Posts by raelway siding

  • ANTHONY PHILLIPS: „Private Parts & Pieces VIII: New England“, 30th anniversary

    Always feels to me like it could/should have been a "normal" Anthony Phillips album (I.e. not in the PP&P series). It just has the flow of a proper album. It's one of his best, and I'm convinced if it had just been called "New England" and marketed as the new AP album it might have done better commercially.


    Expanding on that, I feel like there was a bit of mission creep with the PP&P series. The first few were collections of various unreleased bits and pieces. Then later you get releases like PP&P V - "Twelve" which seems to have been a single project conceived and recorded as an album. Why put that in the series?

  • Genesis Archive #1 & #2

    I quite like the lyrics to "Hair on the arms and legs":


    See him digging, see him weeding

    Every single day of the year

    Coffee at eleven, four thirty tea

    His security is built on routine


    Anyone else reminded of the lawnmower man from IKWIL? (It's one o'clock and time for lunch...)

  • In your wardrobe - what does this mean?

    ok, so I'm probably missing something really obvious but it struck me recently that I have no idea what this couplet means:


    "It's getting better in your wardrobe / stepping one beyond your show"


    Like, the rest of the song is quirky and surreal but it all makes sense. These lines just don't seem to connect with the rest of the lyrics. Or has it all gone completely over my head for the last 30 odd years since I first heard this song??

  • Who wrote the lyrics to "Abacab"?

    Quote from Snorkle

    A Google search shows that it's Mike Rutherford - is this correct? It appears to be about short term relationships.

    I always thought it was about infidelity...


    "cause you've taken someone else's girl"


    "..when they answer the telephone, don't you think they'll find out?"


    All the stuff about their being a crack in the mirror, a hole in the window pane, I took as being metaphorical for something being wrong at home / in the relationship.


    That being said, I expect Rutherford wrote the lyrics mainly stream-of-consciousness style. But I feel like the infidelity idea was the hook he hung the words on

  • Genesis in the media

    Came across this wonderful description of early Genesis by Chris Welch, in the book "The English Difference" from 1974. The book is a celebration of all that is unique about "Englishness", but is a bit more thoughtful and critical than that description might suggest.* And probably more thoughtful and critical than it would be if it were published today. (Also striking how much of what supposedly made England unique in 1974 no longer exists) -


    "While a rock 'n' roll band might appear to the casual, disinterested observer as a disorganised bunch of incompetents, Genesis are the antithesis of this concept. Four of them are ex-public-school boys, while the fifth, their drummer, Phil Collins, is an East Ender. Here the two class structures meet with mutual benefit.


    Their songs, expanded into long arrangements, give scope for exceptional use of dynamics, light and shade, key and time changes, and a wide range of instruments, powder flashes, and finally the wires and harness which whisk Peter Gabriel, their shy, stuttering but courageous leader into the roof at the climax of their show. Genesis have created a supra-musical entertainment without parallel in theatre or rock music."


    *come to think of it, this is a pretty good description of Selling England by the Pound.

  • Has any other band produced so many solo albums?

    Title says it all really! Has any other well-known band produced so many solo projects and albums? I can't think of another, but then I know Genesis inside and out, more than any other band. With Genesis you had 6 incredible talented members all producing high quality solo work over several decades. Is there any comparable band?

  • Your solo project preferences?

    Quote from Witchwood

    I really like the three albums he did with Jean Luc Ponty (Aurora, Imaginary Voyage and Enigmatic Ocean).

    He is the lone guitarist on the first two albums I listed.

    On Enigmatic Ocean, my favourite of the three, he shares lead guitar duties with another superbly talented guitarist, Allan Holdsworth.

    thanks- that's the stuff I was thinking of. Will check it out

  • Your solo project preferences?

    Quote from Backdrifter

    Interesting. As I said, I do want to investigate more AP. I know Invisible and thought it was sort of ok in parts, but don't know Slow Dance at all let alone that it's a fan favourite so I shall give it a go at some point.

    FWIW I'd say the first Private Parts and Pieces albums is one of his best. More varied, arty and experimental than a lot of his other stuff.

  • Your solo project preferences?

    I was probably initially just as big a fan of Peter Gabriel as I was of Genesis (this was in the early 90s, as a teenager). His first four albums are still really special to me, although I can't listen to them too much due to overfamiliarity. His peak during the So era is really something to behold, an amazing concentration of talent.


    For a very long time I was dismissive of Phil's work, seeing it as mostly sappy ballads. In recent years I've come to appreciate it a lot more, as well as the huge input he had in the sound and sheer musical quality of Genesis. Both Sides was a bit of a revelation for me - I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did when I picked up a cheap ebay copy a couple of years ago.


    Tony Banks' work I mostly enjoy - it's very patchy but there's something about it I always come back to, even if it often feels a bit like half-strength Genesis. I've really enjoyed his classical work - I don't think they're works of genius, but they're very pleasant.


    I started off as quite a big fan of Steve Hackett, especially his first few albums. That's cooled in recent years as I find they don't stand up to much relistening, and his recent work hasn't interested me at all. I still think the 70s releases are solid art rock albums and I'll probably enjoy exploring them again in a few years, when hopefully they'll feel fresh again.


    I'm a biiiig Ant Phillips fan. I have nearly everything he's ever released (except the library stuff). I don't consider him to be a world class composer, musician or singer BUT he has a very unique feel, which is there in nearly everything he does - an emotional depth maybe? I find it irresistible, whatever it is. (although I seem to go against the grain a bit in thinking that fan-favourite Slow Dance is one of his worst albums, and the reviled Invisible Men project is one of his best!)


    Very much go along with what's been said about Mike and the Mechanics. I give them a try every now and then but they're just so bland. The first M&M album is quite an enjoyable listen I suppose. I also do like Smallcreep's Day, and the B-side Compression is a real favourite of mine.


    Brand X - top stuff. Really like the first few albums. Not up there with some of the more well-known American fusion bands, but top stuff none the less.


    Ray Wilson - have no interest. Seems like pretty bland/cringey rock-bloke stuff to me.


    Chester and Daryl - don't think I've ever heard anything solo. But would like to hear some of the music Daryl was involved in prior to Genesis

  • 1978 (Mirrors) Tour

    Quote from Backdrifter

    No it wasn't officially called that. As far as I know if it had an official name it was just the And Then There Were Three tour. Many fans refer to it as The Mirrors Tour because, yes, it was the tour that had the big mirrors.

    So I take it it's just because "the And then there were three tour" is a bit of a mouthful? (Why not just call it the '78 tour?)

  • Best opening song on a Genesis album?

    Quote from DecomposingMan

    OK, here's a question related to opening songs: Do you prefer "Where the Sour Turns to Sweet" or "Calling All Stations"? :)


    For me, it's the first one -- best song on FGTR IMO.


    I almost didn't buy CAS because of the initial impression I had of the title track. It's one of those songs that took me a while to warm up to. (Once I heard the whole album I was glad I bought it, though.)

    I like both, but CAS is better - it's a good, dramatic, emotional song. (But it's not in the same league as e.g. Behind the Lines, Watcher, TLLDOB.) My opinions are kind of the reverse of yours - for me CAS is one of the best songs on that album, and WTSTTS is one of the weaker songs on FGTR

  • GENESIS - "The Last Domino?" on 2CD and 4LP-set

    Can certainly understand your disappointment. But it has to be said, there's no way in hell the record company would put this out if they didnt think there was a market for it.