Your favorite GENESIS studio albums (pick three)

    Quote from CountingOutTime

    ... He loves Genesis' music as much as we do...

    I remember Nad on the old Genesis forum, the one where Bill MacCormick was the webmaster.

    He was there just as a regular fan, engaging in conversation with the rest of us, never trumpeting the fact he was a musician. If he made any reference to it, it would have been in passing and there were a few members on that board who played in bands for kicks, so it would not have drawn any special attention.

    It wasn’t until years later, sometime after that forum dissolved, that I saw his name somewhere, perhaps as a guest vocalist on an album, and I thought, “hey, good for him.”

    ^

    CountingOutTime - not a 'rant' at all! Perfectly reasonable opinions in response to earlier comments.


    To answer one of your points, I was at school and still a kind of fledgling Genesis fan when W&W came out. I liked it then, I suppose in a way it was a special time for me too what with the excitement of gradually discovering this great band, so I was well-disposed to whatever they did. I wasn't a gig-goer yet but my brother went to the famous 01/01/77 London Rainbow gig then one of the later Earls Court ones, so I lived vicariously off his experiences (he went to Knebworth 78 as well). But I quickly discovered the PG stuff and in particular The Lamb which opened up a whole new side of Genesis that I much preferred. Maybe that also felt more in line with the punk and new wave stuff I was really into. Over the years I lost interest in W&W, except BOTR and Afterglow which I still think are two of their best tracks. With the possible exception of the Unquiet suite, the rest I can't listen to now as I find them either too twee or just dull. Though on the right day I can watch the live OFTV from the London Lyceum tapes.


    It's odd about the 4-man era. It was when I first really got into them so should maybe retain more affection for it than I do but it's my least favourite phase of their work. I always feel I'm in a minority though, I know there's a lot of love for those two albums.

    Abandon all reason

    Edited once, last by Backdrifter ().

    I'm a bit late to the party here, but my three would be Foxtrot, The Lamb and A Trick of the Tail.


    It's a close call between Trick and W&W.... But Trick has Dance on a Volcano (the song that got me into Genesis) and the mighty Los Endos. The Lamb is incredible musicaly. It's the most atmospheric prog rock album ever recorded IMO, even if the story is a bit sixth form hippy ;)


    As for Foxtrot..Suppers Ready (enough said)

    Quote from StillCan'tDance

    I have found over the years that it's better to just let people have their say on what they like and what they don't like and not to challenge their opinion. Challenge leads to conflict as less secure people feel that they have to defend their standpoint by criticising what they don't like rather than praising what they love.


    For me, there are two distinct eras for Genesis: 1970 - 1977 and 1980 - 1992. It matters less who was in the band during those eras but what kind of music was being made. Basically, the first era leant towards complexity and the second era lent more towards immediacy. The only constant through both eras was Tony, Phil and Mike. If you play in a band long enough, it's natural that you change, adapt, mature etc. And that, for me, is exactly what Genesis did.

    I. Really, SCD? 😳 You've been quick to challenge opinions expressed on the drumming merits of Phil & Chester on one of my threads. Fortunately, we're big boys and can take it! 😀

    2. I'd agree with you on irrelevance of the Gabriel vs Collins (vs Hackett) debates and

    I'd also agree on the complexity of the early stuff (which I would say ends with the Lamb) and the easy digestibility of the latter period which I would say started from 1978 rather than 1980. The 4 man period in 1976 is a more complex beast to categorise imho. With the loss of their charismatic frontman, Trick was in some ways a hybrid, free to explore new avenues, experimenting with powerhouse, yet relatively simple, tracks like Squonk, and quirky time signatures (Volcano) whilst also retaining more familiar keyboard based ballads such as MMM. Although musically less complex than earlier albums, it proved to be a staggering success and the band finally cleared their debts (£1.25 million in today's money) Then came W&W! Banks has described this as 'Foxtrot 4 years on' and he's damned right, imho! But why return to a formula that had proven to be much less commercially successful? I suspect it was because at heart they were true musicians and relished in composing songs of such complexity. Let's not forget that Banks took a whole year to compose 'One for the Vine'. Yet, their efforts here failed to replicate the success of Trick and by the time Attw3 came along, they'd lost their guitarist, punk and new wave were all the rage and the music press were hounding 'prog rock' mercilessly. There simply was no going back.

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

    Edited once, last by Gabble Ratchet ().

    Quote from Gabble Ratchet

    I. Really, SCD? 😳 You've been quick to challenge opinions expressed on the drumming merits of Phil & Chester on one of my threads.


    I have no recollection of the conversation but I imagine that if I challenged you on what you've said it was simply because you were wrong and had nothing at all to do with opinion.

    Quote from StillCan'tDance

    I have no recollection of the conversation but I imagine that if I challenged you on what you've said it was simply because you were wrong and had nothing at all to do with opinion.

    So despite your inability to recall the conversation, you can still boldly assert that it was fact based rather than opinion based. Very convincing, I must say!

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

    Edited once, last by Gabble Ratchet ().

    'a trick of the tail' is for me the most perfect genesis album, each and every song is good.


    'duke' is not perfect, but it has some strong tracks, and it also has a special atmosphere.


    'trespass', i personally have a soft spot for it, i can't explain why.


    so these are my three votes.

    A Trick Of The Tail, And Then There Were Three and Duke. I was twelve when the latter came out and the songs are just perfect, not a duff track on it or on A Trick Of The Tail. With And Then There Are Three I have always thought that the inclusion of Follow You Follow Me impaired it somewhat, bit of a fish out of water maybe. Still, this and despite my username is most certainly my favourite Genesis period.

    My cat is named Duchess.

    • Official Post

    Following the interesting discussion in the "rank the albums" thread, this poll should not be forgotten. Pick your three favorite Genesis albums if you haven't done that yet (go to the first page of this thread).


    Also, if you want to see what the German fans like most, check out the poll in our German forum with more than 2,000 participants (click here)