pre-"supper's ready" story printed on the inside of "live". it was only a couple weeks ago but i don't remember what it was exactly. sometimes i think peter gabriel's song introductions were the best part of his era of genesis. few things are more painful than listening to phil collins trying to replicate that style on the '76 tour.

I saw The Musical Box a couple of years ago, and not only were they awesome (at the time they had a balding left-handed drummer who even sang like Phil!), but their singer nailed replicating the weird Pete intros.

This one has the Phil ringer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmLLs4EtMAA

Here's a more recent lineup doing all of "Lamb." Apparently Genesis are fans, and lent them their old slides and props:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlX4moDYEmA

Here's a bit of Phil sitting in. He said it was a struggle:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWZT0EHKjCk

wind and wuthering
a trick of the tail
and then there were three
selling england by the pound
the lamb...
foxtrot
nursery cryme
duke

no time for the rest...

The only track I'd take off of The Lamb is Ravine, which does feel like a pointless meander at that point in the album. The other instrumentals are solid.

There's a bunch of live Waiting Rooms on Youtube. Genesis would have made a killer krautrock band.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lmeyb8bX4Uo

there's a great 12-minute rehearsal jam on "fly on a windshield" floating around out there (not on youtube that i can find or i'd link it). kind of reminds me of embryo for whatever reason.

I don't really know their discography very well, but I don't anything is going to top Foxtrot for me, so that's probably why. Supper's Ready has the cutest lyrics of all time.

human bacon

tangent - you used to write on epinions?

actually love Ravine. got fond memories of getting the double Lamb CD and skipping to try and hear The Light Dies Down the second time I played it and getting Ravine by mistake and it scaring the crap out of me. The one album they did where there's this actual undeniable undercurrent of menace to it, simliar to The White Album

yeah i love "ravine" too. lot of harrowing empty space in the second half of the lamb

as much as I enjoy the post-Gabriel era(s), the creepy nastiness which peaked on the Lamb all but disappeared

Ravine gives Peter time to change out of the Slipperman costume I guess.

The menace made it onto Gabriel's first few solo albums. Moribund the Burgermeister is pretty Lamb-like, and there's scary shit on Melt and Security — especially in the German, which gives something like Not One of Us a vaguely fascist undertone. It was all gone, though, by So, and I don't think he's ever recaptured it. Most of Up is just kind of lamely overwrought.

Will have to give the german versions a listen but had never previously felt the need to. Always found the first two solo albums a bit lacking

"This is the Picture" (and "We Do What We're Told" - originally intended for PG3?) is sort of menacing, "Mercy Street" is definitely spooky.

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.

The drums on A Trick of the Tail sound incredible - in fact of all the Genesis records, that's my favourite sounding of them all - particularly the remaster. Duke comes very close, though.

I don't really like the way The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway sounds... it's a bit muffled and monochromatic, I think.

Trying to give And Then There Were Three a serious shot, but I can't really get into the songwriting on that album. Follow You Follow Me has a simplicity and freshness.

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

― Mr. Snrub, Saturday, July 8, 2017 1:31 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I agree that there's not a single bad song on it!

First Response Hall of Fame: This is the POLL We Live In: Genesis - Invisible Touch

Some dude's "bald Thriller" comment re: Invisible Touch couldn't have been more otm, imo!

The title track, 'Land of Confusion', 'Domino' and 'Throwing It All Away' ... superb.

When it comes to a sense of menace Genesis stuff, no moment on Lamb compares to the first time I saw the video to 'Mama' ...

"back in nyc" is menacing af

Give the dude credit, he had good taste in covers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubYDPqi6ht4

I always forget how much I enjoy the glassy monumentalism of Duke and (to a lesser extent) And Then There Were Three.

With 'Duke' in particular it might in part be that it reminds me (in a reverse-influence sense) of Marillion's 'Clutching At Straws'.

But tonight it occurred to me that ATTWT's 'Down And Out' reminds me of my beloved first Shy Child album!

Most of my listening this week has been Genesis albums. I've known the Gabriel era albums for years but A Trick Of The Tail is the only Collins one I've checked out before now. I'm surprised how much I've enjoyed these albums. Abacab and the self titled are the two that are standing out. Abacab is good all the way through apart from that obnoxious synth at the end of Dodo/Lurker. As others have said, the self titled is badly let down by Illegal Alien. It's actually quite a good tune but obviously so misguided in every other way. I think I'd still pick that album up if I saw it cheap as the rest of it is so good. It would just be like Iggy Pop's New Values where I pretend African Man doesn't exist. Interested to hear And Then There Were Three and Wind & Wuthering next. It's been really interesting following this thread as I get to know the albums.

Abacab is a patchy follow-up to Duke, IMO. I like the title track a lot, even though it probably doesn't deserve to be that long - and 'No Reply At All' would benefit by having the obnoxious horns removed from it. I generally love horn sections, but not on Genesis and Phil Collins records where they generally sound tacky. 'Who Dunnit?' is crap, and the epics aren't particularly memorable.

I love how Abacab sounds like Genesis running into Simple Minds and The Teardrop Explodes in a crowded thoroughfare.

(Specifically referencing those bands' contemporaneous material there)

Abacab is a patchy follow-up to Duke, IMO

it's not

and 'No Reply At All' would benefit by having the obnoxious horns removed from it

god the next sentence was even worse

imo the fenix horns pretty much never sound tacky, they act as sharp punctuation wherever they're employed?

I love how Abacab sounds like Genesis running into Simple Minds and The Teardrop Explodes in a crowded thoroughfare.

― Tim F, Wednesday, July 12, 2017 9:20 PM (eight minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

This is indeed what it sounds like, but the end result isn't as great as that description sounds because the material isn't quite there, whereas on Duke not only did they manage to incorporate elements of New Wave into their sound successfully, but they managed to balance it with their progressive tendencies and they managed to write a set of wall-to-wall very good to great material, powerfully played and impeccably produced.

It has its highlights, but it's definitely a weaker Genesis record.

Relistened to "Invisible Touch" today after reading all the reappraisals on the IT thread and...yikes. Outside of "Tonight..." I can'tt get with its über-mid-80s digi-production at all. I remembered that's when I had stopped caring.

The "uber-mid '80s digi-production" is part of the reason I like the album so much - another reason is that there's not a dud track on it!