WIND & WUTHERING

This album would have been better than 'A Trick of the Tail' if it wasn't for two reasons, 'Your own Special Way' and 'All in a Mouse's Night'. Many people completely slate 'Your own Special Way', but for what reason? because it's pop? Well that may be some peoples reason but Genesis had some excellent pop songs, the reason I do not like 'Your own Special Way' is because it is very, very boring. It's miles too long to keep ones attention throughout the whole song, and yes, the lyrics can be cheesy at times. 'All in a mouses night' is another let down because nothing very interesting happens here either, and the lyrics don't quite cut it, Banks wrote great songs with a lot of imagination, but this is not one of them.

'Eleventh Earl of Mar' kicks off the album tremendously, a very energetic romp (I mean come on, listen to Rutherford!) with some excellent guitar from Hackett, the album could have not opened with any other song, here the lyrics are tremendous, and very Genesis. The mid section is also very well done, clear melodic vocals from Collins with Hackett's spanish guitar, works very well. 'One for the Vine' is a little longer and just as good, if not better. A Banks penned track that has many different sections, with the whole band making themselves heard, Rutherford especially, fantastic basslines again (It all goes wonderfully nuts after about four and a half minutes) and the trademark Genesis atmosphere that gives a lot of the songs on this album a nice charm. After the dull 'Your own Special Way' things pick back up again with 'Wot Gorilla?', an instrumental that may seem superfluous to some, but to me, an excellent three minute 'What the hell was that??' type track with powerful drumming and storming keyboards. Another dull six minutes with 'All in a Mouses Night' and then an unexpected gem. The Collins/Hackett penned 'Blood on the Rooftops' that has a beautiful spanish guitar intro and a nice vocal, with Banks adding his touch nicely. The final three tracks 'Unquiet Slumbers for the Sleepers... In That Quiet Earth' and 'Afterglow', contain, in my opinion, some of the greatest music on any Genesis album, wonderfully haunting at times (Reminds of 'Silent Sorrow in Empty Boats') and striking a wonderful connection with the cover art, something that sounds like it should be played late at night. 'Afterglow' is a chilling ending, with a lot of power.

Wind and Wuthering is an excellent album, (Here you can judge the book by its cover, or album rather) it is held back somewhat by the two songs I mentioned earlier but they do not disrupt the flow as much, they just don't seem to hold there own against most of the other individual tracks on the album, due to their lack of any real spark. It's much darker than 'A Trick of the Tail', which will appeal to many Genesis fans. Collin's vocals are strong, better here than on the previous album and he still gets better in the next couple of albums. This was Hackett's final album album with the band, and it is a fitting swansong as he does great work on the album.