DUKE

I purely adore this album. I always thought, in the beginning, that it was a concept album about losing the woman that you love and about coping with that and getting through it. This album meant a great deal to me later on in life when I went through a divorce and when that layed me very low in life. This album was responsible for picking me up from the many down periods that I personally went through relating to losing the woman that I had loved. I guessed that a lot of this material had been written by Collins relating to his own divorce period.

"Behind the Lines" - a very strong album opener - the strongest opener from Genesis in a while.

"Duchess" - Very strong follow on to the opening track. Collin's voice is very strong on this album. I love the rythm structure throughout this track.

"Guide Vocal" - I absolutely love this short track with its very powerful emotion.

"Man of our Times" - Upbeat track that musically keeps the theme of the album flowing. A rousing dramatic number.

"Misunderstanding" - A more "poppy" track that I do enjoy although I'm not a fan of pop music at all. Again the lyrics carry the theme of lost love onward into the album.

"Heathaze" - A melancholy piece that has a fragile beauty to it. I love the lyrics.

"Turn it on Again" - an upbeat track that is in perfect couterpoint to the melancholy previous track.

"Alone Tonight" - A very sad track.

"Cul-De-Sac" - An enjoyable track that carries the theme forward to my way of thinking.

"Please Don't Ask" - again a very beautiful emotive track. I love the lyrics but they have to be listened to with the view that this is an album about loss and the various moods that accompany that over time.

"Duke's Travels" - The bass and drum work on this nearly istrumental track are spectacular as are the majestic sounding keyboard flourishes. The interplay here between the instuments is simply brilliant. The ending of the track with the reprisal of "Guide Vocal" lyrics and theme blows my mind.

"Duke's End" - A brilliant close to an exceptional album.

This is a work of genius as far as I'm concerned and I do believe that this album is criminally under-rated here on PA. I urge all those who initially disliked this to relisten to it but instead of listening to it on a track by track basis listen to it as a whole work. Those who have experienced the trauma of divorce or seperation would identify very strongly with this album if they looked at it as a whole and not as a bunch of tracks. For me this album isn't like my other two favorite Genesis albums - "Foxtrot" and "Selling England.............." but it is differently brilliant.