FOXTROT

Well, there may not be much of a point in writing an actual review because there is no doubt mine will just be lost in the shuffle of the hundreds of reviews this album has, but because it is one of my favorite albums, I still feel a duty to write at least something.

What I love about this album is how packed with emotion it is. Apparently people criticize prog rock because it is out of touch with the real world and doesn't speak to its listeners; it's a bunch of fantasy/ sci-fi stories that have no bearing on real life (like pop or punk do). Genesis shows them that they could not be any more wrong. Genesis stories are fantasy/sci-fi, but the lyrics are so well-written you can't help but feel sympathy for the characters the band portrays in its numerous dramas.

I had one listening to Foxtrot a few months ago that was my first listening of the album on vinyl. I sat in front of the record player, locked myself in my dorm room, held out the lyrics sheet and let myself be absorbed by the music. Every song had me teary-eyed as I imagined myself in the characters' places. What would I think if I came to Earth and all I saw was what humans had left behind after some kind of tragic death? “Why do we suffer each race to believe that no race has been grander?” What would it be like to be kicked out of your house? What would it be like if I were praised and praised to the point that I come to believe what they say, but it turns out I'm just a let down? (It is hard to imagine one's self in Supper's Ready, I think, but the way Gabriel sings at the end is emotion reincarnated).

These questions show that sci-fi stories can have bearing on real life, much like the parables of the Bible. There is something to learn here, it just isn't as in your face like a typical pop song (which is partly why I think Genesis is so brilliant).

Genesis is the prime example of what a band should sound like. At no point during the 40-minute album does a band member try to outshine another. Like certif1ed said in his review of Nursery Cryme, “the music that is produced takes on a character all of its own, dependent on the feeling and teamwork of the singers.” Genesis is a testament to the statement “the sum is greater than its parts” and Foxtrot is what proves that.

Foxtrot is not cold and mechanical. It is very warm, and it is very organic and real. This may sound meaningless, but once the album is heard, you'll know exactly what I mean.

Highlights: Watcher of the Skies, Time Table, Get 'Em Out by Friday, Can-Utility and the Coastliners, Horizon's, Supper's Ready

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