Posts by raelway siding

    It's understandable that on a board for Genesis fans there'll be a tendency to think of the world revolving around the band, but that is what is behind the belief that the Madonna cover must surely be a conscious pastiche of FV. There have been many such close-up b&w cover shots before and since FV. The handwritten title isn't enough to propel it into definitely being some sort of deliberate copy.

    I think it's the fact that it's Phil Collins, not Genesis, it sold gazillions of copies and that it's literally one of the most recognisable and famous pop album covers of the 1980s

    FWIW I do think the Madonna cover has too many similarities for it be an accident. I don't think you can really call it plagiarism but it is clearly a pastiche (maybe even intended to be recognised as one)

    I considered it, but didn't buy it. This was mainly due to the cost. If the CD box had been at least £10 cheaper I probably would have picked it up.


    The vinyl box I consider a big missed opportunity. If it had matched the tracklist of the CD box (maybe over two volumes) I probably would have paid whatever ridiculous money they asked for. Having Shepherd and Pacidy on vinyl for the first time would have been amazing.


    Overall I would have much preferred a series of individual releases, with complete sessions / shows and the same tracklist on CD and vinyl.

    I've heard the album version of Abacab played on BBC 6 Music - I can't recall if it was Guy Garvey's show, but it may well have been. It was at a friend's house - we were having a BBQ and the radio was playing quite loudly outside through decent speakers. The instrumental section sounded amazing I have to say!

    I tried to come up with a wintry/Xmas playlist of Genesis tracks a while back. It was harder than I thought, there's not many! But I think this sequence works very nicely:


    Fireside Song

    A Winter's Tale

    Shepherd

    Twilight Alehouse

    All in a Mouse's Night

    Undertow

    Snowbound



    Ok Twilight Alehouse and Mouse's Night are a bit of a stretch, but the atmosphere of the tracks works quite well!

    Really interesting. I own the regular edition of this CD, this far I haven't started re-purchasing any albums. Maybe some day. Ant has so much interesting stuff in his archives, he never gives out all he has though.

    Really?? I have the opposite impression - that he has released everything he's ever recorded! Every take, every experiment and every alternative version! I welcome it, but I suspect it's rather daunting to someone starting to collect him

    Pretty much a masterpiece, going beyond being one of Peter's best tracks and becoming one of the finest and most uplifting pop songs of the era. I never had any problem with the funny noises at the end. That's Peter, freed from his restraints! A little monkey shocked into life!


    I've always found it fascinating that Phil's reference to Supper's Ready and farewell line to Peter on A Trick of the Tail ("There's an angel standing in the sun / Free to get back home") is echoed in the repeating motif of being taken home (as a metaphor for freedom) in this song. Such a lovely link, and probably completely subconscious.

    I actually don't understand what he means by "it's an act" in that context. Somebody who writes songs is de facto a songwriter, lyrical content aside.

    Regarding the "rock'n'roller" I don't think he ever even wanted to be one or pretended to be one.

    If he means that somehow his persona was fabricated and his songs concocted to be appealing, well, that's not for him (or anybody else for that matter) to judge and it's overall quite a shallow and superficial thing to say considering his overall career.

    As a fan, I have always found his solo career to just have happened at the right time for it to be incredibly successful.


    But maybe I misunderstood his words.

    Well, I think he's making a judgment of artistic merit there, and anyone can (and should) make such a judgment. Pop and rock musicians do often make facile and concocted music, some more so than others. And sometimes they make great music. This is one of the ways that we judge whether we like a song or not. Does it sound real? Does it sound heartfelt? Agree with him or not, Waters is simply saying that to him Collins writes on a low artistic level. I don't entirely agree that Collins isn't genuine but I do feel that he isn't / wasn't artistically capable of anything truly revealing and interesting. He got close a few times (e.g. Take me Home). There's other mainstream pop/rock stars of the 80s I'd put quite high above him artistically (e.g. Peter Gabriel)

    If I recall, Phil Collins himself has said that he felt like he was acting a part when singing for Genesis. So there may be something in what Waters says, although the fact that Phil felt uncomfortable playing the part of the lead singer of Genesis suggests that his solo work at least was entirely genuine and heartfelt. Whatever you might think about it.

    This is in my personal Genesis top 10, I've always loved it right from when it came out and my brother bought it.


    In relation to earlier comments:


    While I realise omitting Collins from the credits was an honest error, it's relevant in that we gather from Hackett that Collins wrote the lyrics. On the subject of which, as per foxfeeder 's comment, I don't get the disquiet about the story. First, I don't think the accusation is of rape but of molestation/sexual assault, apparently unjustified according to the "...she said put your hand here" line. It doesn't negate the fact that actual male on-female-sexual assault is much more common, nor does it preclude writing a song about it.

    Indeed, anyone can write a song about anything they like - for me though it just displays a lack of judgement, or lack of maturity in some way. Which is forgivable, but it means the story is not a "world" I want to be in. Similar to Dreaming While You Sleep - I don't really want to be in that depressing story-world (my criticism of that track would be that it's too trite and obvious a treatment of the subject matter)

    Ok I'm in existential shock now. I can't believe this was 25 years ago. I might not have picked it up till a year or two later though I guess.


    I loved it at the time. I hadn't heard Twilight Alehouse, Happy the Man, Shepherd or Pacidy before and felt it was worth it just for those wonderful tracks. I remember being a bit disappointed with the early demo tracks - I think I was hoping for something like FGTR, but maybe rawer and more interesting. Patricia is absolutely wonderful though.


    Don't think I've listened to the live Lamb more than a couple of times - never my favourite tour, apart from the various strange Waiting Room improvisations

    It's good but overrated. I do enjoy the Yes-style instrumental ending, although it doesn't really go anywhere. The chorus I've never found particularly strong but it works well enough. Like Dr. John I have trouble with the lyrics. What exactly is the story here? A girl maliciously accuses a boy of rape? It's an odd thing to write about when actual rape and violence against women is far, far more common.