Top 10 Genesis tracks

    In a local Aldi recently a guy was quietly singing along to "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" - it reminded me of Man Of Our Times though, that "tonight, tonight" part, anyway it prompted me to compile thirty favourite songs, shove them onto a stick (as one does these days) and enjoy.


    1. Looking For Someone

    2. The Musical Box

    3. Horizons

    4. I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)

    5. The Carpet Crawlers

    6. Your Own Special Way

    7. Entangled

    8. Squonk

    9, Ripples

    10. Mad Man Moon

    11. Down And Out

    12. Undertow

    13. Deep In The Motherlode

    14. Many Too Many

    15. Alone Tonight

    16. Please Don't Ask

    17. Turn It On Again

    18. Paperlate

    19. You Might Recall

    20. Misunderstanding

    21. Mama

    22. That's All

    23. Throwing It All Away

    24. Land Of Confusion

    25. In Too Deep

    26. Invisible Touch

    27. No Son Of Mine

    28. Jesus He Knows Me

    29. Hold On My Heart

    30. Not About Us


    Okay, so from those my top ten would be...


    Alone Tonight, Paperlate, Ripples, Deep In The Motherlode, Looking For Someone, Mad Man Moon, Undertow, Your Own Special Way, Land Of Confusion and Entangled.

    My cat is named Duchess.

    Quote from Squonk

    Okay, so from those my top ten would be...


    Alone Tonight, Paperlate, Ripples, Deep In The Motherlode, Looking For Someone, Mad Man Moon, Undertow, Your Own Special Way, Land Of Confusion and Entangled.


    Each to their own of course, and I know it's no one's place to judge anyone else's music taste and I don't mean to, indeed beauty is in the eye of the beholder, etc., etc...


    But "Alone Tonight"? Really? :huh::huh::huh:

    Was it you or was it me? Or was it he, or she?

    #1 "Your Own Special Way" (Wind & Wuthering) 1976. GOLD: BEST IN SHOW


    A no doubt highly unexpected one, but allow me to explain. I've been pretty much house-bound recently with a bad back and a sack full of sedatives, anti-inflammatories, proton pump inhibitors etc. Thankfully, I've had the Top 10 Genesis Countdown and a bunch of fellow squonks to take my mind off things. Yet even too much of a good thing can be bad for you: fast cars, booze, wild women and yes; even prog rock. Over the past few weeks, my ears, my brain, my heart and my pulse have all taken a battering from the forensic analysis that I have given these musical novellas that we have explored together. The soaring guitar and synth solos, the dramatic mood swings, the recurring musical motifs have all left me drained and in need of the solace to be found in a simpler musical form. What better then, than a ballad and particularly one delivering such a sweet spoonful of restorative medicine in its chorus.

    Rutherford's first solo song, 'Your Own Special Way', was released during my spotty teenage years when my only source of comfort was Madam Palm and her five daughters as I crooned to this track in my back-bedroom and fantasied about those unattainable sixth form goddesses. But I digress... In typical Genesis fashion, this Rutherford 'sugar-ballad' employs acoustic 12 string arrangements and incorporates an instrumental piece that he had written previously and which he only later decided to insert into the middle as a bridge. It's a sublime, gentle piece of music but arguably more at home on the Trespass album and sits a little awkwardly within this song which has more overtly pop overtones. But what really impresses me about this piece is the chorus and in particular how Rutherford totally reins in Hackett. Flighty guitar solos might be ok when you're full of beans but when you've had a taste of life at age 90, believe you and me, a nice soothing ballad takes some beating. Anyway, by this time Hackett was getting disgruntled and needed putting in his place. Mike's response was to restrict him to the most basic guitar refrain imaginable which he is simply required to bend woozily whenever the title of the song is sung. It was written to make a teenage girl swoon (though sadly never into my arms) and most guys to reach for their tonsils.

    I've been desperate to get off the sedatives that I have been prescribed for ages now. This unadulterated syrup has done it for me. I'm now up and about for the first time in ages. God bless you Mike: you've cured me and in 'Your Own Special Way.'

    ~ My talents may not be obvious but they are always...always...delicious! ~

    Quote from Squonk

    Okay, so from those my top ten would be...


    Alone Tonight, Paperlate, Ripples, Deep In The Motherlode, Looking For Someone, Mad Man Moon, Undertow, Your Own Special Way, Land Of Confusion and Entangled.

    So which is number 10, numbers 9 - 1 etc?

    ~ My talents may not be obvious but they are always...always...delicious! ~

    Quote from Merryman

    But "Alone Tonight"? Really? :huh::huh::huh:

    It's like a goddamn power ballad! That subtle dreamy vocal and then the drums smashing into the chorus... actually the chorus line would make the track fit on And Then There Were Three I feel - whatever, surely Alone Tonight must be one of the best songs on Duke? Really? Each to their own... 8o

    My cat is named Duchess.

    Quote from Fabrizio

    And Paperlate??!!! As you said to each his own,

    I'm steppin' in 'ere to defend meself - PAPERLATE is brilliant!! Bought it as a single originally (4-track EP was it?) and the song has that trumpet chorus (I love a bit o' brass, me) and also I think it's just a bit different and one of a few reasons why I love Paperlate!

    My cat is named Duchess.

    Like 1
    Quote from Gabble Ratchet

    So which is number 10, numbers 9 - 1 etc?

    I'll do this but I hadn't considered them in any order per se.


    1. Ripples (surely the best Genesis song ever?) ooh controversial

    2. Deep In The Motherlode

    3. Looking For Someone

    4. Entangled

    5. Undertow

    6. Mad Man Moon

    7, Land Of Confusion

    8. Paperlate

    9. Alone Tonight

    10. Your Own Special Way


    It's easy to see I'm still crazy after all these years about ATOTT and ATTWT and Merryman can consider 'imself lucky - I could easily have thrown Please Don't Ask into the ten!

    My cat is named Duchess.

    Quote from Squonk

    It's like a goddamn power ballad! That subtle dreamy vocal and then the drums smashing into the chorus... actually the chorus line would make the track fit on And Then There Were Three I feel - whatever, surely Alone Tonight must be one of the best songs on Duke? Really? Each to their own... 8o

    I also like it! It's a darned sight better than either of those Collins' numbers

    ~ My talents may not be obvious but they are always...always...delicious! ~

    Like 1
    Quote from Squonk

    It's easy to see I'm still crazy after all these years about ATOTT and ATTWT and Merryman can consider 'imself lucky - I could easily have thrown Please Don't Ask into the ten!

    Ha! No, I would have loved to see "Please Don't Ask" in one of the top 10s here. Not my personal favourite from Duke but a really great and heartfelt track. Much more interesting than "Alone Tonight". And I don't think "Alone Tonight" is terrible... but it's comfortably my least favourite from the album!


    I like your top 10 overall though - a bit alternative! Good to see Motherlode getting some love :) (And yeah I love Paperlate too, though maybe not quite that much!)

    Was it you or was it me? Or was it he, or she?

    Like 1
    Quote from Squonk

    I'm steppin' in 'ere to defend meself - PAPERLATE is brilliant!! Bought it as a single originally (4-track EP was it?) and the song has that trumpet chorus (I love a bit o' brass, me) and also I think it's just a bit different and one of a few reasons why I love Paperlate!

    I really don't have a problem with anybody's choices, however, I am having a hard time imagining an article or a conversation going:' Genesis, the band famous for songs like Paperlate, Alone Tonight and Your own Special way'. But hey! More power to you, it can't be reiterated too often really: to each his own.

    Quote from Squonk

    I'm steppin' in 'ere to defend meself - PAPERLATE is brilliant!! Bought it as a single originally (4-track EP was it?) and the song has that trumpet chorus (I love a bit o' brass, me) and also I think it's just a bit different and one of a few reasons why I love Paperlate!

    I love Paperlate too! Surely among their best singles. I can take or leave brass generally, but the tune is just too infectious!! The song has a great energy and positivity about it too. Maybe it should have been on Abacab instead of sh!t like Whodunnit.

    THE FINAL CHART

    There were 8 of us in total who cast the full 10 votes and 16 tracks in total that made it through to the combined chart by garnering more than one vote So without further ado, here's the combined chart of our Top 10 Genesis tracks (incorporating all last minute changes)


    Delighted to see that 9 out of 10 of my nominations made it through to this combined chart.

    The overall number 1: The Cinema Show: a true arthouse blockbuster!

    Interesting to see no songs from The Lamb received more than one vote. In fact, I believe I was the only person among the participants who actually selected any songs off that album (I had two of them in my Top 10, early on).

    Quote from Witchwood

    Interesting to see no songs from The Lamb received more than one vote. In fact, I believe I was the only person among the participants who actually selected any songs off that album (I had two of them in my Top 10, early on).

    Though I like CD1 from The Lamb album, I'm not keen on CD 2 at all..


    3 tracks stand out to me is, Fly on a Windshield, Back in NYC and Carpet Crawlers....

    If Fly were paired with its successor - Broadway Musical 1974 then it would be a strong candidate for a place in my top ten. But both are too short to merit inclusion on their own.


    There’s not a whole lot else I’m mad about on the album. In the Cage, Hairless Heart (again very short), umm now I’m struggling.

    Yeah, thanks to Gabble Ratchet for this analysis. Interesting stuff! :)


    With regard to Fly on a Windshield, mdepps, I agree. It's a fantastic piece of music which should have been developed more. Tragically too short.

    Quote from mdepps

    If Fly were paired with its successor - Broadway Musical 1974 then it would be a strong candidate for a place in my top ten. But both are too short to merit inclusion on their own.


    There’s not a whole lot else I’m mad about on the album. In the Cage, Hairless Heart (again very short), umm now I’m struggling.

    Depending on how much time you have on your hands, you could always edit Fly On A Windshield together with Broadway Of 1974 on Audacity. That way you have one damn fine piece of music of a decent length. And Hairless Heart can easily be extended using the same software so that it doesn't end so soon - of course, what it really needed was a guitar solo...