TotW 10/24/2022 - 10/30/2022: GENESIS - Land Of Confusion

1st Official Post
    • Official Post

    Your rating for "Land Of Confusion" by GENESIS 24

    1. 15 points - outstanding (2) 8%
    2. 14 points - very good (3) 13%
    3. 13 points - very good - (5) 21%
    4. 12 points - good + (9) 38%
    5. 11 points - good (1) 4%
    6. 10 points - good - (2) 8%
    7. 09 points - satisfactory + (1) 4%
    8. 08 points - satisfactory (0) 0%
    9. 07 points - satisfactory - (1) 4%
    10. 06 points - sufficient + (0) 0%
    11. 05 points - sufficient (0) 0%
    12. 04 points - sufficient - (0) 0%
    13. 03 points - poor + (0) 0%
    14. 02 points - poor (0) 0%
    15. 01 points - poor - (0) 0%
    16. 00 points - abysmal (0) 0%

    We invite you to share interesting facts and tidbits about this track. Let's look at the track in the context of the band's / the artist's history, at the music, the songwriting and all other aspects that are relevant for this track. Please do stick to the discussion of the track above. Comparisons to other tracks are okay, but remember that the other track you may be keen to talk about has or will have its own Track Of The Week thread. If you spot a mistake or if you can close a gap in the fact sheet above please feel free to contact martinus or Christian about it; we will gladly add and improve!


    GENESIS - Land Of Confusion
    Year: 1986
    Album: Invisible Touch
    Working title: ?
    Credits: Banks, Collins, Rutherford
    Lyrics: Yes
    Length: 4:46
    Musicians: Phil Collins, Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford
    Played Live: 1986, 1987, 1992, 1998, 2007, 2021, 2022
    Cover versions: plenty, notably Disturbed

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    Notes: One of Genesis' biggest hits is undoubtedly Land Of Confusion. In its simplicity and as a protest song, it is a stark contrast to early epics with fairytale-like narratives. Land Of Confusion is none of these things, it is straightforward, without innuendo or circumlocution. It has been a live smash since 1986 and showed the band's qualities from a completely different side.

    Am I the only one who thinks the "I remember long ago" section sounds like it belongs in a different song?

    “When the waitress asked if I wanted my pizza cut into four or eight slices, I said, ‘Four. I don’t think I can eat eight.’” -- Yogi Berra


    A soldier survived mustard gas in combat, and then pepper spray from the police. He's now a seasoned veteran.

    Like 1
    • Official Post
    Quote from DecomposingMan

    Am I the only one who thinks the "I remember long ago" section sounds like it belongs in a different song?

    Yes :D


    Well it's a bridge, that's not that unusual for a song and for Genesis, it's not unusual to have different sections in songs, isn't it?

    Quote from Christian

    Yes :D


    Well it's a bridge, that's not that unusual for a song and for Genesis, it's not unusual to have different sections in songs, isn't it?

    It's not just a matter of its being a different section. Lyrically it strikes me as being rather disconnected from what the rest of the song is about. To me it almost seems like it would fit better with "In the Glow of the Night."

    “When the waitress asked if I wanted my pizza cut into four or eight slices, I said, ‘Four. I don’t think I can eat eight.’” -- Yogi Berra


    A soldier survived mustard gas in combat, and then pepper spray from the police. He's now a seasoned veteran.

    Quote from DecomposingMan

    It's not just a matter of its being a different section. Lyrically it strikes me as being rather disconnected from what the rest of the song is about. To me it almost seems like it would fit better with "In the Glow of the Night."

    I see what you are getting act but the narrator is remembering long ago before they descended into the land of confusion.


    If there was a song that made me a Genesis fan, this was it (along with Follow You Follow Me) but strangely, I didn't buy the Invisible Touch album at the time of release.

    The LoC midsection is indeed different in character from the rest of the song but as FeelItComing says, that's the idea. The song paints a negative picture of tension and conflict so the 'long ago' part serves to contrast that with wistful reflection on better times, before urgently returning to the stark present, like a reminiscing person jolted back to harsh reality.


    I like it and think it works really well, and I especially like Banks's rising-falling line after 'so long ago...' In fact the whole section sounds Banksy to me. Who knows, maybe it was a lone fragment that found a home there but however it ended up in LoC it sounds just right.

    Abandon all reason

    It's one of the songs I could live well without when it comes to concerts, but it's also one of their key tracks from the later period. For me, it also opened the door to their earliermaterial!


    13 pts

    The mid-section apparently stretches the song too long for today's radio. I heard this song in a friend's car on the radio and I noticed they entirely cut out the middle part. The song as it was playing was intro - verse 1 - chorus - verse 2 - chorus - repeat chorus - outro.


    Slightly going off-topic but: remember how in the 80s the vast majority of radio songs ended in a fade-out which would usually follow dozens of repeated choruses or instrumental choruses, basically lots of outros were like a song would get stuck in a loop where it wasn't going anywhere and finally faded out. This was perfect for radio guys to talk into songs or fade them earlier or just leave them playing. Nowadays nothing can be short enough. I've been reading in a blog, if you wanna make a streaming hit these days, make sure it doesn't exceed the 2-minute mark.

    Land of Confusion is one of those 80s songs that doesn't end too soon nor does it end in a fade, a rarity at those times. If you count how many songs on a Genesis album end in a fadeout you will find Abacab introduced a rule a cold end has to be the exception, this goes straight way all through to Calling All Stations. Before Abacab, fadeouts appeared here and there when they served a purpose, kind of to keep you in the mood of the song. After Duke they turned into a rule without purpose.

    Quote from Backdrifter

    The LoC midsection is indeed different in character from the rest of the song but as FeelItComing says, that's the idea. The song paints a negative picture of tension and conflict so the 'long ago' part serves to contrast that with wistful reflection on better times, before urgently returning to the stark present, like a reminiscing person jolted back to harsh reality.


    I like it and think it works really well, and I especially like Banks's rising-falling line after 'so long ago...' In fact the whole section sounds Banksy to me. Who knows, maybe it was a lone fragment that found a home there but however it ended up in LoC it sounds just right.

    That's funny, to me it sounds more Rutherfordesque... Brutal key change and very different mood, like the bridges in Your Own Special Way (the Fender Rhodes part), Deep In The Motherlode ("All along the wagons...") Alone Tonight ("When the morning comes the sun is out and warms me up again").


    You see what I mean ?

    Quote from Duke of Earl of Mar

    That's funny, to me it sounds more Rutherfordesque... Brutal key change and very different mood, like the bridges in Your Own Special Way (the Fender Rhodes part), Deep In The Motherlode ("All along the wagons...") Alone Tonight ("When the morning comes the sun is out and warms me up again").


    You see what I mean ?

    Structurally, the way it's shoved in there, I absolutely see that. In itself, the segment sounds TBish to me.

    Abandon all reason

    Quote from Duke of Earl of Mar

    That's funny, to me it sounds more Rutherfordesque... Brutal key change and very different mood, like the bridges in Your Own Special Way (the Fender Rhodes part), Deep In The Motherlode ("All along the wagons...") Alone Tonight ("When the morning comes the sun is out and warms me up again").


    You see what I mean ?

    Well, Rutherford did write the song.

    Excellent video. Lyrically it stands up well but the arrangement is of its time although pleasingly a bit edgier on the last tour. I can appreciate why people like it, but it wouldn't make my Genesis top 20.