(OLD) Genesis

[Pangaea]

I have always liked Peter Gabriel but never got into Genesis as I grew up during the Phil Collins' Genesis which has never been my cup of Tea. But I recently dug deeper and found a great album... "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway." I have only had it for about a week, but its getting a lot of play time. Amazingly ambitious album. Double album and a concept album (both of which are tough to pull off) of sorts but the songs individually are great. Sounds very good thru HPs to boot. Def. recommend. Does any (P. Gabriel) Genesis fans have a recommendation for whats next..?

 

[rlanger]

Well, you'll get a lot of varied opinions becuase there are a number of superb Genesis albums with Gabriel.

There is another long thread which discusses them so I suggest you do a search. However, my personal fave is Selling England By The Pound. Phil even sings on one track (although it's my least favourite track on the album, kinda like Ringo singing on a Beatles album).

 

[Spyro]

Well...if you want to cut to the chase the "live" Seconds Out release is one of the greatest live performances by any band IMHO. The band smokes in the "live" setting.
I burned through 2 copies of that bad boy back in the day.

 

[Pangaea]

Thanks- I'll check out both, and def. track down that other thread. Its been awhile since I discovered something I was pretty excited about (music wise).

 

[rlanger]

Agreed about Seconds Out. The only problem is that it's without Gabriel.

 

[Pangaea]

^ yeah just noticed that too. Not gonna cross it off, but would like to get the PG Genesis recommendations first as Phil tends to annoy me.

 

[lionel marechal]

Personally My prefered genesis albums are Nursery Crime and Tresspass
Lionel

 

[Relayer71]

Skip Seconds Out. First of all, no Peter Gabriel. Second, drums sound good but are mixed way too high and overall the sound is too bassy, with little detail.
Thirdly, as much as I like the Phil Collin era, he never did sound that great live - especially not in those early days.

You want: "Selling England By The Pound", the 2nd best Genesis album after Lamb. Some would argue it is the best. And this isn't hard to agree with since it's very streamlined and has less "filler".

As for Phil Collins, the real PG fans will say the early albums are the best: "A Trick Of The Tail" and "Wind & Wuthering" but I personally think the best 2 albums are "...And Then There Were Three" and "Duke".

"...And Then There Were Three" is their last true "prog" album. Upon first listen you may disagree, but the more you listen to it the more it becomes clear.

While "Duke" was probably their peak without Gabriel. It's not without it's low points, notably the radio hits - but leave out 3 tracks (I won't say which) and you have a perfect Genesis album.

 

[Relayer71]

I have to add this: I couldn't STAND Phil Collins some years ago and really hated the Genesis stuff I heard on the radio. But after being a huge Peter Gabriel and a progressive rock fan I took a chance on the early stuff and LOVED it instantly.

Then, being pleasantly surprised and amazed by Phil Collins' phenomenal drumming I got the later Genesis stuff.

It took a bit to get used to but I was also pleasantly surprised. The albums up until Duke are all good albums. None surpass Lamb or Selling England but they're good nonetheless.

And some of them actually contain some of Genesis' BEST tracks: "Down And Out", "Dance On A Volcano", "...In That Quiet Earth", "Behind The Lines", "Ballad Of Big", "Blood On The Rooftops".

 

[goldenratiophi]

In short... (= is tie)

The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway = Selling England By The Pound > Foxtrot > Nursery Cryme > Trespass > FG2R. IMO the sound quality of the Nursery Cryme & Trespass CDs is pretty poor. Don't remember about From Genesis to Revelation because I haven't heard it in years.

Peter Gabriel's third self-titled solo album (sometimes called 'Melt' due to the cover) is also essential for fans of The Lamb.

EDIT: My post count is now the golden ratio (phi) times 1000. Golden ratio - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Fo' sho'.

 

[Pars]

I certainly wouldn't skip Seconds Out... the performances are phenomenal. The previous poster may have some issues with the 1976-77 live recording quality... I don't and think it is a very well recorded album and get plenty of detail thru my system.

Also I would check out Genesis Live, an early live recording with Gabriel, Hackett and all. This one is remarkable for the lack of compression, but I only have it on vinyl, so I don't know what the digital version is like.

 

[Sordel]

I'm less of a fan of Selling England than many here: sure, "The Cinema Show" and "Firth of Fifth" are brilliant, but "The Battle of Epping Forest" always seems something of a misfire, and I genuinely detest "I Know What I Like".

Foxtrot is my favourite, with Nursery Cryme shortly after that. I'm no Phil Collins fan, but I also think that the Genesis (1983) and We Can't Dance albums are pretty good amongst the later stuff.

 

[goldenratiophi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sordel /img/forum/go_quote.gif "The Battle of Epping Forest" always seems something of a misfire, and I genuinely detest "I Know What I Like".

Them's fightin' words!

 

[Relayer71]

I'm less of a fan of Selling England than many here: sure, "The Cinema Show" and "Firth of Fifth" are brilliant, but "The Battle of Epping Forest" always seems something of a misfire

I thought the same initially but the more I listened the more respect I had for that track. At this point I think it's the most musically creative, playful track on the album and also great storytelling.

On the flip side, the tempo and feel of Firth Of Fifth seems sluggish and dull to me - it isn't until the middle section that I really appreciate it.

The best track for me will always be the first though, it being the very first Peter Gabriel era Genesis track I ever listened to

Ironically the music from Foxtrot to Lamb sounds less dated then Genesis' later output. In fact it doesn't sound dated at all, but timeless. Especially Lam.

 

[Relayer71]

In my opinion Genesis, Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins have NEVER come close to the quality of songrwriting on "Lamb" on any of their other works.

And in a way PG's first solo album is a bit of a shock since it sounds nowhere as refined as his Genesis' work.

It actually sounds like he took a few steps back with his first 2 albums (musically and lyrically but mostly musical). (Well that also goes to show just how much Tony Banks was responsible for the "Genesis" sound!).

Still, something odd happened with "Lamb" since that album sounds NOTHING like any Genesis album. "Trick Of The Tail" could be a followup to "Selling England" since there is more of a natural progression there.

"Lamb" sounds as if it could have been recorded this year.