Haven't been on this thread in awhile. Acadian Driftwood is one of my favourite Band songs and doesn't get the same level of attention as other classics in their catalogue. A great story about the challenges that the Acadians experienced historically, with great playing and singing from all members.
“Try to raise a family. End up the enemy. Over what down on the Plains of Abraham.”
Abacab has great relevance in their catalog insofar as it served as the intro to their music for a new generation of fans. It was the second album of theirs that I owned. My brother gave me ATTWT as a gift for my 17th birthday. Frankly most of that album fell flat for me at the time. The music on Abacab, on the other hand, sounded fresh and exciting to me. I knew of Genesis’ reputation as an art rock band (a term at the time I’d heard applied to their music more often than prog, for whatever reason). As a 20 year old who’d grown up listening mostly to the Eagles and Neil Young, much of the music on Abacab was like nothing I’d ever heard. I’d include in that list Abacab; Me and Sarah Jane; Keep it Dark; Dodo; WhoDunnit; Man on the Corner. I fell in love with the album and began to work my way back through their catalog. By the time I saw the Encore Tour in August 1982, just 9 months after buying Abacab, I knew the old stuff so well that I was able to sing along to Supper’s Ready, which has become my all-time favorite song by any artist. And it all started with Abacab.
I think I read somewhere, or watched something, and they said the working title was "Elephant" due to the sound?
I think (though I may be wrong) the working title of “Elephant” was mentioned in the documentary on the making of the WCD album. I also recall that “Nile” was the working title for “Fading Lights” and “Burt” was the working title for “Hold On My Heart.” In some ways it’s a shame that the “elephant” sound is so distinctive. I love the song “On the Shoreline” and have always thought one reason it was excluded from the album was that the elephant sound was also used on No Son of Mine.
Ok, technically this will be the next gig I see. The Whitetop Mountain Band at the Rex Theater in Galax, VA, while vacationing at a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
It strikes me that there were often “trade offs” in terms of certain songs making an album while others did not. Heathaze and Evidence of Autumn always seemed quite similar to me (makes sense since TB wrote both songs). One song made the album; the other did not. Land of Confusion and Feeding the Fire are similar in lyrical content and the rock punch in the music: LOC made the album; FTF did not. The Brazilian and DTN were both instrumentals, but only one (the wrong one in my humble opinion) made the album.
Interesting comment by Tony about how much he enjoys listening to guitars in other people’s music.
I think it’s an example of “Gabrielspeak”: nonsensical words and phrases he sometimes throws into songs, especially live.
Someone in the audience captured part of the show. Here's "Abacab": https://youtu.be/F73Gf0Pah2o
Here's most of "Behind the Lines": https://youtu.be/p9Xf55-k8ds
Seems we were a tad slow on this one... usually the opposite happens!
Sounds good to me! 
Well, I don’t expect anyone to agree because Genesis fans…but if you look at the supreme ease with which they play live around IT, it seems that they are the most on top of their game at this time, with both the newer and older songs. The older songs may be more complex, but that doesn’t make older Genesis more technically proficient. It just means the songs were more complex. Yes, the drumming is more bad-ass on The Lamb, but I suspect IT-era Phil was more at the height of his ability.
First, let me say I’m not a drummer. Having said that, I have a hard time wrapping my head around the notion that “IT-era Phil was more at the height of his ability.” As much as I love the big, tribal beat Phil played on songs like Intruder, In the Air Tonight, and Mama, to me it led him to favor the “big drum sound” over the jazz-rock stylings that were so prevalent in his earlier playing. It’s like he opted in the 80s for ambience over proficiency.
Display MoreI'm glad you & your girlfriend enjoyed the show, MoonlitKnight! "Duchess" is one of my favorite Genesis songs, and last night was definitely the best we've played it so far.
This is our last scheduled performance of this show. We're planning to play it once more in our rehearsal space in a couple weeks to get a decent multi-track recording for posterity.
When we were breaking down after the show I mentioned to my bandmates that I had a flashback during "Abacab"... as a teen I'd often browse through the local Sam Goody store browsing through sheet music books. I frequently picked up the Abacab sheet music book & tried to memories a few more chords because I didn't have enough cash to buy the book. Never would have expected I'd have the chance to play the whole album on stage some 40 years later!
One thing the band all agreed on - these songs took a lot more work to get under our belts than we expected. There are plenty of poppier moments on both Duke & Abacab, but also quite a lot of tricky bits!
One minor correction - my name in "real life" is Brian
So sorry about the name snafu! Don’t know how I got it wrong. As for the show, one more general reaction I had was an even greater appreciation for Duke. It’s a great album and you all did a fantastic job with it. The Abacab set was superb as well. Dodo absolutely kicked ass. You guys blew us away, start to finish. Thanks for a great night!
Just saw the Rock Orchestra last night play the Duke and Abacab albums in their entirety. WOW! Amazing musicians and an amazing night of music. My longer review is on the Rock Orchestra thread on this board.
The tinny sugary top-end tweeness that dogged some of the 76-78 phase reached its absolute nadir with Scenes but I can't disagree that Ballad is pretty dreadful. I quite like the lead synth line but it can't redeem a horrible duffer of a track.
I agree that the lead synth line to The Ballad of Big is at least palatable, though to my ears both it and the lead synth in Down & Out sound rather like 1977’s Grand Illusion by Styx (especially D&O). In general for me ATTWT and IT feature the worst sounding synths of the Collins era.
I suppose this one has more to do with being reflective of the era in which it was recorded and the later transitions in the lead singer’s career, but “I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in” by Kenny Rogers and the First Edition always cracks me up.
Fabulous show last night by The Rock Orchestra! They played the Duke and Abacab albums in their entireties (learning all the material in just 8 practices!). It was mind-blowing to hear songs that Genesis never or rarely performed live sound so good in concert (“Man of Our Times”; “Heathaze”; “Alone Tonight”; and “Like it Or Not” were particular standouts for me). The classic In the Cage medley, circa Three Sides Live, absolutely blazed.as the encore, ended of course by the majestic “Afterglow.”
Another thing that struck me was how much fun the band had playing the music of Genesis. The percussionist was a trip and a half with her energy and facial expressions. How good was the show: I really enjoyed WhoDunnit!
After the show I got to say a quick hello and shake hands with Dodo (Scott) from this board, who is the keyboardist in Rock Orchestra. As I told him, the show was so good it brought tears to my eyes a couple of times (during “Duchess” and “Afterglow”). One thing I forgot to mention to Scott is that the first thing my girlfriend said to me after the concert was that last night’s show was her favorite among all the various Genesis cover shows we’ve seen. It was such a joy for me to look over and see her singing along to every word of “Afterglow” with a big grin on her face Closing out a long, rather rambling review, thank you for a wonderful night of music. If you get a chance to see this band, do it!
For me Scenes From A Night's Dream makes all these other songs sound like epic masterpieces.
I have to say I’ve never understood the hate some feel for SFAND. If nothing else it has a prog-jazz feel musically that puts songs like Anything She Does to shame. To my ears from ATTWT The Ballad of Big is godawful, with painfully hokey lyrics.
Looking forward to the show tonight. Sure hope the weather holds off. The first time I saw the Musical Box in Philly they had to delay the show 90 minutes due to a weather-related power outage. I could stand avoiding that experience again.
Eh?
I agree . . . “Eh?” To me Anything She Does sounds musically like a Phil Collins solo song, with a sideways nod lyrically and somewhat musically to “Everything Little Thing She Does Is Magic.” Feeding the Fire is leaps and bounds more interesting musically and meaningful lyrically than Anything She Does.
Shiny Happy People?!
Oops, forgot about that one. I stand corrected.
i had thought of another r.e.m. album, 'new adventures in hi-fi'. there's a depressive and grunge-like feeling in most of the songs.
To me ear with the exception of “Stand” every REM song I’ve ever heard sounds depressing. Then again I own none of their albums and am only familiar with their music from the radio.
Very agree!
I'm afraid I don't agree. Side One of the self-titled album was very good. Side Two had its moments, principally It's Gonna Get Better and Silver Rainbow (albeit SR could have been improved with a stronger ending). With IT, the title track may be the single worse song the band ever wrote and recorded (and yes, I'm including WhoDunnit), and even the relatively good songs on the IT album (Domino; The Brazilian; TTT) all suffered from gooey 1980s slickness and an overreliance on electric drums.
