FROM GENESIS TO REVELATION

From Genesis To Revelation is little more than a run of the mill pop album and without Peter Gabriel's distinctive voice you might not even recognise this as Genesis. I don't like the admixture of real orchestras and rock instruments at the best of times, but in this case the band's instrumentation is completely smothered by producer Jonathan King's heavy-handed orchestrations. King evidently wanted a commercial sound, but it's a real no-brainer that the album would have benefited from a more sympathetic producer. Furthermore, when it is actually possible to hear the band's instruments they sound distorted and muggy.

The album's lyrics is another contentious issue for me, and I'm sorry but I can't make allowances for the band member's tender years. There's a slight Biblical thread running through some of the songs such as IN LIMBO, bluesy-rocker THE SERPENT and the psychedelic IN THE BEGINNING. That's fine, but on other songs some of the lyrics are mawkish and downright face flush material. How about ''only Jack Frost saw the kiss she gave him in return'' from WINDOW, or IN HIDING's ''pick me up, put me down, push me in, turn me round''? The Musical Box it ain't, although there was maybe the germ of an idea among those words. I'm probably being unfair with this criticism, but hey-ho. It's not all bad news though and there are a few vague signs of the band's early potential, with some interesting little musical fragments and links between songs. I don't want to damn this recording with faint praise, but many of the songs are just nice. Introspective ballads dominate although the band does shift gear on occasion and songs such as THE CONQUEROR are good because of the absence of that darn orchestra.

This album is important in the history of Genesis but not in the history of Prog. It's definitely one for fans only. To be honest, if you're in the mood for some late '60s psychedelic pop you'd be better listening to Best Of The Bee Gees Volume 1... seriously folks.