TotW 10/21/2024 - 10/27/2024: GENESIS - One For The Vine

    Your rating for "One For The Vine" by GENESIS 39

    1. 15 points - outstanding (10) 26%
    2. 14 points - very good (15) 38%
    3. 13 points - very good - (6) 15%
    4. 12 points - good + (1) 3%
    5. 11 points - good (3) 8%
    6. 10 points - good - (1) 3%
    7. 09 points - satisfactory + (1) 3%
    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 + (0) 0%
    14. 02 points - poor (0) 0%
    15. 01 points - poor - (0) 0%
    16. 00 points - abysmal (0) 0%

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    GENESIS - One For The Vine

    Year: 1976
    Album: Wind & Wuthering
    Working title: ?
    Credits: Banks
    Lyrics: Yes
    Length: 10:01
    Musicians: Phil Collins, Tony Banks, Steve Hackett, Mike Rutherford
    Played Live: 1977, 1978, 1980
    Cover versions:

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    Notes: Genesis is Tony Banks' solo career - Tony Smith once said this during the 2007 tour. In fact, Tony has been something like the soul of the band over the years and has been responsible for unusual and twisted chord structures, usually embedded in long songs with a playing time of around 10 minutes, virtually since the band was founded. One For The Vine from the '76 album Wind & Wuthering is a good example of this....

    I can see why some might see this as a bit clunky but I love it. Top drawer Genesis, possibly towards the back of the drawer but in the top one nonetheless. I like the contrast between the quiet moments and ‘the battle scene’ and the way it resolves back into the main theme. It’s clearly Tony and it’s clearly taken a long time to write- hence the feeling of pieces being crafted together- but that’s what I like about it. And yes, everyone very much paying and singing at their best. 14 from me

    It's OK. I find it a bit like being given an overly fussy but ultimately unfulfilling meal when sausage egg & chips would've done the job. I never listen to the original but occasionally enjoy the live versions.

    Abandon all reason

    Like 1
    Quote from Thelawnmower

    I can see why some might see this as a bit clunky but I love it. Top drawer Genesis, possibly towards the back of the drawer but in the top one nonetheless. I like the contrast between the quiet moments and ‘the battle scene’ and the way it resolves back into the main theme. It’s clearly Tony and it’s clearly taken a long time to write- hence the feeling of pieces being crafted together- but that’s what I like about it. And yes, everyone very much paying and singing at their best. 24 from me

    Other than the fact I gave this 13, I agree with everything above, so it seems pointless repeating it.

    This was an early favorite of mine when I was discovering Genesis, and remained so for years. Now, thirty years on and with a greatly expanded music palette, I can see how it might fairly be deemed quaint and overly deliberate. Even boring. The story is clunky. However, the musicianship is terrific (a good example of the other members hauling a Banks composition up far beyond what it would otherwise be), the middle section used to give me goosebumps and probably still might on a given day, and it retains a special place for being such a highlight when I was younger. It probably served as a gateway to other, more varied music.


    As an aside, it's one of the tracks where I always preferred the studio version to the live version, where the loud bleepy bits they put in the instrumental part seemed very out of place. I was generous and voted 14. It's probably unfair to other tracks I'd give 14 to but there you go.

    Quote from thewatcher

    I always preferred the studio version to the live version, where the loud bleepy bits they put in the instrumental part seemed very out of place.

    Yes, while my very rare listens are the live one I've always thought those bleeps are a silly and superfluous feature of an otherwise good version.

    Abandon all reason

    Used to rate it much higher, as I did 11th Earl, but now they seem to have sagged a bit, Side 2 of the LP is where it takes off for me. As for this song, I think it's a well crafted lyric with a good tale and a strong point to make, like others from Tony, BUT it needed a bit more "fire in it's belly", it's all a bit smooth, like much of the rest of the album. The side 2 tracks don't call for such fire, hence why they maybe work better. It would have been a 14 if I'd been voting years ago, but now, 11.

    Ian


    Putting the old-fashioned Staffordshire plate in the dishwasher!

    W&W is a favorite Genesis album of mine but this is not one of the top tracks for me. It's well crafted musically but the story doesn't do anything for me. I would describe it as sounding like an entire concept album edited down to 10 minutes. One time, for my own amusement, I even made a list of fictitious song titles that such an album might have, based on the various sections of OFTV.

    Quote from DecomposingMan

    W&W is a favorite Genesis album of mine but this is not one of the top tracks for me. It's well crafted musically but the story doesn't do anything for me. I would describe it as sounding like an entire concept album edited down to 10 minutes. One time, for my own amusement, I even made a list of fictitious song titles that such an album might have, based on the various sections of OFTV.

    Can't leave it there! ;)


    I'll have a guess one was called "The Stumble" which gives it something in common with the recently discussed "Blues With a Feeling" album by Steve Hackett.

    Ian


    Putting the old-fashioned Staffordshire plate in the dishwasher!

    This one has never worked for me. The story feels overly familiar - the person who escapes a political system goes on to lead a similar one (or in this case, the same one in a parallel world). The main verse melody just wanders around a random-sounding chord progression. There are a few better musical bits in the instrumental and the playing is top notch of course.

    Quote from foxfeeder

    Can't leave it there! ;)


    I'll have a guess one was called "The Stumble"

    Unfortunately I didn't keep it, and I wouldn't be able to come up with the same list again. I didn't have "The Stumble," but I know that one of the titles was "Follow Me," in reference to one part that really sounds like it could be its own song.

    Quote from DecomposingMan

    Unfortunately I didn't keep it, and I wouldn't be able to come up with the same list again. I didn't have "The Stumble," but I know that one of the titles was "Follow Me," in reference to one part that really sounds like it could be its own song.

    I think Genesis stole your idea, and expanded it! :D

    Ian


    Putting the old-fashioned Staffordshire plate in the dishwasher!

    It's very well crafted and the musicianship is top drawer. It's not in my top 5 Genesis proggers because there's something a little twee about it, in the first half anyway, but I do like it and I have a real soft spot for W&W generally. That said, I'm far less struck on the studio version than the 1978-80 live renditions, which fortunately lost ting tong ting stuff that sounded like it had been lifted from kids' TV and grew in its place some reasonably large and hairy cajones.


    13.73

    A Genesis classic and a staple. I do enjoy it but, as others have also said, I've gone off it a bit in recent years as it does meander a bit. Have to be in the right mood to listen to it. Steve's version is good as it has more guitar.


    Prefer Earl. 13.

    A cracker live. Saw them play it a few times, Wind and Wuthering Tour in Manchester and Earls Court London later that year. The following year at Knebworth it felt like the whole earth was shaking when the bass pedals kicked in after "we shall be kings of this world" This would have been Daryl Steurmer's first gig with the ban in the UK and fair play he played a blinder.

    I gave it a 14 - some amazingly powerful sections still give me goosebumps, but the verse section gets a bit dull. Odd storyline that I'm still not sure I fully grasp, but that's typical for Tony! He does seem drawn to icy/wintry imagery, eh?