Early Genesis suggestions?

[smp]

Quick question for all you Genesis/prog freaks out there (only a handful I know. ).

I've been into Peter Gabriel for quite a while now. What I'm curious about now is early Genesis, which I've heard so much about but have never heard. Bear in mind that I was born in 1978 so the only Genesis I'm familar with has Phil Collins running the show (which to me has always been a godawful experience).

What's some good Gabriel-era Genesis to check out? Just as importantly, where should I stop?

-s

[shamann]

Nursery Cryme, Foxtrot, Selling England by the Pound, and The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway are all worthwhile.

I like the Lamb Lies Down the best, and its probably the best place to start.

The best place to stop would of course be anything thereafter (singing by the aforementioned Mr. Collins, etc).

Cheers,
Steve

[gnu23]

Quick question for all you Genesis/prog freaks out there (only a handful I know. ).

I've been into Peter Gabriel for quite a while now. What I'm curious about now is early Genesis, which I've heard so much about but have never heard. Bear in mind that I was born in 1978 so the only Genesis I'm familar with has Phil Collins running the show (which to me has always been a godawful experience).

What's some good Gabriel-era Genesis to check out? Just as importantly, where should I stop?

-s

Stop with "And then there were three..." That album marks the exit of Gabriel and the beginning of the "Collins era". I like the album though some consider it a bit eclectic. To my mind, only "Follow You Follow Me" is pop - but it is very good pop.

The only Gabriel-era album I own is "Genesis Live" (1973) because I kinda bonded to it at the molecular level when I was much younger than I am now. All the good stuff is there, though, and very well performed and recorded. "Watcher of the Skies" is just phenomenal. The opening Mellotron line combined with the crowd reaction gives me the cold shivers every time. The lineup is Peter Gabriel, Steve Hackett, Tony Banks, Michael Rutherford, and Phil Collins. I have an M42 Nebula patch that is so much like that Mellotron voice in "Watcher" it's scary - throw a Cmin at it and hoo boy

For what it's worth, I have a friend who is both a very good drummer and was a vocal critic of Collins as a drummer. I ran this album past him - he changed his mind about Phil after hearing it. Say what you want about Phil and the "Collins era" and for the most part I'll be right there with you - but the man can jam and Genesis Live proves it.

The only other album I have besides the two I've mentioned is the "Genesis" album, and that for the bravura performance of "Home By The Sea". For me, that was the high water mark of the Collins period.

[bluedad]

absolutely 'selling england by the pound'
and 'lamb lies down'

[gnu23]

absolutely 'selling england by the pound'
and 'lamb lies down'

Completely forgot about "lmab lies down" - very good album.

[Sequent]

Hmm, pretty much will go along with what's been said so far. Agree maybe you might want to stop at And Then There Were Three - which oddly enough came out the year you were born.

What I like about And Then is some of the changes they do in songs like Say It's Alright Joe, and the one about Nemo. I also like the keyboard sounds.

Seconds Out (1977) is also a great album. You get a nice contrast with Supper's Ready as done by P.G. and as done by Phil Collins as well as a nice selection of songs that might key you in as to which albums to explore next.

Another one not mentioned (going backwards here) is A Trick of the Tail, which is a personal favorite. That would be 1976. Some nice melancholy stuff on there with some great songs, some great keyboard work, great guitar, and even great vocals imo. That was the album that was make-or-break for them after P.G. left. They had to prove that they could still be Genesis without P.G. and I think the effort shows.

Anyway, my favorites from Trick are Dance on a Volcano, Entangled, Ripples, and A Trick. You MUST hear Dance!

Musical preferences and taste nothwithstanding, you shouldn't bash Phil too much even though I know it can be easy. I bashed him a lot too before reading separate biographies of both P.G. and P.C. Seems like he and P.G. are pretty good friends and when P.G. got into some serious financial trouble after a failed video venture it was P.C. who talked everyone into putting on the show to help bail P.G. out.

Where the heck is Squids when you need him - he would know a thing or two about this topic I reckon!

[mistertoast]

>>Stop with "And then there were three..." That album marks the exit of Gabriel and the beginning of the "Collins era".

No, no, no. "And then there were three" does not mark the exit of Gabriel. It marks the exit of Steve Hackett.

Nothing beats the Lamb for me.

[One]

Duke is a great record!

It's got some weak songs but the good songs are great IMO. Duchess is a personal favorite with its long spacey lead in and huge crescendos. Man of our times has some cool changes and cool vocals and great key board melody.Two other highlights are cul de sac and dukes travels both songs have great drama and unique sound.

The whole record contains some amazing drumming.
An added bonus is Tony Banks impression of a horn section on turn it on again.

Duke was my first Genesis record and my favorite but every thing before Duke is good or great to my ears also. I was digging their stuff a lot when I was a kid in the seventies so I'm biased.

As far as everything after, I refused to buy abacab when it came out because I thought it sucked (I love it now).

I have all their stuff and there are bright moments on every record except calling all stations which tries but really is bad.

[jens]

Quick question for all you Genesis/prog freaks out there (only a handful I know. ).

I've been into Peter Gabriel for quite a while now. What I'm curious about now is early Genesis, which I've heard so much about but have never heard. Bear in mind that I was born in 1978 so the only Genesis I'm familar with has Phil Collins running the show (which to me has always been a godawful experience).

What's some good Gabriel-era Genesis to check out? Just as importantly, where should I stop?

-s

Stop with "And then there were three..." That album marks the exit of Gabriel and the beginning of the "Collins era". I like the album though some consider it a bit eclectic. To my mind, only "Follow You Follow Me" is pop - but it is very good pop.

wrong - it marks the exit of Steve Hackett

('trick of the tail' (1975) and 'wind&wuthering' (1976) are both sung by Phil Collins)

Besides 'Duke' is one of the best Genesis albums
it is from 1980 and is the last Genesis-albums which has the strength of those of the 70's.

Phil Collins or Gabriel doesn't matter that much both sang very similar and Genesis was at that time more about music than about vocals anyway.

You can clearly recognize the 'not being a true fan'
by statements like this:

The best place to stop would of course be anything thereafter (singing by the aforementioned Mr. Collins, etc).

Trespass is a fantastic albums as well b.t.w. - check out 'white mountain', 'looking for someone'
and 'the knive'

[progfusion74]

"Selling England by the Pound" is my favorite, as it has two of my favorite songs (any band), "Dancing with the Moolit Knight" and "Firth of Fifth", plus I think vocally it is Gabriels strongest Genesis album, with the Lamb and Foxtrot right behind. I am also a big fan of Peter Gabriel in general, although I came the other way, Genesis first and Gabriel second.

Some of the Collins-era Genesis is pretty good two and one of the seminal keyboard performances is the "Cage medley" from Collins-era Genesis. However, once Hackett left, things did start slipping.

[loachm]

...just listen to them in the order they were released and start with "From Genesis to Revelation" (1969)...

btw. - didn't Peter Gabriel left after "Lamb lies down..." & didn't "...an then they were three" came out after Steve Hackett left?



...whoops - jens was faster...

[loachm]

... but it will be interesting to see this becoming a bashing-Phil-Collins-thing...

[jens]

...just listen to them in the order they were released and start with "From Genesis to Revelation" (1969)...

btw. - didn't Peter Gabriel left after "Lamb lies down..." & didn't "...an then they were three" came out after Steve Hackett left?



...whoops - jens was faster...

but mistertoast was fastest

[Squids]

I think Invisible Touch is the ultimate Genesis record. Isn't that early Genesis? This is 2004 and that was 1986.

[Klemperer]

Jens already told about Mr. Hackett who left Genesis after the "Second's out" because he had wanted to be involved in composing like the other 3 left. Well they didn't allow and thought goodbye friend, but his first solo-work sold extreeeemely well in 1976 or so, was a bit young then , don't know exactly. I like Hackett too veery much, but Peter Gabriel has done more "experiments" if you'd like. (By the way back in 1988 or so Steve Hackett gave a solo-concert in Germany. He sat in a near pub with all the people who waited before the concert and ate something. A fan came to him and talked, and Hackett invited him, so they talked over 1 hour. Then the concert began, 10 minutes before Hackett said "Oh I have to prepare my instruments". Well that was many years after getting famous with Genesis, and it was lovely.)

As nearly all of you here said, all of the albums with P.G. was fine work, my pref being Selling England... and The lamb lies down (Peter Gabriel always wanted to make a film about this story, I heard he still wanted in recent years even if the album is out now for 30 years!). I still listen to Foxtrot (Supper's ready is loooooong but nice, imho) and Nursery Crimes too.
After that: As you know too P.C. tried to imitate P.G.'s singing very very much in the 2 releases after "Lamb lies down". I like the albums very much too, especially "Wind and Wuthering" (title inspired by a most beloved artist, Emily Brontë, who is even a bit older than you 1978-born are, she lived 1818-48 ) 2 songs on "Wind and wuthering" quote the last sentence of "Wuthering heights" by E.Brontë, "unquiet slumbers for the sleepers" and "in that quiet earth". (By the way read Wuthering heights to P.Gs and some Genesis music, fits well...P.G. likes Kate Bush very well, not only because of their song on "So" Very fine novel, and the best "last sentence" I shall read in my lifetime, err , but only if one reads the pages before too and didn't HAVE to read it at school).
So, err, stop? Why that ? Just stop for completely other music and come back after that . I did stop at "Dusk" which others liked, but didn't find it bad, no reason for bashing real explorers of music and art only because fashion changes? Better change people who follow every fashion? (in fact it's ridiculous after a few years, reading about those bashings. It's all "you like that and I like this", so where's the problem, you egomaniacs out there ?)!
After abacab and some more I liked the 1990-album very much again, but funnily enough not the single "I can't dance" or how the name was.
I saw Peter Gabriel live in 1987, 94 and now, and it's always stunning. 1987 I saw Genesis too and it wasn't bad, but a bit more "routine" it seemed compared to the concert of P.G in the same year.
His musicians are wonderful too, Tony Levin on bass, David Rhodes on a slighty laid-back-guitar (not liking solos pretty much I think), Rachel Z, a young jazz-keyboarder(ess?) and others. In a german feuilleton I read (here's the bashing again, P.C. is bashed always "by the way-style" in those print-media) Peter Gabriel would play on his "up" music for "discos in little uncool suburbs". Well that says more about "Frankfurter Rundschau" in Germany these years than about Mr. Gabriel . i frequently find the sentence - about P.C., P.G. and many many others, always with the exception of Björk and Bowie, they are cool still and not bashed a lot - "I hope these will die soon".
Okay. THAT's exactly the place where I DO STOP then .

(Cheers Jens )