Posts by DecomposingMan

    We all know the Genesis songs whose titles aren't in the lyrics at all, and don't even come close to being there -- Stagation, Dusk, The Musical Box, Squonk, Undertow, etc.


    But there are some songs whose titles come really close to being in the lyrics, but aren't quite there. In some cases you might not have even realized that the exact title isn't ever actually said in the lyrics.


    Here are the ones I've thought of:


    Dancing With The Moonlit Knight

    The Cinema Show

    Follow You Follow Me

    Alone Tonight

    Man On The Corner

    Just A Job To Do

    Since I Lost You

    Fading Lights

    One Man's Fool

    Sign Your Life Away


    Anyone know any more?

    Like It Or Not (and probably several others) - Anyway

    Stagnation - The (ice-cold) Knife

    Personally, I don't think that one counts!

    Hearts On Fire - It

    I was wondering if anyone else would think of "It." Too many songs to count for that one, I'm sure!

    'The Light' used to be a 10min.+ song

    Just to nitpick a little -- the one recorded performance of "The Light" that survives lasts approximately 8:50.

    While I appreciate Scenes is based on a comic, I doubt that closer acquaintance with the comic would alter my loathing of the song.

    OK, then -- one needs to be familiar with the source material to make any sense of the song at all!

    I reckon it says more about their ruthlessness with their own material, including some of their best songs. e. g. would you say the same about the albums Los Endos, Afterglow and Turn It On Again come from?

    Well, you may have a point there, particularly where W&W is concerned. Still (and I may be wrong), I've gotten the impression that most of the ATTWT songs that were played live -- specifically "Down and Out," "Ballad of Big," "Burning Rope," "Deep in the Motherlode" & "Say It's Alright Joe" -- had unusually short stints in the band's set list.

    Definitely a transitional album, and sort of an awkward leap between eras. Tony and Mike dominate (as they also would on CAS) since Phil is not quite ready yet to be a full contributor to the writing.


    "Follow You Follow Me" was the first song Genesis song I ever heard, but in retrospect I think the full ATTWT album would not have been a good introduction to the band for me.


    I think it says something about the album that only one of its songs (FYFM) ever made it into the band's long-term concert repertoire.


    Definite high points for me are "Say It's Alright Joe" (a seemingly very underappreciated song), "Deep in the Motherlode," "Many Too Many" and "Undertow."


    Thoughts on other songs:


    "Ballad of Big" - Brought down by some rather poor lyrics (which have grammar problems on top of everything else, such as pointlessly switching between past and present tense).


    "Snowbound" - Lovely tune but the lyrics are odd in an unappealing way. There was probably no good way to write a song about the apparent subject matter at hand.


    "Burning Rope" - Not a bad song but too many lines of the lyrics make no particular sense.


    "Scenes from a Night's Dream" - I like this song OK, but in order to appreciate it one really has to be familiar with the source material ("Little Nemo in Slumberland," a groundbreaking early 20th-century Sunday comic).


    "The Lady Lies" - Starts out a little awkwardly ("come to lurehimtothedemon'slair") but it gets better. To me this seems to work better as a metaphor for something than as an actual story.

    I think there was a thread like this on another, long-ago message board; but I'd like to start a new one.


    What Genesis songs can you think of that (intentionally or not) happen to have other songs' titles in their lyrics?


    Here's what I know of off the top:


    The Magic Of Time: Silent Sun

    Supper's Ready: Like It Or Not

    Firth Of Fifth: Shepherd

    The Lamia: Silent Sorrow In Empty Boats

    A Trick Of The Tail: That's All

    Alone Tonight: Tonight, Tonight, Tonight

    Tonight, Tonight, Tonight: In Too Deep

    Thoughts on the review:

    "Charisma met with criticism from many fans who demanded that Kim Poor’s paintings continue to be used for the cover artwork." -- I've never been a big fan of Kim Poor's paintings for Steve's albums (although there a couple I like). I actually like the CURED cover (front & back).


    "Picture Postcard / Steve sings in a high falsetto" -- He doesn't sing falsetto here, but just sings at the (apparent) top of his natural vocal range.


    "Steve Hackett showed courage when he decided to sing all songs himself. Unfortunately, he sings in a high pitched voice that sounds forced and soon tires the listener." -- I have to agree. He especially sounds strained on "Turn Back Time." He would sound much better on later albums.


    Additional observation about the album: This is Steve's shortest album (in its original form), and may even be the shortest Genesis-related album overall. (I haven't done the math, but I think Side 2 of Ant's TWELVE album is longer than all of CURED. At any rate, I know Ant's song "The Meadows of Englewood" is!)

    Thoughts on the album (and review):


    I'm a big fan of this album and listen to it often. My main complaint is that it's so short.


    The very first time I ever heard of Steve was when I saw a poster for this album in a record store. At the time I'd barely even heard of Genesis.


    I never cared much for the front cover. As for the "two ladies" on the back: are we sure that isn't just one lady and a mirror?


    "Slogans" -- I totally could not understand what the vocoder voice was saying until someone explained it to me.


    While "Steppes" is the obvious favorite, I've always preferred "Hammer In The Sand" and "The Toast."


    Did you know this is the only Steve album with vocals where he doesn't sing lead on at least one song?

    I can't say I agree totally with the review. For one thing, "Par Avion" is actually one of my favorite songs on the album. I agree that the other Kirby track, "You Are The One," isn't anything special, but my main problem with it is one shared by "All I Need Is A Miracle": an underwritten chorus that just repeats a couple of lines and doesn't go anywhere.


    My favorite song on the album is "Hanging By A Thread," although I find the beginning confusing rhythmically, and also would have liked for the chorus to be repeated one more time at the end.


    BTW, "A Call To Arms" is actually sung by both Carrack and Young, with Stashuck providing the female-sounding vocal part that's somewhere between backing and lead.


    This is one of those albums that originally didn't grab me enough for me to keep it, but which I later returned to. When I listen to it in the car, I have the song order changed to a custom one that I prefer over the actual order.

    I don't believe they 'sacrificed' anything. They retained their musical integrity, but just applied it differently and in a way that, as you say, many didn't like.

    I basically agree with this. While Genesis's albums from the "pop" era (ABACAB thru WCD) aren't my favorites by any means, there are a number of songs from that period that I like just as much as any earlier material -- and hardly any songs that I actually dislike.


    There's a reason why Genesis is the only long-lasting band that I'm an "all eras" fan of.


    Other favorite bands have lost my interest by losing too much of what I liked about them, and going "pop" has sometimes been part of that. But, to my ears at least, there's a world of difference between the 1980s "pop" of Genesis and that of, say, Chicago (one band that really lost me in that decade).

    Steve does prog, but has also experience in classical music, blues etc

    Shoot, Steve can cover more stylistic territory in a single album than some artists do in their entire careers. Look at TO WATCH THE STORMS or WILD ORCHIDS, for example (particularly the Special Editions).