GENESIS

The eagle soars over the heads of the citizens below. They exclaim in surprise, pointing at it with awe. It unfolds it's wings to take a majestic dive. A gunshot rattles through the sounds of the day, and the eagle nose dives to the ground. The man wielding the gun walks over to the now dead bird and looks down. It's feathers are black and yellow, and have outlines of several different geometric shapes down it's body. The man removes his glasses, frowning, and states one thing:

"Phil Collins."

Story-ship aside, I feel this album is butchered far too much by the prog community. Sure, it's Phil Collins' sixth effort for the once symphonic prog band Genesis instead of the beloved Gabriel, but who honestly cares? I've never been a huge fan of Collins' music up to this point, only having listened to We Can't Dance and Acabab, both pretty lackluster releases. I've also listened to Face Value (not bad but not great) and Hello, I Must Be Going (good). This made it hard for me to appreciate the pop-master's handiwork in a prog environment. Let me explain how I feel.

Let's say we have another well known pop artist that gained heavy popularity during the eighties. Pull a name out of a hat: Elton John. Yeah, I know, you'd hate it if he took over Genesis, right? Most likely you do. But is there a huge difference between him and Collins? Well, they were both extremely popular, especially during the early to mid 80's. But a large difference is that Collins has had experience in Genesis as their drummer since their comeuppance. This leads to the skill that I like most about Collins- he can distinguish when he's crafting a Genesis record or a solo-effort. In the case with their 1983 self titled, he definitely knew his boundaries. The effect therefore was overall more pleasing than Duke or Acabab, where he pushed his luck more than he should have. By the time this album was in the works, he was ready.

As many would assume, if it's Collins, then the album will have large LARGE pop elements. In this case, surprisingly, no. 'Mama', the opening track (and incidentally the most popular next to 'That's All' from the release), is an awesome, oddly dark piece. It features some really cool laughing (and slightly disturbing) effects from Collins and some cool ambient echoes from Banks. In the mix of pop-influenced prog, there is a hidden two part prog-epic titled 'Home By The Sea' (Second Home by the Sea for part two). This is probably the song that single-handedly gave me full hope in Collins to carry such a weight as Genesis. It is so exquisite from his vocals to Rutherford's superb guitar/bass work. The second part is more instrumental, showing off less vocals and more focus on the band member's playing skill. Justly so. Probably my least favorite from the album is 'Illegal Alien', which is a simply stupid ditty that was made by Collins maybe just for filler, or just as spite. It's annoying, and his 'accent' I can't even identify in the wake of it's terrible-ness. 'Just a Job to Do' is an almost Rush-like song, with some lines like "BANG BANG BANG" making up for a song about an assassin. It's nice and heart-thumping with every listen. Almost like a story within a song, which isn't anything new, but from Collins era Genesis it is something quite special. 'Taking it All Too Hard' and 'It's Gonna Get Better' are rather boring pop ballads, the former probably better than the latter. I would not suggest for anyone who is still sour over this era and expects something better from this release. 'Silver Rainbow' is another cool prog song, with some influences from 'Home by the Sea'. Probably not nearly as good, but it's still standable.

Overall, not a bad work from three guys playing to an audience who feels distinguished hate at them. I give them kudos for the awesome work and living up to my expectations with a healthy 4 star rating.

Go give it a listen.