- Watcher of the Skies
- Timetable
- Get'em Out by Friday
- Can-Utility and the Coastliners
- Horizons
- Supper's Ready
Watcher of the Skies
A truly astounding performance by the band at a peak of inspired creativity. There were few more dramatic moments during a Genesis concert than when Peter Gabriel donned his Famed batwings and glared at the audience with luminous eyes as he became... the Watcher Of The Skies. Here is the best version they could manage in the studio at this time, and despite the limitations of early Seventies' technology, it still retains its power and excitement. The Mellotron sets the scene with minor chords filled with menace. The volume drops as Rutherford's bass builds up a staccato, insistent rhythm gradually joined by restless drums, ready for Gabriel's grand vocal entrance. He tells his tale of the Mysterious One, contemplating the fate of a departed human race, while all around him guitars howl mournfully and the band create a war chant of despair. There are overtones of Gustav Holst's 'Mars' from The Planets Suite, in the band's use of strident, single note rhythm, but the theme and the execution is all Genesis. A particularty inspired moment comes when drums and guitar answer Banks' solo voce chords in a chilling exchange before the almost unbearable momentum is resumed, finally resolved by a great roar from Collins' rolling tom-toms.
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Timetable
Light relief after the pounding excitement of the previous track, on this gentle but stirring pop song. Gabriel sings at his most expressive, without having to cope with over complex imagery or too many difficult words! Built over a kind of pedal Aythm from the acoustic piano, there is an lntriguing middle section where Mike Rutherford's bass picks out melodic notes in the upper register behind delicately plinking piano. The lyrics have poetic depth and tenderly evoke a bygone age of kings and queens, ultimately banished by war and conflict.
