Pink Floyd v Genesis

 

After thinking it over, I go with a draw too !

It would be fun to match a song by Genesis against a Floyd's, until the first is beaten. And so on. Like a real battle where a strong fighter can take down more than a few weak rivals. I bet this way there would be no doubts about the big difference between Genesis and Floyd.

 

 Floyd's first two albums are way better than "From Genesis to revelation". But any song in tresspass has way better songwriting, complexity and musicianship than anything in Floyd's first four (Piper, A saucerful, More and Umamguma).

 

 Atom heart mother has nothing to offer apart from the long track. This one, being repetitive after the absurd middle part. Or would you compare "If", "Summer 68"....Not to mention "Alan's Psych.." to Looking for someone or stagnation?. Genesis in this case presented hundreds of more moments of great writing and creativity. The 7 decent minutes in "Atom" (where the second part after the middle section is nothing but a copy paste from the 7 first minutes) are not a match for the amount of great tunes in Tresspass (1970 efforts). 

 

 Meddle seems like a better match with Echoes. A great song no arguments, despite it's 7 minutes of crap in the middle. Echoes as well as Atom, has that defect of returning to the same tunes from the begining of the song. This time not as exact but still with the same idea. Again, would you compare  A pillow of winds, Fearless, San Tropez,  and Seamus against ...mhhh "Salmacis"...None of these are match not even for the funny "Harold the barrel". The single-idea and repetitive song "One of these days" is eaten with a spoon by "Seven stones" and this one still has energy to hurt Echoes. Genesis has a full Musical box, Hogweed and Salmacis to tear apart the 6 or 7 decent minutes of Echoes. In my opinion, The musical box is more than enough. (1971 with at least 5 or 6 great songs by Genesis not considered).

 

 Dark side is an overrated album with no true progressive elements throughout. Actually, with very few moments of Rock (Money, a straightforward and conventional tune). Would anyone dare to compare any of the small "Overlooked" songs in Dark side such as Speak to me (1:16),2. Breathe (2:44) 3. On the run (3:32) The great gig in the sky (4:44) Any colour you like (3:25)  Brain damage (3:50) and Eclipse (2:04). ... NO matter how beautiful and inspired (where On the run is pure shi...)they are, none of them has the standards in terms of complexity, progressiveness, musicianship, originality (sounds, style, moods, atmospheres) as "Can utility" (A "second rate" song in Foxtrot). Time and money are entertaining songs but will never be 1/20th as interesting as either "Watcher" or "Get them out by friday". Us and them is more of a "contemporary adult song" than a rock song anyway. We have a full Supper's ready as a handicap for future matches.

 

 Wish you were here is Floyd's best. However, the only strong and competitive songs here are Shine part I and II. Wish you were here is a ballad which is worth only for a fine bubblegum tune. Have a cigar is decent only. With nothing to stand out and welcome to the machine is nothing but a tune with only one musical idea in mind. None of these three are a match for ....The return of the giant hogweed.

 

 Shine is probably their best effort. Being really really soft with Floyd, let's think that Supper's ready does the job here with the help of "Salmacis".

 

 That leaves us with a full "Selling england and The Lamb", plus a superb "The knife" live '73  against Floyd's Animals, The Wall and the musicless "The final cut".

 

 I've listened to Animals since I was 17 years old. 14 yeas ago. I've reviewed it in many ways before, the last time for my personal rock reviews page. In order to do it I took my headphones, a pen and a piece of paper to write my observations, make notes of every second of music writing down the minute and second for every change of melody. I've listened to its three tracks back and forth actually writing down whatever comes up in every second, making comparitions and whatever came up to my mind. The result, well...I could actually tell the difference from one song to another for the following week. Right now, I have a hard time being able to recognize Pigs from Dogs or Sheep. Has anyone ever thought they are way too similar?. Not only in sound, style and mood. But also in structure?. Has anybody noticed that each song has a very repetitive, overlong and monotonous middle section that gives the impression of being there just to produce a 10 + minutes song?. Has anyone noticed that after the pointless middle section the song repeats the exact same melody from the begining (Copy-paste prog)?. That leaves us with a very well writen 8 first minutes in Dogs and around 6 or 7 decent (yet a little repetitive) minutes in Pigs and Sheep altogether, for a total of 15 good, "original", non-copy paste minutes of pseudo prog rock. ...oh what the hell !!. I don't wanna make a big deal out of this. "The knife live '73" and "Time table" take care of this Copy-paste album.

 

 About "The Wall". Would it be necessary to go through most of the songs here that were written with a single musical idea in mind?. Tiny songs of less than 4 minutes with severe lack of actual rock, and some others with no music at all, or others just too ordinary?; The thin ice (2:28), Another brick in the wall Part one (3:41), The happiest days of our lives (1:20), Mother (5:32), Goodbye blue sky (2:48), Empty spaces (2:00), Young lust (2:03), Another brick in the wall Part three (1:17),
One of my turns (1:33) Don't leave me now (4:22), Goodbye cruel world (1:05). Is there anybody out there! (2:40), Nobody home (3:25), Vera (1:38), Bring the boys back home(0:50), The show must go on (1:36), Waiting for the worms (3:56), Stop (0:34), Outside the wall(1:42)....Ooops !!, 90% of the album. Most of these songs sound more like introductory tracks to some eventual real songs in the album. Although they never really come consistently. Has anybody noticed this album is numer 55 in the list of Best prog albums?. Anyway, listened as a whole they make a good, enjoyable experience. Songs like Mother and goodbye blue sky are very good (for the "contemporary adult" genre anyways). Still, none of these 10 or more songs (not including "The trial" that should have been included as a soundtrack in "A nightmare before christmas" and In the Flesh "squared") are nearly a match for "Dancing With The Moonlit Knight". They are actually not a match not even combined.

 

 So we have "In the flesh" which is a nice intro to the album, with only one idea though. Well, not even played twice in the album is a match against "After the ordeal". Actually, "After the ordeal" kicks both "In the flesh" versions and the discotheque-pseudo prog rock tune "Another brick in the wall part 2" butt. On it's way out, cuts "the trail" head off.

 

 That leaves the song that got me interested in Pink Floyd, and my favourite song in any genre for a large number of years, "Comfortably numb". In the album version it doesn't do much for me anymore. In it's Knebworth version it is a match for any song, for it's beauty, it's sincere and true feeling, so touching. However, in my mind and in my heart, "Firth of fifth" is more exciting and brings tears to my eyes with those beautiful and inspired lines by hackett and the general feeling of the song, being much more diverse in moods, tunes and sounds than "Comfortably numb", A magnificent rival.

 

 "Run like hell", although a little, or very repetitive, has a very special energy, specially, again, in it's Knebworth version (actually, the only time where Floyd played better live than in the studio). A solid number, still nowhere near the standards of creativity and imagination of "The battle of epping forest" (Listen to the music behind Peter Gabriel never repeating a note and "telling it's own story", not working only as background for the voice).

 

 With "Hey you" as the only survivor in "The Wall", "The Cinema show" approaches to end with the suffering of an every-year-less-imaginative-Floyd. "The Cinema show" Slashes "Hey you" 's throat as clean and neat as a knight on a horse at 25 Kilometers per hour would do to a bare foot soldier with a fork. 

 

 That was the end of "The Wall". So we have The Wall's leftovers with "The final cut". A reviewer in the site could have not said it better: "Musically, it pretty much sticks to a formula. Quiet opening, short loud part, another quiet part, followed by an emotionally charged loud part setting up a quiet finale to the song, generally with an uninspired solo thrown in every now and then" (Bryan Adair)....As a matter of fact, I'm listening to it right now. This is the track number 6. I don't know if it is the coffee I had 30 minutes ago or these songs what makes me wanna smash something against the window. Just when you start thinking there is coming something to pay attention to, the music stops, as in "The gunners's dream"....and for christ sake!!, what is "paranoid eyes" supposed to be?, seriously, what is it?, Prog?, hahaha !!, rock, ballad?, crap?, rap?. It could actually be rap since all you can listen at is a voice phrasing the lines of a second world war text book. ...Jesus, 8 tracks and this album makes me feel sad from boredom. This time I won't give Floyd any brake. "Anyway", a 3 minutes song in "The lamb" slashes the whole "The final cut album". Well, to be fair, it takes "Anyway" and "The lamb lieas down on Broadway (The song)" just because "The final cut (song) and "Not now John" have some actual music.

 

 A momentary lapse of reason used to sound very good in my ears a few years ago. However, now the songs sound to me rather pointless and emotionless. They are supposed to be precisely full of emotions and feeling but at the end my feeling towards this album is of monotony. The feeling sounds to me artificial and intentional which makes it even worse. Although these songs do have some music, as opposed to "The final cut" and The Wall, it is easy to lose interest and attention. The minutes go by without making you feel a little bit excited. I recently listened for the first time to "Camel" (Their first album) and the passion, inspiration and feeling jumped onto my face right away. This Momentary lapse of reason album never reaches 1/20th of that effect on me. About the same thing happens with The division bell. And probably worse in this case since the songs in this album seem to have been written to be Epics, classics....At the end you get a few tunes with fair arrangements with no true conviction. SOme of them like "Poles apart" and "marroned" are pretty good. Anyway, it is pointless to match these two last albums against a full "The Lamb" including a fantastic "In the cage" live in Seconds out, and a full A trick of the tail, Wind and wuthering plus a dozen more great songs from future albums.

 

 Some say:

 

 Genesis best > Pink Floyd's best

 Genesis overral <<<<< Pink Floyd's overral.

 

 I wonder if they are considering all Pink FLoyd's musicless and pointless little numbers like the bunch I mentioned above... Genesis Best is definitely much better than Pink Floyd's. And in the overral, Genesis has about 8 albums (From Wind and Wuthering  to Calling all stations) to dig out good songs even after no Floyd's song remains alive.