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

Tracklisting:

1. Eleventh Earl of Mar (7:39)
2. One for the Vine (9:59)
3. Your Own Special Way (6:15)
4. Wot Gorilla? (3:12)
5. All in a Mouse's Night (6:35)
6. Blood on the Rooftops (5:20)
7. Unquiet Slumber for the Sleepers... (2:27)
8. ...In That Quiet Earth (4:45)
9. Afterglow (4:10)

Personnel:

Phil Collins - vocals, drums, percussion
Steve Hackett - electric guitar, nylon-strung classical guitar, 12-string guitar, kalimba, autoharp
Tony Banks - Steinway grand piano, ARP 2600 synthesizer, ARP Pro Soloist synthesizer, Hammond organ, Mellotron, Roland RS-202 string/bass synthesizer, Fender Rhodes piano
Mike Rutherford - 4-, 6-, & 8-string bass guitars, electric & 12-string acoustic guitars, bass pedals

Additional information:



-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wind & Wuthering is, by far, my favorite post-Gabriel album and really the last ‘prog’ album Genesis will make even though there are proggy pieces on several of their albums after this one. For me, there’s a sense of closure about the album in a sense even though no one knew Hackett would later depart for good during the mixing of their double live album, Seconds Out. There’s this sense of longing throughout Wind & Wuthering that makes the understated emotion that much more powerful. Standout pieces for me: Eleventh Earl of Mar, One for the Vine, Blood on the Rooftops, and the ending three-part suite, Unquiet Slumbers for the Sleepers..., ...In That Quiet Earth, and Afterglow. I love this album, so it’s absolutely essential to me.

 

A fine album but at the bottom of the list IMO ranking all of the albums to that point.

 

A very fall/winter album. Maybe it's the artwork, but I prefer to listen during the winter time. A nice sendoff for Hackett.

One for the Vine is my pick for best track.

 

****ing sublime.

 

Possibly my favorite of album of theirs.

 

Pretty solid, worth recommending but definitely not top tier. Eleventh Earl of Mar and One For the Vine open the album strongly, but after that the album limps along until the great closing track; Afterglow. All the songs in between are fine on their own, but collectively I find them (and the entire album really) to be a tough listen. Its a bit TOO laid back in my opinion. After its over I find myself reaching for Black Sabbath or Blue Oyster Cult to get my rock fix because Wind and Wuthering is such a serene and pastoral affair. That sounds weird as Genesis was never that kind of band, I'm just saying W&W is slooooow even for Genesis.

Good, but not their best 70s output.

 

Hackett's last album with Genesis. This a great album indeed and I like some of their later work.

When Steve left it wasn't the same. Gabe left 2 albums ago and they went on just fine. But when it Steve left, it's like the heart of the band left with him.

 

Wot Gorilla and In That Quiet Earth are pretty energetic tracks...

 

Though some very good moments I always ended up calling this one "Wind and Withering"

 

OK , but too bad the sound quality is so poor compared with the previous albums.

 

True, and on their own terms there's not a single track I dislike, I just find all of them together a bit...tedious. I start to become bored. Just one man's opinion. I'd still recommend it to aspiring fans, but Trick of the Tail it is not.

 

An excellent album, although I would be happy if they'd omitted Your Own Special Way.

 

Definitely a very solid work containing sublime moments. To me, it get points off for having a bright, fuzzy and crowded mix. The drums, though brilliantly played, are pretty "fizzy" sounding, and often times it's hard to discern all the elements of a track.

Phil Collins seems a little less confident as a vocalist than he did on A Trick of the Tail.

Other minor quibbles: "Your Own Special Way" is pretty, but coming across emotionally lightweight to me. It's a bit long, considering it gets the whole message across after about three minutes.

"All In A Mouse's Night" has some brilliant instrumental sections, the ponderously grand big chord synth and guitar duet at the end is particularly majestic. Unfortunately, to me the words seem inappropriate and tiresome after repeated listening, they could have saved that silly story for a children's album.

Hackett's masterwork "Inside and Out" was left off the record, and could have been one of the strongest tracks. I guess band politics caused that decision.

In its favor, Wind and Wuthering is Steve Hackett's swan song, and all his contributions are first rate. Also, Tony Banks was continuing to use classic keyboards like acoustic piano, Hammond Organ and Mellotron. There's even a bit of Fender Rhodes piano. And the ARP synthesizer and Roland string synthesizer elements are very tasteful. (I prefer those tones to the more generic synth tones he gravitated to more and more through the 1980s). Nonetheless, with all that amazing gear and playing technique, it's baffling to me that the overall sound of W&W is thin. Recorded in Holland, not Trident in England.

"Eleventh Ear of Mar", "One For the Vine" and "Afterglow" are all-time top Genesis classics. "Blood On the Rooftops" and the instrumentals on side two are great as well.



Earlier this year I saw Steve Hacket in Royal Oak, Michigan perform his favorite songs from the album, plus "Inside and Out". The dramatic impact was demonstrated to have not diminished.

 

My third favorite after Trick and Lamb. One For The Vine is one of Tony's best moments ever. Blood on the Rooftops is a pastoral masterpiece and Unquiet Slumbers/In That Quiet Earth going into Afterglow is incredible.

 

Second favorite, not telling my 3rd until it's time... though I bet you could guess. This is Genesis casting a mood over you the whole record, and the romantic feel it has is to die for. Eleventh Earl of Mar is a killer opener, One For The Vine is absolutely beautiful and a song that made me recognize how important Tony Banks is to this band. I think his style and writing aren't for everyone and this is why there's a divide starting with this record, but he's all over this one and I love it. Your Own Special Way is a weak lyric, but still quite nice, and the keys from Tony add so much to it, though maybe makes it a bit too long. Wot Gorilla is just a jerkoff but a good one. All In A Mouse's Night is some of Tony's poorest writing to date but the it's innocent enough and the song is great so I give it a pass, plus that guitar solo. Blood on the Rooftops, I can't say much that hasn't been said - it's Steve at his finest, and a lyrics that is one of the best in the Genesis catalog. Unquiet Slumbers For The Sleepers/In That Quiet Earth keeps the mood but also shows these guys can play there instruments as good as anyone else and Afterglow ends the record with a good lyric from Tony, though I think Mellotron instead of overdubbed Phil vocals would have worked way better. Good thing live performances exist with it's presence loud and proud throughout.

Essential. If you like Blood on the Rooftops, go get Steve's solo records. If you like One For The Vine or most of the rest of the record, keep going with Genesis. It's the end for many people but I think the band had quite a bit left to say.

 

It's ok, but I now have to skip Your Own Special Way as it's reached a point where the chorus especially makes me want to puke and kick my stereo in .... it's just yuk.

 

Essential. For some reason I always preferred Wind And Wuthering to A Trick Of The Tail. Tony Banks' ego ran amok on W & W though, probably cost them Steve Hackett in the bargain. Nice one, Tony.

 

It still stands up after 41 years - Blood on the Rooftops and One for the Vine are the stand out tracks but plenty of good stuff on here for any fan of the band to enjoy.
This was though, their last great album. Everything from here was affected by a) the absence of a truly great guitarist that could swoop and dive to suit the mood of the music (and be prepared throw in the odd bit of delicate 12 string that was so much a part of their sound) and b) the need to maintain a certain commercial appeal that Follow You Follow Me had brought them, while c) still keeping a limp foot in the prog waters. They should have come clean after Hackett left and acknowledged this isn't really Genesis anymore and either changed their name or looked for an able replacement for Hackett and continued doing what they did best. I accept though that with 3 writers in the band they preferred to work that way and didn't want to return to the old days of in fighting, petty squabbling and jealousy that the years 1970-76 held in abundance.

 

Perhaps the most uneven album they ever made - 2/3 of the album is just - I have no words so lets just say

The other third of the album (the middle third to be more specific

Drop that middle third of the album:

Your Own Special Way - its just "OK" - not to mention way too long
Wot Gorilla - Hackett called it "a sketch" that shouldn't have made the album - I call it a mediocre re-do of the brilliant 'Los Endos' from the previous album
All In A Mouse's Night - while I can appreciate them wanting to move away from the mythological themes lyrically this was not a good alternative. For me I just can't stop myself from hearing this as a musical 'Tom & Jerry' cartoon, and for Phil it annoyed him to have to actually sing the word "breadbin" IIRC his quote was along the lines of "What am I supposed to do with THAT as a singer?" Musically its actually pretty good, but...overall factoring in those lyrics? FAIL

So drop those three from the album and add 'Inside & Out' in their place - or don't, as the album is still almost 40 minutes long after dropping those three songs.

Another way to go if the album had been released a few months later, or Floyd released Animals a few months earlier is they could have made their 'Spot The Pigeon' EP - a Pink Floyd "Animals" parody/response EP instead:

Side 1:
Pigeons
Wot Gorilla

Side 2:
All In A Mouse's Night

Kinda like Nick Lowe did when he released his "Bowi" EP around the same time.

Then they could have put 'Inside & Out' and 'Match Of The Day' on the album.

Anyway the rest of the album 11th Earl/Vine - and Blood/Sleepers/Earth/Afterglow are just WOW!

If the album was just those tracks it might be my favorite Genesis album. However, since that isn't the case and IMO the quality gap is so wide between the strongest and weakest stuff on the album, I have to call it as a whole a bit of a step down in quality compared to Trick.

PS - no come to think of it SEBTP is their most uneven album (widest gap in quality between its strongest and weakest songs) Wind & Wuthering comes second

 

Love it!
It's the only Genesis album that has no filler!

 

I voted 'A pretty solid effort', it's not as good as the previous albums but it's still good. I've always thought this album is pretty underrated because it's not really talked about much.

 

Lower tier. The only good album Post-Gabriel is Trick Of The Tail.

 

Top-tier. If I could just keep one record of theirs, it would be W&W!

 

Dreadful album. Bland in the extreme. A band not even looking for a sense of direction (which they found on their next album). A 'So what?' albumfor me. I keep hearing great things about it and revisit to see if I got it wrong. Still waiting to 'get it' 40 years later...

 

Dreadful album. Bland in the extreme. A band not even looking for a sense of direction (which they found on their next album). A 'So what?' albumfor me. I keep hearing great things about it and revisit to see if I got it wrong. Still waiting to 'get it' 40 years later...