WIND & WUTHERING

however, when i was about maybe 5-6 it went missing and we never found it. my dad, in around 2002 or so, started asking about the album and i told him that i would download it for him (i was an illegal person, then), and i did but it turned out to be 'a trick of the tail', cos those downloading services don't work. so we finally bought the 1994 remaster in 2005 and i've been in love with this album ever since.

i still love the original mix- whereas some think it has bad sound quality, etc., it has an ambiance about it that is unparalleled by nick's new mix- especially steve's quiet guitar parts, ie: 'blood on the rooftops', 'unquiet slumbers for the sleepers..., and the guitar bits in all the songs, even 'your own special way'.

by the way, there are no weak spots on this album- eleventh earl of mar has it all, the power of genesis á la 'squonk', and then it goes into a quiet, acoustical section, of which this album has a plethora, yet no other genesis album seems to have any of these with quite the same richness that this album does. 'one for the vine' is a classical piece all its own written by composer anthony george banks. phil narrates the story and steve strums on his guitar, while tony comes from behind and overtakes us with a wall of sound, and then the whole band comes in, and everything comes together.

'your own special way' took a long time for me to get into- and it wasn't the keyboard solo that did it either. listen to that warm guitar all throughout it. is this pop? no. this is english folk. mike tells us a story that appears to be about a girl, but is actually a nostalgic story of an old sailor, talking about the only dependable thing left- the wind. his wife has died and he only has the wind left. 'wot gorilla' is a magnificent jazz-rock musical interlude- this song isn't meant to serve as a song by itself, but to serve as a transition into the second side. the whole song itself is a reprise of the first side, the guitars are slightly reminiscent of eleventh earl of mar, the keyboards are a reprise of one for the vine, and the drums are all their own, wrapping up the first side of the album and leaving you waiting for the second.

side two opens up gloriously with tony's keyboard and phil rolling on the drums. this, once again, is english folk, however the music is more of a journey than the lyrics. all throughout the verses, tony hops his fingers on the keyboard and phil narrates our story, and the whole band comes into play during the chorus- and then after the last chorus, this is where a pop band would end, but instead phil gives us a last bit of narration, and we can see the rest of the story in our mind's eye; nothing more needs to be told, and a magnificent ending to this song is given with a duet between tony and steve, with steve paying homage to eleventh earl of mar once again, and the song closes with a final salute and a lone drummer. 'blood on the rooftops' leads us forward quietly as we journey to the thoughts of an old man, wishing things would just stay the same; but once again, musically it's more interesting. the ambiance in this song would be unmatched save 'unquiet slumbers for the sleepers..., yet it still carries itself as the best song on the album. tony's mellotron only compliments steve's acoustic guitar further, enveloping phil in another wall of sound- the music is the main stage here, not the lyrics. it fades out with the sound of a strange keyboard sounding like an oboe.

'unquiet slumbers for the sleepers... takes us across the english countryside at night, alone, we drift amongst the fields and we are swept into the ocean ...in that quiet earth'. we are taken once again with the sailor sailing across the sea, yet this time, the wind has betrayed him, and the oceans roar about his small ship, and he is terrified; and he remembers his wife. 'afterglow' comes forth out of the torment of the seas into a different kind of ocean- one of memories. the old man remembers his wife and all the joy they had in their lives, and how now he is stuck on the sea and he would give anything to be back with her. and then his wife reaches down and pulls him up- and he dies to be with his wife. at the very end, there is a call-back to 'all in a mouse's night', and the drums tap one more time, as a salute to the old sailor, and the song washes over to the right channel, with the wind and wuthering.

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