What is surprising is to hear Gabriel speak with fondness for The Nice, keyboardist Keith Emerson's first group before moving on to the hugely successful Emerson, Lake and Palmer. There's little denying the confluence of classical influences and Emerson's inimitable style on Genesis keyboardist Tony Banks, and he's always been a fine player; but early on, Genesis differentiated itself from many of its progressive rock cousins by being more about the song and less about the playing. Its progressive tendencies meant, as was the case with groups like Yes and ELP, that the songs were episodic and featured long instrumental passages. But Genesis always managed to avoid the trappings of excess and bombast that torpedoed some of the best progressive rock groups. The instrumental sections were still fundamentally parts of the songs; Genesis was not a solo-heavy band; instead, many of Banks' feature spots were scripted, and performed faithfully in concert rather than acting as jumping-off points for extended and often superfluous displays of technical virtuosity.
Drummer John Mayhew and guitarist Anthony Phillips would leave soon after the release of Trespass, and their replacements—guitarist Steve Hackett and drummer Phil Collins—were such powerful musical personalities that these two early members would quickly become footnotes in the band's history. Still, their roles have been sadly undervalued. Phillips' subsequent solo albums would suggest that he was one of the responsible parties for Genesis' early folksy flavor; he was, in fact, one of the members pushing for a harder edge, alongside bassist/guitarist Mike Rutherford. He'll not go down in history as one of rock's great electric guitarists, but his solo on "The Knife" is still an example of a player equally capable of gentle acoustic interaction and more visceral edge.
Genesis would gradually evolve away from Trespass' pastoral feel, but the carefully crafted interaction of up to three guitars created a unique sound that was a group's signature straight through to Wind and Wuthering (Atco, 1977). "The Knife" may have become the most popular concert song from Trespass, but it's "Stagnation" that represented an early pinnacle and album highlight; a marvelous mix of soft, acoustic passages, propulsive rock sections, and the distinctive sound of Gabriel's rough-hued voice and lyrical flute.
What's perhaps most remarkable about Trespass—especially now that its finer details can be heard with crystal clarity—is how advanced the group already was at this early stage. This was a group of players that absorbed everything from folk music to R&B, and who composed collectively to create a truly democratic sound that reflected, in its own very personal way, those many interests. But from the very first notes of "Looking for Someone" Genesis had a distinct identity, and while its later pop-friendly songs would leave some of its markers behind, it retained many of them, simply honed, reduced and refined into more bite-sized portions.
