Your favorite GENESIS studio albums (pick three)

  • Recently, I played the "Shapes" album a lot. Still not in my Top 3, but this has grown a lot over time. Especially Silver Rainbow and Just A Job To Do

    My first Genesis album (other than a worn ATTW3 someone gave me) and tour, so it has a special place in my heart.

  • Recently, I played the "Shapes" album a lot. Still not in my Top 3, but this has grown a lot over time. Especially Silver Rainbow and Just A Job To Do

    Love those tracks. They are very different (from each other, and in the 'sounding odd' sense). Along with Mama and HBTS, that album is half amazing to me. The other tracks all have something going for them, but there's just something uneven about the album. It's like if they spent another two months on it, added a couple of other tracks and made an EP out of the weaker ones, it would have been better.


    Actually, just occurred to me, at the time maybe they were each holding good ideas back for fledgling solo careers. It was the first album where every song was Banks/Collins/Rutherford I believe.

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    The mama album is a solid one. I love Home by the Sea probably the most. It’s strange, while I love many of the songs as singles on it, I feel like the sequencing is a little uneven. While I appreciate and respect all the albums in their discography, I don’t find myself wanting to listen to this one all the way through from beginning to end. I tend to cherry pick songs on it to listen to. I’m saying that as an album oriented listener, probably like most people here. Maybe because it’s stuck between Abacab, which I love every second of, and Invisible Touch, which is epic in its own way. Both of those albums have pretty great sequencing.

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    I’d have to say, the Lamb is in my top three. I’ve been listening to it a lot lately. I love it. I love how dark and gritty it is. It sounds like nothing on either side of it; nothing that exists in the rest of their discography actually. People say the second album (sides 3 and 4 on vinyl) is weaker, I have to disagree. It’s just more weird and out there. Still really solid music though.

  • I’d have to say, the Lamb is in my top three. I’ve been listening to it a lot lately. I love it. I love how dark and gritty it is. It sounds like nothing on either side of it; nothing that exists in the rest of their discography actually. People say the second album (sides 3 and 4 on vinyl) is weaker, I have to disagree. It’s just more weird and out there. Still really solid music though.

    100% agree. Interestingly it also gets disliked for all the same reasons.


    Side 3 is one of the best sequences of music they ever did.


    (And it's my favourite Genesis album, and one of my top 10 albums by anyone)

    Abandon all reason

  • Hard question to answer...

    I discovered Genesis 21 years ago, as a 7-year-old child.

    We had just moved, and a lot of things were still packed in boxes, including our stereo Hifi system, that had to be all set up again.

    To allow me to listen to music by myself, my mum quickly took out her old portable cassette player, and chose a tape to test if it was working correctly.

    It was Wind and Wuthering. Eleventh Earl of Mar began... and I was like "Wow ! What is that ?", becoming a fan instantly. This tape became one of my favourite to listen to, while reading and getting to sleep, alongside Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Alan Parsons Project, and La Mer by Debussy, played by the Toulouse Capitole Orchestra.


    So, Wind and Wuthering would be first.

    My favourite period is the "David Hentschel producing" one (so, from Trick to Duke). I love the overall sound of these albums. But Selling England is one of my favourite too.

    And as a fan, I learned to appreciate each album, even the ones I didn't like at first (Abacab...).


    Today, I think it would something like :

    1) Wind and Wuthering

    2) Trick of the Tail

    3) Selling England


    EDIT : actually, a Top 5 would be a lot easier for me.


    1) Wind and Wuthering

    2) Trick of the Tail

    3) Selling England

    4) Duke

    5) And Then They Were Three

  • I love your story. I always think of WCD as my 'first' Genesis album as I bought it on cassette when I was 10, but in truth, my first exposure to Genesis was IT. I was only 7 and my parents had it playing on cassette in our car when we took a road trip to France. I vividly remember The Brazilian standing out to me the most, followed by the sense of danger from TTT. I'm fascinated by the neuro-cognitive aspect of this, as I would have had no framework for articulating why I liked those bits at that age, and can only think they reflected something of my forming personality.


    I also can't choose just 3, I have 4 favorites (trick, duke, Abacab and CAS) but more and more The Lamb is nudging it's way into that top tier.

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    I just got a vinyl copy of Invisible Touch, mind blown! I’ve owned two or three copies of this album on CD in my lifetime, never realized the front of the album cover is textured! Easily amused I guess. I must say I’m impressed with the 180 gram remastered series of vinyl. Very sleek. I like the glossy finish on the sleeves.

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    I just got a vinyl copy of Invisible Touch, mind blown! I’ve owned two or three copies of this album on CD in my lifetime, never realized the front of the album cover is textured! Easily amused I guess. I must say I’m impressed with the 180 gram remastered series of vinyl. Very sleek. I like the glossy finish on the sleeves.

    this is something for the vinylists ;)

    I do prefer the power of the 5.1 mix, that I like a lot. Still not in my top 3, this album.

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    this is something for the vinylists ;)

    I do prefer the lower of the 5.1 mix, that I like a lot. Still not in my top 3, this album.

    Agreed. Even though I grew up with Invisible Touch, and there is a certain nostalgia in it for me, it’s not in my top three either. Very well produced obviously, just not top tier for me. I’m sure it will get a lot of love on the upcoming tour.

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    I love your story. I always think of WCD as my 'first' Genesis album as I bought it on cassette when I was 10, but in truth, my first exposure to Genesis was IT. I was only 7 and my parents had it playing on cassette in our car when we took a road trip to France. I vividly remember The Brazilian standing out to me the most, followed by the sense of danger from TTT. I'm fascinated by the neuro-cognitive aspect of this, as I would have had no framework for articulating why I liked those bits at that age, and can only think they reflected something of my forming personality.


    I also can't choose just 3, I have 4 favorites (trick, duke, Abacab and CAS) but more and more The Lamb is nudging it's way into that top tier.

    I think the Lamb is top tier too. Works on so many levels. What’s even more amazing is their stamina. The fact that they could then just reload after this album rather than rebuild, is so impressive. Think about how amazing it is, they lose Ant Philips, and gain Steve Hackett. They ditch their drummer and one of the greatest drummers of all time falls in their lap. Their charismatic front man in PG leaves, and they then just shift that legendary drummer to the front. Hackett leaves and they just solidify into a chart topping commercial success instead of folding in the late 70’s.

  • How do you listen to a 5.1 mix? Do you have to buy the stereo system or does it have to do more with just the cds themselves? I have the boxed sets, I’m just confused when people say they are listening to the 5.1 versions.

    You need the system to be 5.1, ie/ 5 speakers, front centre, front left, front right, rear left and rear right, plus the .1, a subwoofer.


    Needn't be expensive, I don't know where you are, but I'm in the UK, and got a Denon x250-bt AV receiver, and a JBL speaker set for about £340 as a special deal at Richer Sounds. It's actually meant as a home cinema sound system, so is coupled to the TV and blu-ray player. A DVD player will often do, but some 5.1 releases, such as the XTC ones, are blu-ray only, so you'd not be able to play them.

    Ian


    Putting the old-fashioned Staffordshire plate in the dishwasher!

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    It's also about formats.

    For a normal impressin on how 5.1 works, a DVD player and the dts soundtrack on that would do (together with the 5.1 speaker system)


    The Genesis albums were released on SACD as well (Super Audio CD), and those discs require a special player (or one which can also play them).

    SACD often also have a separate standard CD layer. They are then called SACD Hybrid


    All Genesis studio albums were rereleased on SACD-Hybrid/DVD in Europe and CD/DVD elsewhere.



    Blu-ray players also play DVDs, so thatÄs not a problem.

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    Thanks guys!

    nevertheless, this poll is of course about the music on those albums, not the different audio formats.

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    Though, in fairness, it was you who brought it up........

    indeed, so I try to get back to topic ;)


    discussion about the different versions (original, remaster, 5.1...) is an interesting discussion, but a separate one