TotW 04/03/2023 - 04/09/2023: GENESIS - The Brazilian

I know some people rave about this and see it as some sort of return to prog ways. I've never seen it like that, it seems to me to fit perfectly on Invisible Touch and, along with TTT and Domino, provides a balance to the shorter songs. I quite like it and I thought it was a good decision to play it live. Good skittering drums over a nice track and Tony having fun with his noises. Good, but not top drawer for me.

Quote from Thelawnmower

I know some people rave about this and see it as some sort of return to prog ways. I've never seen it like that, it seems to me to fit perfectly on Invisible Touch and, along with TTT and Domino, provides a balance to the shorter songs. I quite like it and I thought it was a good decision to play it live. Good skittering drums over a nice track and Tony having fun with his noises. Good, but not top drawer for me.

same here ... 10 pts

I would have preferred "Do The Neurotic" on that record.

10 points good -.

The wrong song of Invisibile Touch.

I love it. I think it's a good bit stronger than Do The Neurotic (which I really enjoy too). I particularly like the "choruses" and the sense of ambition it has. The drums are top notch, and the guitar while not prominent is perfectly executed when it comes in at the end. It builds to a great crescendo. 14. I find it very striking in a way unique to Genesis.

I find this a perfectly enjoyable, non-top-tier, instrumental. Tony sounds like he is having fun. The Simmons electronic drums sound find in this context. And I like Mike's outro guitar solo. Do the Neurotic is good too, but I don't really compare them as they are quite different.

When I first heard it at the end of IT, it was one of the few tracks that reminded me I'm actually listening to Genesis. It's not bad and I like it, but certainly not the best you can get from Genesis. Then again, it is also one of those tracks which for a weaker track aren't that weak after all.

Quote from Thelawnmower

I know some people rave about this and see it as some sort of return to prog ways.

They do?! Like you, that's never occurred to me that it's a kind of prog return.

I've always liked it, really enjoyed seeing it live and appreciate it on the dvd.

This DTN comparison thing often comes up. DTN has some nice energy to it but Brazilian fits much better on the album and has a quirkier, more distinctive feel. DTN also has the rather lame bit that rightly got snipped out for the ITD b-side, making that the better version.

I remember the first time I listened to it : I found it a bit quirky, especially considering the overall tone of the album. Now it's probably one of my favourite songs on the album, with TTT...

Quote from Backdrifter

They do?! Like you, that's never occurred to me that it's a kind of prog return.

well perhaps I over-egged that a bit but I’ve read a few reviews over the years which suggested it, one saying ‘Tony’s got his way again’ in relation to The Brazilian.
I’ve always been a little puzzled by the title as well, it’s a good title but I’m not sure it goes with the music. Does anyone know why they chose it?

I gave it 13. Mostly because it was a pleasant surprise on the IT album. I remember feeling at the time that no matter how much commercial success they were having, they still had prog in their blood.

In a funny way, it was a song partially responsible for getting me into Genesis. I was all of 7 and we took a family holiday by car to France. The album invisible touch was in the tape deck and played over and over and over again. The three bits I remember are the dancey bit in the middle of TTT, the opening bit of Domino 2, and - most of all - The Brazilian. It was obviously a few years later when I gained sentience and got into music that I became a huge fan (when WCD came out), but the early imprinting was definitely there. Genesis meddling with my neuronal tangle from a very early stage!

It's a very interesting track and one of the best of this commercial album.

It has a certain "David's Isopon" quality about it!

They'd insulted Mexico on the previous album. Were they working their way through South America?

Hhhm. I've never understood the love for this track. It's always felt like filler to me.

I'm not one to skip tracks while listening to an album, but I can make an exception for this.

All in all I like IT, and LOVED it when it came out, I had been so disappointed by the GENESIS album. So it's not that I hate the whole 80s sound. Just this tracks leaves me cold.

I seem to be in a minority though!

Quote from Thelawnmower

I’ve always been a little puzzled by the title as well, it’s a good title but I’m not sure it goes with the music. Does anyone know why they chose it?

I don't know, I've never heard any explanation of the title but would guess it was one of their in-studio working titles that stuck. The heavily percussive nature of it possibly put them in mind of Brazilian festival music? But I'm reaching a bit - for all I know some aspect of its development made them think of pubic hair removal.

I've just recalled a line from the text of an IT Tour magazine of some kind (I don't think it was the actual tour proprogramme) which listed the set with descriptive notes and for this one said something like "The music brings to mind a steam train making its stately way up through the Brazilian hills". I thought at the time - does it?!

When they were on BBC Radio 1 announcing the LD tour, some listeners' questions were read out. One was "Will you be playing The Brazilian?" which drew a laugh from Collins, a weary "God, no" from Rutherford and a muttered "That's not a bad idea" from Banks.

Quote from Backdrifter

I don't know, I've never heard any explanation of the title but would guess it was one of their in-studio working titles that stuck. The heavily percussive nature of it possibly put them in mind of Brazilian festival music? But I'm reaching a bit - for all I know some aspect of its development made them think of pubic hair removal.

I've just recalled a line from the text of an IT Tour magazine of some kind (I don't think it was the actual tour proprogramme) which listed the set with descriptive notes and for this one said something like "The music brings to mind a steam train making its stately way up through the Brazilian hills". I thought at the time - does it?!

When they were on BBC Radio 1 announcing the LD tour, some listeners' questions were read out. One was "Will you be playing The Brazilian?" which drew a laugh from Collins, a weary "God, no" from Rutherford and a muttered "That's not a bad idea" from Banks.

Thanks Backdrifter- that gave me a laugh. Actually I can sort of see the train going through the hills a little bit, just not Brazil. I know Zoe Ball has gone on about this track on more than one occasion and raves about it, and Tony is fond of it. So quite a broad appeal!

Quote from Thelawnmower

Zoe Ball has gone on about this track on more than one occasion and raves about it

Oh right, I didn't know that.

I know someone who loves this track and is utterly devoted to it, praising and recommending it to anyone within earshot. At his house it'll inevitably get played, often following a "Oh, you don't know this one? Right, well listen to this!" while his wife sits there impassively with an air of "FFS, again..."

I mean, I really like it but I couldn't do that sort of evangelism!

Quote from Backdrifter

Oh right, I didn't know that.

I know someone who loves this track and is utterly devoted to it, praising and recommending it to anyone within earshot. At his house it'll inevitably get played, often following a "Oh, you don't know this one? Right, well listen to this!" while his wife sits there impassively with an air of "FFS, again..."

I mean, I really like it but I couldn't do that sort of evangelism!

Ah now. I'm not sure it's at that level either. It's a fine track, I'm a big fan, but not at the "no, no you have to listen to this" level. As an aside, I can't think of any song I'd do that with anyway, maybe it's a personal style thing.

When the IT album was new and I'd just bought it, but before I listened to it, I tried to imagine what the instrumental track at the end might sound like. I actually came up with a tune in my head (which I didn't try to remember afterward) that was as Genesis-like as I could manage. Of course, once I listened to "The Brazilian," I found that it didn't sound at all like what I imagined!