Your favorite tracks on ... "We Can't Dance"

    Quote from Grant

    I'm so pleased someone else likes Never a time. It is, for me, one of the few stand out tracks on an otherwise rather bland album. I love the harmonies of that song, and there are some great guitar and keyboard bits too; also the lyric is simple and direct. The only other tracks I rate are Dreaming while you sleep and Living forever. And On the shoreline. The rest just seem too long, lyrically banal, and the arrangements uninteresting. Disappointing compared to other Genesis albums.

    I don't know how you could call my three favourites (above) 'lyrically banal' but there you go.

    Quote from FeelItComing

    I don't know how you could call my three favourites (above) 'lyrically banal' but there you go.

    I guess I was a little uncharitable about DTLS and JHKM, they aren't bad tracks. I feel DTLS has some good lyrics and a great driving guitar riff in the middle. I would say it is too long though. And JHKM is a good pop song with some amusing lyrics.

    Edited once, last by Grant ().

    Quote from Grant

    I guess I was a little uncharitable about DTLS and JHKM, they aren't bad tracks. I feel DTLS has some good lyrics and a great driving guitar riff in the middle. I would say it is too long though. And JHKM is a good lol song with some amusing lyrics.

    Spike seems to be something of a favourite around here, often the way with the longer of the later trio tracks but I agree, it goes on just a bit too long and for me is a tad overwrought. But it nicely showcases the pleasingly angular guitar and drum sound that occurs on parts of that album.


    I suppose Jesus can be seen as a humorous song although in its way it's got a serious point to make about the blatant shystering of TV evangelists. Obviously the video is a bit more overtly comedic.


    I can't remember when I last listened to WCD straight through, I should do that soon. I have an impression of it not being very well sequenced.

    Abandon all reason

    Quote from Backdrifter

    Spike seems to be something of a favourite around here, often the way with the longer of the later trio tracks but I agree, it goes on just a bit too long and for me is a tad overwrought. But it nicely showcases the pleasingly angular guitar and drum sound that occurs on parts of that album.


    I suppose Jesus can be seen as a humorous song although in its way it's got a serious point to make about the blatant shystering of TV evangelists. Obviously the video is a bit more overtly comedic.


    I can't remember when I last listened to WCD straight through, I should do that soon. I have an impression of it not being very well sequenced.

    Yes, the sequencing on this album feels a little random: there's not really a sense of progression, to me. I wish they'd taken off tracks like SILY, WOTW and TMW, which though they have good tunes don't connect with me really. There are a lot of good melodies and riffs on the album but as a whole it just doesn't quite cohere for me; the arrangements of the longer songs don't have the variety and the changes in mood of great tracks like Cinema Show or Firth of Fifth etc - they feel like short songs which have been stretched too far. However, I haven't listened to it all the way through for a while either, I need to do that I think.

    Can see your point. In my Top 3, there's Fading lights and Driving ... would be 4th in the list. So we are pretty close.

    No need for it to be popular at all, it's your list! I have always liked Way of the World and thought it gets too much flak. It was.one of my early favorites on the album so I still enjoy it very much. I think the menacing atmosphere they get going is great 😃!



    I love Never A Time. It's probably my 3rd favourite after FL and Last Spike.


    I was surprised to find it wasn't more popular.

    Quote from thewatcher

    I have always liked Way of the World and thought it gets too much flak. It was.one of my early favorites on the album so I still enjoy it very much.

    "Way of the World" is a contender for favorite song on the album for me, possibly even more than "Spike." One could complain about the lyrics in some way but I find it a very musically satisfying piece.

  • Christian

    Changed the title of the thread from “30th Anniversary - Your favorite tracks on ... "We Can't Dance"” to “Your favorite tracks on ... "We Can't Dance"”.
    • Official Post

    32nd anniversary today ....

    I heard that since WCD was the first album completely aligned with the rise of the compact disc, the band went a little overboard with jamming a lot of songs on the cd. Since it was a new medium, they went a little crazy and some tracks that should have been B sides ended up on the album. Someone can correct me if I’m wrong, I am not sure where exactly I heard this. Seems to make sense. This album along with Nursery Cryme were the first Genesis albums I listened to in totality, from start to finish. So I have a little bit of a soft spot in my heart for it.

    Quote from Liquid Len

    I heard that since WCD was the first album completely aligned with the rise of the compact disc, the band went a little overboard with jamming a lot of songs on the cd. Since it was a new medium, they went a little crazy and some tracks that should have been B sides ended up on the album. Someone can correct me if I’m wrong, I am not sure where exactly I heard this. Seems to make sense.

    WCD is definitely the first Genesis album to be sequenced for CD rather than LP. It was available in double LP format but was not "designed" for that, like LAMB, SECONDS or THREE SIDES were.


    You could say it marks the first time Genesis was affected by what's called "CD bloat" -- i.e., the tendency of artists to make (often pointlessly) longer albums once the CD format took prominence.

    Quote from DecomposingMan

    You could say it marks the first time Genesis was affected by what's called "CD bloat" -- i.e., the tendency of artists to make (often pointlessly) longer albums once the CD format took prominence.

    Indeed

    At the time I wasn't sure if that was a good idea, but basically it also meant you got double albums on vinyl. Later, most artists returned to shorter albums. Bryan Adams even released an album with only 25 minuted ("Get Up"). Genesis themselves did another lengthy one with "Calling All Stations" ...

    ... make tomorrow today!

    Like 1
    Quote from dudeski

    Indeed

    At the time I wasn't sure if that was a good idea, but basically it also meant you got double albums on vinyl. Later, most artists returned to shorter albums. Bryan Adams even released an album with only 25 minuted ("Get Up"). Genesis themselves did another lengthy one with "Calling All Stations" ...

    Yeah. There was definitely a strong temptation to just “dump” all the songs on an album. I do not think Calling All Stations feels as bloated. It is definitely more pop sounding, but it moves feels like it moves at a faster clip than WCD.