Written by Thomas Schrage

Genesis‘ first album was not called Trespass but From Genesis To Revelation. Many fans tend to count it as their zeroeth album. It shows no or at best only the most minuscule traces of the style that would make them well-known later, and therefore frequently meets with a refusal and lack of affection. Justly so?

The band did not have the line-up they got known with yet. One could say they did not even exist. They came together to record demo-tapes in the first place. All of them knew each other from Charterhouse public school. The songwriter team Rutherford and Anthony Phillips asked Tony Banks to play the piano for them; Banks only agreed if he could bring his songwriting partner Peter Gabriel to record a song. Soon they were convinced that Gabriel’s voice sounded better than Phillips’ so he ended up singing on all the songs.

When he did not sing, Phillips played the guitar, a position he would retain up to Trespass. Initially, the drums were played by one Chris Stewart, though the drumming on the album would be done by John Silver. The drummer’s stool would not be filled permanently until Phil Collins joined Genesis. Only with him did the band find someone who was accepted as a full member and could incorporate himself.

These boys (most of them were around 17 at the time) managed to land a record contract with Jonjo Music in August 1967. That only meant that a single would be released. King was an alumnus of Charterhouse and had had quite a successful hit with Everyone’s Gone To The Moon. A shallow pop song though that may have been, he nevertheless seemed to be a person of success and influence, and they found it very promising that they could have him produce them.

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The year was 1969. Among the many discoveries made that year was something called "the import record" - albums from England that were either different from those released here, or just plain never released in Athens.

I remember pulling together a stack of domestic promotional albums and heading to a downtown rendezvous, near Acropolis to a place called Plaka, where in a small records shop they were traded for a decidedly smaller stack of imports. One of them was a little item that had a black cover with gold lettering proclaiming FROM GENESIS TO REVELATION. It was the first effort of a British group that couldn't decide on their name, although the music was much more decisive - I immediately vowed to become a fan once they figured out what to call themselves....

Genesis Group Members
Peter Brian Gabriel Gemesis 1970 - 1975

Peter Brian Gabriel

BORN: February 13, 1950, London, England
As the leader of Genesis in the early '70s, Peter Gabriel helped move progressive rock to new levels of theatricality. In his solo career, Gabriel was no less ambitious, but he was more subtle in his methods.
Anthony George Banks Gemesis 1970 - 1975

Anthony George Banks

BORN: March 27th, 1950, East Sussex, England
Tony Banks started his career with Genesis in 1967 as the pianist/keyboardist, after the emergence of the Charterhouse School Bands The Garden Wall, which Tony was a member,..
Michael John Rutherford Gemesis 1970 - 1975

Michael John Rutherford

BORN: October 2nd, 1950, Guildford, Surrey, England
A founding member of the long-running art-rock band Genesis, Mike Rutherford also made the occasional excursion into solo projects, most notably the pop combo Mike + the Mechanics.
Phillip David Charles Collins Gemesis 1970 - 1975

Phillip David Charles Collins

BORN: January 31, 1951, Chiswick, London, England
Phil Collins' ascent to the status of one of the most successful pop and adult-contemporary singers of the '80s and beyond was probably as much of a surprise to him as it was to many others.
Steven Richard Hackett Gemesis 1970 - 1975

Steven Richard Hackett

BORN: February 12th, 1951, England
Formerly a member of various minor bands, including Canterbury Glass, Heel Pier, Sarabande and Quiet World, the latter releasing a solitary album on Dawn Records in 1970, Hackett joined Genesis as guitarist in early 1971.

March 16th, 2015 By Jim Laugelli

I could have very easily chosen a number of other Genesis albums but I decided on this one simply because it features what is perhaps the most significant song in all of progressive rock: “Supper’s Ready.” My introduction to Genesis occurred 41 years ago and had one of the most profound impacts on my personal musical journey. On that night, in May of 1974, a friend asked if I wanted to see a concert. He had a few extra tickets for a Genesis show and no one to join him. I never heard of the band and for some reason thought they were probably some sort of acoustic act. As far as I recall, my friend knew little about the band as well. I believe someone just gave him the tickets. With nothing better to do I decided to check it out. When we arrived at the venue and had taken our seats I remember my curiosity ratcheting up when the pre-concert music over the P.A. was Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells. This signaled to me that I was probably going to hear something unexpected. Sure enough, when the lights went down and the crowd quieted, the opening chords to “Watcher Of The Skies” begins. I immediately leaned forward in my seat totally consumed by the sound of the mellotron.

As that instrument eases, the staccato rhythm of the bass begins and in the darkness a pair eyes appear, they seem to be searching, radiating, only to reveal a figure in a cape with bat wings wrapped around his head. The vocals then begin and until the end of the show I remain completely and utterly captivated. My mind was officially blown. It was a revelation. I left that show a changed person. This was music that went beyond my imagination. It was presented like theater, it told stories. In fact, before many songs, Gabriel told surreal little tales as a way of introducing the tunes. The next day I bought Foxtrot, and then Selling England By The Pound, Nursery Cryme and Trespass all in short order. I immersed myself in their music.

Foxtrot begins the band’s high point of three consecutive outstanding albums. It was released in 1972, a banner year for progressive rock that also saw the release of Close To The Edge by Yes, Thick As A Brick from Jethro Tull, Trilogy by ELP, Three Friends from Gentle Giant and a slew of other incredible records. For Genesis, Foxtrot saw them tackle ideas they started with their two previous releases, Trespass and Nursery Cryme. The level of complexity in song structure, the emphasis on theatricality and drama, storytelling and extended song form all reached a new level of sophistication on Foxtrot.

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1967 - 1975
Discography Comments Compiled by Ikon Designing

Discography Comments

Aside from a portion of the box set, this is the only commercially available live document of vintage Gabriel-era Genesis.
Official Album Releases Compiled by Ikon Designing

Official Album Releases

That's it. Genesis' most ambitious work to date that ultimately led to the shock departure of their much loved singer Peter Gabriel.
Genesis Album Artwork Compiled by Ikon Designing

Genesis Album Artwork

The painterly texture of the album art is a very nuanced addition to the artwork., but with a plain light yellow-tan border, the artwork itself can feel a bit drab.
Jonathan King and the Name Compiled by Ikon Designing

Jonathan King and the Name

In 1963 Peter Gabriel and Tony Banks met at Charterhouse, a boarding-school, that layed in the English county Surrey in the middle 1960s.
Before Phil Compiled by Ikon Designing

Before Phil

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away. . . England, I think it was called. . . There lived four young men. . Their names were Ant Phillips, Michael Rutherford, Tony Banks and Peter Gabriel.
The Glory Years Compiled by Ikon Designing

The Glory Years

While recovering from this, he began writing Genesis' most ambitious project to date, "Supper's Ready," a 23-minute masterpiece
Touch of the Jaggers Compiled by Ikon Designing

Touch of the Jaggers

On every level the band transcend any kind of expected performance standard. Musically they are so proficient they make that part of the job look like a secondary exercise.
Man behind the Mask Compiled by Ikon Designing

Man behind the Mask

Genesis obviously differ from the dressed-up 12-bar that most bands unravel. And because of these very differences, the band have been slated over over their motives.
Hall of Mutant King Compiled by Ikon Designing

Hall of Mutant King

Lifeless was the performance of leader Peter Gabriel; the protagonist's name is Rael so it's surely no accident that Gabriel is a Roger Daltry sound alike.

The second album with the classic lineup, Foxtrot finds Genesis refining and expanding on the ideas presented on Nursery Cryme. This is easily one of my favorite Genesis albums, and to me, it's kinda like Yes' Fragile in that it marks an important transition from Nursery Cryme to Selling England and The Lamb. On to the songs:

Watcher of the Skies- What an intro. Tony's mellotron work is amazing here, love the chord progression. Tony has always been a master of interesting chord progressions, and the intro is a perfect example. I really love how the rhythm section slowly creeps in for the verse. Mike Rutherford's bass work is exceptional throughout this song, driving the song's syncopated rhythm furiously along. Phil seems to be following Mike a little bit. Steve Hackett's guitar work is very tasteful as well. Love the dynamic contrasts used in this song, it really adds to the drama this song creates, especially at the 5:55 to 6:20 marks. That section really builds nicely into the return of the mellotron for the end of the song. Lastly, Steve Hackett's guitar line on the end blends perfectly with Tony's mellotron. Classic Genesis.

Here it is. You hear those chords on that mellotron, and it's time. There's no introduction to this. You all know what's coming.

First up, "Watcher of Skies". Epic intro, as mentioned before, building with the high hat and bass until we get driving rock euphoria in 6/4. Peter's gruff voice speaking waves about some alien visitor observing life Earth. The organ swells with chords in the background. As an added bonus for those of you familiar with this Genesis standard and want more out of another hearing, listen to the bass lead back into the chorus from the first bridge. Awesome Mike. Love the harmonies of the vocals, love the concept, great bass, epic ending, just like the beginning.

The first few years of the early-70s must have been exciting to see all of these UK bands get more and more ambitious at the same time, each of them trying to outdo themselves and each other with long-form and multi-partite compositions, changing and even complex time signatures, and obviously technical instrumentation: Pink Floyd (“Atom Heart Mother”), Jethro Tull (“Thick as a Brick”), Yes (“Close to the Edge”) and Genesis (“Supper’s Ready”), and each of these cases felt like a leap (ie. the previous longest Genesis song, “The Musical Box,” was less than half the length of “Supper’s Ready”).

There are few fundamental pillars in the progressive rock universe where i disagree with the general consensus of an album’s legendary status despite my own personal enjoyment experienced, however there are a scant few examples of albums where the majority of listeners are on a total polar opposite of yours truly. On this short list of antithetic classics lie two albums by the great symphonic prog band GENESIS which totally rub me the wrong way and in many ways. While the band started out with the weak pop album “From Genesis To Revelation” in 1969, they took a complete 180 with the followup “Trespass” which not only sounded like a totally different band which found a unique balance of team members

Same as with Close to the Edge, this is a classic of progressive rock for the one big triumphant suite that takes up one side of the entire record. Both of those are masterpieces. Foxtrot ranks higher in part because "Supper's Ready" might be a liiiiittle bit better than "Close to the Edge", but mostly because the other side does have some really good stuff to justify it being an album and not a mere EP.

This is Genesis' second album with their classic quintet line-up and the first of their two great albums. It doesn't sound quite as clean as Selling England By the Pound but, given that this album is more about "atmosphere" than any of their others, there's no need to hear every instrument in detail,

  1. Limed Bagels - Oct 07 2012
  2. Martin Leedham - Jul 19 2011
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