TotW 07/22/2024 - 07/28/2024: GENESIS - That's All

    Your rating for "That's All" by GENESIS 32

    1. 15 points - outstanding (6) 19%
    2. 14 points - very good (4) 13%
    3. 13 points - very good - (5) 16%
    4. 12 points - good + (6) 19%
    5. 11 points - good (5) 16%
    6. 10 points - good - (0) 0%
    7. 09 points - satisfactory + (2) 6%
    8. 08 points - satisfactory (1) 3%
    9. 07 points - satisfactory - (1) 3%
    10. 06 points - sufficient + (0) 0%
    11. 05 points - sufficient (0) 0%
    12. 04 points - sufficient - (0) 0%
    13. 03 points - poor + (2) 6%
    14. 02 points - poor (0) 0%
    15. 01 points - poor - (0) 0%
    16. 00 points - abysmal (0) 0%

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    GENESIS - That's All

    Year: 1983
    Album: Genesis
    Working title: ?
    Credits: Banks/Collins/Rutherford
    Lyrics: Yes
    Length: 4:25
    Musicians: Tony Banks, Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford
    Played live: 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1992 (snippet), 2021, 2022
    Cover versions: ?

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    Notes: Not Mama, but That's All brought Genesis great chart success in the USA. The song reached No. 6 and was almost too funky and cheerful for Genesis standards, even if the lyrics are rather ambivalent. With the exception of the dress rehearsal in 1998 (Bray Studios), Genesis did not play the song live after 1987 until 2021, meanwhile Ray Wilson still regularly includes it in his setlist.

    It’s a beauty!

    Really well crafted and catchy song which has that touch of Genesis class. The instrumentation is quirky enough to repay repeated listenings to a song which has a nice, simple structure. Lyrics work well and everyone performs beautifully. I think Mike’s solo is perfect for the song and the drums motor along very smoothly but with a touch of swing. Worked really well on both stage and record to provide a nice counterpoint to the drama of the rest of side one.

    Edited 2 times, last by Thelawnmower: Edited for repetition ().

    Like 1

    I disliked it strongly for a long time because it wasn't to my taste and was stuck between two songs that I much preferred. I've come around and recognize it for what it is now - almost as perfect a pop-rock song as Genesis could create. I still prefer Mama and HBTS but That's All gets a 15 from me too.

    A fantastic pop song wedged in between two rock/prog heavyweights and makes the first aide of shapes one of the stongest things they ever did.


    Really love the country feel and guitars which make it different from their piano ballads of the era.


    14.

    IMO, one of the worst songs on one of the band's worst albums.


    This is was the first album I bought actually as a fan, and I spent ages trying to convince myself that I really liked it. But I don't... :)


    I get that it's a catchy, jaunty little number but that's the most positive thing I can say about it :)


    It would appear that most people disagree with me, at least so far in the poll....

    You are not alone! ;)


    It was the last album I bought as a fan, apart from the opener and closer, it does nothing for me, not news, I've said it before. (I taped a copy of IT, which didn't encourage me to restart.


    Lyrically weak, and I'm not getting a country vibe at all, (but then I'm a Nanci Griffith fan, so that box is ticked already).


    I've given it 3, and I umm'd and Arghed over that, cos 2 was calling to me!

    Ian


    Putting the old-fashioned Staffordshire plate in the dishwasher!

    Thanks 1 Like 1

    I always had a soft spot for this song as it was on a cassette tape my sister recorded from the radio back in 1983, the tape somehow got into my hands soon and I listened to it over and over. So I was familiar with the song long before I even knew it was Genesis. At the same time I was listening to Selling England on high rotation and I wouldn't make the connection.


    As a matter of fact, That's All has always been my favourite song off this album besides It's Gonna Get Better. (I know, I'm a heretic and stuff.)


    Youtube has a lot of cover version of this little song. Here's just one example:


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    Not even Second Home By The Sea?

    No you’re not alone. It’s not a bad song, in the sense that if, say, it came from Keane (who I know covered it) then you’d say it’s alright. It’s well assembled and catchy to a degree. But compared with the rich tapestry produced by Genesis it’s not great. Not for me (and sorry to those who think it’s excellent).

    I was a few years into Genesis when this album came out. It was the first album I bought, as previously I just listened to my brother’s Genesis albums. But I suppose there lies the rub for me because the earlier material (plus Duke) really caught my attention whereas this album felt too simple and formulaic (apart from Mama and HBTS). I wasn’t struck on the album and this track plus most of side 2 is why I didn’t like it. For me it’s just not Genesis, not what made them special. Too shallow.

    Quote from Micklemus

    No you’re not alone. It’s not a bad song, in the sense that if, say, it came from Keane (who I know covered it) then you’d say it’s alright. It’s well assembled and catchy to a degree. But compared with the rich tapestry produced by Genesis it’s not great. Not for me (and sorry to those who think it’s excellent).

    I was a few years into Genesis when this album came out. It was the first album I bought, as previously I just listened to my brother’s Genesis albums. But I suppose there lies the rub for me because the earlier material (plus Duke) really caught my attention whereas this album felt too simple and formulaic (apart from Mama and HBTS). I wasn’t struck on the album and this track plus most of side 2 is why I didn’t like it. For me it’s just not Genesis, not what made them special. Too shallow.

    I agree with all of these points. It's a 14 for me but would probably only just make my Genesis top 50!

    I agree with the various positives already stated. It's a perfect demonstration of how they took into a new decade their already established knack of skilfully mixing longer complex songs with shorter simpler ones. Banks was always a riff-master and his lovely clean piano line on this forms the solid basis of a catchy song. On the topic of doing shorter more commercial songs Rutherford said they were harder to write than the more extended proggier workouts. Its conciseness deceptively hides that there is a lot of the Genesis DNA there. I get why some fans are dismissive of it, but I think it's a shame. I don't agree with the descriptions of it as being cheerful (it's quite a tetchy song), funky or having a country feel. (The latter unfortunately reminds me of PC's cringingly unfunny introduction to it on the Mama tour dvd).


    For me the sequencing of Genesis side 1 is up there with the side 1s of SEBTP and Abacab. This track is very well-placed and provides a really nice dry contrast between the murky atmospheric drama of Mama and the urgent tension of Home.

    Quote from Micklemus

    sorry to those who think it’s excellent

    I like it a lot but you should never apologise for your tastes and preferences! If you don't like it that's fair enough and if anyone objects to that, tough shit.

    Abandon all reason

    I think it is a well crafted pop song, with a nice keyboard hook and great vocals from Phil. If it comes on the radio, my foot will tap along. But it is not a song I seek out to listen to. The organ solo is a bit boring, being just a variation of the main melody. Even in the poppiest of songs, Tony usually comes up with something more interesting. And I find much of Mike's solo boring. His guitar part is best for the melodic, likely pre-written part, in the sequence going from Am to D.


    Here's my favourite cover of it by Vince Gill and Allison Krauss:


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    As a fan who came to the group via DUKE and ended up with TRICK & WIND as my favorites, I'm a bit less fond of the post-DUKE material than of what came before it. Basically, I consider the later works to be "good" rather than "great," and the "Shapes" album is certainly no exception. "That's All" is a well-crafted pop song, to be sure, but it doesn't represent what I hoped to hear when buying Genesis albums.


    As a side note, I like how the song's last repetition of the title phrase seems to be saying, "Well, that's the end of the song."

    Quote from Micklemus

    No you’re not alone. It’s not a bad song, in the sense that if, say, it came from Keane (who I know covered it) then you’d say it’s alright. It’s well assembled and catchy to a degree. But compared with the rich tapestry produced by Genesis it’s not great. Not for me (and sorry to those who think it’s excellent).

    I have Keane's first 2 albums, and they blow shapes and IT away, IMO. If they'd done this, it'd be the track I skip!

    Ian


    Putting the old-fashioned Staffordshire plate in the dishwasher!

    Like 1

    This was also played live in 1990, since That's all was part of the mini setlist for the Nordoff-Robbins music therapy Knebworth festival that summer.

    Also in the set were Mama, Throwing it all away and Turn it on again with medley.

    Quote from estrelow

    This was also played live in 1990, since That's all was part of the mini setlist for the Nordoff-Robbins music therapy Knebworth festival that summer.

    Also in the set were Mama, Throwing it all away and Turn it on again with medley.

    Was that following a short set by PC, played in a high wind? I think I listened to it live on the radio, if I remember he started with ITAT followed by Colours without the intro. I'm sure I taped it onto a cassette that I somehow lost along with a load of others I miss badly.

    Abandon all reason