Genesis - did they really sell out?

They did what they wanted to do, for whatever reason they wanted to do it, as is their right.

Meh. They made great music in all their incarnations (we'll ignore that Calling All Stations junk) so who cares.

 

They were the only 70s prog band to become gigantic in the 1980s. They were the anomaly!

 

Yes had 1 hit. Genesis had a dozen and sold out Wembley Stadium 4x in a row.

 

Sure, but Yes had a bigger album than Genesis at that point, and toured behind it for two years. So they did become gigantic and stay that way from 1984-86, though they blew it afterward.

In some ways Yes and Asia both set the standard for '80s prog figures getting huge in the 80s, and Genesis' greatest success happened afterward. You could add Supertramp, who released Breakfast in America in 1979 but were riding high for the first few years of the 80s.

 

While I think they absolutely sold out, I can't totally hate their first half of the '80s. As a kid, my first exposure to Genesis was the Mama video on MTV. It seemed cool and different to other music at the time. I got the Mama Tour video and my favorite part of the video was the old medley/Afterglow and that was my gateway to the really good stuff. I still remember the disappointment when I bought Invisible Touch right when it came out and I thought it was garbage, an opinion that hasn't changed over time. I guess I'm saying that even the shapes album for me walked a fine line between pop and still having some art while IT went all pop. TL; DR Yes they sold out.

 

In terms of my local AOR station, 90125 was far more than a "one hit" lp---had near Thriller levels of ubiquity, with 6 of its tracks in heavy rotation for awhile during the year after the lp came out.

 

Yes: 90125 and Big Generator were monsters and didn't hint of a sellout, even if they did!

 

On one hand you are tolerant in saying that it was their right to do what they wanted to do (which I agree with), but on the other hand you are intolerant regarding an interesting album of theirs and calling it "junk". I respect that you don't like it, but it's definitely not "junk". Ray Wilson brought in a darker feel to the music. In my opinion it was an interesting move and I would have liked to hear how the band would have developed had they continued. I prefer it a lot compared to "I Can't Dance".

 

I actually prefer Calling All Stations to The Lamb, much to the despair of some of my Genesis loving friends. CAS is a really decent 4/5 effort and should have been the start of an exciting new era for the band.

In fairness to The Lamb, I quite enjoy it too, and I could probably edit it down to a cracking single album, but as it stands, it languishes with their debut and Abacab on a score of merely a 3/5.

I am aware I plough a lonely furrow with this opinion.

 

We all have our opinions and it's great that they are different. It doesn't matter how lonely we are.

Just sometimes I get the feeling that certain albums are collectively put down in an unfair manner. And sometimes it is even being done without having listened to it carefully.

 

I agree.

I've often found that albums that are regarded as outliers contain decent music. Another currents thread talks about Queen & Paul Rogers' The Cosmos Rocks and Fleetwood Mac's Time alongside Calling All Stations. I'm glad to have all three in my collection

 

Invisible Touch is an album you can't really ignore.

 

Yeah I heard they sold out a lot all over the world. Oh, you mean did they compromise their integrity by playing more commercial songs? Well I guess that's all personal opinion but as long as they were making music that they felt was worth while then I'd have to say no.

 

I suppose the first question to answer is "What is selling out?".
In my opinion "selling out" occurs when the artists focus stops being primarily on making music and becomes primarily focused on making money.
This can be due to a number of factors:
Financial issues within the band (they are broke) …
Pressure from the record company.....
Simple greed.....
Did Genesis sell out...….absolutely they did!
They jumped across from "Progressive Rock" to "Easy Listening!"

 

Amen brother. Tell it like it is.

 

Fine. But, under your definition, Peter Gabriel sold out too when he organized the Milton Keynes reunion show, whose sole purpose was to rescue him (or his record label) from insolvency.

In my view, artists "sell out" when they stop doing what they love and focus on what the market wants. I think Peter Gabriel, for instance, did not sell out nor did Phil Collins, who really started doing what he loved best in the 80s.

I think the prime suspect for "selling out" could be Tony Banks. But whether he was moved by a desire to change or to earn money, only he can know for sure.

 

I think that they both sold out. They wanted to make it in the "Big Time".

 

I guess I missed the day they signed that contract with their fans promising they'd only ever write, create, & perform prog.

 

A Trick of the Tail fixed that first one
Charisma might have wanted a hit, but that only happened twice on accident
No

 

Although Yes did experience considerable success in the 80s, Genesis really did have a very unique career arc with that gradual build to success through the 70s and then achieving mega-stardom when they were in their 30s. They're also unusual in that all of their main members could write well and many experienced considerable solo success (the glaring exception here would be Banks, though he always seemed to concentrate most of his efforts into Genesis). Though I don't really love their latter day releases as much as the earlier stuff, I can't begrudge them their accomplishments.

 

I can't read 30 pages of this to know how long ago someone said the same thing as me now but... don't most artists want success?
Now success can be critical acclaim or yachts, jets, models and private islands... sometimes it may be both.

Even the most curmudgeon artist probably deep down may appreciate the life they have been afforded by high sales...
It may seem cloying because lots of people hate Bono but he has on the past thanked fans for giving the life they have...
Not all artists want to suffer and all art - visual is not my strong suit- changes!!!
No painter only ever paints the same subject or style over their career.
Change does not equal sell out. Plus everyone over time has priorities shift also- providers for families, what is my legacy etc.
Not a sell out!

 

They sold out the moment they made more then they spent.

 

I don't think they sold out.
Collins has true pop sensibilities.
He became more confident--changed the direction of the band.
Not everything holds up but the flak they've taken is grossly unfair.

There was nothing desperate about it (like Liz Phair hiring "the Matrix").

It just looks like they changed their methods to keep themselves interested.

Like ZZTop and Yes....all three deserved their success, it wasn't contrived. It worked then and most of it still holds up.

 

I'm not sure if they sold out, I know that I lost interest after Wind and Wuthering.