Their only album for Decca - their early manager Jonathan King managed to procure them this little contract when they were still schoolboys, but it's no wonder that after the record's release Decca as only too happy to severe all contacts. It sold less copies than Santa Claus' recent autobiography and not only made them lose the contract, but also made them the laughing stock of every critic alive (among those who actually managed to hear the record, that is). What's even more pathetic, even now it is usually still looked on as something to be really ashamed of - like some silly childhood scribblings of a notorious poet that he'd forgotten to send down the drain and then they had suddenly been unearthed and made public. Even the band's fans usually shake their heads and say: 'Well, man, they were young. Even the gods make mistakes sometimes'.
Well, sure enough that they do. It's easy to see what this album suffers from. The music is highly derivative - there's not even a single truly creative, original idea to be found when it comes to actual genre innovation. The orchestration that runs wild and free through most of the tracks had already been pioneered and patented by the Moody Blues and Procol Harum and suchlike. The balladeering style had already been refined by the Bee Gees and, well, er, the Beatles, for that matter. The sound effects are generic: reverb, fuzz, phasing - by 1969, that was your usual kit. And, finally, the concept, suggested to the band by King, is certainly overblown to such an extent that it makes the album look grotesque: what, do you really expect a bunch of eighteen-year old kids to put the description of God's creation of the world to rock music with enough authenticity? (Not to mention that the odd title of the record made many record stores place it into the 'gospel' bin, which was yet another heavy blow to sales).
But hey! This is exactly where all the fun starts! For once, I feel no bad feelings towards Gabriel and company for the puffed-up subject matter. See, the subject matter is so pretentious, pompous and totally deprived of any sense of humour that it's... an awful lot of fun - just an awful lot of fun! Yes, they were young and naive, but that's just the thing that redeems them; it's nothing but a charming piece of youthful romanticism. Not to mention that this isn't really prog rock: the subject matter is totally transparent, and Gabriel's lyrics can be called all but nonsensical: naive, yes, cliched, yes, but already betraying signs of deep talent.
Now when we start speaking about the tunes themselves, this is where a big smile comes to rest on my face. Call me crazy, but I love most of these ditties - and there's quite a few of them. Whatever you say, they are pretty, funny and catchy. They might be derivative for all I care, but they're good. 'Where The Sour Turns To Sweet' sets the pace with its moody keyboards and Gabriel's inviting singing, then 'In The Beginning' really recreates the atmosphere of 'the beginning', with Peter croaning his 'you're in the hands of destiny' line to a steady, solemn beat, and from then on, almost every tune has at least something to offer in the line of hooks. Most often, it's the pretty pop refrains ('Fireside Song'; 'In The Wilderness'; 'One Day'), but sometimes it's the whole song that's intriguing ('The Serpent'). There are brilliant melodic resolutions all over the place - the vocal melodies of 'Am I Very Wrong' and 'Fireside Song' are among the most grappling, perfectly constructed ones I've ever heard. Pure pop perfection. Yes, the weak production and the conventional instrumentation do show that this is a naive, clumsy effort - the tunes don't vary too much and aren't that memorable. But the talent is there, man. You can't deny it's there. Too bad the world didn't accept this album back then and won't accept it now. Too bad.
I'm not sure whether anybody would be in agreement with me over this one. But what I'll say is this: this isn't really a pretentious album. This is just a bunch of clean-cut, intelligent, artsy kids having some restricted fun in the studio. Unexperienced, but highly talented kids. It's not a cash-in, and it's not a crass product of some marketing scheme. It's an innocent, fresh and funny piece of music. Bear that in mind and put that record on with a smile.
Oh, and by the way: the original album is usually available under at least a couple thousand titles, because the band's original manager Jonathan King is still trying to make as much money out of it as possible. So he comes up with a new title and a new album cover (and, probably, a new track running order) each year. I, for one, have the album under the title Where The Sour Turns To Sweet. It's good in that it also includes two of their earlier flop singles. The A-sides are rather generic, although listenable and even enjoyable, flower power ditties ('The Silent Sun'; 'A Winter's Tale'). The B-sides are incredible, though, probably being the best tracks on the whole album: 'That's Me' is a terrific misanthropic/egotistic anthem, punctuated by Gabriel's alternating between low grumbling vocals and an almost falsetto shrieking, while 'One-Eyed Hound' is, I think, a gothic horror tale set to an appropriate melody. My advice is: if you've decided to get the album, wait until you've found the version with these bonuses.
