This thread has definitely had that effect on me - raising my opinion of Nursery Cryme and Foxtrot immensely. For a long time I would have said that Selling England and A Trick of the Tail were my favorites but, as I mentioned earlier, I got burned out on the band. Thanks to this thread Genesis is back in heavy rotation. I am finding that there is something about the earlier efforts that while not as polished is definitely appealing. The way this thread is going, though, I am sure I will be finding a fresh appreciation for each album as we get to it.
Interesting. I’ve always counted it as one of their best songs, mainly due to the social and political commentary in the lyrics. It gave Genesis a grounding in the real world, which was refreshing after all of the songs about aliens, ancient worlds, and literary characters. I wished they had continued more along the path of political conscience. Gabriel did after he left the band, but the group mostly did not, and it was a loss.
Sorry the cartoon probably needs some explaining. Apparently an Italian magazine started making cartoons of some of the Gabriel era songs... I'll let you know when i have time to find out more.
Like I've already mentioned earlier in this thread - its a mistake to just assume all lyrics are Gabriel's. Heck even on "The Lamb" where the story was totally Peter's and the lyrics were meant to be 100% his - they weren't, as he was up against a deadline to finish the album so Tony and Mike pitched in to get the lyrics done. Outside of that album, Peter wrote AT MOST half the lyrics for Genesis during his tenure. In fact it was a bit of a sticking point for the other members when Gabriel insisted on being sole lyric writer for 'The Lamb'. 'Time Table' was a Tony Banks solo composition - music AND lyrics - regardless of what the credits say. While Gabriel was in the band, everything was credited to everybody, but that didn't make it true. Heck even 'Horizons' was credited to Banks/Collins/Gabriel/Hackett/Rutherford, when in reality it should have been credited to Hackett alone, or as some might argue Bach/Hackett. According to Phil (IIRC in one of the band interview/documentaries in their remix boxsets) on (musically) group written songs, usually (but of course not always) a pair of band members would get together to write the lyrics after the music was finished. Off the top of my head Tony and Mike wrote the lyrics to 'Watcher' together, and Steve and Phil wrote the lyrics to ''For Absent Friends" together.
Friday was a favorite of mine when I was getting into Genesis, mainly because of the Peter vocals. I had never heard anybody singing this way. Now I still consider it is great fun, but I prefer the rest of the album.
All I can say is thank God they didn't. I probably would have dropped them years ago. State of Confusion was bad enough. :gag:
nothing wrong with socio-political commentary, as long as it doesn't become your only function, and it's commentary rather than judgement
THIS! This should be a golden rule for music appreciation in general. Man … how many pages to go before "...Epping Forest" . ?
LOL a few yet, we have the live album up next and we're only on the third song ... it may be quite a long thread if folks don't disappear as band members do lol
Extraordinary footage from 1973, includes, Watcher Of The Skies and others. Reading this thread has really made me appreciate this era more. (Apologies if this has already been posted).
Fair enough. In what way is it uneven? The songwriting? The production? Just opinions but I am curious why you think it is. You may change my mind. Or is it uneven because there are songs on it that you like and dislike....which really does not make it uneven on any level of being objective. BTW- In the past I would have agreed with you but after digging deep into all of the songs over the past few years, I have come to the conclusion that there is not a weak composition on the album. All of them have their moments of brilliance. I can show examples in each song.
Blood on the Rooftops Not getting into it yet but, probably one of their best lyrics ever. Let's move on to the most underrated track on the album! That mid section...
I'm a Genesis fan and I've always loved "Get 'Em Out By Friday"! But yes, I know what you mean, some of my fellow Genesis fans were always surprised by my love of the song. But what's not to love? It's a cool tune. And I have to say, the lyrical content is part of what makes it such an intriguing song. Although musically, I disagree with some of the comments above as well, as I think it's great musically as well. Of course, I love every track on Foxtrot and am probably pretty biased.
I LOVED Land of Confusion and, more importantly, it’s an awesome piece! I love the Spitting Image puppets, too. They’re so bizarre looking yet I can’t look away.
We'll probably get there quicker if people leave lengthy discussions about later albums until we actually get to them.
because it's no fun being a illegal alien. Hackett always played it in its entirety in his solo shows, even re-recorded on a guitar album. That speaks for itself, if the music didn't already. Wars were started for lesser statements.
I've always thought it was a bit lame tbh, the band certainly weren't very pleased with it. Although it attempts to look like a live gig in front of an audience, it is in fact a 'staged' performance filmed over two days at Shepperton Film Studios. A few roadies and friends are grouped at the front to give the impression of it being in front of a proper audience, I seem to remember that Amanda and Maggie that used to run the Hogweed Youth Movement (an early fan club) were part of it. The band were so displeased with the results they vetoed IKWIL being shown on Top of the Pops when it came out as a single, which no doubt cost them a few sales. It's value these days is that, in the absence of anything better, it's the only half-decent representaion of them on the Selling England tour, but why not just have filmed one of the regular shows?
