Taking Sides: Genesis 1970-1977 Vs. Genesis 1978-91

Holy Mother of God
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W35wtfcByIY

You think music gets better than that? Really?

these videos are all on the remix/remastered versions of these albums that just came out, btw

Thanks. I have a friend who's got grey hair now, he came from Japan. He says he remembers when Selling England By The Pound came out. He remembers when it was new and everything. He says he has a bootleg DVD. We're supposed to meet at the end of this month.

He said that there's some kind of Genesis tribute band called Musical Box.

I want to talk about Genesis a lot. I have put a lot of their albums on my iPod and have listened to a lot of albums.

Here is my top ten songs right now (not necessarily in order, but roughly):

1. You Might Recall
2. Paperlate
3. Keep It Dark
4. Turn It On Again
5. Dancing In The Moonlit Knight
6. The Musical Box
7. Abacab
8. Me And Sarah Jane
9. Dodo/Lurker (the one with the REGGAE PART!! WOOHOO!)
10. Harold The Barrel

But to be honest, the "And Then There Were Three" album impresses me so much that I'm deliberately keeping that separate from my top ten here (even "Follow You Follow Me"). It leads me to believe that if I were to purchase Wind & Wuthering and Trick of the Tail that I might be made quite happy indeed.

I am truly sorry there is not more of the prog Peter Gabriel stuff in my list. I have listened to a number of the albums with him on it, and I get the feeling if I played it all a lot of times, I would come to love a lot of it, but that would take a lot of time and right now the Collins vocal stuff, at least prior to 1983, is so much more immediate for me.

Also "Illegal Alien" deserves every ounce of its bad reputation. I remember having a friend when I was about 12 years old who liked it and I thought she was freaking off her rocker to like that song.

Thanks and good day/night.

Honorable mention to "Return of The Giant Hogweed", though, don't get me wrong.

Can I just say, that song "Mama" though...I mean that is just some major psychotic shit. Because I heard that this week for the first time in eons and I realized that yes, I really do remember hearing that on the radio in 1983 or whatever but it's like...what in the living fuck? What is he talking about in that song? It's kindof scary! But I love the heavy percussion and the echo, I mean don't get me wrong. It's totally cool.

I guess I'm just saying that even though I remember that song from way back when, I can't possibly understand how my young mind might have even interpreted or processed a song like that at the time. I can only see it from the vantage point of who I am now. So it's totally wicked and like...maybe it belongs in a haunted house. Yeah, that's it.

I think they said it didn't do well in America despite better success in the UK. Don't really wanna be bothered to look up the details, though.

Genesis OP10 (or 20....)

See there you go! I sorta halfheartedly looked for a "Genesis POX" thread, and came up with nothing.

In the meantime, I've taken to playing "Harold The Barrel" repeatedly, and I decided I liked "The Cinema Show" right away - despite its length and everything, I think that is a really beautiful Gabriel-era track.

despite its length and everything, I think that is a really beautiful Gabriel-era track.

almost all the songs from this era are this long! what do you think of Supper's Ready???

Cinema Show was written by Banks, btw, I think.

I know Supper's Ready has this HUGE reputation, so I've tried to get into it, but I think Foxtrot is something I'm only going to be able to properly digest with a lot more time. I played Watcher Of The Skies twice already, but it didn't stick yet. Give me time.

The last five minutes of Cinema Show is one of the most incredible instrumental passages I've ever heard, principally a Banks keyboard solo
of stunning melodic power. The version on Seconds Out just edges the studio version for me.

totally agree... during the post Gabriel era, they just sound so amazing whenever phil jumps back on the drum-kit to duet with chester or bill... like, all of a sudden there's all this polyrhytmic stuff added to the formula.

Wow, anyone heard this "Spot the Pigeon" EP from 1977 or whatever? Fucking fantastic stuff.

Heard Misunderstanding for the first time ever last night. It was a pretty catchy stadium pop jam, iirc. Might go on a mission later to track down some of their better mid-period stuff.

I like most of "Duke" (particularly the Tony Banks penned tracks), but I don't like "Misunderstanding" so much. A bit too much of a basic radio friendly pop song.

Geir in OTM shock.

Just bought this shirt:

http://i1.cpcache.com/product/441455245/dark_tshirt.jpg?color=KellyGreen&height=460&width=460

But it's too small! Any of you folks little? I'm only 5'7", and it's just too tight on me. I'd be happy to get it to a good home.

'Dance On A Volcano' rules.

Who the hell puts Mike second?

So many Genesis threads. But this is the one where I address the new BBC doc "Together and Apart," which is mostly fine, though man, is Tony Banks a dick.

Did learn Phil's vocals on "Mama" were inspired by the laugh on Grandmaster Flash's "Message."

man, is Tony Banks a dick.

a relief after years of blank affability

2112

Also, Phil is rocking these awesome old man glasses.

http://cdn.stereogum.com/files/2014/06/phil-collins-alamo-rehearsals.jpg

If Phil Collins were bleeding I'd rub rock salt in his wounds #nomisunderstanding.

I didn't think the doc was very good. It didn't mention Wind and Wuthering which is one of Genesis's best albums. More egregiously, it didn't mention Tony Stratton-Smith or Charisma once.

Well there wasn't enough Hackett, obviously, whether that was a producer problem or a band thing....weird set up of the 4/5 of them together.

the 'talking heads' journalists, chris roberts aside, were terrible, but the actual genesis members gave good value in the documentary

just reading Bimble upthread

peace dude x x

Well there wasn't enough Hackett, obviously, whether that was a producer problem or a band thing....weird set up of the 4/5 of them together.

Hackett wasn't happy about the doc: http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/oct/06/steve-hackett-bbc-new-genesis-together-and-apart-documentary-biased-account-of-band

man, is Tony Banks a dick.

There are many moments in the boxed set docs where Banks says something like, "I was proud of the music I'd written, and Gabriel's vocals messed it up" for things like "Supper's Ready." The Eno bio also mentions Banks being jealous or just generally dickish about Eno's involvement with Lamb.

Sounds like if Banks had always had his way, Genesis records would be little more than bland psuedo-baroque keyboard solos.

Obviously the doc had to be sort of fast-forward, especially since they touch on the solo stuff, too, which in the case of Phil and Pete could support their own docs. A lot of the albums barely get a mention, or get mentioned in passing, with the focus on one song (Three gets Follow You, self-titled gets Mama). There's a surprising amount of We Can't Dance, and obv. none of that last album, and even though there's no John Mayhew, there is plenty of Anthony Phillips, or discussion of Banks playing guitar (which gets a little overlooked). But yeah, the guys in the band were pretty open. Sure, not enough Hackett, and odd that it was Gabriel and the other three for so much of it. But I thought it was important that it touched on the writing credits, namely that Tony and Mike were responsible for a lot of the stuff Phil gets blamed for, like the mawkish streak that begins with "Follow You, Follow Me," their first real modern ballad, which Mike wrote, or that it wasn't until the end that Phil got more of his lyrics on the albums. I also liked how they pointed out that even after they went pop there were always a couple of long songs on the records, and live they didn't shy away from the epics (old or contemporary) either. I like how much Phil just liked playing, and how while everyone else was struggling he was happy playing away in his giant drum world. Or how later he seemed so ubiquitous because people kept sending opportunities his way and just kept saying yes, because how could you say no to playing with Robert Plant or whomever?

But yeah, Tony is a total passive-aggressive dick. It's always someone fighting with Tony, whether the other guys in the band, or Gabriel, or whomever, or Tony sniffing that he doesn't like a direction, or discounting someone's input. Though Eno was only there for a day or something, and only messed with a couple of tracks. Sounds like Tony doesn't like "Lamb" at all.

Per Hackett, the dude wants it both ways, to be respected as a solo artist but also a guy who makes his living doing Genesis covers, including stuff like The Knife, which he had absolutely nothing to do with.

Yeah, I learned a few years ago that Rutherford deserves the blame for the "Land of Confusion" lyrics.

Saw it put recently that Tony is actually the person everyone thinks Phil is.

Gutted I missed the doc when it aired over here (although I'm sure it'll turn up on iPlayer again at some point) - I'm a very casual Genesis fan but I find their career intriguing, also I've recently discovered how great an album Trick of the Tail is.

Dance on a Volcano blew my mind as a 14 year old

How many Genesis documentaries have there been now? This must be at least the third.

Yeah, there do seem to be a bunch. It's not even a big deal they "reunited" with Gabriel and Hackett, since they do that all time, too, as needed. Just usually not musically.

They pretty much can't reunite musically, at least not with Phil -- he hasn't been able to physically play the drums for a couple of years now due to back problems. Watching old Genesis clips I think, ugh, dude, you shouldn't slouch like that!

Reportedly his condition has improved. That would be a good poll, musicians supposedly down for the count who came back. Like Pete Townsend, Linda Thompson or Dave Mustaine.

Townshend not only came back after his bike accident, but vaulted way past all of his contemporaries. He's been digging into this insane Coltrane-esque fingerpicking approach since around 1999-2000.

Would be interesting to see if Phil can come back, but even before his back troubles, he could (by his own admission) barely keep up with a Genesis cover band when they asked him to sit in once in the early '00s.

was going to say, i've heard rumblings phil might be up for playing some drums again.

xp

xpost That Genesis tribute band is The Musical Box, which is insanely talented, well-rehearsed and focuses on the Gabriel years. They not only have the blessing of the real band, but for a time they had a left-handed bald drummer who could sing. Anyone would struggle dropped into that environment, let alone Phil c. 2005 or whenever. Those '70s chops of his were insane.

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

There's a nice story about Peter Gabriel taking his daughter to a Musical Box gig and she turns to him and goes "Dad, is this really what you used to do?"

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