I am sure we all started liking Genesis in 1980 with the hit "Turn It On Again." I will admit that's what I remember. Also I remember on MTV the video for "Land of Confusion" with the puppets of the band, and also the President of the United States and First Lady. I thought for the longest time that is what started Genesis. Well I was wrong. I even remember going to record stores and picking up Duke or Abacab saying that these are the best albums ever.
One day I was going through vinyl when I spotted Selling England By The Pound I had no idea what I just got myself into. I bought it and took it home. I looked at the date and thought this must be another Genesis. When I saw the photo of the band on the lyric sheet and looking at the personal I noticed it was the same band (well almost) that created Duke and Abacab. I must have missed something.
Then I put the album on the turn table and heard these words, "Can you tell me where my country lies?" said the unifaun to his true love eyes. I was floored. The music did not sound polished or late 70's pop rock and roll, but it sounded Sci-fi or Fantasy. The singer transported me to another world I have not explored.
I continued listening, I loved the sound as a whole. It was a much fuller sound then what I was listening to. I could not believe that this band was that band I was listened to. I stopped listening to the later Genesis and started listening to this stuff. I was so amazed by the music. When I heard the guitar player I could not believe it was coming from this. This had a classic rock feel or so I thought. It was definitely Progressive Rock and it was my new favorite band to hear.
What makes this album exciting to me is that these songs speak of far away lands and have a very Progressive Rock feel to them. They make me think that Pete Sinfield came over from King Crimson and wrote these. I like the fact that this is a long album that begs for your attention. 8 songs in 53 minutes has the feel of what an album should be.
I love this album, It's an album that does not get tired after repeated listens and surely will never get played on classic rock radio. If classic rock radio got a hold of this, they would not know what to with it. I often smile when I hear a classic rock station try to play something that they don't normally play and try to explain to us the dumb listener. This album classic rock is afraid of.
I will tell you that if you get this you might be putting your later Genesis in the next tag sale. You will listen to the Mellotron and keyboard of Tony Banks and great guitar work by Steve Hackett and the the vocals of Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins drumming which should be praised. This album is a joy to hear and you should too speak volumes after listening to it. I am sure it will be in rotation in your musical selections in the future.
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What good news that you eventually found the REAL Genesis! I also adore this album but was lucky enough to discover it not so long after it was released. As much as 'Trick of the Tale' and 'Wind and Wuthering' have their moments, without Peter Gabriel, it's not truly Genesis, IMO. Certainly once Steve Hackett left, that was it. Nice post.
ReplyDeleteYou wrote: "I am sure we all started liking Genesis in 1980 with the hit 'Turn It On Again.'" Well, erm, no. Some of us of a slightly older vintage, like Singing Bear and myself, thought of those 80s Genesis hits as the decline of Genesis, not its zenith (although I like 'Turn It On Again' the world's only pop hit in 13/8 time!). Nonetheless, I agree with SB above that the REAL Genesis is the five-piece with Steve and Peter. I started listening to them with "Wind and Wuthering," but quickly learned from more informed sources that they had just lost their brilliant lead singer, Peter Gabriel, and that if I wanted the real Genesis I needed to dig deeper. I bought "Nursery Cryme" in the cut-out bin for a couple of bucks and was enthralled instantly. For me the four essential Genesis albums are 'NC,' "Foxtrot,' 'Selling England' and 'The Lamb.' Runners up are 'Trespass', then 'TOTT' and 'W&W.' And 'Genesis Live' and 'Seconds Out' are pretty good if you're in the mood for live stuff. 'Selling England' is a great choice to feature Matt. It's right in the middle, the meat of the best period of Genesis. Every song is a gem and Steve Hackett does his best work IMO on this album. It's The Steve Album. And the production and engineering finally come out of the murk of their early period. Their albums started to sound great with this one. Nice job!
ReplyDeleteThanks Dave and Singing Bear! This Genesis is my go to Genesis time and time again. It is amazing all the way through! Thanks again and keep reading!!
ReplyDeleteI'm in the middle between you and DV77 on how I first discovered them, but closer to the more commercial period. With me it was Duke. I think Misunderstanding was the hit, and I thought the album cover was cool looking, so I picked it up.
ReplyDeleteFrankly, at the time I thought the album was "OK", but not great. Oddly, now I defend Duke as their last excellent album. Still love it and play it a lot. I think they found a strong balance of newer commercial pressures/changes with some Prog'ish elements. Although I liked some of the later hits, the albums (and hits) don't compare to their early and mid-period classics.
Which gets to one of your major points, about many of us discovering them in their later period and only later working our way backward to discover the true Genesis classics.
Anymore I go back and forth on which is my favorite. Lamb, Selling England or Foxtrot. I usually give it to Lamb by a hair, but on a "pound-for-pound" scale, I give it to England. Not a dull or mistep on the album. England probably is the quintessential Genesis album. And possibly the quintessential Prog Rock album.
Funny, I clearly remember critics who thought the ABCAB/GENESIS 80s albums were the beat all, and that their 70s Prog was pure crap! I can think of one writer who just loved 80s Gabriel (I do too), but couldn't understand how it was he came from such an awful 70s band. That was the crux of his article..."how did this amazing transformation happen?" *sigh*
I'm so glad we're largely past anti-Prog mentality, and the majority of true music fans who are exposed to early Genesis realize just how special that music was, and timeless it remains.
I almost envy someone new to early Genesis. As Genesis can make for a wonderful journey. There's about 5 or 6 wonderful studio albums, and 2 terrific live albums, that provide hours of musical discovery.
Rick/akajazzman