Bright, sunny and pleasantly cool to mild in northern Scotland where I live. But I'm on a train to London where I know the sky has been dribbling all over everyone recently, and as we whizz through NE England we are now well into the land of the grey.
Posts by Backdrifter
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I really like the 07-08 stuff. For me, it all sounds better. Just a couple of oddities and one disappointing thing:
At the start of the runout of IKWIL, the flute has pretty much gone.
Is the "hasn't it" in Lover's Leap in a slightly different place?
In Lilywhite Lilith, just after "by whatever's coming here", there is what sounds like a vocal line very far back, whether scat or actual lyric I can't tell. I think I always heard it, but it's much more prominent on the 08.
The disappointing thing: on the 08 Musical Box closing section, the big chiming Hammond chords sound subdued compared to original vinyl and the DERs. Those huge chords are one of the main things that caught my attention as a child so I was sorry to hear them sound a bit smaller. But anyway, overall, I like these versions a lot.
While far from being a favourite, ATTWT sounds especially good in its 07 incarnation.
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Top by a very long distance is The Lamb, followed by Abacab, so those would be 1 & 2, then SEBTP and Duke close behind and the rest, but trying to assign rankings for them all doesn't really interest me. I can say that W&W, WCD and ATTWT would be near or at the bottom.
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Rutherford (fake smile and forced joviality through gritted teeth): "Hahaha.... this is what I think of the idea you'll turn out to be the most successful of us all..."
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^
I completely agree the general vibe of 3SL is very good. It's partly a punchier production than SO, but also you say reflects the way they had developed as performers.
The example of Duchess is an interesting one as it perfectly illustrates why I can rarely pick out a live version as "better". The live Duchess is very good, as good as they could make that song sound on stage, given the very striking sound the studio version has. So yes, a great rendition. But the really distinctive sound of the original, the depth and layering, create something unique and magical. There is no other Genesis track that sounds like that. It's why I always go back to the original.
On a side note to this, I'm reminded of how merciless they often were in discarding songs from their set. They said Duchess was one of their strongest songs, and it is. But even that couldn't rescue it from being dropped after just two tours!
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@Decomposing Man - leaving aside my dislike of the chronological approach yours isn't too bad, but for the seemingly odd choices we're always going to think about others' selections. As you say, it's got to be personal favourites and never mind what everyone thinks are the "important" ones. But oh my word, it's so brief! (In my view)
I've never done a compilation and I've never been tempted to but it's always interesting to read other fans' preferred lists. Regarding the intro to The Colony Of Slippermen, are we talking about Arrival (ie "Boppity-bop I wandered lonely as a cloud...") or the so-called Chinese jam that appears at the start of Side Four of the album? Either way, I love both and regard neither as being especially controversial.
It's just the 'Chinese Jam'.
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Abacab was always better live. The 3SL version is good, but the IT tour one was the best.
In general though, I'm so attached to the originals that I find it hard to pick out a live version that I 'prefer', good though they mostly are. Working from the live albums, I might go for In The Cage, One For The Vine, Dreaming While You Sleep, Home By The Sea.
Moving away from the actual live albums, I like some of the ones on the Archive sets. Moonlit Knight is superb and for a while that's the one I did prefer. IKWIL on that set is excellent too. Some of the Lamb ones have a much better feel than the studio versions. In a sense, The Waiting Room in all its different manifestations could be my ultimate live Genesis track in that they completely diverted away from their usual approach and went in a different direction each night. When you listen to a few of them, you can hear that some nights they were on fire and really tore it up. It's Gonna Get Better and Ripples are improvements on the originals.
For balance, one I thought sank like a stone on 3SL was M&SJ. A favourite of mine on the album, that live version was terrible, in my view.
I'm going to commit heresy and say that I've never been very keen on Seconds Out - too clinical-sounding in production.
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I have a lot of affection for 2/Scratch. It has a slightly odd feel, which I like. It feels like an artist in transition, and interesting things can happen in that scenario. It has one of my absolute favourite PG tracks, White Shadow. Mother of Violence is another favourite.
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That's an interesting, well-researched read. I was sad to hear a couple of years back that the company was liquidated as I took that to mean it was the end of the studio, so it was heartening to read here the studio continues, if only as a base for occasional TB/MR activity.
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^ Ha ha ha! I didn't realise the Slippermen opening was as divisive as that. I was considering including the whole track, but I like doing my compilations on 80-minute discs and even across 6 discs you hit time limitations, and I just couldn't find room for it. But it's not fixed, even now I'm thinking about changing one or two tracks. I was even considering Who Dunnit when I put the compilation together. However, as it stands I'm pleased with it being a good enough spread of stuff I like.
Out of curiosity, I'd be interested to know what you thought were the potentially controversial choices. I do like the idea that some of the sequencing might annoy some people - Salmacis immediately followed by Misunderstanding, for instance. I know some old rock-heads who'd be incensed by that. It's a little nod to when I saw Genesis in 1982 (in a cattleshed in the English westcountry) and early on in the show they did the complete Supper's Ready, and the song had barely ended and the ecstatic cheers and shouts were still in full flow when they launched straight into Misunderstanding and brought everyone back down to earth.
One of my main problems with doing e.g. this compilation chronologically is that for example, I really like Duke and have about 9 tracks from it. In a chron sequence, all 9 of those would be together, which is practically the whole album. That just doesn't make sense to me. I like it good and mixed-up. Plus when people do chron ones they tend to be very limited in what they select from each album, maybe for that very reason that they don't want too big a chunk of stuff from just one album all in one go. So you drop songs you might have otherwise included. (That all said, I do of course have a big chunk of Duke stuff on disc 5, but I couldn't resist running all those ones together).
My approach means I can pick up any one of those discs and hear a fairly good spread of eras. I'm never going to want to listen to a mix of, say, early-80s stuff only. Plus I really enjoy thinking about the track sequencing, something that wouldn't work in the same way on a chron version. But I do accept lots of people seem to like the chron method.
I want others to list their compilations here as well. I can't be the only one!
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Surprised you missed out the Cinama Show
I didn't - see disc 5.
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Well, we've all done one haven't we? Mine is across 6 discs. As you can see I go for the complete mix-it-all-up approach, I can't bear chronological compilations:
Genesis 1
Do The Neurotic (edit)
Silver Rainbow
The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway
You Might Recall
It's Gonna Get Better
Alien Afternoon (intro)/The Dividing Line
Keep It Dark
Vancouver
Firth Of Fifth
Follow You Follow Me
No Son Of Mine
No Reply At All
Entangled
Pigeons
The Colony of Slippermen (intro)
Genesis 2
The Fountain Of Salmacis
Misunderstanding
On The Shoreline
In Too Deep
Naminanu
Dodo/Lurker
Submarine
Can Utility And The Coastliners
Uncertain Weather
Looking For Someone
Undertow
That's All
It
Watcher Of The Skies
Genesis 3
Cul De Sac
The Brazilian
A Trick Of The Tail
Dancing With The Moonlit Knight
The Knife
Squonk
Shipwrecked
Abacab
I Can't Dance
Paperlate
Harlequin
Home By The Sea/Second Home By The Sea
The Lamia
Genesis 4
Man Of Our Times
Throwing It All Away
There Must Be Some Other Way
Horizons
Mama
After The Ordeal
Supper's Ready
Blood On The Rooftops
Congo
Ripples
In The Cage
Genesis 5
Happy The Man
Back In NYC
Me & Sarah Jane
More Fool Me
Domino
Silent Sorrow In Empty Boats
The Cinema Show
Hold On My Heart
Behind The Lines
Duchess
Guide Vocal
Duke's Travels
Duke's End
Lilywhite Lilith
The Waiting Room
Genesis 6
Tonight Tonight Tonight
Riding The Scree
Inside & Out
Many Too Many
The Musical Box
Down & Out
It's Yourself (part 1)
Los Endos
Fading Lights
Turn It On Again
Invisible Touch
Afterglow
The Carpet Crawlers
I Know What I Like
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I've said this before, but Looking for Someone always stands out for me.
Lyrically it reminds me strongly of Peter Gabriel's solo work - an introspective, personal song without characters, which doesn't tell a story, is not fantastical, and is in the first person. I can't think of another Gabriel-era Genesis song quite like it. Musically as well, it really stands out for me. Obviously the instrumentation means it fits in with the early Genesis sound, but the composition... I don't know, it makes me think more of some of the other early prog bands that were around at the same time - like Rare Bird, or something. Weirdly enough, it also reminds me of some of Tony Banks' solo work - not sure why that is. But it just doesn't sound like Genesis to me!
Good call. I was on the verge of namechecking LFS in my reply, a lot of what you say rings true for me. I find it one of their most fascinating lyrics, in just that way alone it's very unlike any of their other work. I like the way it conveys a general, unspecific sense of a frustrated person who doesn't seem to know where they're going and this manifests as their irritation at what and who they see around them.
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On the old forum, under my avatar, it read "I'm an all era's fan. Of Steve Hackett!" (I'm not using it now as his last 2 album's have been a bit "below par") So as you might guess, I disagree completely, the Hackett era is my favourite era of Genesis. Gotta say, your "attitude" over the last few days on here has not endeared you to me, your avatar seems to fit you pretty well. Since you seem to think you have a monopoly on being right, might I suggest a listen to Billy Joel's "Shades of Grey" And perhaps a little thought for others opinions before hitting the "send" button?
This is essentially a response to both those posts, the above and Still Can't Dance's.
While I have no problem with the phrase "the Hackett era", as I know what people mean by it, I do think there are elements of what SCD said that ring true. Collins and Banks have said in interviews that SH seemed to stay on the margins during his time in the band, and that he felt like a "temporary member". Famously of course, when SH left, PC said he was completely neutral about it and perhaps that lack of feeling reflects those sentiments about SH being a kind of visitor to the band. Don't get me wrong though - I am in no way underestimating his contribution. I believe his solo at the end of Salmacis was the start of a new sound, his blending of his guitar sound with the keyboards, the brilliant economy of his work, his songwriting, all this and more makes him absolutely integral to their evolution.
I don't blame him for saying "this could be start of my solo career whether I like it or not" as it was in context of PG leaving and most outside the band reacted like it was Genesis's death knell. It seems reasonable to me he'd have those thoughts and maybe getting the album out before the next Genesis album was an insurance policy should the post-PG band not work out.
I take issue with SCD's comment that PG then TB were the main writers. I stand to be corrected, but I'm not sure that's right. It seemed to me writing was spread between TB, PG, MR and earlier, AP. Some key sequences were triggered by Banks-Collins-Rutherford jams e.g. Apocalypse and Cinema Show. (With those three working together in that way, and PG often doing his usual slow lyric-writing job, it mustn't have been surprising that SH was often on the margins). I also get the impression that despite their "All songs by all" credits on those PG albums, there was an increasing influence by Banks.
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If Ned Sylvan is singing for elephants then it's a cruel irony for the poor creature that its ears are so big.
I was going to 'like' this, but don't really like 'likes', and anyway I wanted to actually say it made me laugh out loud. Plus I just noticed you've changed him to 'Ned' which is also vaguely amusing.
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Earl's Court, June 1977. Spent the night on the pavement outside to get front row tickets when the box office opened. Sat right in front of Steve.
Can you recall what the queue was like? A long one, what time you arrived, good camaraderie, get much or any sleep? Good going by the way, great seat.
I did the overnight-queue-for-tickets for the London Lyceum gig May 1980 - a rare occurrence of them going on sale only about 4 or 5 days before the gig. Any time I walk down Tavistock Road, I always glance at the spot where I 'slept'.
The last time I queued for ticket sales was 2000, for the Radiohead gig that was in Scott Walker's Meltdown Festival. Since then it's been F5 all the way.
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3, 4 & Up, with an honourable mention for 2 and the soundtracks.
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Can't find the ticket stub for this one, but it would have been 4th or 5th July 1980 at the Hammersmith Odeon
Same here, one of those, I'm pretty sure the 4th. Do you remember the unfunny comedian support act with a ferret glove puppet? All I can recall is the puppet 'saying' "Shut up or I'll nibble your bollocks off." He then briefly came on during SH's set as well.
Between March and July I saw Genesis twice, plus PG and SH. I would then see PG and Genesis very close together in 87 and 07 as well.
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That's All has a country groove? What an interesting comment. I see what you mean, but they wrote it to sound like early Beatles, with Phil saying he wanted to write a Ringo drum part.
On the Mama Tour video, if I remember correctly, PC jokingly (and in a terrible accent) introduces it as a "country & western song".
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I went to the W&W anniversary show in London last year and was underwhelmed. That was the latest in a number of Genesis-heavy tours I've seen him on, and I've decided to give it a rest now so haven't booked for this year (and was also put off by the idea of the orchestra). I also really don't like Nad Sylvan. I'd really like to see SH return to solo material sets now. Preferably ones that don't include Hierophant!
