I know..classic rock forum. sorries

Anycrap, I was listening to this mowing the lawn yesterday on the ol ipod. Been a 70s Genesis junkie since I could remember hearing my first sounds as a toddler.

My yard takes about 30-35 minutes to cut (when it's not the middle of the summer), so I got from the opener "Dancing With The Moonlit Knight" through to "Cinema Show".

Now I've listened to this album countless times...but for whatever reason, it really struck me yesterday what's odd about this tracklisting...

So I'm listening and enjoying the songs in order...

good Prog opener, More Prog with good melodies, Great prog piano into a sweet prog guitar and heavy bass pedal and keyboard outburst, stab at 80s pop, long Prog epic story about a gang-fight in the english countryside, Prog interlude, more long good Prog stories,etc.

wait, what the fuck? Seriously, what the fuck is "More Fool Me" doing on this album.

I love Phil Collins as a drummer, and I know the guy digs pop music, and I've learned to be fine with that. But that song is so uncomfortably out of place on this album.

Gabriel must have just stood back and shaked his head "bullocks" at this one.

At that point all the members, especially Martin and Rutherford, were getting annoyed at Gabriel's stage theatrics. They looked at him as a gimmick that wasn't necessary in the band - a gimmick that was overshadowing their musicianship.





May be that they were right because »a trick of the tail« is an amazing album!

Martin?

Unless you have good doc. reference, I'm not so sure about that during Selling.

From everything I've read and documentaries I've watched, I don't think that division really occurred until Lamb Lies Down. Gabriel was married with a child, the rest of the group were all still single and the band was completely their life. They were writing and recording Lamb in Whales, while Gabriel drove back to London almost every night to help his wife take care of their young child.

As for a gimmick, I don't argue that the band was perhaps getting tired of the stage antics, as it was almost becoming a distraction, especially on the second side to Lamb.

Whether the rest of the group would openly admit it or not, Gabriel's lyrical song writing was just as important as Tony Bank's musical songwriting, at least from Trespass to Lamb. It was Gabriel's presence and story telling that is just as pivotal towards the growth of that band until he left.

That said, I will completely agree with you....that musically, the band never sounded better than on Trick of the Tale AND Wind and Wuthering. Absolutely top of their game as musicians on those albums.

I always get Tony Martin and Tony Banks mixed up =P


(early) Genesis always had that lion, witch and wardrobe vibe that set them apart from their contemporaries.

Musicianship aside, Genesis lost focus after Peter Gabriel left the band, imho.

I'll disagree with that last comment. In a sense, they actually became more focused as a group immediately following Gabriel's departure. Maybe somewhat less creative and "out there", but from a songwriting standpoint, Trick of the Tale is probably their best written album. I just happen to think that Wind and Wuthering SOUNDS better. The last song on Wind and Wuthering "Afterglow" is the best example of pop and prog music living in harmony. Melody and heavy bass pedal....I'll always be a fan of that.

(Afterglow) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xA_uWtbX ... re=related

I think the focus got confused from "And Then There Were Three" until they got to "Abacab" where they found a meeting place in writing pop rock music, while still incorporating odd time signatures and musicianship. There may not be any 4/4 on Abacab, and yet it's easy to not realize that.

('Another Record' from Abacab) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFjExeNh ... re=related

Selling England By The Pound is my favorite next to Foxtrot. Got into Genesis in the late 70s when Collins already took over lead vocals and I played Trick Of The Tail, Wind & Wuthering and And Then There Were Three to death before getting to the older albums. And its the Gabriel-albums that I still like to listen to these days.

One of my older brothers loved this tape which contributed to me not being a big Genesissy.