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... how Peter's lyrics made The Lamb tracks not work out of the context of the album ...
I can't recall if it was Tony or Phil who made that remark, but I always thought it was a bizarre excuse for not playing more individual tracks from The Lamb - as if the audience at a rock concert would care about proper lyrical context.
I'm going by memory here but I seem to recall back when there was discussion on the official Genesis forum about a potential archive series, we were told they had numerous recordings from every tour but nothing prior to Foxtrot.
The Lamb
In The Cage
Carpet Crawlers
It
Then were a few tracks they tried only once or twice on stage. The ones I'm aware of are ...
Back In New York City
Lilywhite Lilith
Then, of course, there were instrumental bits they did like Fly On A Windshield and excerpts from Colony Of Slippermen.
Bruce Cockburn - Crowing Ignites
(His newest release is a bit of a departure, completely instrumental)
A few personal views about individual tracks in response to observations and comments I've seen made over the years, stemming back to the old Genesis forum...
I've never been that big on the title track - I actually find the opening a bit jarring - yet I've always found it curious it's often one of the songs fans include on their list of favourites from CAS.
Conversely, a lot of people don't seem to like the two singles - Shipwrecked and Congo - though I always thought they were among the best half-dozen songs on the album (despite neither being in my Top 3).
Another popularly held view I never agreed with was the idea Genesis chose the wrong songs to put on the album. For me there might be one track, Nowhere Else To Turn, that I sort of wish made it on the album but even then, I would not insert it at the expense of anything that's already on there.
I'm envious - but the band says they're planning to tour North America in the spring so looks like I'll get my chance to see them too.
I wonder whether a young lad could get into it, listening to today. It's probably too much of a period record. Plus, there are no back-up dancers and no rap mid-section....
Just as it was with many of us who grew up during the disco era, there will always be youths who want to assert their individual tastes and stray off the common path.
My 17-year-old son listens on his phone to full albums by King Crimson, Yes, Pink Floyd, The Stones, Hendrix, Led Zeppelin - and surprisingly it's not solely due to my influence but a small circle of friends of his who all share an appreciation for this old stuff and they'll make recommendations among themselves.
(Just the other day ... "Hey dad, do you have any ELO?")
So there is always hope for next generation.
Plenty - It could be home.
For the unfamiliar, this was a very early Tim Bowness band, from the mid-80's, who finally released their debut album last year. Full story here: https://timbowness.wordpress.c…/plenty-it-could-be-home/ and here: https://davidkjones86.wixsite.com/plentydraft
I had the good fortune of chatting briefly with David Jones, (He's also the bass player with Genesis tribute band Mama) a couple of weeks back, telling him how good this album is, and complimenting his playing on a couple of tracks in particular (One being a cover of the 'Stones As Tears Go by, the best version of it I've ever heard). He was quite chuffed (as we say in the UK) to hear I liked it.
Interesting. I think I'll look into this further.
Ginger Baker: Legendary Cream drummer dies aged 80!!!.......
One of the very few drummers in rock who could put together a 10-15 minute drum solo that made me want to put up the volume and listen. He was best known for his work in Cream, but I also quite enjoyed his playing in Blind Faith and his post-BF project, Airforce.
RIP Ginger.
Very interesting interview. Thank you for posting.
The part about fans not buying Strictly Inc., I'm inclined to wonder if it was more of a distribution issue than lack of interest.
Here in Canada, I never once saw that album in record stores even back when it was a new release.
Even after I shifted to purchasing most of my CDs online, Strictly Inc. was always listed at an exorbitant price - in the same category of pricing as, say, Marscape or some other Genesis-related oddity.
I never had the complete album until I recently purchased the box set.
The James Gang (+ Joe Walsh solo)
The Eagles
Van Morrison
Pink Floyd (+ David Gilmour solo)
Genesis (+ AP, PC and Brand X)
Still been playing a lot of Van Morrison,
but also
Tony Banks
Eric Clapton
The Who (+ Pete Townshend solo)
The Rolling Stones (+ Mick Taylor solo)
...And funny you asked him about Sceptred Isle - Pathways and Promenades has always been one of my top fave Ant albums.
The two Missing Links albums I have — Pathways & Promenades and The Sky Road — are amongst my favourites as well.
Along with PP&P2, they are probably the instrumental albums of Ant's I listen to the most.
If I play them while I'm driving, working in the office when no one is around (as is the case this moment) or just relaxing, the music seems to fit in as both a pleasant and proper soundtrack.
What about the live albums. Here, I think they pretty much abandoned any attempt to be creative in any way as they are uniformly dull and unimaginative. In that sense, for me the best of a boring bunch is 3SL. Sure it's pretty uninteresting but its starkness kind of makes a statement about where they were at that time. I really liked the approach of having just one big fuzzy pic. It was a pleasing contrast to the previous live album with its predictable montage/scrapbook style that was ploddingly typical of 70s double live rock albums.
Genesis had a spectacular stage and light show and the album covers reflected that.
Unimaginative?
Perhaps.
Dull?
Absolutely not.
I recall walking into a record store in the late 70s and seeing a display island of about a dozen or so albums and my focus lured like a magnet to that image with the cyan blue curtain in the background and that bizarre character standing behind a bass drum in the middle of the stage with that red headpiece and glowing eyes..
Personally, I love that cover.
Rolling Stones - Beggar's Banquet
(Just the name of the band in the midst of graffiti. I don't believe the album title is scrawled on the wall anywhere)
David Bowie - Heathen
(Just the album title but no artist name, though it's quite obvious from the image)
On order, waiting to receive
Gary Brooker - Lead Me To Water
(I had this album back when I collected cassettes and had sort of forgotten about it. Then I was listening to a Clapton album the other day which features Brooker and I was reminded of this album which I haven't listened to in 20+ years. It not only includes guest appearances by Clapton, but Phil Collins and George Harrison.)
Just ordered the Banks Vaults box set.
(I had three of the seven "rock" albums but I wanted the full set and it seemed half of them weren't available on disc for some time, so I'm quite looking forward to getting this)
Display MoreIn the last month or two I've been listening to a lot of...
Mark Knopfler
Led Zeppelin
Santana
Frank Zappa
Big Big Train
Since then it's been a lot of...
The James Gang (+ Joe Walsh solo)
The Eagles
Van Morrison
Pink Floyd (+ David Gilmour solo)
Genesis (+ AP, PC and Brand X)
Do love Ant but TBH I would prefer an album in the style of Slow Dance or perhaps more akin to his WATE or Sides material. Love Ant's guitar albums but struggle to listen to a whole album of 6-12 string tunes. Just me folks. Prefer the band or multi instrumental material.
I fully appreciate what you're saying.
Even though, for example, I am quite fond of Field Day, it's an album I have to be in the right mood for, whereas most of the other albums - the band albums, the Missing Links, the PP&Ps - I can randomly pull out and play without having to weigh whether or not I'm in the right mood to enjoy it.
Speaking of struggling with albums...
When the discussion turns to Slow Dance, I feel like I'm watching others through a pane of glass.
It seems everyone who is into Ant's music loves Slow Dance and I just don't experience that same level of euphoria that others seem to get with that album.
I don't hate it or dislike it - it's just far from being one my favourites.
Yes, so am I.
It's been seven long years since a new release.
Looking forward to it.
I like every Genesis album. I think each one has its merits.
Having said that, FGTR is easily my least favourite of the bunch.
CAS, WCD and IT would be grouped in the next category — couple of notches above.
But I couldn’t give you a consistent answer if asked which of those three I like the best or the least.
It really varies on my mood and my tendency to rate albums higher when I happen to be listening to them.
