THE GREATEST

"The Greatest" is a compilation of Genesis and was released in 1998. As the name indicates, it intended to be a greatest hits compilation. So, it's based on the 80's Genesis' era and basically comprises their less prog phase. The exceptions are three: "Watcher Of The Skies", "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)" and "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway".

"The Greatest" has sixteen tracks. The tracks are: "Watcher Of The Skies" from "Foxtrot", "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)" from "Selling England By The Pound", "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway" from "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway", "Follow You, Follow Me" from "...And Then There Were Three?", "Turn It On Again" and "Misunderstanding" from "Duke", "Abacab" from "Abacab", "Mama" and "That's All" from "Genesis", "Invisible Touch", "Land Of Confusion" and "Throwing It All Away" from "Invisible Touch", "I Can't Dance" and "No Son Of Mine" from "We Can't Dance", "Congo" from "Calling All Stations" and "Paperlate" which is a non-album's track.

"Watcher Of The Skies" is one of the most popular and beloved songs by their fans with a sense of majesty and power. It's one of the most played live songs by the band. "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)" is a funny song with some characteristics of a pop song. Still, it's a great song. "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway" is one of the most accessible songs on the early Genesis' catalogue. It revolves around piano, synthesizer and Mellotron with great lyrics too. "Follow You Follow Me" was released for a single with the intention to be a hit and achieved the top sales. It's a good pop song that should never have been recorded by Genesis, but recorded by Collins on his solo albums. "Turn It On Again" is a good pop rock song, one of their greatest successes and one of the most played live songs by the band. "Misunderstanding" is a good pop song which may be part of a hit parade chart. As happened with many other songs in this Genesis' era, it's more a song for Collins than for Genesis. "Abacab" is a very good song that I like very much. I really think that we are in presence of one of the best songs on "Abacab" album. It's a song with a simple structure that progresses in a modern way. "Paperlate" was never released on any studio album of the band. It was released as the lead song of an EP of Genesis, also with "You Might Recall" on the A side and "Me And Virgil" on the B side of the EP named "3x3". "3x3" was released in 1982 and its three songs were recorded during the recording sessions of their eleventh studio album "Abacab". It was also released as a standard single, backed by "You Might Recall", and it was also featured on the American version of their "Three Sides Live" album, of which all the three tracks from the "3x3" EP were included on the side four of the album. "Paperlate" is similar to "No Reply At All" of "Abacab". The song's title comes from the song "Dancing With The Moonlit Knight" from "Selling England By the Pound". It's not bad. I think it's cheerful and catchy without being unoriginal. With its poppy rhythms and horn blasts it does sounds like a leftover from either of Mr Collins' first two solo albums. "Mama" is a great song with quality and credibility enough. It's one of my favourite songs in their pop phase. It's easy recognizable for its harsh drum machine introduction which leads into synthesizer lines and to Collins' leaden voice. "That's All" is a simple song with a catchy tune that remains nice to hear from the beginning to its ending. It's a Collins' song with all the ingredients to be a successful pop song. "Invisible Touch" is a typical pure pop song made to be a greatest hit. As a pop song, it's a great song. Still, it has nothing to do with prog. "Land Of Confusion" became a Genesis' classic song. It's a great pop rock song with a catchy rhythm and a beautiful melody, nice and pleasant to hear. "Throwing It All Away" is a soft rock ballad structured around the guitar riff of Rutherford. It's a decent song and a successful song with nothing progressive on it. "I Can't Dance" is another song influenced by Collins that was written to be a commercial pop hit. It's nice but hasn't anything new and exciting to offer. "No Son Of Mine" tells the story of a boy who runs way from his abusive home and that later returns to see his violent father. It's a great remarkable song with great feeling. "Congo" marked the debut of Ray Wilson as vocalist of Genesis. It's a song with a pop tune with an African style drum beat. It isn't a bad song, but it sounds too much to a pop song.

Conclusion: As happened with many other compilations of Genesis, "The Greatest" is another compilation focused essentially in the less progressive phase of the band, the more commercial tracks, and skipping almost all the tracks that belong to their most progressive phase. So, as a consequence of that option, it could never be a well balanced compilation. Practically, half of the studio albums of their career aren't represented or are poorly represented. As I mentioned above, only three tracks that belong to those albums are represented, "Watcher Of The Skies", "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)" and "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway". So, some of their best works "Trespass", "Nursery Cryme", "A Trick Of The Tail" and "Wind And Wuthering" aren't represented. Even from "...And Then There Were Three?" it was chosen the weakest and most commercial track of that album. So, it's only for collectors and fans.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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