Genesis Discography. Part 1 (1969-1997) [Non-Remasters] Re-up

Genesis started life as a progressive rock band, in the manner of Yes and King Crimson, before a series of membership changes brought about a transformation in their sound, into one of the most successful pop/rock bands of the 1980s and 1990s. In addition, the group has provided a launching pad for the superstardom of members Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins, and star solo careers for members Tony Banks, Michael Rutherford, and Steve Hackett. Their roots go back to 1965 and a pair of rival groups, the Garden Wall and the Anon, formed by students at the Charterhouse School in Godalming, Surrey. They merged, with the result that 15-year-olds Peter Gabriel, Tony Banks, and Michael Rutherford joined with 14-year-old Anthony Phillips, calling themselves the New Anon and recording a six-song demo featuring songs primarily written by Rutherford and Phillips.

Charterhouse alumnus, recording artist, and producer Jonathan King heard the tape and arranged for the group to continue working in the studio, and it was also King who renamed the band Genesis. In December of 1967 they cut their debut single, "The Silent Sun," a very deliberate Bee Gees-style pastiche – it was released in February of 1968 without attracting much notice from the public, and a second single, "A Winter's Tale," followed with similar neglect. They also ran through a couple of drummers during this period, Chris Stewart and John Silver. At this time, the group's music was a form of lyrical folk-based progressive pop, built on lush melodies primarily carried on acoustic guitar and piano, with lyrics that tended toward the florid and trippy – psychedelia was in vogue, and Genesis showed an exceptional facility with poetic content as well as gorgeous melodies. Their debut album, From Genesis to Revelation – which the group has all but disowned in the decades since – was released in March of 1969, and passed without too much notice from the music press or the public. The members began thinking about getting on with their lives outside of music, and especially attending college. But they felt strongly enough about their work to try making it as a professional band. The re-formed in 1969 and got their first paying gig in September of that year, and spent the next several months working out new material, with new drummer John Mayhew aboard.

Genesis soon became one of the first groups signed to the fledgling Charisma label, founded by Tony Stratton-Smith, and they recorded their second album, Trespass. That record, released in October of 1970, showed the first signs of the band that Genesis would become. The music was still folk-based, some of the songs couldn't quite carry their length, and they had some way to go in terms of vocal and instrumental finesse, but it had reach if not grasp – most of the album was comprised of extended pieces, sung with dramatic intensity, and with complex parts for all of the instruments.

Genesis then lost two members. Mayhew left over the unhappiness with aspects of his playing, and was replaced by Phil Collins, a former child actor turned drummer who had previously played with Flaming Youth – he also added an occasional additional lead vocal to their sound. Much more unsettling was the departure of guitarist Anthony Phillips, who had developed crippling stage fright. For some time afterward, Genesis worked as a four-piece with the guitar parts covered by Banks' keyboards. Finally, just prior to Genesis beginning work on their next album, their lineup was completed with the addition of guitarist Steve Hackett, a former member of Quiet World. The band's next album, Nursery Cryme, was recorded so close to his arrival that Hackett hardly played on it – most of the guitar parts were written and played by Michael Rutherford, and the centerpiece of the new album, "The Musical Box," used material that Phillips had composed.
There was hardly a weak moment on the record, and the music was far more exciting – and witty – than most of the progressive rock of the period. The heart of the record was "The Musical Box," a song telling a Victorian-era story of children, murder, and ghostly apparitions that was worthy of the classic horror film Dead of Night. And while it might not have become a pop culture phenomenon, the album and the song did find an audience among collegiate listeners. The theatrical attributes of Gabriel's singing fit in well with the group's live performances during this period as he began to make ever more extensive use of masks, makeup, and props in concert, telling the framing stories in order to set up their increasingly complicated songs. Part of the reason for the stories was practical – it gave the others, especially Hackett, a chance to retune their instruments. When presented amid the group's very strong playing, this aspect of Gabriel's work turned Genesis' performances into multimedia events. And word soon began to spread about Genesis being an act that was worth hearing and, even more so, worth seeing in concert.

Foxtrot, issued in the fall of 1972, was the flash point in Genesis' history. The writing, especially on "Supper's Ready" – a conceptual piece taking up an entire side of the LP – was as sophisticated as anything in progressive rock, and the lyrics were complex and clever, but the record was never boring, or even less than bracing. It became their first to chart in England, reaching number 12. Genesis' live performances by now were practically legend. Rock music had always contained a theatrical element, which had reached new levels in the late '60s. But Peter Gabriel, with his growing array of costume changes and acting out of roles, far transcended anything seen on a rock stage – it was true rock theater, and an intense listening experience.

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Genesis Discography. Part 1 (1969-1997) [Non-Remasters] Re-up

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In early 1973, the band allowed a group of performances to be taped for American radio, and with a live tape on hand and a gap to fill between studio albums, Stratton-Smith convinced the band to let him issue that same performance, in edited form, as the group's first concert album. Genesis Live featured songs from across three of their albums, including "The Knife," "The Musical Box," and "Watcher of the Skies," presented in their most recent and dramatic incarnations. The group's next release, Selling England by the Pound (1973), was also their biggest seller to date, reaching number three in England and number 70 in America. They were still a cult band in the United States, but thanks to a lot more FM radio play, their music was getting heard beyond the ranks of the cultists, and finding new listeners by the thousands, especially on college campuses.

he release in late 1974 of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway also marked the culmination of the group's early history. A concept album with a very involved story and a large cast of characters, its composition had been difficult, involving a story outlined and written (along with most of the lyrics) exclusively by Gabriel. A creative split developed between him and the others, however, and the division grew worse during the tour that followed. In May of 1975, Gabriel announced that he was leaving Genesis, at what seemed the very moment of their commercial breakthrough. The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway had been a breakthrough as well, played heavily on progressive FM stations and selling in far greater numbers than anyone expected of a double LP by this group – it just missed the Top 40 in the United States, while in England it got to number ten.

The group tried auditioning potential replacements, but it became clear that the remaining members all preferred that Phil Collins – who had provided some vocals on the group's three prior albums – take over as lead singer. Genesis returned to the studio as a quartet in October of 1975 to work on their new album, and the resulting Trick of the Tail was not a huge departure from their earlier work – there were still musically challenging progressive songs on the album. The latter were reined in a bit, however, and there was some effort to make the album and the music as accessible as possible. And it worked, the album reaching number three in England and number 31 in America, their best chart showing up to that time.

Their 1977 album Wind & Wuthering contained a genuinely appealing pop song, "Your Own Special Way," which helped to loft it to number three in the U.K. and number 26 in the United States. Soon after, Hackett announced that he, too, was leaving – he was replaced on subsequent concert tours by Daryl Stuermer, but there was no permanent replacement in the studio; instead, Rutherford played all of the guitar parts on their subsequent recordings. In 1978, Genesis released the appropriately titled And Then There Were Three – with sales driven by the hit single "Follow You, Follow Me," the album got the group its first gold record award. By this time, the group had become a pure pop outfit, and its subsequent albums Duke (1980) and Abacab (1981) both topped the charts in England while brushing near or reaching the Top Ten in America.

In 1983, the band regrouped for the self-titled Genesis, which furthered the group's record of British chart-toppers and American Top Ten hits, becoming their second million-selling U.S. album. Two years later, the group outdid itself with the release of its most commercially successful album to date, Invisible Touch, which – driven by a quintet of Top Ten U.S. singles, including a number one chart placement for the title song – went platinum several times over in America.

It was seven years before the band released its next album, We Can't Dance, which debuted at number one in England and got to number four in America. During that time off, each of the members had done extensive solo work, and Collins had already become a superstar in his own right. We Can't Dance was Collins' last album with the group, and with him they also lost Chester Thompson and Daryl Stuermer from the touring band. Calling All Stations (1997), featuring new vocalist Ray Wilson, seemed to please neither critics nor fans, and Wilson left the group at the conclusion of the accompanying tour. The group was on hiatus for most of the next decade, which saw the release of a pair of box sets, Genesis Archives, Vol. 1 and Genesis Archives, Vol. 2, covering the Gabriel and Collins eras, respectively. Banks, Rutherford, Hackett, Collins, and Gabriel regrouped for a one-off re-recording of "The Carpet Crawlers" for inclusion on the compilation Turn It on Again: The Hits.
Genesis were hardly heard from except in an archival capacity for most of the first decade of the 21st century. A 2007 reunion tour featuring Collins, Banks, and Rutherford got decidedly mixed critical reviews, and yielded a lackluster live CD/DVD set. But it coincided with a wave of upgraded, double-disc reissues of most of Genesis' catalog and a quartet of box sets covering their history from Trespass forward – including a complete issue of a legendary 1973 Rainbow Theatre performance – which have rendered them among the most thoroughly documented groups of their generation.

by Bruce Eder, AMG

Tracklist:

1. The Silent Sun 2:17
2. That's Me 2:41
3. Where The Sour Turns To Sweet 3:16
4. In The Beginning 3:44
5. Fireside Song 4:58
6. The Serpent 3:58
7. Am I Very Wrong? 3:31
8. In The Wilderness 3:39
9. The Conqueror 3:22
10. In Hiding 2:38
11. One Day 3:21
12. Window 3:33
13. In Limbo 3:30
14. Silent Sun 2:13
15. A Place To Call My Own 1:59
16. A Winter's Tale 3:31
17. One-Eyed Hound 2:36






Tracklist:

1. Where The Sour Turns To Sweet 3:16
2. In The Beginning 3:44
3. Fireside Song 4:18
4. The Serpent 4:38
5. Am I Very Wrong? 3:31
6. In The Wilderness 3:28
7. The Conqueror 3:40
8. In Hiding 2:41
9. One Day 3:21
10. Window 3:33
11. In Limbo 3:30
12. Silent Sun 2:13
13. A Place To Call My Own 1:58
14. A Winter's Tale 3:31
15. One Eyed Hound 2:31
16. That's Me 2:38
17. The Silent Sun (Single Version) 2:12

Genesis' first truly progressive album, and their first record for the Charisma label (although Trespass was released in America by ABC, which is how MCA came to have it), is important mostly as a formative effort. Peter Gabriel, Tony Banks, and Michael Rutherford are here, but the guitarist is Anthony Phillips and the drummer is John Mayhew. Gabriel, Banks, Phillips, and Rutherford are responsible for the compositions, which are far more ambitious than the group's earlier efforts ("Silent Sun," etc.). Unfortunately, much of what is here is more interesting for what it points toward than what it actually does – the group reflects a peculiarly dramatic brand of progressive rock, very theatrical as music, but not very successful. The lyrics are complex enough but lack the unity and clarity that would make Genesis' subsequent albums among the most interesting of prog rock efforts to analyze. Gabriel's voice is very expressive but generally lacks power and confidence, while the conventional backup vocalizing by the others is wimpy, and Phillips' playing is muted. Tony Banks' keyboards are the dominant instruments, which isn't that bad, but it isn't the Genesis that everyone came to know. The soft, lyrical "Visions of Angels" and "Stagnation" are typical, gentle works by a band that later learned how to rock much harder. Only one of the songs here, "The Knife" – which rocks harder than anything else on Trespass and is easily the best track on the album – lasted in the group's concert repertory past the next album.

by Bruce Eder

Tracklist:

1. Looking For Someone 7:05
2. White Mountain 6:43
3. Visions Of Angels 6:51
4. Stagnation 8:50
5. Dusk 4:12
6. The Knife 8:55

If Genesis truly established themselves as progressive rockers on Trespass, Nursery Cryme is where their signature persona was unveiled: true English eccentrics, one part Lewis Carroll and one part Syd Barrett, creating a fanciful world that emphasized the band's instrumental prowess as much as Peter Gabriel's theatricality. Which isn't to say that all of Nursery Cryme works. There are times when the whimsy is overwhelming, just as there are periods when there's too much instrumental indulgence, yet there's a charm to this indulgence, since the group is letting itself run wild. Even if they've yet to find the furthest reaches of their imagination, part of the charm is hearing them test out its limits, something that does result in genuine masterpieces, as on "The Musical Box" and "The Return of the Giant Hogweed," two epics that dominate the first side of the album and give it its foundation. If the second side isn't quite as compelling or quite as structured, it doesn't quite matter because these are the songs that showed what Genesis could do, and they still stand as pinnacles of what the band could achieve.

by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Tracklist:

1. The Musical Box 10:31
2. For Absent Friends 1:47
3. The Return Of The Giant Hogweed 8:12
4. Seven Stones 5:11
5. Harold The Barrel 3:00
6. Harlequin 2:56
7. The Fountain Of Salmacis 7:55

Foxtrot is where Genesis began to pull all of its varied inspirations into a cohesive sound – which doesn't necessarily mean that the album is streamlined, for this is a group that always was grandiose even when they were cohesive, or even when they rocked, which they truly do for the first time here. Indeed, the startling thing about the opening "Watcher of the Skies" is that it's the first time that Genesis attacked like a rock band, playing with a visceral power. There's might and majesty here, and it, along with "Get 'Em Out by Friday," is the truest sign that Genesis has grown muscle without abandoning the whimsy. Certainly, they've rarely sounded as fantastical or odd as they do on the epic 22-minute closer "Supper's

by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Tracklist:

1. Watcher Of The Skies 7:26
2. Time Table 4:48
3. Get 'Em Out By Friday 8:38
4. Can-Utility And The Coastliners 5:47
5. Horizon's 1:43
6. Supper's Ready 22:57
6.1 Lover's Leap
6.2 The Guaranteed Eternal Sanctuary Man
6.3 Ikhnaton And Itsacon And Their Band Of Merry Men
6.4 How Dare I Be So Beautiful?
6.5 Willow Farm
6.6 Apocalypse In 9/8 (Co-Starring The Delicious Talents Of Gabble Ratchet)
6.7 As Sure As Eggs Is Eggs (Aching Men's Feet)






Tracklist:

1. Watcher Of The Skies 7:24
2. Time Table 4:48
3. Get 'Em Out By Friday 8:38
4. Can-Utility And The Coastliners 5:47
5. Horizon's 1:43
6. Supper's Ready 22:58
6.1 Lover's Leap
6.2 The Guaranteed Eternal Sanctuary Man
6.3 Ikhnaton And Itsacon And Their Band Of Merry Men
6.4 How Dare I Be So Beautiful?
6.5 Willow Farm
6.6 Apocalypse In 9/8 (Co-Starring The Delicious Talents Of Gabble Ratchet)
6.7 As Sure As Eggs Is Eggs (Aching Men's Feet)

Genesis proved that they could rock on Foxtrot but on its follow-up Selling England by the Pound they didn't follow this route, they returned to the English eccentricity of their first records, which wasn't so much a retreat as a consolidation of powers. For even if this eight-track album has no one song that hits as hard as "Watcher of the Skies," Genesis hasn't sacrificed the newfound immediacy of Foxtrot: they've married it to their eccentricity, finding ways to infuse it into the delicate whimsy that's been their calling card since the beginning. This, combined with many overt literary allusions – the Tolkeinisms of the title of "The Battle of Epping Forest" only being the most apparent – gives this album a storybook quality. It plays as a collection of short stories, fables, and fairy tales, and it is also a rock record, which naturally makes it quite extraordinary as a collection, but also as a set of individual songs. Genesis has never been as direct as they've been on the fanciful yet hook-driven "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)" – apart from the fluttering flutes in the fade-out, it could easily be mistaken for a glam single – or as achingly fragile as on "More Fool Me," sung by Phil Collins. It's this delicate balance and how the album showcases the band's narrative force on a small scale as well as large that makes this their arguable high-water mark.

by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Tracklist:

1. Dancing With The Moonlight Knight 8:04
2. I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) 4:07
3. Firth Of Fifth 9:37
4. More Fool Me 3:11
5. The Battle Of Epping Forest 11:48
6. After The Ordeal 4:16
7. The Cinema Show 11:05
8. Aisle Of Plenty 1:32

Given all the overt literary references of Selling England by the Pound, along with their taste for epic suites such as "Supper's Ready," it was only a matter of time before Genesis attempted a full-fledged concept album, and 1974's The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway was a massive rock opera: the winding, wielding story of a Puerto Rican hustler name Rael making his way in New York City. Peter Gabriel made some tentative moves toward developing this story into a movie with William Friedkin but it never took off, perhaps it's just as well; even with the lengthy libretto included with the album, the story never makes sense. But just because the story is rather impenetrable doesn't mean that the album is as well, because it is a forceful, imaginative piece of work that showcases the original Genesis lineup at a peak. Even if the story is rather hard to piece together, the album is set up in a remarkable fashion, with the first LP being devoted to pop-oriented rock songs and the second being largely devoted to instrumentals. This means that The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway contains both Genesis' most immediate music to date and its most elliptical. Depending on a listener's taste, they may gravitate toward the first LP with its tight collection of ten rock songs, or the nightmarish landscapes of the second, where Rael descends into darkness and ultimately redemption (or so it would seem), but there's little question that the first album is far more direct than the second and it contains a number of masterpieces, from the opening fanfare of the title song to the surging "In the Cage," from the frightening "Back in NYC" to the soothing conclusion "The Carpet Crawlers." In retrospect, this first LP plays a bit more like the first Gabriel solo album than the final Genesis album, but there's also little question that the band helps form and shape this music (with Brian Eno adding extra coloring on occasion), while Genesis shines as a group shines on the impressionistic second half. In every way, it's a considerable, lasting achievement and it's little wonder that Peter Gabriel had to leave the band after this record: they had gone as far as they could go together, and could never top this extraordinary album.

by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Tracklist CD1:

1.01. The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway 4:47
1.02. Fly On A Windshield 4:22
1.03. Broadway Melody Of 1974 0:32
1.04. Cuckoo Cocoon 2:10
1.05. In The Cage 8:14
1.06. The Grand Parade Of Lifeless Packaging 2:46
1.07. Back In N.Y.C. 5:43
1.08. Hairless Heart 2:09
1.09. Counting Out Time 3:41
1.10. Carpet Crawlers 5:14
1.11. The Chamber Of 32 Doors 5:39



Tracklist CD2:

2.01. Lilywhite Lilith 2:44
2.02. The Waiting Room 5:21
2.03. Anyway 3:07
2.04. Here Comes The Supernatural Anaesthetist 2:59
2.05. The Lamia 6:56
2.06. Silent Sorrow In Empty Boats 3:06
2.07. The Colony Of Slippermen (The Arrival - A Visit To The Doktor - Raven) 8:12
2.08. Ravine 2:03
2.09. The Light Dies Down On Broadway 3:32
2.10. Riding The Scree 3:56
2.11. In The Rapids 2:29
2.12. It. 4:13

After Peter Gabriel departed for a solo career, Genesis embarked on a long journey to find a replacement, only to wind back around to their drummer, Phil Collins, as a replacement. With Collins as their new frontman, the band decided not to pursue the stylish, jagged postmodernism of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway – a move that Gabriel would do in his solo career – and instead returned to the English eccentricity of Selling England by the Pound for its next effort, A Trick of the Tail. In almost every respect, this feels like a truer sequel to Selling England by the Pound than Lamb; after all, that double album was obsessed with modernity and nightmare, whereas this album returns the group to the fanciful fairy tale nature of its earlier records. Also, Genesis were moving away from the barbed pop of the first LP and returning to elastic numbers that showcased their instrumental prowess, and they sounded more forceful and unified as a band than they had since Foxtrot. Not that this album is quite as memorable as Foxtrot or Selling England, largely because its songs aren't as immediate or memorable: apart from "Dance on a Volcano," this is about the sound of the band playing, not individual songs, and it succeeds on that level quite wildly – to the extent that it proved to longtime fans that Genesis could possibly thrive without its former leader in tow.

by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Tracklist:

1. Dance On A Volcano 5:53
2. Entangled 6:26
3. Squonk 6:27
4. Mad Man Moon 7:34
5. Robbery, Assault And Battery 6:17
6. Ripples 8:06
7. A Trick Of The Tail 4:34
8. Los Endos 5:47

Wind & Wuthering followed quickly on the heels of A Trick of the Tail and they're very much cut from the same cloth, working the same English eccentric ground that was the group's stock in trade since Trespass. But if A Trick of the Tail played like Genesis' attempt at crafting a great Genesis record without Peter Gabriel, as a way of finding their footing as a quartet, Wind & Wuthering finds Genesis tentatively figuring out what their identity will be in this new phase of their career. The most obvious indication of this is Mike Rutherford's "Your Own Special Way," which is both the poppiest tune the group had cut and also the first that could qualify as a love song. It stands out on a record that is, apart from that, a standard Genesis record, but quite a good one in that regard.

by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Tracklist:

1. Eleventh Earl Of Mar 7:45
2. One For The Vine 10:00
3. Your Own Special Way 6:18
4. Wot Gorilla 3:19
5. All In A Mouse's Night 6:39
6. Blood On The Rooftops 5:27
7. 'Unquiet Slumber For The Sleepers …… 2:20
8. …… In That Quiet Earth' 4:52
9. Afterglow 4:14

And Then There Were Three, more than either of its immediate predecessors, feels like the beginning of the second phase of Genesis – in large part because the lineup had indeed dwindled down to Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford, and Phil Collins, a situation alluded to in the title. But it wasn't just a whittling of the lineup; the group's aesthetic was also shifting, moving away from the fantastical, literary landscapes that marked both the early Genesis LPs and the two transitional post-Gabriel outings, as the bandmembers turned their lyrical references to contemporary concerns and slowly worked pop into the mix, as heard on the closing "Follow You Follow Me," the band's first genuine pop hit. Its calm, insistent melody, layered with harmonies, is a perfect soft rock hook, although there's a glassy, almost eerie quality to the production that is also heard throughout the rest of the record. These chilly surfaces are an indication that Genesis don't quite want to abandon prog at this point, but the increasing emphasis on melody and tight song structures points the way toward the group's '80s work.

by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Tracklist:

1. Down And Out 5:26
2. Undertow 4:46
3. Ballad Of Big 4:50
4. Snowbound 4:30
5. Burning Rope 7:07
6. Deep In The Motherlode 5:14
7. Many Too Many 3:31
8. Scenes From A Night's Dream 3:29
9. Say It's Alright Joe 4:20
10. The Lady Lies 6:07
11. Follow You Follow Me 3:58

If And Then There Were Three suggested that Genesis were moving toward pop, Duke is where they leaped into the fray. Not that it was exactly a head-first leap: the band may have peppered the album with pop songs, but there was still a heavy dose of prog, as the concluding "Duke" suite made clear. This is modernist art rock, quite dissimilar to the fragile, delicate Selling England by the Pound, and sometimes the precision of the attack can be a little bombastic. Nevertheless, this is a major leap forward in distinguishing the sound of Genesis, the band, and along with a new signature sound come pop songs, particularly in the guise of "Misunderstanding" and "Turn It on Again." The first is a light, nearly soulful, heartache song, the latter is a thunderous arena rocker, and both showcase the new version of Genesis at its absolute best. The rest of the record comes close to matching them.

by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Tracklist:

1. Behind The Lines 5:31
2. Duchess 6:37
3. Guide Vocal 1:21
4. Man Of Our Times 5:35
5. Misunderstanding 3:14
6. Heathaze 5:01
7. Turn It On Again 3:51
8. Alone Tonight 3:57
9. Cul-De-Sac 5:05
10. Please Don't Ask 4:02
11. Duke's Travels 8:39
12. Duke's End 2:09

Duke showcased a new Genesis – a sleek, hard, stylish trio that truly sounded like a different band from its first incarnation – but Abacab was where this new incarnation of the band came into its own. Working with producer Hugh Padgham, the group escalated the innovations of Duke, increasing the pop hooks, working them seamlessly into the artiest rock here. And even if the brash, glorious pop of "No Reply at All" – powered by the percolating horns of Earth, Wind & Fire, yet polished into a precise piece of nearly new wave pop by Padgham – suggests otherwise, this is still art rock at its core, or at least album-oriented rock, as the band works serious syncopations and instrumental forays into a sound that's as bright, bold, and jagged as the modernist artwork on the cover. They dabble in other genres, lacing "Me and Sarah Jane" with a reggae beat, for instance, which often adds dimension to their sound, as when "Dodo" rides a hard funk beat and greasy organ synths yet doesn't become obvious; it turns inward, requiring active listening. Truly, only "No Reply at All," the rampaging title track (possibly their hardest-rocking song to date), and the sleek and spooky "Man on the Corner" (which hides a real melancholy heart underneath its glistening surface) are immediate and accessible – although the Mockney jokes of "Who Dunnit?" could count, it's too much of a geeky novelty to be pop. The rest of Abacab is truly modern art rock, their last album that could bear that tag comfortably.

by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Tracklist:

1. Abacab 6:57
2. No Reply At All 4:39
3. Me And Sarah Jane 5:59
4. Keep It Dark 4:31
5. Dodo / Lurker 7:29
6. Who Dunnit? 3:24
7. Man On The Corner 4:25
8. Like It Or Not 4:52
9. Another Record 4:20

Genesis' second double live LP set in less than four years was originally a kind of a hybrid work, and has appeared in several different editions. There was confusion from the start because, despite its title, Three Sides Live in its British version, as Charisma GE 2002, had four concert sides. The U.S. version, which determined the title, was made up of ten live cuts recorded on-stage in Germany in 1981, with Daryl Stuermer and Chester Thompson in the group's lineup, doing the leaner, more pop-oriented repertory that constituted the group's sound by the early '80s, off of the albums Abacab and Duke. The resulting album offered lean, crisp, and generally bracing accounts of the group's then-current sound – a mix of pop/rock highlighted by some prodigious musicianship – and a four-minute glimpse of its progressive rock past in the guise of the "In the Cage Medley," containing "Cinema Show" from Selling England by the Pound. Phil Collins is in good voice throughout and the playing is often impressive, achieving some excitement and intimacy despite the arena-sized audiences to which the group was now playing. The original U.S. version filled out the hour's worth of live 1981 material (ending with "Afterglow") with the Top 40 hit "Paperlate" (which had appeared in England on the EP 3 X 3) and other recent single/EP cuts. Those sides were eliminated when the album was remastered for CD reissue in 1994. Curiously, neither Three Sides Live nor Seconds Out had found room for a live version of the hit single "Your Own Special Way."

by William Ruhlmann

Tracklist CD1:

1.1 Turn It On Again 5:23
1.2 Dodo 7:20
1.3 Abacab 8:43
1.4 Behind The Lines 5:24
1.5 Duchess 6:38
1.6 Me & Sarah Jane 5:52
1.7 Follow You, Follow Me 4:45



Tracklist CD2:

2.1 Misunderstanding 4:05
2.2 In The Cage (Medly - Cinema Show/Slippermen) 11:52
2.3 Afterglow 5:03
2.4 Paperlate 3:15 (© 1981)
2.5 You Might Recall 5:28 (© 1981)
2.6 Me & Virgil 6:18 (© 1981)
2.7 Evidence Of Autumn 4:58 (© 1979)
2.8 Open Door 4:04 (© 1979)

Delivered in the wake of Phil Collins' massive success as a solo star, Invisible Touch was seen at the time as a bit of a Phil Collins solo album disguised as a Genesis album, and it's not hard to see why. Invisible Touch is, without a doubt, Genesis' poppiest album, a sleek, streamlined affair built on electronic percussion and dressed in synths that somehow seem to be programmed, not played by Tony Banks. In that sense, it does seem a bit like No Jacket Required, and the heavy emphasis on pop tunes does serve the singer, not the band, but it's not quite fair to call this a Collins album, and not just because there are two arty tunes that could have fit on its predecessor, Genesis. There is a difference between Collins and Genesis – on his own, Phil was lighter, and Genesis was often a bit chillier. Of course, the title track is the frothiest thing the band ever did, while "In Too Deep" and "Throwing It All Away" are power ballads that could be seen as Phil projects, but "Land of Confusion" was a protest tune and "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" was a stark, scary tale of scoring dope (which made its inclusion in a Michelob campaign in the '80s almost as odd as recovering alcoholic Eric Clapton shilling for the brewery). But those songs had big hooks that excused their coldness, and the arty moments sank to the bottom, obscured by the big, bold pop hooks here – pop that was the sound of the mainstream in the late '80s, pop that still effortlessly evokes its time.

by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Tracklist:

1. Invisible Touch 3:30
2. Tonight, Tonight, Tonight 8:53
3. Land Of Confusion 4:46
4. In Too Deep 5:02
5. Anything She Does 4:09
6. Domino 10:45
Part One In The Glow Of The Night
Part Two The Last Domino
7. Throwing It All Away 3:51
8. The Brazilian 4:49

After spending the 1980s moving in an increasingly pop-friendly direction, 1991's We Can't Dance marked a return to earlier aesthetics for Genesis. Edgier with more prominent guitars and live drums than on Invisible Touch, the record was the band's strongest musical statement in over a decade. With "Driving the Last Spike" and the dark "Dreaming While You Sleep" the group revisited one of their forgotten strengths, telling extended stories. That's not to say the album is a return to The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway or Trick of the Tail. Indeed, while there are several extended pieces on the record, there is none of the eccentricities, odd meters, or extended virtuoso solos of the band's progressive heyday. The album's closer, "Fading Lights," comes the closest, featuring an outstanding instrumental mid-section. Unfortunately, the record also contains some gutless ballads and paeans for world understanding that sound miles away from any immediacy. However, the surprisingly gritty singles "No Son of Mine," "Jesus He Knows Me," and "I Can't Dance" help make up for the album's weaker moments.

by Geoff Orens

Tracklist:

1. No Son Of Mine 6:39
2. Jesus He Knows Me 4:16
3. Driving The Last Spike 10:08
4. I Can't Dance 4:01
5. Never A Time 3:50
6. Dreaming While You Sleep 7:16
7. Tell Me Why 4:58
8. Living Forever 5:41
9. Hold On My Heart 4:38
10. Way Of The World 5:38
11. Since I Lost You 4:09
12. Fading Lights 10:17

Phil Collins left Genesis following the We Can't Dance tour and many observers expected Tony Banks and Michael Rutherford to finally call it a day. They decided to persevere instead, hiring former Stiltskin vocalist Ray Wilson to replace Collins. Given that Stiltskin was a European neo-prog band, it isn't a total surprise that Genesis returned to their art rock roots on Calling All Stations, their first album with Wilson. The music on Calling All Stations is long, dense, and lugubrious, but it's given the same immaculate, pristine production that was the hallmark of their adult contemporary work with Collins. It wants to be an art rock album, but not at the expense of losing the pop audience – which makes it all the stranger that the group doesn't really write pop songs on Calling All Stations. That may be because Wilson's voice isn't suited for pop, but works well with languid, synthesized prog settings. But even ponderous prog rock has to have musical themes worth exploring, and on that level, Genesis come up dry on Calling All Stations.

by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Tracklist:

1. Calling All Stations 5:44
2. Congo 4:52
3. Shipwrecked 4:23
4. Alien Afternoon 7:53
5. Not About Us 4:39
6. If That's What You Need 5:12
7. The Dividing Line 7:44
8. Uncertain Weather 5:29
9. Small Talk 5:02
10. There Must Be Some Other Way 7:55
11. One Man's Fool 8:46



All thanks go to Olaf der Weisse