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?
Timetable- Tony's piano intro is a nice contrast from the bombast of the ending of Watcher. In fact, you can tell Tony wrote a lot of this song. Strong piano work throughout, and Tony's lyric sits well here. Phil's drumming shows sensitivity towards the piano. Peter does a nice job on the vocals, showcasing his versatility. Steve Hackett's guitar playing is tasteful and supportive, and Mike again does some wonders with simple yet highly melodic bass lines.
Get 'Em Out By Friday- One of Peter Gabriel's best lyrics with the band, a somewhat absurdist commentary on over population in the year 2012. Lots of characters, and very, very British. Phil and Mike drive the choruses quite nicely, and Mike delivers yet another great bassline. Love Phil's half time shuffle on the second and third choruses. Tony Bank's flutelike keyboard work on the second verse is very well done, providing a nice fluidity over Hackett's arpeggios. Hackett's guitar solo on this is very Frippian. Phil gets jazzy on this one, especially under Peter's flute playing at the 4:59 to 6:06 mark. I love that section. "With land in your hand you'll be happy on Earth. Then invest in the Church for your Heaven." Great lyric to end the song.
Can-Utility and the Coastliners- Definitely one of my favorites from this album. Starts off with some nice 12-string work from Steve Hackett, and features some strong vocal work from Gabriel. The first part of the song was written by Steve, the later parts being born from a group jam. The change at 1:50 is really well done, the 12-string guitars setting up the mellotron work nicely. Phil does some really great drumming under this section, setting up some nice syncopation and yet really grooving throughout this section. Rutherford makes some great use of the Moog Taurus Pedals that were such an integral part of the Genesis sound of the 70s. Again some great bass work from Mike from the 4:00 mark to the end of the song. Love the classical sounding bits from 4:33 to 4:57, and a nice quick solo from Hackett. Great song all around. Lots going on in 5:49.
Horizons- Steve Hackett delivers the goods here. A beautiful piece of music, and this was apparently the only piece of work that original producer Bob Potter could stomach. I think this piece serves as a great transition from the ending of Can-Utility to the start of Supper's Ready.
Supper's Ready- I really don't think there is much I can say about this song that the music doesn't do better. Quite possibly the classic lineup's signature moment, containing everything you'd expect from Genesis at the time. There's so much of this song that I like, that I'll just let the song do it for me. I will say that from Willow Farm to As Sure As Eggs is Eggs is one of the best moments in Genesis' music. Apocalypse in 9/8 is genius. One of my favorite musical moments of all time. I love the story that Peter tells on the Archive One Boxset as the intro into this song. Near nonsense, but it sets up the song perfectly.
In all, I would probably rate this album third amongst my favorite Genesis albums, behind only Selling and The Lamb. One thing I really like about the album is the artwork. Paul Whitehead expounds on the work he did on Nursery Cryme to include several lyrical references in the artwork, something Mark Wilkinson did to great affect later on the Fish era Marillion albums. The "Foxy Lady" on the front cover was to inspire Peter Gabriel's first on stage costume. Notice the six saintly shrouded men, with the seventh walking in front, with a cross held high in hand, on the beach? The four foxhunters on the back represent the four horsemen of the apocalypse, while also spoofing the upper crust sport of foxhunting. Clever. Anyway, there's a lot to discuss with this album, so have at it.
