TRESPASS

Trespass is the album where Genesis was starting to discover what their voice was in the progressive rock world. I always considered this album to have a stronger rock element than on later releases, although it really isn't too significant. Also, along with later releases, there is a proportional great/not-so-much quality tracks.

"Looking for Someone" starts the album off kind of weak. It seems very ill-thought out, but still manages to sound like classic Genesis. The instrumentation is a big confused sounding and the changes of mood are kind of random. But the track does follow a nice beat to get me through it. Honestly, I can't find anything that stands out on this track at all.

"White Mountain" starts out beautifully and kind of reminds me of a kind of gypsy mountain-folk inspired tune (I don't even know if that is a real "thing"). But the pace picks up and there is nice keys playing and powerful acoustic guitar strumming/picking that really sets this track on a good foot. This whole track is incredible and I'm honestly surprised that more people don't talk about this as being one of their best; I consider it so. There is a drum/bass pulsing just after the center that images a beast walking down a long hall, just before continuing with the powerful keys playing.

"Visions of Angels" initially sounds folky but soon becomes powerful and random. I consider this to be one of the more random tracks on the album and it doesn't work very well for me. There really is no coherent structure to this song even though there is a recurring theme that is stamped throughout.

"Stagnation" is mostly a symphonic folk-rock tune that is really quite beautiful. It gets bigger at the end, but mostly consists of acoustic guitar picking and some soothing melodies on the keys. There is a flute solo at the end that always sounds pleasant and really matches the rest of the song.

"Dusk" is another folky tune with group vocals and beautiful flute. Though this is one of the shortest and least progressive tracks on this album, it shows that the band really can write great songs that flow incredibly. I consider this a stand out moment along with "White Mountain".

"The Knife" is one of Genesis' classic tracks, and starts off heavily in a way that foreshadows "Get 'em Out by Friday" on the Foxtrot album. This track is very demanding and angry, emphasizing the "rock" half of progressive rock. It chills out near the middle and eventually gets groovy, but unfortunately nothing really stands out to me other than the song sounds different than anything else on the album.

A lot of fans regard this album as not being superior as Nursery Cryme or Foxtrot, but I disagree on my own personal taste. I think the folky elements on this album really make this stand out in the early Genesis catalog. I also prefer this album because the feel seems much more serious than the often goofy and quirky later albums. The album contains a few tracks that aren't written quite as well as they could've been, but there are also some very beautiful tracks here that are always pleasant to listen to.