DUKE

This album is exactly what the 3-star rating surmises: Good, solid musicianship, but not essential to your Genesis catalog. Having revisited this LP after five years or so, i am astounded by a number of things: First, the atmosphere is darker, denser, but somehow crisper than "And then there were three" from 1978. Definitely the band progressed in how to play as a power trio. Secondly, the guitarwork is much improved. Many (myself included) have criticised Mike Rutherford's playing, mostly from the stance that he is a bass player and should not have tried to fill Steve Hackett's amazing shoes. But the licks here are more pronounced than on "ATTWT" or any later LP for that matter! Finally, despite the lack of concrete storyline, the "Duke Suite" as its known to fans (comprised of "behind the Lines"/"Duchess"/"Guide Vocal"/ "Dukes Travels/Dukes End") is the most fully realised "concept" if you will on a Genesis album since "The Lamb lies down..."! Yep! i said it! The loose linkage of a confused character named Duke is like a little story of Rael, minus the psychosis of the latter! Anyway, you won't find such deliberate conceptual ties on "Trick of the Tail", "Wind and Wuthering" or "ATTWT" (which all emphasize multi- character studies)