FOXTROT

Foxtrot not only is the second Genesis album with the classic line-up, but it's also my all-time favorite Genesis album. Yeah, I said it, this is where Genesis peaked to me, the sound they've been developing since Trespass has been perfected here, this isn't considered one of prog rock's milestones for nothing. And no, I'm not saying this just because of Supper's Ready, Foxtrot in its entirety is a terrific record, with Supper's Ready being the highlight.

Watcher of the Skies (7:23) - ★★★★★

The result of Tony and Mike taking a look at a desert landscape during Genesis' staying in a hotel, this is a song about an alien who comes to Planet Earth only to find out that there's no life in it at all. Did everyone die? Was this the result of another nuclear fallout? Did Earth become impossible to inhabit and the human race left to find another planet? Who knows... But what I certainly know is that this is an absolute classic Genesis track, the mellotron intro gives way to a rocking number with one of Phil's best drum patterns and Mike following it with his pulsating bassline, I also love how well Tony's organ blends with Steve's guitar here, and the way it all fades into a mellotron outro is the icing on the cake. The only thing I can say it's kinda like a downside is that you may find this song structure a little repetitive, especially on the chorus, but eh, I didn't mind this at all.

Time Table (4:46) - ★★★★☆

The weakest track off this album, but still very good, a piano-oriented song with a highly melodic bassline from Mike and a rather catchy chorus, Peter sings this one very well. Though I don't really understand what the hell is this song about, the lyrics don't make much sense to me even considering that Tony's lyrics are usually more about imagery and metaphors and less about storytelling.

Get 'em Out by Friday (8:36) - ★★★★★

Speaking of storytelling, here's the first Genesis song to contain social criticism, basically a humorous look at how british landlords were greedy and oppressive the british landlords were back at the time, one of my favorite Peter Gabriel lyrics by far. There's a lot of characters and Peter uses different vocal styles to incarnate them, just like he did with Harold the Barrel from the previous album, and the song has another great bassline by Mike, Hackett's guitar solo here is very King Crimson-esque and Phil's drumming is very jazzy.

Can-Utility and the Coastliners (5:45) - ★★★★★

It's impressive that a song that lasts for 5:45 minutes have so much going on, lots of different sections here, an acoustic intro, a 12-string guitar sectiong leading to a mellotron-oriented mid section, a tasteful keyboard solo that seamlessly segues into a guitar solo... Damn, this song is mind-blowing! Did I mention Peter's absolutely passionate vocal performance near the end? Yeah, there's that too.

Horizons (1:41) - ★★★★★

A beautiful acoustic Steve Hackett track, bringing in a much-needed relaxing mood after all the bombast of the previous track and serving as a perfect transition to Supper's Ready.

Supper's Ready (23:06) - ★★★★★

The epic 23-minute prog suite that many consider to be Genesis' finest moment ever, and I'm part of those many people who do that. Supper's Ready is kinda hard to describe, really, the best course of action would be to listen to the song and let it speak by itself, it starts with a calm acoustic intro and then becomes much more chaotic, with every single one of the band members giving their absolute best, my favorite part has to be the ending section, As Sure as Eggs is Eggs, just for Peter Gabriel's vocals alone. The lyrics are basically Peter Gabriel's take on the Apocalypse, yeah, even that is actually hard to describe, so really, just listen to Supper's Ready if you haven't already, it's one hell of a ride.

It's been almost 7 years since I discovered Genesis, my opinions on a lot of their work, be it the Gabriel or Collins eras, have changed dramatically over these years, but my favorite album the band has ever put out still is and probably will always be Foxtrot. Tony Smith from Charisma was moved to tears by this album, and even critics agreed it's an absolute masterpiece, this is THE album Genesis deserves to be remembered for.