I think Genesis (the one with Gabriel and Collins together) is one of the greatest bands of alltime. I think they are not properly remembered today.


The lamb lies down in broadway is a super album.

I was just listening to that album a few days ago, actually. Everything up to and including that album is excellent. I'd put Lamb, Selling England By The Pound, Foxtrot and Nurseery Chryme up against any other progressive rock album or run of albums, past or present.

The problem is that Gabriel left before the band could even get into the black. Trick of the Tail was and is a great album, but it was not at the level of its predecessors. After that they fell into the pop trap ("Afterglow" was the first super-cheesy pop song), and of course Collins would record solo albums that were becoming interchangeable with the neighboring Genesis albums. "Duke" and "Abacab" had their moments, and are probably the better of the "new style" Genesis releases.

All that happened after Peter Gabriel left as served to obscure the remarkable band they used to be. Hands down, my favorite progressive rock band. One could sit for days discussing how important Peter Gabriel was. Gabriel and Collins (a great drummer/percussionist) harmonized extremely well, and all musicians were at the top of their game. Rutherford was a great bassist, certianly more notable there than as the main guitarist later on. Steve Hackett and Tony Banks were responsible for their memorable interludes - you never said "noodling" in reference to any instrumental breaks containing a lead by either band member, because they placed melody over chops every time.

What's most notable is that the lengths of the songs were misleading. It never felt like 10 minutes had gone by during "The Musical Box", for example. Many a prog band would be unable to accomplish that feat. Renaissance came the closest, probably followed by some of the best Yes.

Yea I with you that Gabriel-Genesis was one of the greatest bands of all time. Foxtrot is probably my favorite album of theirs... I just can't resist the album with "Supper's Ready" (as pretentious as the song might be) on it.

(Edit) I also agree that they are not properly remembered. Their golden-age catalog has a hard time overcoming the campy image that Collins gave the band after he took over.

Genesis with Gabriel was one of my favorite bands. I could never figure out, what the difference was supposed to be between, Collins solo or with Genesis.


This site has a pretty good, Annotated Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.


http://www.rawbw.com/~marka/music/lamb.html

I have to give it a shot. I've always been intrigued by the prospects of early Genesis but was never courageous enough to buy an album.

With which should I start?

I don’t think you can go wrong with these, there 3 best recordings.

Foxtrot
Selling England by the Pound
The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway

I agree that Genesis was one of the best (if not the best) prog bands. I think, with the exception of maybe their last couple of albums, the post-Gabriel era is also awesome. And I think that Phil Collins is given too much credit/blame for their change from the artsy proggers of the early to mid 70's to the chart toppers of the early 80's. Make no mistake - that change in sound was equally due to Banks and Rutherford as it was to Phil Collins. They made a concerted effort towards accessibility, which directly led to Steve Hackett leaving the band, but didn't have anything to do with Peter Gabriel leaving the band. I think their biggest shift in overall style and sound coincided with Hackett leaving the band, not Gabriel. That's not to say that Hackett was more important than Gabriel, just that Hackett's leaving coincides with a bigger change than Gabriel leaving. There's a bigger difference between Trick Of The Tail/ Wind & Wuthering and ...And Then There Were Three/Duke/Abacab than there was between Selling England By The Pound/ Lamb Lies Down and Trick Of The Tail./Wind & Wuthering.

No, I do remember that Gabriel left the band under very different circumstances. He was the first of the band to have a child, and could not commit to Genesis as much as before, which was baffling to the other members. Musch of the Lamb album was recorded with Gabriel coming in to the studio to lay down tracks after the rest of the band had long finished recording that day.

And yes, the other band members certainly are as guilty, or at leats very good at playing along. Mike Rutherford's solo stuff wasn't even as good as the poppier Genesis, which is downright embarrassing. I don't remember but one solo Tony Banks song ("Forever Nighttime") and it wasn't very impressive, either. There's no question all members of the band benefitted, and contributed to, the changes in sound and style.

That article on the Lamb Lies Down is pretty cool still reading it...

No, the 3 best albums from Genesis are:

Invisible Touch
We Can't Dance
Genesis

This is a thread about how much better Genesis was with Gabriel. Do you care to elaborate your position on why Phil Collins, to you, is the "legend?" Or are you just going to troll in and pick the three albums that were clearly the worst, and call them the best to get someone riled?

We are interested in real opinions here. Don't offer more than you're prepared to deliver.