NURSERY CRYME

"Nursery Cryme" was the first GENESIS' album in which Steve HACKETT and Phil COLLINS were part of the band, after the departure of Anthony PHILLIPS and the other drum player whose name I don't remember now and it is easy to catch a different style from the songs included in "Trespass", HACKETT and COLLINS gave GENESIS what it needed to become one of the most popular and important bands in Progressive Rock.

"The musical box" is the first song in the album; the strength of the group is palpable in this song, it comes and goes from the most intense rock to very calm parts, the organ played by Tony BANKS fills the song in a remarkable way while the drums of COLLINS introduce him as the new drum player and convince us of his superior abilities in the instrument.

"For absent friends" is a bridge song, a very short musical lapse that receives the classic "The return of the Giant Hogweed", this song has become a total classic in GENESIS repertoire and it is no doubt that it shows how the band was getting much more serious and original; once again, BANKS keyboards have an unforgettable presence in the song. Another great detail of the song is Peter GABRIEL's flute contribution, it was not a very intense solo but merely a very subtle but yet elegant figure.

The next song on the record is "Seven stones", in general terms, the song is slow, but slow nice, not slow boring; it has nice flute arrangements here and there along with a very harmonic chorus part and nice guitar patterns by Steve HACKETT. It is not a bad song but not a very memorable one either. "Harold the Barrel" is almost three minutes long, the music increased in speed, and Tony BANKS' piano became much more rhythmic than harmonic.

The penultimate song of the album is "Harlequin", probably the song that I like the less and the one that I have a hard time remembering, very soft and calm, just another bridge song that receives the last song of the album. "The Fountain of Salmacis" is absolutely fantastic, GABRIEL's flute has much more presence in the song than in any other of the record and every instrument links itself quite nicely creating a very ambitious ending song with lots of rhythmic changes. Great way to close the album.

Even when I don't consider this album a total masterpiece of Progressive Rock, I do think it is a very historical and important record in the development of GENESIS.

SONG RATING: The musical box, 5 For absent friends, 4 The return of the Giant Hogweed, 5 Seven stones, 4 Harold the Barrel, 4 Harlequin, 4 The Fountain of Salmacis, 5

AVERAGE: 4.43

PERCENTAGE: 88.57

ALBUM RATING: 4 stars

Share this GENESIS review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to Uruk_hai
• Report this review (#2601087)
• Buy GENESIS music online with PA partners
• Show all GENESIS MP3/Stream
• Go to GENESIS page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Nursery Cryme page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for GENESIS related discussions