Genesis Album Poll: “Wind & Wuthering” (1976)

^^^This!

 

I know a lot of people really like this album. It's pretty good, but some very poor fade outs (as far as I remember) ..

 

Among my favorites. It has a nice "sweep" to it and I like the orchestral sound of the keyboard layers. I prefer the live versions of afterglow and Seconds Out, and especially 3 Sides Live (goose bumps).

 

Aside from:

Epping Forest - too cluttered and wordy (Peter never shuts up)
More Fool Me - boring crap ballad
After The Ordeal - go nowhere instrumental

...hmmm...now that I think about it....

Mouse's Night - crap words
Your Own Special Way - boring crap ballad
Wot Gorilla - go nowhere instrumental

WOW! They're practically the same album!

..that is - except that in all three comparisons the W&W songs are all slightly better than their SEBTP counterparts...

 

Just realised it was nearly 40 years ago not 30 when I first fell in love with Afterglow and Genesis.
Seesh 10 years flashed in front of my eyes.

 

Their last great hurrah before they went full-on top 40 pop. Adore 'Eleventh Earl Of Mar' and 'One For The Vine.' Not crazy about the lyrics to 'All In A Mouse's Night' and I never really liked 'Your Own Special Way', although the country-and-western guitar on there is pretty inspired. It was an unexpected touch that made a bland song interesting. 'Wot Gorilla?' actually sounds like something that wouldn't be out of place on a Brand X album. (That's a good thing.)

 

I went with option #1. This was my intro to Genesis, so it holds a special place in my heart. I wish it sounded better, but the songs are so good that I don't really notice anymore. The Nick Davis remix is too compressed for my liking, but the original mix is so anemic I just wish there could be a middle ground. Yes, I usually skip FYFM, but that's the only blemish on what is otherwise a brilliantly played (especially Phil's drumming) album.

 

FYFM?

 

OOPS. Follow You Follow Me. Meant Your Own Special Way. Got my tacky Genesis singles mixed up. I skip both.

 

What! I love love love 'Follow You Follow me' off "3" such a good driving song.

 

If the three song EP that followed somehow got incorporated into Wind & Wuthering, it would have given the album more musical variety. Regardless, W&W is a personal favorite. Such a talented line-up loaded with song ideas which they beautifully executed.

 

My God after 35 years I never noticed that but it's true. Still love it for the drumming at the end on Seconds Out though.

 

Funny, I am really a Gabriel-era fan, but my faves of the post-Gabriel years are Trick and Duke.

Tim

 

Oh behave.

 

A great album but dragged down by "Your Own Special Way," "All In A Mouse's Night" and "Wot Gorilla." I don't think "Pigeons" or "Match Of The Day" would have meshed with the album if they included them instead of saving them for the EP, but "Inside And Out" would have been a highlight. Hackett has also said that he brought his instrumental "Please Don't Touch" to the sessions, but the band "couldn't get behind it." That would certainly have been a stronger instrumental than "Wot Gorilla." To me "Blood On The Rooftops" is one of their most overlooked songs. Just beautiful. They had actually rehearsed the song for their last tour, but would up dropping it. That would have been amazing.

 

Not just Inside and Out but apparently the band also worked on Steve's Please Don't Touch but I believe Tony pushed for it to be dropped

 

Afterglow

I love the dual drum fill quote from the Zappa song "More Trouble Every Day" (also originally performed by Chester Thompson).

 

Phil

 

Phil

 

I don't think lyrically at least that "Pigeons" would have stuck out any more than "All In A Mouse's Night" does- "Mouse's Night" is a rather silly song lyrically; certainly not one of Banks' better moments in that regard (Collins was fairly scathing about those lyrics in retrospect and being the one who had to sing them you can't really blame him). Hackett was right to be cheesed off that they rejected "Inside And Out" for the album...the instrumental section in the second half of the song is a blinder. "Wot Gorilla?" made the cut but "Inside And Out" didn't? "Wot Gorilla?" would have been a better fit on Spot The Pigeon.

One of my biggest issues -a minor quibble, really- with Wind And Wuthering is the long songs tend to go on a minute or two too long. All of them. "Your Own Special Way" is probably the worst offender- lose that corny sounding slow bridge section and you indeed have a decent, commercial four and a half minute single-worthy tune.

If you want a Genesis album with poor fade outs, look no further than Calling All Stations- if memory serves just about every song on there has a decidedly premature fade, as if to say, "Well, that's enough of this song...next!"

 

Essential, the last one to get that designation from me. I think the opener Eleventh Earl of Mar is clearly the standout track, and All in a Mouse's Night is second. If the lyrics to the latter are not entirely credible, multiply that by a dozen for One for the Vine, which however is musically excellent. Unlike some people, I like Your Own Special Way. Blood on the Rooftops is pretty decent and after that the LP trails off a bit, but still essential listening for '70s Genesis fans.

 

I have come to know this album intimately, since I've been gigging as the "Tony Banks" in a Genesis tribute from NJ called The Genesis Show. We've played half a dozen gigs over the past year and are playing all the set lists of the 1977 tour. Our Phil also plays a second drum kit, we use a lot of vintage gear, Taurus pedals, double neck Shergolds...it's really fun.

Not only do we end up doing all of Seconds Out, but many other songs which didn't make the live album. If you hear the boots, the W&W songs don't quite reach the heights of the studio versions, so I went to great lengths to recreate all of Tony's sounds and layers.

We've learned and played out the entire W&W album, including Blood On the Rooftops and Unquiet Slumbers For the Sleepers, both of which they never did live. We've just added Inside and Out to the set, too.

My absolute favorite to play is One For The Vine, that's a transcendent one to do for an audience.

We're now getting to work on the 1976 tour and will be doing that out in the spring, but we'll be doing variations of the 1977 tour in Boston area (11/18), Philadelphia @ Keswick (12/30), and Syracuse 1/6, plus working on NYC, Harrisburg, DC in early 2018.

I realize tributes are not for everyone, but if you're a fan of this era come check us out. We do play these songs more faithfully than Hackett's band does on his recent tour (he's allowed to do what he wants of course, but I've found his band's arrangements lacking).

 

Interesting! Steve H has said he never really felt part of the group - he (like Phil) were NOT 'public-school boys (like Gabriel, Rutherford and Banks who were all mates at the famous Charterhouse School in England) - they were from more 'modest' backgrounds. After Steve left, the heart went out of them. The only album post-W&W I ever listen to is Duke, their last prog (here and there) effort - ATTWT and Abacab aren't much for me either.

 

I love a lot of Genesis, especially Foxtrot, Selling..., Lamb and Trick... but this one has yet to connect with me. All the songs are similar in the I can’t hear a standout tune.

I’m not saying it’s a bad album, but I can’t seem to get over the hump.

I still give it a chance from time to time, and I even bought the 5.1 mix. Tony Banks is all over this one and I think that’s where my hang up might be. I like the band best when the writing is a little more balanced between members.

I’ll keep giving it a shot though.

 

Just caught up with this thread. Very interested to hear that some would put the Spot The Pigeon EP on the album. I agree that Inside Out would fit nicely. Your Own Special Way is dreadful & Wot Gorilla is neither here nor there. You couldn't include Match Of The Day or Pigeons though they are real B-side fillers. Please Don't Touch would have been interesting instead of In that quiet earth but to include it as well as all the other instrumental stuff would have been a tad too much. I'm on the fence with Mouse's Night, great parts instrumentally especially the closing section but lyrics are weak as many have said.
The live versions of 11th Earl always sound like Phil is struggling to sing it live. Funny how Afterglow became a bit of an anthem but 11th Earl didn't.