 | Nursery cryme (1971)Genres: progressive rock, symphonic rock |
review by thomas
Opens with the best (?) Genesis song that I have heard so far - "The Musical Box". Great acoustic and electric guitars, great bass and percussion, a fine organ performance from Tony Banks and a splendid vocal achievement from Peter Gabriel. "The Return of the Giant Hogweed" is almost as good as the afore-mentioned song. The third epic "The Fountain of Salmacis", lacks the power and glory of the two others, though it's a good song. The weak bits on this album - actually on all Genesis albums - are the shorter songs. Though other symphonic/progressive groups didn't have this problem and could deliver songs, both short and long, Genesis just couldn't; don't ask me why. The humorous "Harold the Barrel" is one exception to the rule. "Seven Stones", "Harlequin" and "For Absent Friends" are all songs-that-say-nothing-at-all.
 | Foxtrot (1972)Genres: progressive rock, symphonic rock |
review by daniel
Genenis was an extremely uneven band during the first half of the seventies (after that they were unfortunately extremely even). At the time their albums usually contained a few shorter nonsense songs, as well as at least one great longer song. And this album is no exception. “Can-Utility and the Coastliners” is the only good track of the shorter ones with its tasteful organ and precise drums. “Watcher of the Skies” has a boring main theme that is repeated by the bass throughout the song, while “Get ‘em out by Friday” is a decent track with a slightly annoying chorus.
Apparently Genesis saved their strength (and ideas) to the 23 minute album closer “Supper’s Ready”. A brilliant piece that really demonstrates what Genesis was capable of. It features delicate acoustic guitar and flute, a theatrical Gabriel and catchy electric guitar. On top of that it features the best organ playing I have heard from Tony Banks (just listen to “Apocalypse in 9/8”).
review by thomas
A record most remembered for the 23 minutes long ”Supper’s Ready” (and rightly so), a composition of high standard with really heavy parts, softer ones with flute and acoustic guitars, fantastic organ attacks and the theatrical vocal side of Gabriel/the band – the “silly voices”. (Which I find amusing and good.)
Otherwise what most surprises me on this album is that the only really weak track is the soft “Time Table”. The recurring bass line in “Watcher of the Skies” is actually something I like and the whole song is a stabile one, but not as good as we are used to when it comes to Genesis’ epics or mini-epics. The other mini-epic, “Get ‘Em Out by Friday”, is much more interesting, a song again featuring the silly voices to great effect. “Horizons” is another short guitar piece, this time a rather pleasant one and “Can-Utility and the Coastliners” starts like one of those Genesis songs that say nothing at all but soon transforms to a very good piece with that amazing organ sound up front in a very variated last section of the song.
“Foxtrot” lies closer to “Nursery Cryme” than to “Selling England by the Pound” when it comes to the heaviness of the music, it’s not as symphonic as the latter yet not so direct as the former, it’s more complex. And the organ sound throughout the album is really splendid together with Gabriel in fine form and the rest of the band plays very good too; Michael Rutherford’s bass playing stuns me at times.
 | Selling England by the Pound (1973)Genres: symphonic rock |
review by thomas
"Dancing With the Moonlit Knight", "Firth of Fifth", "The Battle of Epping Forest" and "The Cinema Show"; four epics and four great songs, this is how we want our tea served. With changes in time, tempo and mood. With great performances from all band members. With good sound quality. And with great lyrics. Unfortunately there are more songs on the album; the awful hit-single (how was it possible for this to become a hit?) "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)", the nonsense instrumental guitar-licking "After the Ordeal" and the horrific Phil Collins sung "More Fool Me". One good thing is that the four epics takes up about fourty minutes so you really get value for money spent, with the total time landing on approximately 55 minutes. But on the other hand it's always annoying with bad songs between the good ones.
This could have been a classic album should they not have overdone it. Instead this record have to settle with coming in just behind, not fully worthy to enter the classics realm.
review by daniel
Genesis were back with a slightly lighter and more symphonic sound. As usual when it comes to Genesis it’s a mixed bag. “I know what I like (in your wardrobe)” and “More fool me” are horrible songs and the least said about them the better (at least they are short). The rest is however good stuff. “Dancing with the Moonlit Knight”, “The Cinema Show” and “Firth of Fifth” are Genesis in symphonic mode while “The Battle of Epping Forest” displays their theatrical and humorous side. I know some people dislike the latter side, but I actually like the theatrical Gabriel, silly voices and all. When he is less dramatic he often sounds like Phil Collins and that is not something I prefer.
If you are unfamiliar with Genesis (I guess the Genesis fanatics stopped reading after the outrageous preceding sentence) this record is a good place to start. It features all the characteristics of early Genesis; gentleness, sophistication, wittiness and good (as well as bad) songwriting. Both Hackett’s guitar playing and Banks’ organ playing are typically light and tasteful throughout. I do have problems appreciating Hackett’s guitar playing (I would like some more crunch), but that goes for other Genesis albums as well. And it is not a big issue since Banks’ organ or piano usually serve as the lead instrument.
