Was Genesis really that influential?

Horizons wrote: As great as a band PG Genesis was, Collins' Genesis was good too k I listen to Mama just as much as any other PG song.

Absolutely, definitely a ton of good stuff the band did in the Collins-led years!

I always thought `Mama' was borderline industrial, very dark!   

Influenced me and that's really all that matters...



Nice, Dean.


Edited by Slartibartfast - June 03 2014 at 22:20

Horizons wrote: As great as a band PG Genesis was, Collins' Genesis was good too k I listen to Mama just as much as any other PG song.

Yes , ELP and KIng Crimson were I believe more influential in the early years of prog rock but the whole neo prog scene was founded on Genesis 1970-1978 imo.

As a survivor of the 60s and 70s in the UK I can happily confirm that Genesis were astoundingly popular and extremely influential at that time.    Ignore all the Phil Collins solo stuff later and listen to their early pieces. They were ahead of their time and had the following to match.

Given that most reviewers resort to comparisons with other bands when appraising Prog music, one of the most common examples cited is something along the lines of this bit kinda sounds like Genesis on Foxtrot etc. It seems self evident that Genesis are used in this fashion because they are one of the most widely known Prog bands of all time and the writer believes the reader will have no problem understanding the frame of reference. To wit, the admittedly tiresome barb from mainstream rock fans in the 80's that Marillion sucked because they sounded 'just like Genesis' (i.e. probably the only prog band they had ever heard) I sorta agree with David (Atavachron) here in that anyone's answer to the question depends on how you define 'influential' They are a standard against which we measure Prog but as far as hearing Genesis music in other bands, their post Gabriel output has probably had more influence on artists from a wide gamut of genres than that of their earlier material. (let's face it, that sh*t is very difficult to play)

Note From The OP:  glad to see all the response. Just to make things clear, the bands that were citing Genesis influence were all hard rock and metal bands. Prog On!

^Early Rush always sounded to me like they were mainly influenced by Zep, Yes and Larks era Crimson. Subdivisions and other 80's keyboard heavy songs seem to owe more to the then contemporary Collins led Genesis. What are your thoughts?

^That seems to equal out

Have people here perhaps looked at the contemporary charts and seen how Genesis' now-classic LPs stack up against those by ELP, Jethro Tull, The Moody Blues, Pink Floyd, Yes etc.? Would be the easiest way to answer the question if you ask me.