Fair enough
It's raining again - Supertramp
Fair enough
It's raining again - Supertramp
Yeah, Trick is an absolute classic. The first side is perfect mid period Genesis, and side 2 is dan near perfect. The title track is relatively weak IMO, but Ripples and Los Endos blow me away every time.
^^^ What's the joining word?
I find I Can't Dance untypical for Genesis. There are very few layers of music, and I think the song was written just to take the mickey at that commercial for a certain brand of jeans - which is probably a first and a once-only in Genesis's catalogue.
The tricky thing is, perhaps, that Genesis have done a lot in different ways, so there is nothing that is "typical Genesis" ... except that it may be typical for Genesis songs that they are not typical Genesis songs, if you know what I mean (and I hope you do because I think I just got caught in a tight logical and grammatical tangle...).
There is no logic to Genesis. I think they always just did what the f**k they wanted, which is fair enough.
I'm not even sure what sort of music 'I can't dance' is. Personally, I never like it. Always made me feel queazy.
Funny ... I came here to write that I despise Mama. I've never been part of a Genesis forum until now, and I never would have guessed that Mama was so loved.
That laugh ... ugh.
But then again, aside from Silver Rainbow, I don't like anything from the eponymous album.
For me, 'Shapes' is their most consistent album since A Trick of the Tail. It's by no means one of my favourites, as less consistent albums such as Duke and ATTWT have better high points, but overall it;s only really Illegal Alien that lets it down.
Completely agree on Shapes. Home by the Sea was my #9. Which of the band members said Side 1 of this album was the best thing they did - and Side 2 was the worst?
I.T! Occasionally I feel I ought to spin it again, put it on, skip this one, skip that one, 5 mins later I’m done. And it’s their bestseller!
I was listening to side 2 of 'shapes' last weekend for the first time in ages. On re-evaluation it's really not that bad. Just a job to do, Silver Rainbow and It's gonna get better are all a least listenable....Illegal Alien, however is an abomination, and a complete musical aberration! The worst thing they ever committed to tape!
Anything She Does. A lyric about page three models, written by Tony Banks, with music that is distinctly ska. Move over Buster Bloodvessel!
Interesting. It never struck me as Ska. Different rhythmically to Ska. More of a Motown influence IMO.
Not that I'm an authority on either..! Can you explain why you think it's Ska influenced? I will say, the chorus does bring to mind the Police (at least for me, it does.. ) who had an obvious reggae influence which is a relation of ska.
Shoot me down by all means!
Totally! Mama is a runner and rider with me bouncíng around with a couple of others just outside the top ten. Some say Genesis were "descending into pop" about now but Mama is as original and imaginative a song as you could imagine ever hitting the charts. Collins claims he ripped the spooky laugh from Grandmaster Flash but he's doing himself a disservice - it's a different sound completely.
Mama is a classic Genesis song. It came out just before I really got into the band, and I loved it on first hearing on the radio. I hadn't heard anything like it. The spooky intensity alongside that strange drum machine ryhthm make for a really unusual musical brew! I'm surprised and was very pleased that it made it to number 2 in the UK charts. Well deserved.
As for the Grnadmaster Flash infleunce.... Genesis were always influenced by other artists from The Beatles to Led Zep. When inpspired by John Bonham, Collins still didn't sound like him. I was inspired to take up the drums by listening to Phil Collins and Neil Peart... I promise you, when I play In the Air Tonight, it don't sound much like Phil Collins My point being, just because he was influenced by GMF on Mama, doesn't mean the intention was for it to sound like GMF. The challenge to the band was making it 'sound like' Genesis, in a context relevent to the times. With Mama they achieved that.
Our song - Yes
Display MoreIt’s time to name your #5.
"One for the Vine" from Wind & Wuthering (1976) SILVER-GILT
When Mike Rutherford described 'Wind and Wuthering' as a feminine album, I took note. I'd always found this to be one of their least accessible albums and now he seemed to be passing me the key with which to unlock it. So with this in mind, I put the album on yet again. Was he right? Certainly, there are no 'in-your-face' raunchy rock anthems with instant appeal. The ballads here exude a delicate passion, a subtlety and an understated charm. So far, so feminine. These songs are true ladies in their gentlest, most refined form. That's not to say that within these songs there are no rousing moments. It's just that when these songs reach a climax there are no shrill squeals like one might hear from behind the boozer on a Friday night with a boor of a boyfriend. No; they slowly entice by teasing, denying, by 'edging' the listener so he is left screaming for release as the songs hold back from those last few musical thrusts. Of course, to the 'thinking man' this makes the ultimate release all the sweeter (not so sure how the boor would view it!) So, yes, Mike Rutherford’s right. This is a truly feminine album and in the best sense of the word.
'One for the Vine' is the stand-out track on the album and one guaranteed to annoy those musical cross-dressers who fear that too much prog rock ages them and so suck in their bellies to squeeze into their ‘pop music’ pants. But no matter how often they may rant against old rock heads, the qualities of this song will remain whilst their frantic wink at today’s youth for acceptance just looks sad and desperate.
Tony Banks once said that this song of his was ‘as far away as you can get from 3-chord rock.’ Stating the obvious perhaps yet also understating his genius as a song writer. This is one of the most complex songs he has ever written, and the only one that took him a full 12 months to complete. The song itself is composed of ten different musical segments and the frequent changes in mood, pace and dynamics create the impression that the song is at least twice as long as it actually is. Unlike "Supper's Ready," each segment is well-integrated into the song (instead of forming a suite), and the piece progresses naturally from one to the next, Yet a seamless product is often dismissed as over-processed and consequently overlooked in favour of one where the artisanal stitching is more evident. The song unjustly suffers from this. It is delicate and demure with hidden qualities that will take time and effort to unravel and hardcore fans agree, it remains one of the most under-appreciated songs from the band's entire repertoire.
The song begins with a wistful synthesiser motif symbolic of the title and feel of the album as a whole before leading into a gentle verse where Collins is accompanied solely by piano until a delicate soft drum beat joins him in the second verse. This is Collins at his best; not rasping through the lower vocal ranges but soaring high in his natural home. After exactly 1 minute, the chorus starts with the line, "Then one whose faith had died". At this point synths and cymbals come in and the tempo builds towards a breaking climax. Yet the chorus Banks delivers here is barely enough to scratch that musical itch he's caused. Is he toying with us? It seems so as the song now drifts back to the gentle melodic form with which he started. Many will groan and skip the track at this point sensing that this is no musical whore eager to display her wares for the casual listener. Good! Banks has shaken the apple tree and got rid of the undiscerning listener. For those still with us, the song once again climbs through verse and chorus to the expected climax he teased us with last time. Now he gives us what we need. At 2.15, a series of powerful guitar chords and a flurry of ascending keyboard notes culminate in a crescendo of soaring vocals as Collins sings out, 'Follow me...' in that delightful high register he delivered so beautifully on 'More Fool Me', three years earlier. It's a floaty feminine release with enough multi-orgasmic potential for Banks to let him sing it through again. Satiated? Not quite; we're missing the post-climactic climb down which Collins marks with the line, 'No, no, no, this can't go on.' At this point the tempo dramatically drops until a tinkling piano takes over before faltering poignantly to a halt at 3.30. If the song were to end here it would probably still make my top 10, as it is we're only a 1/3 of the way through. At 3.33, the vulnerability of self-doubt is expressed with the most tentative of piano openings. This hands over to a haunting synth which hangs in the air until returning to the wistful motif from the start of the song. This time an upbeat tempo signifies that things are about to take a dramatic change. The synth chords crash and bounce with increasing intensity from 4.41 until they are superseded by the crowning glory of the whole song. If your feminine side found fulfilment back when Phil sung, 'Follow me', then at 5.28 is when you'll discover your inner beast. Hackett is now off the leash and he roars powerfully through the next minute before Banks crashes in with a rhythmic pounding of his own and all to accompany the most angst-ridden lines of the song, "They leave me no choice. I must lead them to glory, or most likely to death!' This marks the emotional zenith after which the main refrain ebbs away at 7.15 to the wistful motif of the opening bars. The final verse when it comes, almost takes us by surprise. Surely the song is over. Yet, no; this time it’s different. No longer is there just a simple piano accompanying the vocals. Now we have a fuller sound, a strong assertive drum beat and a bank of synths symbolic of a new-found strength that comes through adversity. A musical resurrection even. When the song does finally end it is with an incredibly powerful refrain of the main theme that climbs ever higher into the heavens until it can no longer sustain the giddy heights to which it has risen, at which point it hovers, at 9.20, holding its own for a couple of bars before handing over to an unaccompanied piano which gently lowers it back to Earth.
A good friend of mine described this album as 'a meandering nothingness.' It was meant as a slur on the quality of the music but it got me thinking. Time spent away from the familiar clutter of everyday life can result in convictions and a clarity of vision that would elude us otherwise. After all, we all know what 40 days and 40 nights spent in a wilderness did for the history of mankind. Not that I am making any such grand claims for 'One for the Vine' (we are still only in silver-gilt territory after all 😂) But let's not be too quick to dismiss those things lacking instant appeal and in the words of the poet (and failed Catholic priest) Gerard Manley Hopkins, 'Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet!'
("One for the Vine" was an important part of the band's live show from 1977 to 1980)
A good detailed decsription of an excellent song. I'm a member of a prog rock forum, and the Genesis heads there (including myself) love this song. For me, it's arguably Bank's best composition. It never fails to move me. It's epic, beautiful, complex and melodic. For once like Mr Bank's lyrics too.
It's the centre piece of W&W, an album which I regard as a flawed masterpiece. There are some incredible peaks of quality therin, and some gutting missed opportunities too, IMO, but suffice to say OFTV is in my top 10, where exactly, you'll have to wait and see
Number 5: The much malligned "Chamber of 32 Doors" from The Lamb
I have always loved this track, and find it very emotional. I love Gabriels vocal perfomance, the moody mellotron and Hacketts weeping guitar licks.
I don;t care what anyone says. Sue me!
Tears - Rush
We are sailing - Rod Stewart
Damn! Wong thread! Sorry...let me think....
"..a dream of mad man moon"
"Fifty thousand men were sent to do the will of one"
I’m sure I read somewhere that Banks felt he couldn’t do it justice live. I think it was to do with the tech available at the time and the impracticality of going on tour with a grand piano. However, considering the truck loads of sound equipment they ferry round with them whilst on tour, I’m sure they could have got round this had they really wanted to.
Yeah other bands managed to cart around grand piano's; Queen, ELP et al.... Blimey Ketih Emerson played the effing thing spinning through the air once. Broke his fingers when the lid slammed down, but hey...one pays for their art.
^^^ Do we know for certain that they didn't do the intro live, and it was just lef off the recording (for whatever reason)?
Twilight of the Mortal - Killing Joke
All the aces - Motorhead