GENESIS

'Genesis' is a compilation of Genesis and was released in 1981. Despite it has the same name of another Genesis' compilation also released in the same year, it has nothing to do with it. The other compilation has six tracks that belong to their golden musical era. It has tracks from their second studio album 'Trespass', released in 1970, tracks from their third studio album 'Nursery Cryme', released in 1971, tracks from their fourth studio album 'Foxtrot', released in 1972 and tracks from their sixth studio album 'The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway', released in 1974. This one has twelve tracks which definitely don't belong to that golden musical era. It has six tracks from their nith studio album '...And Then There Were Three...', released in 1978 and four tracks from their tenth studio album 'Duke', released in 1980.

So, 'Genesis' compilation has twelve tracks. The first track 'Behind The Lines' is a song originally released on their tenth studio album 'Duke'. This is a track with a great progressive start with about 2 minutes, but after that, the song enters on a pop rhythm. But despite that, it's an interesting song with some nice musical moments. The second track 'Undertow' is a song originally released on their ninth studio album '...And Then There Were Three...'. This is one of the greatest songs on that album and is also one of the most beautiful songs composed by Genesis. It's with 'Burning Rope', one of the two best contributions of Banks on that album and this is also one of he most progressive tracks on that album. The third track 'Deep In The Motherlode' is a song originally released on their ninth studio album '...And Then There Were Three...'. It's a typical Rutherford's song. This is a very good song with great musical arrangements. It contains some brilliant guitar and keyboard works and represents one of the last greatest songs on that album. The fourth track 'Snowbound' is a song originally released on their ninth studio album '...And Then There Were Three...'. It represents another great moment on that album. This is the best song composed by Rutherford on that album and is one of the highest points of it, too. It's very beautiful and it has also a wonderful choral work. The fifth track 'Guide Vocal' is a song originally released on their tenth studio album 'Duke'. This is the smallest song on that album and is a very beautiful and melancholic ballad which gives us a brief and nice musical moment on that album. Despite being so short is a nice progressive track. The sixth track 'Misunderstanding' is a song originally released on their tenth studio album 'Duke'. This is a pop song and is one of the better produced on that album. It seems that it was one of Collins' two songs chosen by Banks and Rutherford to be part of that album. They might have been released on 'Face Value'. This is a great pop song which may be part of a hit parade chart. But, this is a song for a Collins' album but never for a Genesis' album. The seventh track 'Burning Rope' is a song originally released on their ninth studio album '...And Then There Were Three...'. This is another brilliant song and represents also one of the highest points on that album. It's the only long epic track on that album and is without any doubt one of its best tracks. This is my favourite song on that album. The eighth track 'Alone Tonight' is a song originally released on their tenth studio album 'Duke'. This is a pretty pop ballad in the same vein of 'Your Own Special Way' or 'Follow You Follow Me', but is weaker than those two songs. It represents one of the weakest moments of that album too. The ninth track 'Many Too Many' is a song originally released on their ninth studio album '...And Then There Were Three...'. This is one of the smallest songs on that album and this is also, in my humble opinion, the weakest song made by Banks on that album. Still, it's a beautiful ballad, very well sung by Collins. But, it's undoubtedly inferior to all other songs composed by him on that album. Unfortunately, it was the last song to use a mellotron on studio albums of Genesis. The tenth track 'Follow You Follow Me' is a song originally released on their ninth studio album '...And Then There Were Three...'. This is clearly a song released for a single with the intention to be a great hit and achieve the top sales. It's a good pop song, but sincerely, it should never have been part of that album. I really think that it suits better on a Collins' solo album. Unfortunately, this is the song that would make the definitive turning point on Genesis' career, with Collins becoming the rudder man.

Conclusion: The opinions of prog reviewers are divided about these two albums of Genesis. Some say that both albums only have pop stuff and some others say they have some really nice prog stuff to check. I'm more with the second ones. Despite I'm not a great enthusiast about 'Duke', I only can see one really great prog track, the suite 'Duke'. About '...And Then There Were Three...', I think it has some really nice prog stuff, especially all Banks' tracks. I always saw it as a Banks' album, a prog album with some of the most beautiful prog tracks of Genesis, in spite of have only short tracks. Still, none of these tracks can be seen as classic tracks. But, here we are talking about a compilation and not of those both albums, and definitely none of them belong to their golden era. If you like the tracks on this compilation, is better to buy the original albums than this one. So, I think this is only for collectors and fans, really.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)