The highlight is the amazing bridge with Tony and Steve doing what they do best.
Absolutely!! It's a two and a half minute eargasm. Anyone that says that it's too long needs their head examining. Smart choice. We may, err, be seeing it again shortly in these listings.
I don't think it's being patronising acknowledging that their early stuff has little immediate appeal. It's only what the band themselves have stated.
As someone who only recently dismissed their entire Gabriel-era stuff as "90% w*nk", I would have thought you'd understand this more than anyone. I was delighted when you gave it another go and got to like Trespass. Hopefully you'll do the same with 'Supper's Ready'; a track that my teenage ear failed to appreciate but which I now consider a masterpiece. If only I had had the ear that you claim you had back in the day!
Well we are going to have to let our colleague decide on this himself of course, but Wardrobe is a dime a dozen single at best, or even to my ear actually positively irritating. We can't be risking losing a future Squonk here, so let's hope Witchwood judges it right!!
You could also let him listen to Wardrobe which is also quite accessible on first hearing
Aren't we being a little patronising here? In the best possible way = "acting like a father".
A teenager is well capable of enjoying complex pieces of music. I wasn't into Genesis at the time but I was into Floyd and they didn't make singles.
Give him the real thing and blast him with Firth. If he's the sort of kid that likes instrumental solos he'll gobble it up. Then tell him to listen to the whole England album - it's got three rock solid epics. I'd be amazed if he even mentioned that dreary single.
IListen to the 'Duke suite' stitched together as it was originally planned and it's prog rock's last grand 'hurrah'!
Yes I know you like this but Duke does absolutely nothing for me and it makes not a jot of difference which order you play it in.
I feel that it's me that's out on a limb on this. There seem to be a lot of old school, prog rock, Gabriel era fans who also like Duke and name it in their favourites. I just don't get it but hey there's just no accounting for taste.
#8 is Many Too Many, a bitter love song from And Then There Were Three.
Hackett having left they abolished the role of lead guitar and did it all with keyboards, squeezing out this, their last great album. From then on I can largely skip over all except the first side of Genesis, plus a handful of singles.
In many ways Hackett's exit is more significant than Gabriel's. The latter they did see coming, and Banks actually described it as a relief.
I like/love pretty well the whole of this album, and feel no need to skip tracks. I need to represent it in my top ten and this track is as good as any.
10. Can-Utility and the Coastliners
A magical track that never grows old. I don't see it mentioned often.
9. The Musical Box
It wasn't difficult selecting my top five or so tracks, but six through ten are nearly interchangeable.
Proper old school choices there. No arguments.
This is no back of an envelope stuff eh. Fascinating to see how a complex work like this develops over time. Would be interesting to hear the intermediate stages in One For the Vine, which Banks took a whole year to develop.
I think Atom Heart Mother and Meddle are excellent albums. It's a pity Obscured by Clouds doesn't pack more punch because then I'd have an unbroken 8 album sequence from AHM through to the Final Cut.
9. Stagnation
I imagine "The Knife" would have been very exhilarating to hear in a live setting (sadly I can't speak from experience), but for me "Stagnation" was by far the most appealing track on Trespass and the one most likely to cause goosebumps to rise.
Total respect for this choice. I also prefer it to The Knife. Neck and neck with White Mountain, which I posted at #10. Remaining tracks all wholely listenable. What an album!
At #9 I have Home by the Sea from the Genesis album.
I struggle to find much after ATTW3 that interests me. Their best seller - Invisible Touch - contains literally nothing, and it's mainly a case of scratching around for a couple of acceptable singles - Turn It On Again, I Can't Dance, Abacab. But the eponymous album has a stellar Side One with the haunting Mama (complete with the evil laugh Collins ripped off from Grandmaster Flash), the foot-tapping That's All, and this late classic. Together with Second Home it forms an eleven minute suite. If I were allowed to pair them I might even push it up another position in my list, but on its own it still commands a place. I just love the keyboard riff going over the top of Phil's "Sit down, sit down". On the live sets he delivers the vocal first half, then retires behind the drums for the instrumental playout - as if to say to poor old Chester - you're not really up to this. What I do find irritating and unnecessary is the little gap between the two parts on the album, as if they needed to physically separate them. But forgiving them this, here we have their last great song.
Hi everyone. On a journey here - I had no particular awareness of or affection for Genesis in my youth, but started playing the albums over my streaming service at home, gradually got to like them more. It's great reading comments by people who have been steeped in the stuff since a younger age. So I'm going to attempt a top ten.
At #10: White Mountain from Trespass.
I just can't believe this album. Excluding the demo tapes they put together for Jonathan King which ended up on FGTR, this is their first proper piece of work. Someone tell me who they are modelling themselves on, these 20 year olds. Were the Stones doing anything so complex? Floyd weren't. Where on earth do they get it from?
You compare early Genesis and early Pink Floyd and it's men against boys. I speak as a big Floyd fan, but they took a fair few albums to get going. Gabriel et al are straight out of the traps. The album didn't sell at the time - except in Belgium apparently where they hit #1. But it's a fantastic piece of work. The Knife and Stagnation are worth fan favourites but White Mountain just does it for me. Voice, instrumentation, the different slow and fast phases. Fantastic.
