Display MoreArtists most listened to since the last time...
The Guess Who
The Tragically Hip
Fleetwood Mac
Tom Petty
Roxy Music
Since then, artists who I have played repeatedly or listened to multiple albums of ...
Frank Zappa
Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
Blue Rodeo
Big Big Train
The Rolling Stones
Frank Zappa - Waka/Jawaka
(I've been slowly exploring Frank Zappa's music the last little while and have found I really like his output from 1969 to 72. He released a number of albums during that period which were almost entirely instrumental - Hot Rats, Chunga's Revenge, The Grand Wazoo and this one. Great stuff.)
Marianne Faithful - Broken English
(Had this on cassette back in the day. Always liked it. Her voice is ragged from hard living but it totally suits the music. Been meaning to get it on CD for a while and finally got around to it)
There's a great story from Nick Launay who worked on the Flowers Of Romance album by PiL (great band, much better than The Sex Pistols in my opinion) where he brought about a meeting between Phil Collins and John Lydon over lunch. The two got on famously, much to everyone's surprise: The Curious Tale Of Phil and Mr Rotten
Along those same lines, I recall Phil saying in an interview how he cheered on and agreed when the punks slagged off some of the old guard bands like ELP and Pink Floyd as bloated and pretentious. But then was taken aback when anyone included Genesis on that list of disparaged bands .
Interesting to see no songs from The Lamb received more than one vote. In fact, I believe I was the only person among the participants who actually selected any songs off that album (I had two of them in my Top 10, early on).
I think Thick as a Brick is massively overrated, I don't really love Anderson's voice and the musicianship was subpar when compared to other Prog bands. Aqualung though, is imo a masterpiece.
Outside of Passion Play, I don't think Tull really fits the characterization of a progressive rock band.
They clearly have much more in common with folk hybrid bands like Strawbs, Traffic and Fairport Convention than with traditional prog bands like Yes and ELP.
No. 1
The Fountain of Salmacis
Bit of an oddball choice?
Not really, coming from someone who compares Nursery Cryme to a beautiful piece of tapestry, embroidered with pastoral scenes and classic romanticism, cites it as his favourite album of all time, picked "The Musical Box" as his No. 2 choice in this list, and melts in pleasure to the sound of a mellotron.
Over the years, I have always enjoyed a lot of programs produced in the UK:
Spaced
Father Ted
The IT Crowd
The Avengers
The Office
Monty Python’s Flying Circus
Fawlty Towers
Not The Nine O’Clock News
Drop The Dead Donkey
Several Canadian shows – mostly sketch and topical comedies:
The Newsroom
Kids In The Hall
Second City (aka SCTV)
And then some classic American shows that I really enjoy as well:
All In The Family
Seinfeld
The Honeymooners
The Sopranos
Police Squad!
Display More...
He also played on the following albums (not sure which tracks):
...
Camel - I Can See Your House From Here
...
He plays on two songs, providing a second layer of percussion. His playing is recognizable but on both occasions here, his contributions are very brief.
No. 2
The Musical Box
I love the slow build-up, that adrenaline-pumping exchange between the guitar and organ at the start of the climax, the unique sounds of the guitar during the solo, and that powerful ending.
Absolute perfection.
... I've described it as sounding as if a band from 1967 somehow recorded an album in 1963.
...
I like that description.
Considering some of the adventurous music that was coming out at the time, these songs seem to belong to a slightly earlier era or designed for a much older and conservative listener – and I attribute that largely to Jonathan King and his vision and handling of the production.
Having said that, songs like “Where The Sour Turns To Sweet” always convey to me the innocence of youth, conjuring up memories of my early teens, that wondrous period when I was exploring early Genesis and listening to this album the first few times.
Admittedly, it’s more out of nostalgia and sentimentality that I play the album maybe once every two or years (if that), than any high regard for the music.
01. Nursery Cryme
02. Selling England by the Pound
03. Wind & Wuthering
04. Foxtrot
05. The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
06. A Trick of the Tail
07. Trespass
08. And Then There Were Three
09. Duke
10. Genesis
11. Abacab
12. Calling all Stations
13. Invisible Touch
14. We Can't Dance
15. From Genesis to Revelation
No. 3
Firth of Fifth
I love the story behind the song as explained by Tony, how he envisioned that middle instrumental part being played on piano and flute. And then Steve suggested one day trying it this other way, and Tony played along, going full mellotron – “it was almost like a joke” – Tony thinking it sounded too much like King Crimson. But ultimately in the end, he said, “it sounded so good, we couldn’t ignore it.”
The Lamb was firmly in my mind when I saw Neil Young & Crazy Horse performing on the Greendale tour.
There was a story to it, and he played the entire album with a theatrical setup that included building facades, vehicles that rose from the beneath the stage, actors playing the parts of the characters and mouthing the words of the songs.
It was a contentious tour for certain fans who just wanted to hear the hits and ended up getting all of Greendale – an album which at that point was still months away from being released – plus a few older songs tossed in at the end.
I personally enjoyed the concert but prior to the show I made a point of acquiring a bootleg recording from an earlier warm-up solo acoustic show where he had performed all of the songs. So I was already familiar with the music when I saw him with the electric band but I was in a miniscule minority within that audience and I recall people grumbling as we were leaving.
I’ve seen comments over the years from people who saw The Lamb performed on stage before the album was released and interestingly they always seem to speak glowingly of this amazing experience.
I suspect it is easy to say that in hindsight, now being able to connect a current familiarity with the album with memories of the show.
But at the time, without any benefit of hearing the album beforehand, I don’t know how enthusiastic I would have been being presented with 90 minutes of music I’d never heard before and then being granted a token performance of "The Musical Box" or "The Knife."
This morning I picked up on CD
Blue Rodeo - Greatest Hits
(They're a Canadian band with a strong following in their home country but likely not well known beyond these borders. They've been around for 30 years, I always liked their music, been meaning to get something of theirs for a while but just never got around to it until now)
Prior to that, a few weeks ago I ordered and received
Ginger Baker's Airforce
(Another overdue purchase. I had this on cassette back in the day and hadn't gotten around to buying it on CD until a few weeks ago when the thought was freshly replanted in my mind while watching a documentary about Ginger Baker's life)
No. 4
Cinema Show/Aisle of Plenty
I’ve always regarded Aisle of Plenty as the coda to Cinema Show – a separate track on disc, but part of the same song as far as I’m concerned. For me, they just blend in perfectly and belong together.
Among the things that elevate Genesis to my ears are the vocal harmonies featuring two of my favourite singers of all time. If I need an exquisite example of the beauty created by those two voices, this is the song that immediately pops to mind.
Pete Townshend
Bruce Cockburn
Bob Dylan
Strawbs
Yes
Artists most listened to since the last time...
The Guess Who
The Tragically Hip
Fleetwood Mac
Tom Petty
Roxy Music
Now that I would find interesting. Do you have a link you could share?
So I am referring to the tail end of the song where there is a little bit of noodling as it fades out.
In this one-hour video, Moonlit Knight starts at 8:36 and the part I was talking about begins at about 14 minutes in.
#5 - Dancing with the Moonlit Knight
Just an extraordinary song. The build-up from that evocative a capella intro right the way through to the massive chorus and the rocking instrumental section is one of my favourite things in the world. An exceptional piece of art.
In addition to everything you highlighted, I also like the fact it was one of the few times they would allow for some improvisation when the song was performed live.
I sort of wish Genesis did more of that in concert.
No. 5
Supper's Ready
Some of my favourite moments in Genesis are featured in this song. It's a 25-minute journey that I'm always happy to venture into. Taken as a whole, however, it does have its peaks and plateaus and for that very reason it is not my No. 1.
