Undertow is apparently my favorite Genesis song. Okay it's not, however I have to say I played this one in to the ground when I was 16. I loved it, the chorus was the most heavenly thing I'd ever heard. I still think it's one of Tony's best lyrics for sure and one of my favorite tracks on the record. Bonus - I found this rendition of From the Undertow/Undertow years ago and it's absolutely amazing and probably reaffirms the notion of it being a longer track
A dicey splice @ 1:45 --- It may have worked (possibly) to flip/flop this with "Deep In The Motherlode". Down and Out --> Deep … ---> Ballad Of Big But then again it would butted up against Many Too Many and they are a bit too close / cut from the same cloth. Perhaps a re-shuffle of the whole of side 2? I dunno -- revisionism -- That's the beauty of playlists and (in my case) a CD burner that will allow me to do / solidify such "thangs" (if I choose to)! More often than not, though, I'm just too damn lazy to alter much of any album. ------------ Apologies, Mark -- once again getting off topic
I Don't have either album, but I just saw Curious feeling is in 5.1, so I'll have to pick that up at some point.
ATTWT does not sound at all to me like a "transition album". Apart from the fact that there are no really long songs, it's cut from the same cloth as Wind and Trick. Duke was the transition album, half pop, half (sort of) prog. I consider ATTWT the last really great Genesis album. Some of those that followed were merely good, and some were not good at all.
“Undertow” is a very good song. There’s a wistful mood to it that I think Tony would perfect on “Heathaze” on the next album (my vote for his best ever composition). Beautifully sung by Phil with lovely jangling guitars by Mike on the choruses. A very strong one-two punch to open the album.
I love ATTW3 but I don't listen to it nearly as often as I did when I first purchased it... There was one time where I re-sequenced the album, and I liked the flow much better. Trouble is, I can't remember what the revised tracklist was!!!
If I remember correctly From the Undertow was developed from the original idea of the Undertow intro but it's more elaborated and long I guess.
One thing I find about this album is that the quality is very even. There is neither the stratospheric highs of the best songs from their previous few albums, nor any real low points that I am tempted to skip. Having said that, of course I have favourites and non-favourite songs from the album. My two least favourites are "Many Too Many" - it seems a little repetitive - and "Scenes From a Night's Dream" - the obligatory humorous song. Neither of those songs are bad, both have been earworms of mine at some point. An odd thing about this album is that the most symphonic-proggy sounding songs seem to be clustered towards the start, while the closing track is a pretty straight out pop song (but a magnificent one, IMO). "Down and Out" and "Undertow" continue their policy of starting an album with a fast boisterous song followed by a slow mellow song; these two songs are as different from each other as they could possibly be, yet both sound like vintage Genesis. By the time we get to "Many Too Many" and "The Lady Lies", things are sounding a bit more like mainstream rock, and then of course there is FYFM. The album is almost like a miniature summary of their career trajectory.
I would have made Burning Rope the concluding track. While I do love Follow You Follow Me, I don't think it's a great choice for a closer.
Burning Rope might well have been my opening track, but it would also work as a closing track. I should take another stab at it.
I *think* this was it... but not 100% sure:: 1. Burning Rope 2. Undertow 3. Follow You Follow Me 4. Ballad of Big 5. Snowbound 6. Down And Out 7. Deep In The Motherlode 8. Many Too Many 9. Scenes From a Night’s Dream 10. Say It’s Alright Joe 11. The Lady Lies
I started offmy version with Burning Rope too, I like your bringing of FYFM to the third track. Would Down and Out end a side or start side two?
"Follow You Follow Me" should be neither the opening nor the closing track. It has to have tracks before and after it, because... well, because of its title.
The thing about Burning Rope is that, unlike many of the other songs, it has a proper conclusion, as opposed to a fade-out. That's why I would have selected it as the final track, perhaps with a bit more drama given to its final few notes. My other objection to your ordering is that it starts off with what I consider to be the two best songs. I just listened again to Undertow, and the adjective that spring to mind is "glorious". This is one of Phil's finest performances, and I refer to both the singing and the drumming. The drums are unobtrusive, yet add to the sense of drama in the song. Listen especially to how the drums kick in towards the end of the second verse, leading into the refrain. One of the things that differentiates really good drummers from run-of-the-mill drummers is hat they know when NOT to drum, making the instrument far more effective when they do use it.
I knew From The Undertow was the actual intro to Undertow, but i never tried to join them. Listening to the intro on Banks' A Curious Feeling, i always felt it was very different from the actual song, and i found it strange imagining it could really be its intro. Now, having listened to this custom full rendition i must say it's absolutely amazing.
Down And Out would end side 1... but now that I am looking at it... maybe Motherlode should end side 1, and Down and Out start Side 2!
The ending of "Scenes from a Night's Dream" could be the start of a big Genesis epic if there wasn't that fade-out...
From the Undertow, sonically, sounds closer to being a Duke track than from ATTWT. I guess Tony had already gravitated to his next sonic pallet by the time of A Curious Feeling. I have always had a soft spot for ATTWT. It would have been the first 70s record I acquired going backwards in the catalogue from IT. It is unique, in that it is probably the only time that Mike tried to be a Steve Hackett in the band; I can’t think of anywhere else where his guitar is so synthesizer-like. In subsequent releases he adopted a more conventional guitar sound. I agree with everyone’s who noted Phil’s vocals on Undertow. A tour de force. He came a long way from the vox on W&W.
I only discovered this album way way after Duke and Abacab. I always loved Deep In The Motherlode for some reason. That along with Follow You have to be my go to tracks, but I need to give this album another listen, it’s been many years.
AGREE! --- Now will some kind soul please tell what brand and model of keyboard did Banks acquire after ATTWT ; that watery piano sound he used for this era. It reminds me of Alex Lifeson and when he discovered the "chorus" guitar effect. Roughly the same time period '77 - '78. Both musicians used their newly-found effects as part of their core sound, onward.