FROM GENESIS TO REVELATION

Good Album...it's very melancholic, but it has good cuts like The Serpent (arguably one of their classics), The Silent Sun, In the beginning, In Hiding and one of my favorites Am I very wrong?...You know if you join this record with the fourth record presented in the Genesis Archive 67-75 box set, this album would be better. The greatest moment was about to come for them

Jonathan King looks after young lads in need of a helping hand

This was Genesis first album (predating "Trespass", which many assume to be their first album), and was produced by pop music impresario Jonathan King. King's influence is strong, with strings overlaid on many of the short, pop orientated songs. The result is similar to the way Phil Spector hijacked the Beatles "Let it be" album. It would be interesting to hear FGTR without the strings, as I am sure it would sound far more like the Genesis with whom we are familiar.

In retrospect, the band's capabilities are clearly there, and some of the songs such as "One eyed hound" hint at what was to come on "Trespass". Much of the band's efforts to explore their capabilities are smothered by King's over production, and his efforts to make the band commercially successful. Even Gabriel's vocals only occasionally point to the power which would be unleashed on subsequent albums.

We should not however be too hard on King (in this context at least), he did after all discover them and set them on the road to becoming the band we all know and love. The poor selling original "From Genesis to revelation" LP is of course very rare and of significant value. It has however been re-issued on numerous occasions under titles such as "Rock Roots" and "The Compact collection", usually with 2-4 additional tracks such as the Bee Gees like "Silent sun" from the same period.

In comparison to their next handfull of albums, this one is maybe only worth 2 or 3 stars but in comparison to many other albums from that time period, this is actually quite exceptional. 'The Conqueror' rocks more than the Moodies or Crimson ever tried to at that point and even a lesser tune such as 'Window' ("Come see me, take my hand..") showcases Gabriel's outstanding vocals. I'd like to see 5 kids fresh out of high school put out something this good today.

well,in fact this is a hard to describe album for 2 reasons that maybe some people noticed like me:one is the feeling that songs wake on me and the second is that you can say in a "easy way" this is not genesis,genesis don´t sound in this way... well i ask you..is not the same line-up that records late albums like trespas,foxtrot,lamb..?Yes!!!so first of all you cannot say thatt this album is not genesis!!! maybe this album has not the classic genesis sound,is ok i agree,but in my opinion is the most original album they made,because if you think except "lamb" album,all previous sounds very similar(simply perfect!!!,but similar)and if you think the year it was published this reason is stronger in my opinion all songs are really good,is not a concept album but sometimes you can think it because all album has same atmosphera,maybe a bit long for the year(near 1 hour,most of albums of that time were near of 30 minutes)but not boring at all!! is hard to describe it musically because the most similar album i hear is supertramp´s debut and this album was released some years after"from genesis to revelation"but i can say is a mix of folk,hymn and intimist music well,that´s all a BRILLIANT career till "a trick of the tail"altought "wind and wuthring" is not bad,but this "revelation" touch me deep....

Most people/friends I know discard this as rubbish . OK , this is not good but it is very naive as the musicians were but certainly ambitious as they also were, and they will be more ambitious with further works . That alone makes this a Genesis album in its own right. If one listens to it well , (I realize that this may be hard to do) you will hear that a lot of the ingredients , that we all recognize and love in future albums , are already present here and there are some very good moments fully worth the patronym Genesis. On the other hand , this can be a messy affair but I will call it "un péché de jeunesse"

The first GENESIS album: we are still not in the 70's here so do not expect "Foxtrot" 's elaborated compositions.

We just have here tons of short, pop, mellow and accessible songs, where acoustic and soft electric guitars work together with piano and background mellotron. The bass is not timid. We have not to forget GABRIEL's voice, who sings rather like a good young boy coming good parents. I would say that the songs are even a bit sentimental.

Believe it or not, From Genesis To Revelation was my FIRST Genesis album. I liked it and it attracted me to Trespass and... you know the rest of the story.

Most people discard this album as pop-pretentious crap. It definitely isn't the prog-rock they've played in the 70s, BUT... it is not a bad album either, it has strong arrangements, good lyrics and some good songs. I like the overall melancholic, intimate and somewhat distant mood of this album. Each tune here has something interesting to offer.

In The Beginning and The Serpent are very rocking, powerful and scary hypnotic tunes, similar to Crazy World of Arthur Brown. The cold mechanic mood of Am I Very Wrong? sends chills across my spine everytime I hear it. In Limbo is a hymnic flight away. A Place To Call My Own is a brilliant showcase of Peter Gabriel's vocals. Of the bonus tracks, I like A Winter's Tale the most - a moody, organ-based track. Really, there's nothing wrong with this album apart that it is different from the rest of Genesis. Had the band continued this way, it would be also interesting.

Not bad for a bunch of kids that were at school, some poppy ballads, a couple of great tunes like Silent Sun and Am I Very Wrong? Others good and a few bellow the average, but lets be honest, Genesis was a school band searching for a hit and nothing more, but they made a better album than many pop professionals.

The music is nothing special, but Peter's unique voice and Tony's piano are outstanding, maybe Anthony Phillips great talent is wasted.

I understand why some people hate it and others love it, it's a good album but it isn't Progressive Rock at all. Of course it's better than anything Genesis released after Seconds Out, but that doesn't mean too much.

Good, if you are a collectot or a Genesis fan you can buy it as part of the history.

To me, I find this album to be little more than a historical curiosity. At this point, the members of GENESIS (Peter GABRIEL, Tony BANKS, Mike RUTHEFORD and Anthony PHILLIPS) were finishing up their education at the notoriously exclusive and snooty public school (that is, the UK eqivalent of a private or boarding school) called Charterhouse. "From Genesis to Revelation" sounds very little like the early GENESIS sound that's to be found on their following albums. As has often been said, the music has more in common with the MOODY BLUES and early BEE GEES, but in my book, it's more like those two band's worst aspects (like the BEE GEES' "I Started a Joke" which a lot of this album reminds me of or many of the overblown ballads the MOODY BLUES are known for).

The music is plastered with reall bad dentist office Muzak-style strings, out of tune piano, barely noticible guitars, and bad lyrics. "Fireside Song" to me is by far the worst thing on this album with inane lyrics that go: "Once upon a time there was confusion, disappointment, fear and disillusion". This album seemed more the product of producer Jonathan King (himself a former Charterhouse student) than what the guys of GENESIS had in mind. At that time, the legality of the name GENESIS was in question (because of an obscure American band that recorded for Mercury Records that existed at the same time, who vanished very quickly without a trace), so the original LP was simply titled "From Genesis to Revelation" with no mentione of the band's name, with most of the copies being sold under the religious section, explaining the pitiful sales (the musical quality also explains a lot as well).

The only good I can say of this album is Peter GABRIEL, his voice is still quite unmistakable. But luckily the band will be heading in the right direction by changing labels and being much more serious. As for this album, basically get a copy if you can find it for cheap.

While many will find this album primarily of historical interest, it nonetheless has some pretty nice moments. Perhaps its biggest weakness is the incredibly overambitious concept ('the history of the world, from Genesis to Revelation'). They would probably have done better to have released a collection of unrelated songs, as evidenced by the fact that the other major release of material from this period, Disc 4 of the Genesis Archives (Vol. 1), actually holds up a bit better. The magic of the band at this point is really in Gabriel's voice, which makes it rise above the simple pop medium in which the band is playing to be something special. Songs like 'The Serpent' and 'Am I Very Wrong?' show hints of the band's potential, and 'One Day' serves as a fairly powerful love song, similar to something the Moody Blues's Justin Hayward might have penned.

I love this period of Genesis. It's before they really came into their own and yet, it is something unique at the same time. Sure there are traces of everything from The Moody Blues to The Bee Gees, but that being said, the lads take that knowledge and craft something very special. The melodies are simple yet wonderful, the performances understated yet captivating and the overall sound is pure 1969 for sure, however, there is something more scratching at that door. The flow of the LP is perfect and songs like "The Silent Sun" "The Serpent" and In The Beginning" are classics. When you listen to this (as well as the tracks on the box set from this period) you can hear the freshness of a young band discovering themselves and their sound. The greatness of "art rock" was it's naive self confidence and not it's musical rambling and self indulgent regurgitations. This is long before the latter became the standard. This is a beautiful album from start to finish.

Love this album. You have got to remember these were just kids and Jonathan King was producing so hence the Bee Gee type similarities. There are moments on the album where you can already pick up the potential of Gabriel's voice. It is not a bad album at all when you consider the time it was produced. What I found most unusual was the chenge to Trespass. This album but a seed, Trespass was already growing.....

Let's be honest. Even the die-hard Genesis fans have a hard time finding merits of this album. This album has nothing to do with the Genesis you know and like, neither the Gabriel-era nor the Collins-era. It's a 60's record with cheesy lyrics ("You are concealing every feeling"). Even without the unfortunate album title choice this wouldn't have been a best-selling record. So, it's a "for completion's sake" album. Even if you don't buy it, none of the former Genesis members will shed a tear. I could easily imagine them considering this album as "misguided" themselves.

It's interesting how this album polarises fans' opinions & there is something to be said for both poles. I would advise people to give this effort a chance though, because from the dense fog of syrupy strings, bad production, ghastly mixing & school-play-backing-piano (no prizes for guessing who was the music teachers pet, eh, master Banks?) emerges a strangely charming collection of songs wriiten & performed by a bunch of obviously talented school kids. And collectively they serve up much better fare than the equivalent "juvenile" volumes you can get by famous authors/poets.

My Stereo L.P. copy is called "Rock Roots: Genesis", released by Decca in 1976, and it was the first time this album was released with the 4 bonus tracks:two singles and their "B" sides (with Chris Stewart on drums, all Mono recordings). I begin with the review of the singles. "The Silent Sun" is a Mono version of the song called "Silent Sun" and also released in the original "From Genesis to Revelation" album. It sounds different, of course (it is in Mono), but as this single was recorded and released when original drummer Chris Stewart was in the band, I can`t say if Stewart is also in the album version of this song (John Silver played the drums in "From Genesis...") , and apart from the mixing, I can`t say if it is the same recording. This is one of my favourite songs in the album, but I prefer the Stereo version. Good orchestral arrangements. The B side of this single, "That`s me", is also good, without orchestra, with teenage lyrics. "A Winter`s Tale", the second single, is another good (love) song, without orchestra. "One Eyed hound", the B side of the second single, is also good, and also without the orchestra. Most of my favourite songs from the "From Genesis..." album are in the Side Two of the L.P. : "One Day", "Window", "In Limbo" (the best of all, with a very good lead guitar and very good drums, and here the orchestral arrangements really worked well with the song), and "Silent Sun" . "In the Wilderness" from Side One is also one of my favourites. This album is good, and it shows that Genesis had an own style since the beginning of their career. But this album was promoted in a wrong way: the original cover was a black cover with the words "From Genesis To Revelation" printed. Yes, it sounds like the Bee Gees in some places, but the Bee Gees of the sixties were in their peak, I think (in comparison to "Saturday Night Fever"), so, if they were an early influence, it was a good influence. GENESIS still sound inmature in this album, but being an album recorded when the members of the band were 16-18 years old, it is still good. The original full Mono album version of "From Genesis to Revelation" (originally released without the singles and the B sides, of course) is not only different due to the mixing. The songs also were edited differently. Some songs are longer, others are shorter, than in the full Stereo version of the album.

Far from a success back when it was released in March 1969 selling only 650 copies worldwide and mostly by christians, obviously because of the album title. This is a collection of short and folk influenced pop songs with a very young Peter Gabriel on vocal. Awful production and completely unnecessary string arrangements on nearly every track ruins this album for me. And the drums are nearly inaudible!

I picked up the Disky edition for a few bucks mainly because Im a Genesis fan. Listening to this and then follow it with 'Trespass' is quite a leap really, but Im forever thankful they went that direction instead. Not essential by any means but a nice enough item for fans. Loads of demo tracks from this album is also avalable on the 'Genesis Archive 67-75' boxset for those who would like them as well.

Unlike some other poor Genesis albums (which would come much later), 'From Genesis To Revelation' is less than exemplary due to outside influence. Then pop-mogul Jonathan King not only named the band and got them their record contract, but he had huge influence in shaping this album's arrangements, adding horns and strings to the band's disapproval, as well as snipping their tendency toward longer pieces.

There isn't a lot you'd call real prog here (or real Genesis either!), other than the interesting linking of one song to another by themed musical segues--and the insanely ambitious concept: the history of man's evolution in 12 pop-length songs. 'From Genesis To Revelation' is wrapped in a somewhat ethereal production (maybe "muddy" less kindly describes it), and the band's latent creative abilities are hugely dampened. Little of the forthcoming Genesis sound is heard, Tony Banks hardly audible but for the thin tinkling on what sounds like a child's plastic piano. Mellow acoustic harmonies and melancholy melodies offer a mere glimpse into what would become a large part of the Genesis approach. Peter Gabriel is instantly recognizable. He takes command confidently enough, despite his fairly unobtrusive presence. His voice carries otherwise average songs like "Where The Sour Turns To Sweet" and "Am I Very Wrong?", showing a good degree of maturity and command. When the band gets to flex its muscles a bit and go for heavier textures and relatively ambitious playing--as heard on wonderful songs like "The Serpent", "In The Wilderness" and "The Conqueror"--things reach a sublime level. (An interesting note: the opening segue into "The Serpent" incorporates what seems to be a foreshadowing of "Twilight Alehouse".) Then there's the dull plod of the rest of the album. "Fireside Song" sounds uncomfortably close to Spinal Tap's flower-power parody, and many other moments are mired in hokey brass enhancements. "In Hiding", "In Limbo", "The Silent Sun" and the nauseating boys-choir stylings in "Am I Very Wrong?" are pretty much abysmal. Too bad they didn't replace one of these songs with the hypnotic "Let Us Now Make Love", which found release on the first 'Archives' box set much later.

This album was licensed to the point of ridiculousness by Jonathan King, and goes by other titles like 'In The Beginning', 'The Silent Sun', 'Where The Sour Turns To Sweet', '. And The Word Was', and geez, about 20 others. (Collect 'em all!) It's not a great album by any name, thanks in large part to a (well-meaning) visionary who saw this band's potential but not its purpose. A footnote in the Genesis discography, a mere curiosity dotted by a few worthwhile tunes and a lot of flat-out crap.

Yuck!!! This album is BAD!!!! The songs are OK, but the strings on the songs and the production are just awful and drags this album WAY down!!! If the strings have been cut and the production had been better, i'll probably had give this album at least 2.5 stars! For Genesis completionists ONLY!!!!

Well, I'll go straight to the point: even if you like muzak style with string in the veins of Moody Blues, this album is far away to be good. I can't lie I like some songs like In The Beginning and That's Me, but most of the material here are forgettable. I can't even hear Jonathan Silver playing the supposed drums here. Buy only if you want to complete your Genesis collection, and try to find it for a cheaper price, and don't think that Genesis members and former members cares about that, because even them don't like it very much.

This is an album that must be taken at face value. Jonathan King, the producer whose hit single "Everyone's Gone To The Moon" (a great song, incidentally) may have been a template for the overall sound on this album, obviously had more impact on the finished product than the band members themselves. Just like the pre-King Crimson album "The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles & Fripp" (which is actually a pretty good album), this effort is worthwhile as a glimpse into the beginnings of a great band. In addition, some of the songs, though hopelessly "of their time", are pretty good pop songs. I happen to like The Bee Gees' output up until their Disco period, and this material is about as good as their non- hit album tracks. Find a cheap used copy of the CD, and add it to your Genesis collection.

From the beginning, Genesis has been a well kept, talented bunch of musicians. So why this album gets little recognition is a mystery. It is a great album, with the beginning 4 members of Genesis. You may say, no Steve Hackett, this must be like late Genesis, when they were at their downfall, with Collins, Banks, and Rutherford. But in fact, if you give this album time, you will start to like it. It's not traditional prog in any way, but the songs are put together nicely and the vocals are wonderful. For any Genesis fan, this is a must.

I don't care, I like this. This was an experimental recording, and even the band members themselves didn't like the addition of strings, the production values, and so on. Tracks like "In the Beginning" show an understated power, and the ametuerish sounding playing (in some folk's view) actually offsets what serious business was going on here. The lyrics are poetic and Peter Gabriel delivers them like the natural that he is. Even the some what cheesy sounding rhythm section is good, with the addition of the Richie Havens-style strumming of acoustic guitar, and these songs are pretty good; sorry, all you one-star-givers. Listening to this is like looking at someone's photos from long ago, "yeah, she's just a kid there, but look at what she grew into" . This is just looking into the roots of an influential band, that's all. and, it's not bad.

"We're waiting for you. Come and join us now. We need you with us. Come and join us now!" - GENESIS "Where The Sour Turns To Sweet"

Yeah! It's an encouraging lyrics. Whenever I facilitate a leadership / strategy workshop (hey, music has been in my blood since I was at fourth grade enjoying local bands like Koes Plus, Panbers, Golden Wing, The Rollies, etc. So I breathe, I sleep, I work with music!) I sometimes put this CD and played Where The Sour Turns To Sweet after the participants enjoyed coffee break. The reason is simple: I love Genesis and I think the above lyrical part is suitable to gather the crowd back to my class. People usually do not complain because the music is truly simple - no heavy guitar riffs, no soaring keyboard sounds - but it has wonderful melody! We're waiting for you. Come and join us now . uugghh man .. it's truly encouraging lyrics! And it's suitable for leadership subjects. Sometime I got a new prog friend as one of the participants approached me before my class started: "Gatot, do you like Genesis?". Wow . I got new prog friend since then ..!!! Prog rules!

One should not put one eye to this debut album even though the music is simple. Look, all the ingredients of future Genesis album are here: great melody, neat composition. What lacking was probably the complexity as a prog rock album. It's fine with me because almost songs are excellent. Please imagine if song like "Am I very Wrong" is rearranged with a bit of complexity, you would find it interesting. Echolyn did a tribute song to Where The Sour Turns To Sweet and it's an excellent composition! In The Beginning, Fireside Song, The Serpent are all great tracks!

I think we should put thing into perspective when we put a review of this album as that time the psychedelic music was the major movement in music industry with previously released Pink Floyd's Pipe at The Gates of Dawn. The only this=ng that this album doe not deserve five stars is because of the comparison with In The Court by King Crimson that had moved the prog music forward as compared to Genesis debut. The follow-up album, Trespass, was really a take-off in Genesis music direction. Keep on proggin' ..!

Progressively yours, GW

I am a big GENESIS fan, but let's be serious and realistic: "From Genesis to Revelation" is a very weak album.

Several substantially good songs ("Where the Sour Turns to Sweet", "In the Beginning", "The Serpent"...) are drowned among the amateurish production, additionally spoiled by inappropriate orchestral arrangements, with terrible sound. On the other hand it is amazing to see that Gabriel was already a developed singer and Banks an excellent pianist. Others are virtually non-identifiable on this record, which was notorious for its numerous re-packages by various labels. Mine is a Dutch release by Disky in 1996, including a standard singles "Silent Sun/That's Me" + "Winter's Tale/One Eyed Hound" as bonus, with previously unreleased "Image Blown Out" and an interesting early demo of "The Serpent" under the title "She's So Beautiful" with the same melody but different lyrics (teenage romantic desire instead of God's creation of man!).

Not recommended to anyone but a devout GENESIS enthusiast. Still, close to **1/2!

This album is very strange. Not a lot can be said about individual tracks because none really stand out. If it was the 1960s then this wouldn't be a bad album for the kids. It's fairly inoffensive pop music, mainly piano driven with strings laid clumsily over the top of it. It could be any generic studio band with Peter Gabriel singing, because the members' individual musicianship does not show and the only thing that says 'Genesis' is Peter Gabriel's voice. I got a surreal feeling when I listened to this...like it was some forgotten piece of misguided rubbish.

Which it is really. It certainly isn't Genesis. Collectors only.

OK, it's not Progressive in the 70's sense of the word, but what we have here is a pleasant sounding pop/rock album by essentially a bunch of schoolboys. I have to say that I rather enjoy listening to it. The songwriting and musicianship was a little naive back then, but who cares. We all like different things, and I like this....!

Sometime in the 1960s not just in Britain, but particularly there something was happening. Music was getting more ambitious, more attention was being paid to having a "message" in the song, and harmonies and arrangements became extremely important to the world of music. Genesis were at the snotty, prestigious Charterhouse school going through hell there when a former student, namely Jonathan King, showed interest enough to get them a recording contract. Mr. King gave the band a much undeserved horrible production which they hate to this day, but get past that and past the fact that this is a very different album from what would follow just a few years later, and this is really a great record. It was the first Genesis record I ever really gave a chance to, and it pulled me in. There are a lot of songs here with "In The Wilderness," "The Serpent," "Am I Very Wrong," "One Day," and "Firseside Song" the highlights, but every track is a finely woven tapestry of melodic soft psychedelic into progressive rock. The Moody Blues (after Hayward and Lodge joined obviously) and the Bee Gees along with Oddesey and Oracle period Zombies are who spring to mind here, but there is already one big difference. The singer on this album had a very different voice from anybody at the time and demanded full attention from the listener. Peter Gabriel already was doing things that were unusual and highly inventive. It is a shame about the production of this album, the sound of the group is too compressed and the strings/ horns don't need to be so high in the mix. They almost make it hard not to miss what a great album this turned out to be. Some elements of classic Genesis sound are already in place whereas early influences can easily be discerned. You should appreciate FROM GENESIS TO REVELATION, just remember that it is a little different from the classic Genesis and try to ignore the obnoxious produciton. Anyone who appreciates the softer and more melodic aspects of Genesis should appreciate this album. I've always thought it was cruelly underrated and still feel that way today. It isn't my favourite album by Genesis, but I find much to enjoy here and I think of this album as an Elysian childhood dream in comparison to the nightmarish sound that would follow after and lead to the most unique and rewarding famous rock band along with Yes. A great album by a fantastic band.

Because of the name of the band, this album was often put in the section 'Religion' in the record stores! Anyway, it achieved poor sales and Genesis decided to get rid off their producer Jonathan King. The main reason to do that was his commercial musical view, for instance to add polished violin arrangements to some compositions, the band was absolute furious about this!

In general this album is a pleasant mix of pop, rock and classical featuring the emotional, very distinctive voice from Peter Gabriel, the lush 12-string acoustic guitars and the tasteful keyboards from Tony Banks. Some tracks sound very promising but most of the songs are no more than nice progressive pop. No wonder that Tony Banks once said Jonathan King wanted Genesis to sound as a 'Bee Gees pastische'...! The great compositional skills from the band members lift "From Genesis to revalation" to a good album, no more or less.

"From Genesis To Revelation" is the prototype of the album which I do not support. Historically, it is surely interesting. From a musical point of view, I find that it does not have any interest. KC had carried out a master stroke with its first album. This one is insipid. It resembles to the "pop variety" production of the end of the Sixties. The future albums of Genesis will be imposing. This one is anecdotic.

This is certainly one of my own favorite underdog records! Some of the songs here are very good, though there are also evidently non-essential tracks included. Some of the duller ones may also have nice parts, but I'll focus on my favorite tunes.

"In The Beginning" has a nice aggressive feeling in it, with straightforward acoustic guitars, and Peter is doing preachy vocals about the creation of man: "It has begun, you're in the hands of destinyyyYYYY!". The song begins with strange organ sounds, and is a quite good one really. "The Serpent" continues with the biblical genesis-themed lyrics. There's a very funny chorus going from one single note behind the singing at the verse, which I found as really pleasant detail. There are also no orchestrations and only little of keyboards used on the song. "In The Wilderness" is also a great performance, Peter gets to do some powerful singing, and the composition is nice, leading to interesting spheres of moods. "The Conqueror" has gospel-oriented feelings, achieved with acoustic piano and guitar driving the song towards, and Peter is again singing about "The day of justice". I don't find it surprising this LP was first sold in sixties at slots of religious record instead of pop, as I think it is such to a very high degree from lyrical and emotional aspects. As counterpart for this, I also have the satanic albums of Black Widow on my record shelf, so they can counterbalance each other, and do some physical fighting when people are not witnessing it. "Window" has also very peculiar feeling of The Genesis sound in its beginning, though it's a quite dull song otherwise. "Silent Sun" was some sort of hit I believe, and it sounds like it, slightly boring tune.

I have this as DCC re-release, so I have heard some of the bonus tracks. There's a small funny detail at least in my copy, "Silent Sun" is named as "Silent Gun" in the track listing. I'm not sure why it's also here as a bonus track. Maybe the re-releasers thought these are two different songs 'cause of this error, or there might be some unnoticeable tiny differences in the mix? It could be also a B-side of a single, named just differently. "A Winter's Tale" is great song with dual layered vocals, which in some parts have different lyrics, just like in the song "Fountain of Salmacis" to be recorded few years later.

I wouldn't recommend this as the first Genesis album except to those who like only 1960's music. But when one is familiar with the band's music, it's nice to find elements of their style yet in their birth process. These songs have very often some short piece of playing not related to the actual song in them, and there are also some fade-outs and various post-production stuff detected, which are probably producers ideas. Well, there are also some more songs from this era on the "Archive - vol.1" CD-box, if you want to check them out.

Well, I will have to agree with most all the reviews. Not really an album that IMO deserve much of my time. Proto-progressive at most, but nothing progressive to show for. Remember, this one is 1969 and they were very young! Still is part of my GENESIS collection! But, overall maybe 2 1/2 stars at the most.

Other than Gabriel's nice vocals, one might not be able to notice how potential this band is upon hearing this album. The songs are typical sixties pop and I read from Armando Galo's 1977 book on Genesis, quoting the band members, that the producer had screwed up the sounds by adding strings. But I can imagine the production without the strings. It would have more sounds of guitars and the keys. That would not have essentially changed the 'pop' structures-- but would have given a more sixties pop flavour. Compared to this debut album, the Yes debut album had better structures-- even though those did not represent what Yes was capable of. This album is an easy listen one. There is no reason to trash it or laugh at it. The Genesis at that time was all around 18 years. So doing something radically at that age and also at that late sixties period would have been very very surprising.

Not so awful as some reviewers saw and not so spectacular as some unaware person should expect from Genesis. Songs are generally good, production is generally bad.

When doing the first hearing we could think about a band in the midway between Bee Gees, with their easy-cheesy tunes and Moody Blues, with more elaborated orchestrations; I wonder... try to realize some songs in a "Trespass" or "Nursery Cryme" kind of arrangement, for instance 'Silent sun' or 'Am I very wrong?': longer, more dramatic, with more extensive solo parts, etc. The result would be fine.

Even with the problems Banks, Rutherford and Phillips show a fair musicianship and Gabriel gives a demonstration of even better times to come. Phillips style, soft and discreet, could be better observed in his solo works.

Best tracks are: 'Where the sour turns to sweet', the shaking opener; 'Fireside song', with a dark intro; 'In limbo', very catchy and rocky. Other tracks are simply average, although easily hearable.

Knowing Genesis output in the following years, it is very interesting to make contact with the band childhood and first features, and to perceive that in some moments they show the same punch observed later.

Minus 1.5-star for the weak production, minus 0.5-star for the obvious commercial and poppish bias. Total: 3.

I know, after reading how most people feel about this album, that all of you are going to think that I have no taste. Rest assure, there is plenty of music that we agree on. If I had only 25 CDs that I could have to spend the rest of my life with, and no more, this would be the first one I'd grab. There would be 2 more Genesis, and I would certainly need my H&H from the Strawbs.

I've been listening to this album since nearly day 1. I'm aware it's rough, raw, and dirty. But we are talking about 1969 and a bunch of kids that aren't old enough to drink ......legally. I believe that if & when album can satisfy someones musically thrist it sure rate 5 stars. I would like to give it 6, but you know we can't do that.

It's cute, it's overpoweringly naive, it's full of godawful strings and it has an 18 year old Peter Gabriel singing about The Slough of Despond and animal friends. And to be totally honest, it's kind of lovely at points. The 70s Genesis magic isn't there yet, but the vocal melodies are; imagine Visions of Angels without the ridiculous chorus and you've basically got a From Genesis To Revelation song. There are a few rockier numbers too, which aren't spectacular but, again, have some great vocal melodies; 'You're in the hands of DESTINY!'.

Anyway, the whole deal is supposed to be a biblical-themed concept album, but at this point in Genesis' career it's better to ignore the overal arch of the lyrics and let the music and Gabriel's vocals do the storytelling. They do a pretty good job; among the lush balladry there are some appealing prog flourishes like minor key variations and pretty little piano solos, and Peter Gabriel is already a very competent vocalist who manages to sustain the whole thing despite competing with an impossibly thick layer of orchestral syrup.

Highlights include the eye-wettingly lovely In The Wilderness, the tumultous The Serpent, and One Day just for the hilariously misplaced trumpets and impossibly twee lyrics. Window is very pretty too. Anyway, if you're a shameless Genesis fan quite willing to post on internet message boards about how As Sure As Eggs Is Eggs makes you weep openly, don't overlook this album.

This isn't a Genesis album that should be disregarded into obscurity. Sure it's little more than a collection of cleverly written pop songs, and besides Gabriel's distinctive voice has little resembling even Trespass era Genesis, but the sheer innocence and naivety of the music here has its own magical quality to be appreciated.

The tracks here are simple, acoustically driven, melodic pop songs delivered beautifully with Gabriel's soulful voice and lyrics which stand out above others of the time even at such an early age. There isn't much to talk about in terms of musicianship, influence, or anything really progressive to be found within. But Genesis fans and those who can appreciate a clever pop song will certainly enjoy this. Definitely not the album to discover Genesis, but worth picking up after you've exhausted the rest of Gabriel era Genesis.

Two stars simply because this is a prog site (and the album does have a few clunkers), but otherwise I would probably call this a three star walbum.

If only these young lads from Charterhouse had spent more time developing ideas and had used a more sophisticated producer than the awful Jonathan King, this album might have been something listenable. As it is, the tracks range from total bilge to some with clear promise (The Serpent, Silent Sun, The Fireside Song) but the string arrangements and poppy feel ruin almost everything. You can sense King's hand pushing them to release an album before they were really ready. Their playing shows some promise but is far short of what they would achieve later.

They didn't take long to get it right (indeed next time out) but this is definitely only for completionists.

Lest anyone be in any doubt about the influence of one Mr. Jonathan King on this debut, here's the man himself many years later reminiscing in an interview I found.

"I was two or three years older than them and I was being quite dominant, because I've always been a very autocratic producer, so I wasn't actually saying to them 'Don't you think that solo's too long, don't you think it ought to be a bit shorter', I was saying 'That solo's too long, cut it down to eight bars' or whatever; and I was trimming 'em like mad because they were very self-indulgent in those days. It was the era of progressive music. People were doing 19 minute solos and huge intros, and I didn't like all that because I thought it was generally very, very boring. There was some good moments in a lot of the longer stuff, but I preferred it distilled down. So I was actually teaching them to cut things, trim everything and make it much shorter, keep everything very much sort of three minutes, four minutes, get the lyric" [inaudible] "keep the solos down and all the rest of it. Um... I had quite a lot of aggravation from a couple of them. Both Tony and Anthony used to be very aggravated that I would cut their keyboard or guitar solos to almost nothing 'cos it was too self-indulgent..." [Read it and weep. What did we lose?] "We stitched the album together slowly but surely with absolute gems on it... and certain tracks that still to this day I think are terrific songs, better than a lot of later Genesis songs in my opinion." [I note that in this retrospective appraisal of the Genesis oeuvre by those whose opinions might be considered more worthy as people who actually LIKE Genesis, the album scores so low that it's not until Abacab that it's worsted - by which time a lot of the reviewers had doubtless moved on and classify such material as 'The Later Years' and so are almost obliged to pan it in any case :)]

"I was full of ideas in those days - as usual, way ahead of my time," [said ironically perhaps, but this IS Jonathan King remember and as I am sure he knows, all irony contains a grain of truth; at least in the mind of the speaker]. "For a start I wanted them to do a concept album which I thought would be very different and unusual. I wanted to call it 'From Genesis to Revelation'," [having stated earlier in the interview "I gave them the name 'Genesis' because I thought this was the start of my production career... so it was the genesis of something great"] "... I arranged little bits in between the tracks, little string bits that linked them all together... and I thought what we do is put it in a black sleeve with no name or anything on it, we call it 'From Genesis to Revelation', people would then discover it and it would become extremely important. Of course it all went dreadfully wrong because the rest of the world hadn't caught up with my advanced ideas. This was always the case." [Yes, irony again, but he's about to underline the 'truth' behind the irony himself. Deep breath now... and...] "Genesis themselves didn't happen until YEARS later," [when no longer under the King influence and making radically different music] "although I'd started them off. The same happened to me later when I started 'The Bay City Rollers' off and gave them their first" [inaudible] "but it was years before they became truly popular..." [etc. etc. with additional examples of things that became successful after they left King behind]

"So when these albums with black covers reached all the retailers, they looked at it and thought 'This is bizarre, 'From Genesis to Revelation', must be religious music' they said, and stuck it in the bins with all the other religious music so it didn't do a thing." [There you go, budding music-shop managers, you find the appropriate place on the shelves for your stock by taking a glance at the title and the cover; the title and cover of product you had no idea you've even ordered until it reaches the emporium. And you thought it was more organised than that...] "I'm afraid that little marketing ploy was the reason it wasn't a much bigger album because it was packed with some absolutely sensational songs." [But of course, definitely not Jonathan's fault at all]

If any completionists out there want to seek out this interview, don't bother. It's supposed to be an interview about Genesis but they come in for barely a glance along the way while Jonathan King talked about Jonathan King.

Alright all you purists . . . . . ! Eighty percent of the reviewers on this site have rated this album with three stars or LESS. Why? Is it because it's not SEBTP or FOXTROT? Me thinks there's something to that. IMO, this is one of the most underrated records in rock music. How about instead of comparing this to their 1973 release, and thereby rating it downward, try rating this in light of the fact that the songs on FGTR were written between 1967-69 and Genesis were literally teenage schoolboys. It's like saying the best boys football team in the land are rubbish because they could never compete againts the best seasoned professionals. Unfair comparison! Besides, this does rate!! Where the Sour Turns to Sweet, The Serpent, Am I Very Wrong, Silent Sun - these are great late 1960's pop/prog songs. A lot of people compare this album to the early Bee Gee's sound. OK, I guess, I'll grant you that on one or two tracks. But to my ears, FGTR compares much more favorably to early TRAFFIC, especially with all the shakers and tambourines. I can hear Steve Winwood singing most of these songs. Another thing to consider. . . . when an interviewer asked GENESIS themselves, "Which do you think is your worst album", not a one of them said this one!!!!! In fact, they all said AND THEN THERE WERE THREE. Straight from the horses mouth! So why does that CD fare better by most fans than this one? It sure doesn't with me. As a consumer alert, do not put this album on if you want to veg-out and get lost in the music. But I highly recommend it at parties, or when you're working around the house, or driving in your car. Come on all you Moonlit Knights . . . ."We're waiting for you, Come and join us now, We want you with us, Come and join us now"

Touche' Mcgraster. When I first heard this GEnesis album under the name of 'Rock Roots: Genesis" on Decca in 1978, after having already been enraptured by the Genesis prog classiscs for several years, I said "Wow! This is really different but really good!" PEter Gabriel's haunting vocal delivery on this album provides a connection to later, more fully developed efforts. But this is a great listen from start to finish, assuming you are able to handle some melodramic strings misxed in along the way. But even these are done to unique effect in my mind. Not a classic (these come later with GEnesis), but I think essential for a prog fan. So I have to give it the essential rating ( I wan't going to originally but the more I think about it the more I think I must).

On a day, Jonathan King created Genesis, and he saw it was good... Actually, he was the manager of the group and created the name Genesis for them. Four boys, named Anthony Banks, Michael Rutherford, Peter Gabriel and Anthony Philips wanted to write songs for other people. The problem was that they couldn't find anybody to perform them, so they decided to perform the songs by themselves.

With drummer Chris Stewart they recorded their first single 'The Silent Sun' and soon, the LP 'From Genesis To Revelation' was released, with drummer Jonathan Silver, who replaced Stewart. Thirteen beautiful songs were recorded, with Peter Gabriel's vocals and the other members backing him. Acoustic guitars, bass, piano and percussion were added to complete the music. Although this is the very first Genesis-album ever, the music is very different compared to everything the band did after this album. This recording never has been very succesfull anyway, but soon, Tony Smith signed them to his Charisma-label and they recorded the great 'Trespass' in 1970.

The songs on the record are always melodic, subtle and sweet and full of different music-genres. It doesn't really fit in the Genesis-catalog, but overall, it's a good album. And it's just that. The world of Genesis began.

This LP would have disappeared without Trace had these boys not gone on to become one of the most successful Prog bands of all time. Don't expect the complex and intelligent compositions of the Gabriel era and don't expect a great production. However considering this is just a bunch of Kids in the studio for the first time this LP has some ( a few) real moments. "In Hiding" is my favorite cut but most of side two is pleasant. Some of the extras that come with various versions of this recording are also pretty good "that's me" is well worth a few spins. There are even a few hints a later glory. If you take this LP on its own it doesnt really hold water, as an important bands first outing it has some historic interest. I find that I play this LP quite often and I am actually rather fond of it. All Gabriel period fans should own a copy of this recording. It makes me wonder if there are other recordings like this that didn't get the lucky break this on did and lie undiscovered concealing some nieve but non the less pleasant tunes somewhere.

Black Holes or Revelations?

An intriguing debut that shows tantalising glimpses of the band's full potential - and goes a little way to realising some of that potential in several places. The initial impression is of a super-light folk song collection with little consequence, but closer inspection reveals a surprisingly subtle range of very musical expression and something on the outer fringes of Flower Power with a couple of dark twists.

For Genesis fans, an interesting historical document, for collectors, if you can find a first press, a real gem - since the value will continue to climb, even from the outrageous prices it currently commands - for folk fans, an interesting curio by one of Prog's greats, but for the average Progger (if there is such a person) a bland and mushy throwaway collection of insignificant trivia.

Musically, the melodies seem to be the biggest let-down as they wander up and down the major scale, sounding like Gabriel had raided the nearest English Hymnal. The harmonies and arrangements, though, are more interesting than King's bland production and naff string arrangements would have us believe.

But these are generalisms - if we listen in a bit more detail, then there are a lot of nice proto-prog touches that would otherwise be completely overlooked - incuding the fact that this is very nearly a concept album.

Starlight

"Where The Sour Turns To Sweet" is very interesting lyrically - almost prophetic in places. "Look inside your mind, See the darkness is creeping out, I can see in the softness there, Where the sunshine is gliding in, Fill your mind with love, Find the world of future glory". This could also infer the time before the universe began, where all was potential.

The introduction is fairly interesting - Banks' lonely piano lines accompanied by a finger- click rhythm are quickly joined by Gabriel's familiar tones inviting us to "come and join us now". This early statement of the chorus idea is followed by a piano and light guitar accompanied verse - and there may be a Mellotron in there - "Can you sense the change" modulates to a minor key, and the second chorus is more fully accompanied and more passionately sung using a variation on the original melody. After a second iteration of this pattern, featuring the notable line from Gabriel "Paint your face all white " the first chorus variant is re-used and extended as a burn-out. OK, it's nothing stunning, but it's not your average song structure.

Then there's a dark and throbbing keyboard and bass introduction to "In The Beginning" - the title continuing the prophetic vein - and the Biblical connections are re- inforced as Gabriel sings about the birth of planet earth - although in Darwinian terms rather than Biblical.

The melody is shockingly naff and robs the lyrics of their authenticity, while the accompaniment hangs around single tonal areas - although the line "It has begun You're in the hands of destiny" is colourfully arranged. It does get more interesting in the "C" section, however - the structure of this piece is ABABCABC - again indicating the fledgling Genesis' intention to break away from the run of the mill - everything as normal until the re-visted C section, which seques neatly into "Fireside Song" via a Banks piano line that modulates neatly before the horrible strings ruin everything. This also happens at the beginning of each chorus - a wonderful modulation is masked beneath unnecessary and vulgar strings that server up lashing of cheese faster than you can say "Edam".

Gabriel's lyrics this time revolve about the emergence of life, and you might make out fragments of melody from "Dancing With the Moonlit Knight" - because I certainly can.

The introduction to the Serpent is very badly produced, with a nasty drop-out at the end, but full of interesting key and tempo changes. Gabriel finds a darker melodic line to follow, keyboard lines shine through and the music ebbs and flows dynamically. Really, if some of those keyboards, drums and guitars were higher in the mix, we'd be entering into Doors territory - this could be such a powerful song, despite Gabriel's weak melodies. Lyrically, we consider the creation of man, woman Garden of Eden and serpent, but there are no real poetic fireworks here - this is just the next logical part of the story.

Banks' piano lines on "Am I Very Wrong?" remind me of Marillion's Fugazi, but the acoustic guitar and flute lines are pure early Genesis. The concept of the song structure, however, is pure Genesis with the lonely man questioning and worrying, while the chorus reassures (in abysmally precious vocal style) - in the first signs of theatricality from this band. The concept of the album, on the other hand, is virtually lost - this song just doesn't fit into it.

Burn in hell for your sins

Here, the album loses concept and direction, taking a massive nosedive;

"In The Wilderness" is a more intriguing title than song - it should have been called "Music, All I hear is Music"... although we're using the term Music loosely in this case to describe this rather naff and cheesey piece. Even Banks little improv at the end doesn't save it - it's FAR too short.

Anthony Philips reprises the "Music, All I Hear Is Music" theme as the intro for "The Conqueror" - but the awful drop-in makes it just sound like a mistake. A vaguely average song that isn't saved by the keyboard and guitar layers one iota.

"In Hiding" is a bit of a Gabriel showcase, with rich melodies, a little vocal harmony and very interesting lyrics asserting "I have a mind of my own". It's a pity Jonathan King didn't listen to this one as he could have learned something.

"One Day" shows Gabriel in a more poetic mood, while Banks and Philips wrap rhythms around each others parts...(don't even go there, it just gets a bit wearying reviewing music this average!) - if only those strings and horns would just shut up!!! You can kind of hear what King was trying to achieve, but no. Just no.

Supermassive Black Hole

So... 4 tracks to go, and the concept well and truly dead. Or is it? Who said the Revelations had to come from the Bible? The interpretation of Genesis didn't.

Ostensibly, 4 standard songs - but songs with lyrics that are pure Gabriel and melodies that hint of what he is capable of. Banks' keyboards are more interesting than the run- of-the-mill and Philips' guitar is unfairly suppressed in the mix dominated by horrible strings and horns that threaten to strangle the delicate songs underneath...

Witness these great lyrics from "In Limbo"

"Take me away From the power of my ambition And I'll be happy Peace - floating in limbo, Limbo - leading me nowhere, Peace - now without motion I cry - when will i die? God - where is my soul now? My world, please set me free"

Coulda Woulda Shoulda

It could have been so much better - and this album could have killed Genesis forever. Fortunately, as the evidence in these grooves shows, they were so much better than this artifact despite King's attempts to prove that he was better.

Side 1 gets 3.5 Stars because it sticks to the concept and develops nicely. Side 2 gets 2 Stars because of the quality of individual band members' contributions.

It's just a pity about the quality of the resulting album.

Buy out of curiousity by all means - but if you do, don't give up on it after one or two hearings.

Having read most of the comments left before about this debut album, I can see there is much disagreement as to the quality (or lack thereof) of the production and musicianship. Some call FGTR forgettable, some like it just fine and some are in between. I had discovered Genesis back in 1973, when they appeared on The Midnight Special. This was right smack in the middle of the classic Gabriel era, their heyday as a prog-rock band, and I was blown away by their style and Gabriel's histrionics. It was two years before I could find copies of Nursery Cryme and Foxtrot in a head shop, cutouts selling for $1.88 each. I was totally in love with the sort of gothic-victorian-dark comedy sense of these albums, and I played them over and over until I knew most all of the lyrics to each song. One day I happened to come across a copy of FGTR, intrigued by the black cover with the Old English titling... The date coinfirmed for me that this was the earliest recording of the band Genesis that I had found so far. I was surprised at the naivete and popishness of the songs (but one must bear in mind that I knew VERY little about the actual history of the band at this point and therefore unaware of the circumstances of the production of this debut), but drawn in to it anyways. I did notice the similarities to the Bee Gees sound of that time, so I assumed they were under the Aussie brothers' influence during that period.

For people who actually remember the 60s, FGTR could be enjoyed as a pop-influenced concept album, somewhat reminiscient of musically ambitious attempts by such people as Zager & Evans, Amboy Dukes, The Nice, Dick Hyman (of 'The Electric Eclectics of...' fame, the first Moog dominated album) and countless others... These were schoolboys with the desire to break into the music business and a former fellow classmate on the inside. Peter slipped Jonathon King a demo tape and hounded him for a shot, which he finally gave them. King asked them to write a concept album based on the Bible, and make it Bee Gees-like. His thought was to cash in on the current popularity of the boys from Australia by grooming a group of unknowns to emulate their musical style but with original compositions. After Tony, Peter, John and Anthony finished their recording sessions, King went back and added the strings and brass, obstensibly to flesh out the flattish sound. Most Genesis fans resoundly bash that decision because of their view that it ruins the band's production. I see it somewhat differently. Considering the production seemed to lack fullness, King's decision was understandable, if not forgivable. Strings and brass backgrounds were typical of the period, and so not unusual for such a recording. I don't mind it so much as others, althoug I wouldn't mind hearing the songs without the strings and brass just out curiosity.

Yes, the Genesis sound we all know and love seems to be missing in this album, and yes the production values were abyssmal by comparison to later albums, but as a music lover who remembers the British Invasion of the mid-60s, with the influences of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Bee Gees (yessssss the Bee Gees) and many other bands, I find that this album was an ambitious, hopeful, naive, sincere attempt at a then-still-novel idea of a concept album. Many of the songs have some good hooks, and the Gabriel voice gives it the uniqueness it needed to stand out from the crowd. I occasionally like to listen to it just to get that feeling I enjoyed back in '68, young and naive and just liking what I heard on the radio... It is worthy for the nostalgia value to us who remember that period of rock music history, and educational for the younger of us who wish to understand where the band Genesis came from. For a debut album by a group of schoolboys under the influence of an ambitious young record producer messing with their original compositions, I'd still say close to 3.5 stars!

It has begun, you're in the hands of destiny

First I'll start by telling you I like this album, I never made many efforts to get my hands on this album as it was naturally believed to be a youth sin and wasn't regarded highly by people I knew who claimed to have it, so it took me a chance encounter in the local record store, and for 6 euro I couldn't resist buying it. Never regretting it ever since. Loving it as much as I love mid to late 60's pop, as produced by The Lovin'Spoonfull, keith West, Moody Blues, Bee Gees, Simon & Garfunkel, Donovan etc.

Naturally I have a different version of this album, the original album is bookended with the two singles, and two additional bonus tracks added. So my version starts with "The silent Sun" and "That's Me" followed by the original album, and closes with "A Winter's Tale" and "One Eyed Hound", after that two bonus tracks "Image Blown Out" and "She's So Beautifull" finish my 19 tracks version of the album.

The sound of Genesis's music was largely a product of the time, with a folkish approach at pop music. larded with orchestral arrangements. For some the overdose of orchestral, almost pastoral pieces can be a turn off, for me it's just right. Jonathan King turned a piece of reasonable good, but very naive music into a mature sounding band.

An enjoyable album, and if you like 60's pop this is an album for you. 2,5 stars, rounded down, despite the pleasure it provides me with.

I purchased this album together with their back catalogue in April 1974. Needless to say, it was quite a deception : some poppy songs with classical orchestra in the background.

No wonder that this album won't be a huge success: it doesn't a single great tune even if "In The Beginning" has some psyche flavour à la "Jefferson Airplane" and is one of the best track of the album.

The low of the album is reached with "Fireside Song" : a mellow song with no feeling nor melody. Very poor (same for "In Hiding" and "Silent Sun"). "The Serpent" has some insights of what "Genesis" will be be a year later. Unfortunately, the orchestration is quite useless.

Their first album though, won't be remembered as a great one. Mostly poor compositions. And I can tell you, I purchased this one just after "Foxtrot", so the disappointment was enormous. It is really not comparable with their later work even if on some tracks, Peter's vocals are precursory of "Trespass".

I can only rate this album for what it is and not as a "great" start of one of the most fabulous band (IMHHO).

Too many boring orchestrations, lacks of passionate songs : this album contains too many weak moments to be reasonably rated more than two stars. The band was really disappointed by the poor sales of this record and almost called it quit.

But then they signed a contract with Charisma...The story could begin.

Yes, this is a bad album. I'm sorry to have to give it one star, but as this is simply the worst album i have in my collection, i really can't give it any more.

Most people who don't like this album blame the production and say that it suffers from the same horrible string arrangment-curse which made Yes' "Time and a word" and Beatles' "Let it be" among the weakest of the respective groups. I am not going to be so generous. The music on this album, in addition to the strings and bad production, is simply bad. One track that i used to like was "That's me", and then i found out that it's not even on the album in the first place, but a bonus track. There are some nice melodies, like in "fireside song" and "in the wilderness", but there is absolutely nothing worth rasising your eybrows for, it's unoriginal, unchallenging, and Tony Philipson's guitar has a terrible sound on most of the tracks, and there is, of course nothing of what consitutes the classic trademark Genesis sound, since Hackett isn't even on board, and Banks isn't yet what we will soon become, banging on his ol' piano.

To be honest, though, i am not a terribly big fan of Genesis to begin with, i have grown a serious allergy towards Peter Gabriel's voice, especially. If you are, i am sure that there will be something of interest on "From Genesis to Revelation", and it will certainly be interesting so see how the band developed in just a few years, but i can't recommend this album as anything other than a curiosity.

They were just kids... trying to make some kind of conceptual album about biblical themes. Kinda too much, but who couldn't relate to that kind of musical ambition? In any case, the end result is barely tolerable, and that's considering the album in a vacuum, I'm not comparing it to the band's following excursions into some of the best prog ever and (admit it, though you might not like it) some of the best pop ever, too.

What we have here are a bunch of short songs, sometimes linked together, with an almost Phil Spectorish production. Nice tracks like "Where the Sour turns to Sweet", "Fireside Song", "In the Wilderness" and "In Hiding" I can listen again from time to time, but as a whole, the album becomes too childish to enjoy. This very first album and the last one (to this date, at least) are at the bottom of my Genesis list.

OK. So this was their very first album. It sounds more like a demo for the Trespass album. It's also ruined by a very bad orchestration their producer added. Reminds me of The Beatles' Let It Be album also ruined by production in my opinion. Anyway, this is only for fans of Genesis and Peter Gabriel.

Ah, their first. It has been re-released many times with different songs, but it is important to know that the original album contained only the following songs:

Where The Sour Turns to Sweet In The Beginning Fireside Song The Serpent Am I Very Wrong? In the Wilderness The Conqueror In Hiding One Day Window In Limbo Silent Sun A Place to Call My Own

This concept album is the band's interpretation of the book of Genesis. Yes, the bible book. It was actually written by Peter Gabriel, Tony Banks, Anthony Phillips, and Mike Rutherford when they were still in highschool. Many were developed from earlier songs and rewritten to fit the bible theme. It's clear that they were influenced by The Moody Blues concept album "Days of Future Past", as the sound is often very similar. There is also quite a bit of BeeGees influence heard on this album, as evidenced by the their first single in 1968, The Silent Sun.

Perhaps if this album came out a few years earlier, it would have been a smash hit. As it stands, it does sound a bit dated, and probably sounded so even then. By 1969, this sort of brit pop was going out of style. Even so, there are some very original things on this album. First and foremost is the primary use of the piano and the acoustic guitar over electric instruments. It is heavily reliant on chord structures rather than riffs, as Genesis music tends to be from their first album to their last. Gabriel's voice is also very distinctive, although he sings much more softly and more reserved on this album than we're used to hearing. But it's clear, even at this early point, that there is something very special to that voice of his.

Don't expect something like Selling England by the Pound when you hear this album. What you have here is a very young band with very little experience but a lot of good ideas that don't quite come out as well as they could have. Nevertheless, the brilliance is there, the band just isn't experienced enough to pull it off as professionally as they would later be able to.

Being introduced to Genesis in the mid-1980s, I worked my way backwards through their catalogue from the self-titled Genesis album of 1983. As I progressed with each album, they got better and better. What an amazing group this was. Alas, I finally reached their first album and was quite disappointed with it.

Here we have the humble beginnings of what will become one of the greatest prog bands of the 1970s. It's basically a collection of mellow 1960s pop songs, sorely lacking the musical and lyrical skill of Trespass and all other albums that followed. Still, you can hear potential here and there on this oddity of a record. On some of the songs, Gabriel's voice carries that raw energy he would be widely known for on later recordings, especially on the song "In the Beginning." The music though, has an almost demo feel to it.

Not the best place to start if you want to get into Genesis. I would recommend starting with Trespass and then acquiring each album chronologically after that. Only for the curious, thus two stars.

Genesis debut is clearly much different from all the albums they did after it. But listening close you can hear hints of what was to come. Even today I listen to this CD with great pleasure. Ok, I´ll have to agree with most reviews here stating this is really a pop oriented album most of the time. So what? It´s good music after all and I still think it´s a tremendous first efford for such a young band. In fact a band that didn´t really exist: according to their offical bio Chapter and Vsrse, before going to the studio they were actually just two teams of songwriters (Ant Philips and Mike Rutheford on one side and Tony Banks and Peter Gabriel on the other).

The lyrics for instance are quite original and interesting. The orchestration do make them sound a little more appealing than their raw demos available later on the Archives boxset (which indeed sounded too unoriginal and a little too derivative). Anyway, the resulting album shows great promise, specially on tracks like Where The Sour Turns to Sweet, In Hidding, The Serpent and Am I Very Wrong? The rest of the songs are alt least good, and I think Silent Sun is a fine pop tune. Producer Jonathan King definitly saw their potential.

Although Tresspass would be a giant step forward, From Genesis To Revelation has a special place in my heart. It shows Genesis still struggling to find their sound, but talented as they were, even their early effords were better and bigger than much of other bands best stuff. 3,5 stars, really. Not really essential (except for the Genesis fans) but a very good start that survived the test of time.

This is a good pop album. It is not prog, although it has a concept massive enough to be prog. Trying to tell the bible is quite difficult to do in thirteen pop songs. The music is very good though. I actually like lot a lot more than other sixties pop. Not bad for a bunch of kids fresh from high school.

I first encountered From Genesis to Revelation about the same time I became a big Genesis fan in the first place, in '78 at the time And Then There Were Three came out. At the time, I was able to get exposure to the whole catalog. Certainly, my least favorite from the discography so far, back then. Still, I've always regarded as part of the family. It really shows the promise and potential that Gabriel, Banks, Rutherford, and Phillips had for the future as musicians. Also , quite a good effort in it it's own right, considering the age of thes guys. Maybe as time has gone by and a lot more music has entered my life, this material has been diminished a bit, but too much. I won't speak too much about the music. Because there are so many reviews that already go into detail.

The current CD version in my collection was sort of fast one by Decca released in 1987 to capitalize on the fame of the band at the time. They titled it And The Word Was.. Some bonus tracks were provided, but they sandwiched the main album between them, which I consider wrong, but I was glad to get it just to complete my old Genesis collection (I think I bought it early '90's). It starts out with a mono version of Silent Sun, which I wouldn't really rate a "bonus". That's Me follows, which was the B side of the single, no orchestrations on that one, I really like it.

They did leave LP's tracks in proper order. The music is a nice combination of mellow and harder tracks. It has a lot of progressive elements to it and yet still has one foot stuck in some of the '60's sound. The last two tracks on the CD are from their second single demonstrate this in particular. But I think songs on the album really are musically half way to Trespass.

The album certainly is an essential for any big Genesis fan and an excellent addition for those of the '70's era band. It's not a masterpiece of progressive as much as a historical artifact, that may or may not be of interest to the average prog fan. If you're in the latter category be sure to try it before you buy it. I give it the benefit of the round up.

Footnote: There's a really good version of In the Beginning on a tribute album called The Fox Lies Down performed by Mother Gong. Yes, that Gong.

"From Genesis to Revelation" is the debut full-length studio album by UK pop/rock and progressive rock act Genesis. The album was released through Decca Records in March 1969. "From Genesis to Revelation" was recorded in August 1968, except for "Silent Sun", which was already recorded in December 1967 and released as the band´s first single in February 1968, featuring the B-side track "That's Me", which was not included on the original version of "From Genesis to Revelation". Genesis formed in early 1967 and most of the material featured on "From Genesis to Revelation" are re-arranged versions of demo tracks from 1967, which were written while most members of the band were still pupils of Charterhouse in Godalming, Surrey.

Most people are familar with the commercially successful Genesis from the 80s/early 90s, and some people are familiar with the 70s progressive rock period of the band too, but not that many people are familar with the 60s pop/rock of "From Genesis to Revelation", and there´s a reason why that is. While tracks like "The Sour Turns To Sweet" and "In the Wilderness" are solid enough, and "The Serpent" even hints slightly at a progressive rock sound, the remaining material on the album simply aren´t that interesting. As the album also features a sound production/mix that leaves a bit to be desired, and Genesis obviously hadn´t matured yet as musicians, "From Genesis to Revelation" ends up a rather unremarkable 60s pop/rock release.

There are so many other contemporary releases, which offer a lot more to the listener, and some of their later progressive rock peers like Yes and King Crimson, were for example light years ahead of Genesis on their late 60s releases. This one can easily be skipped on your Genesis journey and you wouldn´t miss a thing. A 2.5 star (50%) rating is warranted.

From Genesis To Revelation is a very sweet sounding debut record from a band that would go on and define what Symphonic Prog was all about. The album is acoustically based, mainly 12 string guitars and Piano, with a subtle rhythm section. Peter Gabriel's vocals are clear and perfect, maybe a tad innocent, but still demonstrates a singer with a fine set of vocal chords. The lyrics are generally fantasy oriented, with well crafted choruses and memorable melodies. The songs are all short, they flow into one another, giving the record a continuum which tends to hook the listener onto what they were doing (not that it was the first, or last album to do so, but it is an early example). Arthur Greenslade's orchestral arrangements are integral to most compositions, they are somewhat 'cheezy', but in all fairness, I couldn't imagine what the songs would sound like without them. Occasionally, sound effects have been employed to enhance certain songs, and Banks uses an organ on what I think is the best track, 'The Serpent'. Hints of things to come on that one. It does sound dated by today's standards, but maintains a certain 'magic', making it more than just a completists acquisition. 3.5 stars.

Thought I'd do some Genesis reviews - so why not start at the beginning?

I really would not recommend this is your 1st Genesis album if you've not heard them before, but if you love Genesis and are fascinated by their roots and how they begun this is truly fascinating, and the music is actually really good (in places), annoyingly spolit by the cheezy string overdubs. Unlike most bands their beginning is truly laid bare, and you can really understand how they developed. And how quickly that was! - A very rapid move forward to Trespass (which is awesome and one of my favourite albums).

The track "In the Beginning" says it all - this was the beginning, and that is probably the best track - really haunting!

Other tracks that are really good - Where the Sour Turns.. The Serpent Song, One Eyed Hound, The conqueror. The more gentle melodious songs like "In Hiding" are nice too.

There aren't really any bad tracks actually.

Well worth it, but only if you are a full-on early Genesis fan, but don't expect "The Knife" here.

It's alo nice to have some more of Anthony Phillips, who was so good on Trespass, but sadly provided no more....

PS - I didn't know you could get a bonus CD version - hace a look for that version if you don't have it.

This recording has been much maligned for quite some time, perhaps unfairly. This is the material of a very young and naive band who had yet to find their true voice under the thumb of producer Jonathan King. The material was written at a time when progressive rock was in its embryonic stages and the recording is not progressive rock, but rather typical late 1960s British pop not unlike what many other British bands were doing at the time. The music is NOT progressive, and, as a result, there are no lengthy expositions of keyboards or guitars, profound musical ideas or concepts. The melodies are simple and the musical accompaniments are relatively sparse. This recording is of interest primarily to those with a keen interest in the history of Genesis, in the history of rock music and those who enjoy more accessible 'pop' music. This does not mean that the record is bad. It is neither atrocious nor stellar. But, it is mediocre. On the basis of its merits of its overall importance in the development of popular music, in its relevance to the genre of progressive rock and in its overall impact stylistically, it can hardly be viewed as more than a two star recording even by diehard Genesis fans who are truly willing to give this recording an honest appraisal.

Review 8, From Genesis To Revelation, Genesis, 1968 StarStar

A rather weak album, in my opinion: a load of pop songs, none of which are very compulsive, and the few flashes of excellence are soon obscured by massed string/horn parts and appalling choruses. However, it's occasionally good for background music, and, apart from The Conqueror, I wouldn't consider any of the tracks irritating. The concept in itself is feebly done (producer Jonathan King's fault, since he suggested it) and the lyrics vary from terrible to passable. I prefer a couple of the stringless mixes to those included on the album, and the original 'She Is Beautiful' floors the reworked version 'In The Beginning'.

Where The Sour Turns To Sweet has a fairly nice melody and vocals, but the lyrics are a little poor, and for no real reason, the end result doesn't make a real impression. The string and horn overdubs here are generally tolerable.

In The Beginning begins with a promising chaotic sound into a bass part into a song dragged down by the poor sound quality and slightly pretentious lyrics. I like the components, but the recording isn't very clear, and you can't really hear anything except Gabriel properly: Rutherford and Philips are good musicians (at least, they are later), but it seems that here, as on the rest of the album, they can't be heard properly.

Fireside Song goes on too long with too little variation, and the lyrics are pretty ineffectual. Gabriel's unsteady voice and the whiny strings do nothing to alleviate this. However, the starting piano theme is passable, and the acoustic parts are sometimes good. The end result is dull and cheesy, sadly.

The Serpent starts off quite well with a sort of hollow drumming thing and excellent acoustics and a decent bluesy rocking guitar part, then it moves to a rework of what was originally 'She Is Beautiful', not bad, with a decent bass part and bits of organ if you listen hard enough, as well as good electrics, and enjoyable drumming, but the vocal harmonies (aaaa) (aaaa) (aaaa) everywhere really make it difficult to listen to the music, and the lyrics are feeble, compared to the original piece.

Am I Very Wrong has one of the highlights of the album: the excellent pensive acoustics-trombone-and-vocals of the verses, with great piano parts between them, unfortunately, it then goes on to have a silly, moderately mindless chorus that ruins everything. Could've been a pretty good song, but wasn't.

In The Wilderness actually isn't too bad, though the childish dun-dun-dun-dun thing leading to a passable chorus annoys me if I'm listening properly. The verses have a hint of Gabriel's future ability and range as a singer, but it doesn't quite work here, for whatever reason. The strings don't hurt me. The piano solo end is a decent touch.

The Conqueror opens with a guitar repeat of the In The Wilderness themes, and then a fairly mindless and unclear acoustics and piano tune with fairly weak harmonies and appalling lyrics. On the plus side, the electric guitar in the background and then soloing over the top of the theme is good, however, the piece overall is very weak.

In Hiding has the same problems as the much of the rest of the album: repeated and uninteresting music, and a weak chorus. Gabriel's voice here is pretty good, but that's about the only thing I like about the song.

I like One Day, silly horns and strings, yes, repeated chorus, yes, fairly weak lyrics, yes, but it seems to work here. The bass-and-piano are good, the xylophone or vibraphone or whatever it is additions to the start are nice, and it all works together quite neatly.

Window starts promisingly with a bit of acoustic guitar and piano, bass in the background, a quiet and haunting vocal with (what sounds like) trombone in the mix, slowly building to... a bland and generic chorus with irritating strings and fairly idiotic lyrics. The verses are generally quite good, though they could have lost the violin, but the end result is an unmemorable song.

In Limbo again starts with a decent theme, and this time it's the vocals that bring it down, and the choruses are also annoying. The ending limbo section suffers from poor mixing, in my opinion, I love the electrics and hectic background music, but it's not very audible behind the weak brass and vocals in the foreground.

The Silent Sun is a little uninteresting: an essentially generic ballad crossed with a generic pop song. The harmonies are badly done, the vocals aren't that great, and the violin is completely redundant here. Just unmemorable.

The concluding A Place To Call My Own is probably the best thing on the album. Banks and Gabriel give their first real indication of their future vocal and piano talents, and the instrumental end is quite good, with the strings/brass being used in a more constructive way. I don't love the final 'lalalala' thing that much, but it's a decent effort.

The bonus tracks I have on my 2 CD compilation thingy make it much easier to piece together the problems: recycling of material to fit producer Jonathan King's concept results in weaker lyrics, and the strings and horns seem to be added a lot when not needed. I prefer Patricia without the vocals to the piece it became (In Hiding), Try A Little Sadness is a weak pop song, with basically the same random strumming and good piano with a couple of tolerable musical moments in there that can actually be heard. She Is Beautiful is essentially a better version of The Serpent with piano taking the lead, better lyrics ('cool as ice, but brittle as glass') and the (aaaa) being less dominant. Although I think the final mix has better basic material, this one sounds better. Image Blown Out is a fairly silly, whimsical composition, tolerable once if you're in a good mood.

The Silent Sun's single version isn't really that much different, but the slightly more audible bass is good. Retains the problems of the original, but slightly less dull. That's Me is an enjoyable pop song, although the vocals in the chorus grate a little. The guitar solo (and guitar in general) is fun, and the lyrics are tolerable. It sounds as if the band had fun playing/writing it, something not always evident here, and Philips (guitarist), whose playing made Trespass for me, doesn't seem to be on such a leash here. A Winter's Tale has a quiet organ in the background, which gels amusingly with the pop chorus. I enjoy listening to it, but partly for the wrong reasons. A better song than the album proper. The One-Eyed Hound is a bit weaker, with an annoying refrain ('This man committed a sin, this man, he never can win') absolutely wrecking the song, which would otherwise be passable. The rough mixes generally strike me as being equivalent to or better than the album pieces in quality/sound quality.

Only recommended if you want to see the first stages of Genesis' development and the opportunity to rant about poor producing in reviews. I feel the album could've done with more music time instead of chorus repeat time, and the strings rarely work well here. This seems to me like a mix of poor production, poor mixing and a musical immaturity or a lack of direction in the band. Nonetheless, there are occasional glimmers of promise, and Genesis would go on to produce no less than seven very strong studio prog albums in a row after this.

Rating: 2 Stars. Flashes of promise, but mostly weak.

Favourite Track: That's Me, or, in the album itself, A Place To Call My Own

Two updates on this: 1) I enjoyed this album a lot more when in the right sort of relaxed mood for it (much like Dire Straits' debut). Still think the production brings it down, and keeping to the rating, but admit the review is perhaps a bit missing the point. 2) I now ADORE That's Me. Superb, superb song. Great guitars, lovely and weird vocals from Peter, and great lyrics. The drumming also feels quite right for it. A serious favourite now, and all because it came up on shuffle.

Odd enough, there are some very good songs on this album. The bad songs, however, make me realize why everybody related to Genesis' first album hates it. The best track on here is Silent Sun. The Silent Sun is the only time on the album where the sting arrangements work. In the beginning is also a great song. The rest of the CD (with the exception of Am I Very Wrong? and a couple of others) is sub par. Some songs have either absolutely terrible lyrics, instrumentation, singing, production, or a combination of all of these. The production is not very good, either. The other sad part is the fact that the pedophile known as Jonathan King ruined the album by giving them almost no creative control, his terrible string arrangements, and his production. I still think that they should have played Am I Very Wrong and/or the Silent Sun in concert years after this release.

Would you bet about these kids in 1969 ? I think the answer is no... Reviewing this record maybe I am influenced by the greatest Genesis albums of the Gabriel age, but even though this album is poor, I can't despise it. Consider just the age of the members at that time (about 18 years old!), consider this is the debut of one of the best prog rock bands... Sometimes I find pleasant listen this record, on the whole I admit... I like it, with all its lacks... (am I very wrong?)

In The Beginning, The Conqueror, In Hiding, The Serpent sounds old, but to me, they are nice pop-rock songs. I like also In The Wilderness, Where The Sour... and Silent Sun. (When I listen for the first time the tune called Am I Very Wrong, I couldn't hold up laughing, I find the refrain very ridiculous)

Sorry for possible mistakes, my english is not so good.

This album is bashed, but it's really quite good. Genesis, at this time, were not a symphonic rock band. They were more interested in sounding like the BeeGees and the Moody Blues, and in my opinion, they do a better job than either of these bands. It's not the classic Genesis sound that everyone would later love, but it's still a great album.

At last, I own every album in the GENESIS catalogue. I found this record on a discount price in a record store and I couldn't stop myself from buying it. Now that I've listened to it, I don't regret my decision, even if the album is quite weak.

The music, as has been said before, is very different to what GENESIS would deliver starting with "Trespass" and on. This is pop music ,60's pop music to be correct, so it sounds very innocent, very unpretentious, very modest. All the songs are extremely short, and none of them has any long instrumental section. The sound has a little bit of folk, a little bit of hippie, and a little (very little) of psychedelic.

There are, though, some minor hints of the future band that would emerge out of this. There are moments where Banks shows he's no typical keyboard player, and sometimes the melodies (which aren't so good as those GENESIS was able to produce later on) are darker than it appears. Peter Gabriel, on the other hand, while restrained and pretty much completely relaxed, starts to give little clues here and there of the amazing frontman and singer that he would become.

But even for a pop/rock record from the 60's, most songs are weak, and the music itself lacks energy, lacks more soul. In a way, it's not good pop/rock because it doesn't feel like true, honest pop/rock. Neither does it sound, of course, like progressive-rock, not at all. So, we can say that what this album truly lacks is character. Who would imagine, saying that of a GENESIS record?

After all, it was the product of 5 very young people who still had to wait a few years to give us what they were truly capable of. To say they just got better with time is quite a monstrous understatement. Even their next album, "Trespass", is so many miles ahead of "From Genesis to Revelation" in quality that it's outstanding only one year separates one from the other.

All in all, an album that GENESIS completionists should have, even if only for filling the gap in their shelves. And don't get me wrong: after a few tries, some songs actually become quite decent ("That's Me", "Am I very Wrong", "In limbo", among a few more), so there's nothing to lose in buying this record.

And, yes, as it doesn't have "Illegal Alien", it still rates higher than 1983's "Genesis" and, as a better song collection -with no electronic drums- , than 1986's "Invisible Touch".

Genesis? You mean the Beatles?

The band was discovered by Jonathan King, who also suggested the name Genesis his first suggestion was... (drum roll) Gabriel's Angels... By God! The name 'Genesis' might have made music shops place the band's records in a gospel aisle, but imagine, how it would've been like listening to The Musical Box by Gabriel's Angels.

Let's put the story of origin aside and centre on the music. If you haven't heard the album yet (but you are a Genesis fan), you might be somewhat stunned by the musical content. However, if you keep in mind, that the band's (Banks, Rutherford, Gabriel, Phillips - guitar & Stewart - drums, soon replaced by John Silver) style could be easily described as cheap Beatles' lookalikes and that none of them had hardly any studio experience (their age spanning from 16 to 18), you might be slightly more aware of what you are going to face.

And what are you going to face? A pop-folk attempt to create musicians out of schoolmates. Three-minute songs, piano and acoustic driven melodies, naive lyrics (Don't get me wrong I think I'm in love But the feeling in the word is more Than your crystal eyes will ever see in me) and awful quality of everything but Banks' piano and Gabriel's voice.

But there is something intriguing in this pseudo-concept arrangement (the songs are merged with one another to create a conceptual feel) of thirteen nearly indistinctive pop songs. No, it's not the touch of the Genesis we know emerging, because it is almost impossible to find any similarities with the band's latter albums. Nonetheless, if you listen closely you may find something new coming up - The Serpent, for instance sounds like a pop reincarnation of The Doors, and the overall style of the album is very climactic, yet tranquil at the same time, with The Conqueror being the most energetic song of 'From Genesis...' and perhaps the only, that gives a tiny insight into the future of the band (lively, fantasy-themed songs).

Apart from the songs I mentioned earlier, I particularly enjoy the opening Where the Sour Turns To Sweet (kinda strange listening to Gabriel singing: 'Paint your face all white to show the peace inside'), In the Wilderness and One Day (despite it's cheesy lyrics and cheap trumpets).

If it weren't for Gabriel's voice, I'd say it's yet another band imitating the style of The Beatles (which were on the way to ruin by that time). But.. I really like this album playing at night, when I get ready to sleep - Genesis would never get any calmer than this.

Best Song: Ummmm... The Serpent? (because it sounds almost like real rock, thanks to the organs and guitar riffs - albeit scarce)

Worst Songs: everything I haven't mentioned in the review, but believe me - the difference between the best and the worst songs on this album isn't really that big.

Not even Proto-Prog

This very first Genesis album has very little to do with the rest of the band's output. The music found here is very much a child of its time, which is the 60's. And comparing this with similar bands such as The Beatles, The Zombies, or whatever, it does not stand up very well. We have here a large number of three to four minute, rather mundane Pop tunes. There is not so much as a hint of what was to come on Trespass and later albums.

I really think that for all purposes other than stilling your curiosity and completing your collection, Trespass should be considered to be Genesis debut album. Let's just pretend From Genesis To Revelation was made by some other band and move on to Trespass!

This album is recommended for completionists only and for them it is really only either a collectors item or a historical document rather than an enjoyable listen in its own right.

What a poor debut album for a band like Genesis!This album is so naive,like the little boys that made it.The musicianship is very weak and it is normal for teenagers.I think this album doesn't hint at what will come later.There are some good ideas,but they aren't enough for 2 stars.For me 1.3-1.4!

Yeah, friends. This is a vivid example of how good ideas in wrong hands can bring to disappointing evaluations. If you listen to Where the sour turns to sweet cover by Echolyn you can better understand what I'm trying to explain.

There are a lot of good ideas in this album: Where the sour..., In The Beginning, The Conqueror, The Serpent, The Silent Sun. But unfortunately the producer (Johnatan King) wanted to put orchestra behind the group, even if the components were not so familiar with this idea. And the result was this kind of little disaster...

Anthony Phillips himself reported he was disgusted when he heard the master and that the starting material was richer and harder than the final result.

OK. It's true, I can't give to this debut album more than 2 stars, even if the second it's there because I know the real Genesis !

Here it is...where my favorite band (up to 1975 of course) started. While it is not at all like Foxtrot, it is still a great album. It is sort of like a concept album, but is more proto-prog than full-blown prog. Now like, I said don't expect anything like their later works at all. This album is a lot like early Moody Blues records more so than Yes records. This album is focused a lot more on mellow pop music than Foxtrot or Nursery Cryme, but I still love it almost as dearly. This album could be a pleasent surprise for many people, but many probably couldn't shake the image of early Genesis making pop music. If you can however push that aside, you will find some of Genesis' most beatiful melodies, Peter Gabriel's best singing, and Tony Banks' best piano sound.

This is not a bad album, but as I said on Yes' debut album review, just a few bands had a great debut album, and this is not one of them... We can see some good songs:

The Bonus Tracks - 4,5 stars for all these songs together, as an average rating. *That's Me: good song, but nothing special (the guitar solo is horrible). *One Eyed Hound: good song, it has rhythm. *A Winter's Tale: one of my favourite Genesis' songs of this period, I think it should be on the record release.

The Serpent: I don't know who played percussion in it, but it's Horrible. The song as a whole is not very good also. A Winter's Tale should be in the place of it. 3,15 stars.

In Limbo: I don't understand it, but is good. 3,25 stars.

A Place to Call My Own: the first phrase is good, sung well. The rest is a little bit boring, except for the ending. 3,5 stars.

In Hiding: I don't like it very much, though it's a good song. 3,5 stars.

Where the Sour Turns to Sweet: the intro is good, Peter makes us an invitation (hahaha). Good song, a good intro to the album. 3,6 stars.

Fireside Song: good song, it has good orchestration. 3,6 stars.

Am I Very Wrong ?: a cool instrument is played in it, it looks like a harpsichord, but I don't think it is. The song is good, but nothing special. 3,6 stars.

One Day: very melodic song, I like it, though it's very simple. 3,6 stars.

The Silent Sun: very good melody, I love it. Good orchestration also. 3,8 stars.

In The Beginning: good rhythm, good melody, I like it very much. 3,8 stars.

The Conqueror: it has rhythm and good riffs. I like it very much. 3,85 stars.

Window: one of my favourite of this period, along with A Winter's Tale. The intro is so melancholic. The orchestration is good, the lyrics also. Its melody gives me chills. The best in the album. 4 stars.

In The Wilderness: great melody, it is contagious. We see a very good orchestration here, fitting very well the vocals. This should be the final song of the album. 4 stars.

The songs in this album are a little bit simple, different from Yes' debut album, and that's a bad point. Of course it can't be considered a masterpiece of progressive music, but it is a good album, it opened some doors to Genesis.

I understand it's hard to take this early sound of Genesis, in contrast to later perfect albums in early 70s. But being this released by some one-shot band, ratings would be higher I suppose. For me, it's easy. I evaluate these songs as 1969 proto-prog band. Maybe not completely, but at least to some extent, this should be applied. Because take for example their "Nursery Crime". Considered by most as very good album, but worse than "Foxtrot". But if you'll think about Nursery without thinking about Foxtrot, you're possible to get 5-star album. It's hard and I'll try to fight with it.

This is not so strong as their later albums, it's (after all) their debut. Acoustic guitars mostly, use of strings, half prog folk and half early symphonic prog. Not like their future albums at all. But far better (for me) than their 80's work. Songs are quite short, but nevertheless, they're consistent and long enough to be interesting.

It's not a bad album. But even when you leave your mind used to epics Foxtrot and Selling and compare it independently with other prog folk releases of late 60's you know, still, the result is not so great. The problem here is annoying repeating here ("We're waiting for you. Come and join us now. We need you with us. Come and join us now!" over and over again). And it's not problem of just this song, it's ever-present. Symphonic elements are nice, but more like solid background to tender music (hey, we're talking about Genesis, right?). So if you want acoustic Genesis without Genesis, that's a choice for you. You know, it's hard to depart from you were taught all your life (I suppose that's true for most of you, readers). Piano, acoustic guitar, sometimes always chamber-like a capella voice of Peter Gabriel (reminiscent of what will come later).

3(+), rating worse would be illogical hatred of "different" things.

In the begninng.

Genesis first album is what it is, we all know there aren't any great epics on it or that Genesis feel we are used to. But hilariously enough, this album makes a great late 60s poppy Genesis a la Peter Gabriel. The music is actually so easy listening, it makes it enjoyable. I always smile when i listen to this. It's like looking at an old photograph and thinking "oh where it all began!". The only real problem with this debut album is that it just serves as that which makes an album only good, and nothing more. A harsh comparison which i yet dare to make is to compare this album to every late Beatles album. Gabriels voice is yet so immature, which also adds to the happy slappy feel of the album, and i can admit i sometimes want to listen this album through.

Nothing epic of course, or great, but still a good and solid debut album. 3 Stars

In the beginning, schoolmates create a band...

One could be forgiven for thinking this must be a great relic. After all, the first Yes album is dated but good and rocking, and the first Floyd album is a masterpiece. Certainly Genesis' debut had to be as great too? Many proggers hunted down this collection hoping such logic would pay off, only to be disappointed to varying degrees. For the Genesis debut is nowhere near the otherworldly genius of Piper or the already formidable chops of Yes. Long before names like Phil Collins or Steve Hackett were but a glimmer in the eye of Genesis lore, school mates Peter Gabriel and Tony Banks (of a band called Garden Wall) were collaborating with Ant Phillips and Mike Rutherford (of Anon.) The resulting music caught the ear of rising musical man Jonathan King who got the lads into the studio in the summer of 1968. Upon completion and apparently without permission King took the new material and layered it with strings and horns making what could have possessed more original personality into a finished product that sounded a bit commercial and ordinary. Phillips was the most openly critical of what King saw as the chance to get the band viable:

"Ah, the strings on "From Genesis to Revelation." I was the one who really blew my top about it....the originals were rough but at least they had some power....in those days you couldn't get back to a previous version, it was too late, there was no undo button. And I completely freaked out. I can only quote all my other friends saying 'He's butchered it.'" [Anthony Phillips]

"The part that the band really didn't like was that I added the strings....I think they work terribly well, actually. It gives the songs a sweetness that wasn't there in the original thing and covers up some of the slight amateurishness of the basic tracks." [Jonathan King]

And yet it has its moments. The music is 60s pop to an extent, sometimes sounding a bit like the Moodies "Go Now" or The Hollies, maybe a bit of Cat Stevens' "Mona Bone Jakon", etc. But there was more depth and a trace of that English & dark folk/rock vibe underneath that Genesis fans will recognize as the foundational sounds of the later group. Gabriel's warm and soulful voice is already a showcase. The acoustic guitars have a briskly strummed pace, controlled, with Ant peeling off a modest solo here or there. Tony has some lovely piano episodes. But the band's talents are certainly modest, as is the sound and production which are pretty weak, to be expected as this was recorded in about 3 days. I can see what excited King however as the songwriting shows some real potential. Especially cool is the fantasy vibe of "The Serpent" and the foreboding piano lines of "Am I Very Wrong" which also sports Gabriel's flute playing. Tony plays a minute long piano solo to introduce "Fireside Song" which is rather somber and yet hopeful, quite lovely. Other tracks sport short piano ballads with a bit of folk influence, a dramatic young Gabriel, some "la la" backing vocals, occasionally a bit of light rock and soul. But these short tracks never develop to the point of any interesting instrumental jamming that would become commonplace later. The best moments sounds like simplistic and shortened demos from Trespass, far below that level of execution, yet with some of the same naïve wonder and innocence.

This debut is mostly for fans of Genesis and/or 60s pop and there is surely enough little bits of the future here to please them. But the overall performance and sound are fairly weak and there are some duds as well. I think 2 ½ stars is probably the most accurate rating and yet it is a very affectionate 2 stars I give. I enjoy this music quite a lot despite the strikes against it. What a leap they would take on the next album!

This was actually the first Genesis Album I ever owned. It was more like the Moody Blues in some places to my ear. Also the sound was definitely 60's music. The favorite songs for me were "The Serpent" and "Am I very Wrong?" Peter Gabriel is just so visual with his lyrics! I think that is what made Genesis the super group that they were, along with the rest of the band. When he left Genesis, the band really suffered in the lyric department, as well as the voice. I know Phil Collins is a good singer, but Gabriel added that special touch that made Genesis a force to be reckoned with.

Another favorite was "The Conqueror," which is on the sarcastic side if one listens closely to it.

"In Limbo" slays me! I just love that tune. It is mostly the lyrics, but at the end the music turns and gives the listener a thrill.

Lyrically, there is no weakness. Musically, there is no weakness, just immaturity. To hear this album, you would never suspect that they had the later stuff in them. It is like they were caterpillars which became beautiful butterflies, musically.

All in all this isn't a bad record. So I am giving it 3 stars. It isn't essential to us, the listening audience, but it was essential to Genesis's development as an essential prog band.

This is the first Genesis album. It was much more in the vein of late-60's pop music. They were given a massive task to do lyrically, to try and recreate the history of man, usually coming up with quite interesting lyrics.

This is a nice collection of 60's pop gems. If there were progressive touches, it would be brief piano/guitar interludes between songs. Their playing and sound is a bit amateurish, but not too bad. There are also some well chosen string and brass arrangements that help add to the songs.

If there is something good about this album, it is that the boys were writing good melodies, some good hooks and had some well-written songs under their sleeve. The highlights here are "Fireside song", "The Serpent", "Am I very wrong" (which features the other band members singing in a vocal group style), "the conquerer" and my favourite "In the wilderness" which is highly infectious. The fairly straight-forward "In hiding" is a nice folky song and "The silent sun" is quite catchy, a decent single. The songs "One Day" and "Window" are love songs, fairly uncharacteristic of the band, but the lyrics aren't bad either.

Peter Gabriel was also singing very nicely on this album.

On the downsides, the production is a bit weak, burying the lead vocals in the back-ground now and then, particularly on "Window" and "In Limbo". The sound in the original mix is very rough and dull, the strings adding a bit of colour. Even with them there, the sound is always a bit like a rough mix. We're not really hearing a lot of instrumental mastery, but then we heard plenty of that later so I'm quite happy to sit back and enjoy a nice late-60's album like this.

We know Genesis went on to become much more ambitious than this album but it is an enjoyable listen. I wonder how this would be rated if it were a Moody Blues album? Anyway, I think this is about 7/10 or 3 1/2 out of 5.

This isn't a terrible record. Whenever it gets played, I don't put my hands over my ears and scream "Mommy! please make it stop!" Such ringing endorsements, however, hardly earn it a third star in my book.

Because of this album, I placed "early Genesis" on the backburner for years. So I hope you will forgive me if I don't allow the band's subsequent works to award bonus (or concession) points to "From Genesis to Revelation".

Here is how it happened. Because I was only familiar with the commercial Genesis music of the 1980s, everyone kept telling me "You simply must check out early Genesis". I finally acquiesced when one day at the record store I saw a copy of the album "From Genesis to Revelation".

Upon placing the needle on the LP, I couldn't believe my ears. This was what everyone was ranting and raving about??? It sounded like folk era Bee Gees. Well it sounded more like somewhat 'watered down' folk era Bee Gees to be brutally honest. (Early Bee Gees music was actually quite professional produced folk-pop. This was somewhat amateurish in comparison). I incredulously double-checked the album cover to see if perhaps I had purchased an album by some local band that also had used the name Genesis. Nope. This was "the" real Genesis of old. I immediately filed "early Genesis" into the "not for me" category.

I present this esperience as a "case study" to illustrate what I believe you really already know deep within your "heart of hearts". That - musically speaking - prog fans would not pursue and purchase this record were it not for their interest in Genesis based upon their subsequent output.

Later, once the age of internet radio brought a wider range of "try before you buy" prog music to my ears, I was provided the opportunity to hear 70's era Genesis and to hear the difference! And what a difference it is! But, had my exposure to "early Genesis" been left to the content of this album, I would never have sought out to learn or hear more.

That doesn't make this album worthless, however. This record is of interest from the perspective of early band history. And even were it not for prog music history's sake, fans and collectors of Genesis would still want to hear this debut because of how it, by way of contrast, makes the impact of the band's follow up albums all the more powerful.

But let's not kid ourselves. "From Genesis to Revelation" is for fans and collectors only. It is a 2 star album by a band that would soon shake the progressive rock world with a dramatic quantum leap forward on their very next album.

This is one of those albums that has been reviewed so many times I can't add anything new to it, and frankly Genesis is one of those bands that never really clicked with me despite growing up surrounded by their music and having many friends who were diehard fans. But it's in my collection so I knew I'd eventually get around to saying something about it. Today is that day.

I've no idea how many times this thing has been reissued. I know I looked this up though and found at least 25 of them. Mine is a 1976 vinyl release called 'Rock Roots 1', released by Decca UK in 1976 with liner notes that indicate the label clearly felt the band was on its way out after Gabriel's departure. With downloads and on-line ordering and multi-national global corporations being all the norm today it's easy to forget the days when an imported album was kind of a big deal, back when British imports generally had thinner sleeves and thicker vinyl than American releases. The import stamp is also kind of interesting, a blue- and-red button stamped with "Imported & distributed by Peters International, NY NY". I've no idea why this thing would have been imported to the U.S. back in 1976 since London Records already had a U.S. issued version of the original in their catalog. The thing would have cost more back then than most new albums considering the import tariffs, and since Genesis weren't exactly a household name in the U.S. at the time I have to believe this was either a special-order, or was intended for a very niche market. The cover is pretty cheesy: a heavily color-treated photo of an old Decca Stereogram 33rpm singles record player superimposed with a couple press photos of the band, the same photos used on the covers of several later reissues including the Dutch Black Box 2-disc CD set that was issued just a few years ago.

Well thanks to time and the band's fame after this record released, these songs are pretty familiar to most progressive music fans today. Certainly much has been said of the spotty production and over-the-top string and horn arrangements on most every track, although from my perspective these aren't as distracting as most hardcore fans of the band seem to find them and frankly they probably help spruce up what would have been rather sterile- sounding songs otherwise.

Gabriel's lyrics are much better than his vocals, which are simply average here but would blossom into the stuff of legends within a couple years of this release. On a view tracks the dates sound of the melodies and instrument-playing are quite strong, particularly "In Limbo", "A Place to Call My Own" and "A Winter's Tale", but elsewhere the songs stand up as pretty decent precursors of what would come later.

In keeping with the times and the post-psych commercial leanings of British labels of the late sixties, these are all short tracks with fairly accessible arrangements, certainly a far cry from 'The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway' but decent enough if compared to their contemporaries rather than to their later catalog. There are also a couple of pre-album singles on this release (including their B-sides), but none of this is new to anyone who has picked up any of a number of later CD reissues.

Like I said, I'm not exactly a Genesis fan but when I play this record today and consider it solely on its own merits, it's not a bad record. Certainly not a masterpiece, and not even as good as another Genesis band (U.S.) debut called 'In the Beginning?' that was issued around the same time. But good enough to rate three stars on a scale of five, which is what I'm going to give it right now.

There, I finally got around to assessing this one and can slip it back into it's vinyl sleeve and stick it back in the stacks for another few years. Perhaps my kids (or grandkids) will rediscover it and help perpetuate the myth that is Genesis for yet another generation someday. One never knows?.

peace

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.

This has almost nothing to do with their later releases. These songs were composed when the band members were really young under Jonathan King wing. The album got very little attention when it was released. The music resemble a kind of Bee Gees/Beatles atmosphere. All songs have almost the same structure and the attention from the music is easily switched because almost nothing is happening. Short and in the same time boring compositions with only two songs with more than 4 minutes. One could easily say that this status quo is owed to their young and inexperienced level as musicians. The good thing is that they decided to do something different after this and abandon King's influence. The good things for Genesis are yet to come. What happened with Genesis is a good example for every band able and capable to do something on his own. Better follow your own dreams if you feel that you have something to say instead of doing mediocre things and regret later. 2 stars with indulgence for this one.

Rarely has the debut album of a major group received this much of a slagging from both fans and critics alike. And on the surface, the flaws of the album are huge and very numerous, seemingly leaving criticism fully justified. In case you're unware, here's the general rundown: first, the band was in its formative stages, without either of its instrumental virtuosos (Hackett and Collins, both of whom would join in '71). Hence, the playing on this album is a bit unimpressive, apart from nice Tony Banks piano lines. Next, the band had not yet found its own distinct style, choosing to emulate the Beatles, Bee Gees and Zombies. And worst of all, producer Jonathan King, in an attempt to make the band seem 'sophisticated', forced the band to write around the concept of the creation of the world through the death of Adam (yes, I know the title implies the whole Bible, but trust me, it's fairly apparent that the story is all told from the point of view of God or Adam, and no other characters). Oh, and when they were done, he threw a lot of orchestration over the songs, except that King seemingly had no idea how to properly use string and brass arrangements in rock (unlike, say, George Martin).

So the obvious question comes to mind - WHY am I giving this album a 4-star rating??!!! Because beneath all of the superficial weaknesses lie two of Genesis' strengths, in just as full of force now as they would be later - incredible songwriting and incredible vocals from Peter. I don't know if I'm just listening to different songs than the rest of y'all, but almost a dozen of the songs on here (and yes, I'm counting the singles on the reissue, more on those later) are, at least in one aspect in each of them, absolute pop perfection. "Am I Very Wrong?," for instance, may have a slightly awkward and Disney-sounding chorus, but how about that vocal melody in the verses?! And the rest ... man. Man. Where "The Sour Turns To Sweet" (I know it's technically a bonus track, but it's impossible for me to think of this album and not consider this a prelude to the rest) is beautiful, "In The Beginning" has one of the most awesome vocal hooks I've ever heard, and "Fireside Song" is EVEN BETTER. Are you going to tell me that the chorus of that song isn't one of the most perfectly constructed tunes you've ever heard??!! And don't forget "In Hiding" or "Window," no sirree, the former with another perfect sing-songey melody and the latter yet another beautiful ballad.

And that sure as heck isn't all. "In The Wilderness" is a whee bit flacid in the verses, but that chorus ... "Music, all I hear is music, guaranteed to please ...". Guaranteed to please is right, dang it. And neither "The Conqueror" nor "One Day" fall short of the standard, the former a great energetic rocker and the latter one of the most perfect love songs I've ever heard.

Oh, and don't forget the bonus tracks. The single version of "The Silent Sun" is only slightly better than the album one (and that one's really dull, actually), but the other three are all highly recommendable. "That's Me" is, as usual, catchy as all get out, a great anthem of misogyny, while "A Winter's Tale" has yet another incredible chorus melody, while "One Eyed Hound" has great interaction between the piano melody and Peter's vocals.

Oh, I was going to tell you about Peter's vocals on this album, wasn't I. Now, at first glance, it would seem that Peter fails miserably in trying to vocalize the early chapters of Genesis, the logic being that since he's singing about such a profound part of Christianity, he should sound booming and authoritative to match the profundity. Well, quite honestly, I think that's bunk. How do you really think Adam would have been upon his placement on the earth - authoritative and patriarchal, ready to assume his place as the biological father of all of Man? Bull. He would have been filled with wide-eyed awe at all of the creations around him - his own body, the animals in the garden, not to mention Eve and this new, strange emotion called 'love'. And in THAT way, Peter pulls off the album to an absolute tee. The lyrics (which, btw, are NOT bad - they are youthful and naive in their feel, but naive does not necessarily mean bad or sloppy) and vocals on this album combine in such a way as to perfectly convey the 'story behind the story' with Adam.

In case you haven't been able to tell, I really like this album. If you dislike it, well, it's your own choice, but dismissing it so easily just based on the lack of competent instrumentation and stupid orchestration seems no less than a fatal mistake to me.

As a Genesis fan, I must say that this album is only for fans or collectors. If someone is looking for progessive rock pieces, this is not the place. At this time that guys had just 18 years or less. Even this collection of early songs is not so bad, and has some tracks that I really like. The voice of Peter Gabriel and the piano works are the characterists that stands out.

The Highlight is without doubt, in my opinion, the track In the Wilderness. Here I can find the seed of the magnificient career that started just two years after. The track has an underlying violence, specially in the voice of Peter Gabriel, and mainly in the fantastic chorus.

Other good ones could be When the sour turns to sweet (covered by Echolyn), Fireside song, In hiding and One day.

Silent sun is pop ballad (by Banks - Gabriel) with good feeling. One eyed hound seems to be a children song and a Winter's tale is rather good.

I like much That's me, a track written by Phillips-Rutherford based on guitars with a little but good solo by Phillips.

The rest are there, nothing special, and with some tracks in the weak side.

The album has all this chords arrangements made by the productor Johnatan King, which Banks and Phillips disliked so much. I knew the tracks with those arrangements, and in some songs seems to be not so bad.

The songwriting is acceptable but the production is really bad.

So I recommend this one only for fans or collectors

Jonathan King arranged this album to try and turn the young Genesis boys into a pop band. It is one of the great unanswered questions in prog history: what would have happened if it had been a success and sold more than the purported 650 copies? Would we have had Peter Gabriel as a 70s crooner perhaps teaming up with Dianne Lee as Peter and Lee? We must be grateful in hindsight that this album -not without merit- was such a flop.

The problem is the rather dated 60s atmosphere which permeates the album: some insipid hippyish lyrics, syrupy strings, moody-blues-esque "ooohs" and certain middle of the road arrangements. With better arrangements, the album may have become successful since the songs are quite good, no worse than many familiar songs of the period.

Despite the rather conformist productions, there are a few deft instrumental touches such as the use of the French horn (?) on "Am I very wrong?" or the brass on "where the sour turns to sweet" two of the finest tracks here. There's not much variety; but a couple of attempted rockers work well in context: "In the beginning " and "the Serpent", two more decent tracks.

Peter Gabriel does his best to imitate the vocal mannerisms of that slightly wimpy whining singing style of the time.

Although this is certainly not prog and would not be reviewed here if it were not the juvenilia of one of the greatest and most beloved bands, it would be a pity it albums like this were completely forgotten (as many others doubtless have been) since it shows a sure grasp of composition and tunefulness which elude far more famous bands.

I only became aware of the band in the early 80's and missed the complete Peter Gabriel era Genesis. Once I've been enlightened, I started digging a little deeper.......

The opening track, "Where The Sour Turns To Sweet", typically reminds me of a 60's pop song. You can already hear the vocal ability of Peter Gabriel. Nice piano sequence. I'm not much of a brass man, so don't care much for the trumpet sections.....

In The Beginning, the second track, let me sit up a little straighter and listen more intently. Still a pop song, but more enjoyable.

Track 3 has a nice piano intro, but this quickly gets replaced by some strings and the voice of Peter Gabriel. After the previous track this came as a bit of a surprise as I expected the album to start picking up at this point. I'm sitting back in my chair again. The words: "Once upon a time there was confusion, disappointment, fear and disillusion" are racing through my mind......

The Serpent, when it actually starts, equals the attention received by Track 2. I like this track as it's more rock orientated than the previous tracks. Nice guitar riff.

Am I Very Wrong' started similar in vocal style than Fireside Song, but generally this song is more melodic, Peter Gabriel vocals, nice, almost "driven" piano. Overall the best song thus far, but I must add that the chorus section disappointed a bit. Still like the song though.

Track six comes in the form of "In The Wilderness". Peter Gabriel sounds different on this track. Wonder what the song would sound like without the string section? Good pop song in my opinion. Three reasonable songs in a row, can we hope for four?

On "The Conqueror", the vocals sound different, like on the previous track. Clearly it shows that Peter Gabriel has more than one vocal tone.... Enjoyable track. At this point I started feeling a bit better about the album. Four in a row..... :-)

Not much difference between Fireside Song and In Hiding. Follows the same vocal style with string section. Next comes "One Day" and while a little more upbeat features those trumpets again, sorry. Still a likeable song though. "Window" follows along similar lines than Tracks 3 & 8. More acoustic. Listenable.

After "The Conqueror" there's not been much to write home about and the low point of the album surely comes with "In Limbo". The Bee Gees like "Silent Sun" follows, and while it's a nice pop song, I must say that the first half of this album is the better half. The closure, "A Place To Call My Own" is just that, closure!

So where do I stand as far as rating this, the debut release by one of the leaders in progressive rock music? I reckon this was a reasonable starting point as everything by the band from here on out will be gauged by this release. The music can get better and then again, it might get worse.

There are five stand-out tracks from the album: In The Beginning' The Serpent, Am I Very Wrong, In The Wilderness and The Conqueror. It is a close call between these tracks, but 5 out of 13 equates to less than 50% of the vote, thus, this has to rate at 2 stars. Sorry.

One last thought about this review; There are many people with great knowledge when it comes to music. These people can give you vast amounts of information pertaining to a specific band, artist, album, etc. Most of which can be read from member reviews and forums.For me it's about the music and whether I like it or not. My reviews are based on what a particular album has to offer and comparisons drawn from previous albums should there be any.

Lastly, the Genesis debut album was released with 2 different names. These are: "From Genesis To Revelation" and "In The Beginning". Both albums contain the same 13 tracks in the same running order. Some of the later releases of this album, after 1977, have a few other names, additional songs and different running order/s to that of the original release.

There are two singles that preceded the debut album release by Genesis: "The Silent Sun/That's Me & A Winter's Tale/One-Eyed Hound". From which only Silent Sun featured on the album under review here. The other tracks are worth a mention, as there are many similarities to the 13 tracks you've just been reading about.

The first Genesis album. Released in 1969, this sounds more like something from 1966. This isn't even proto-prog. Most of the music here sounds like 60s Bee Gees. Clearly this is the work of teenagers who are not sure exactly what they are trying to do. There is nothing here that gives you a hint of what they will sound like on Trespass.

"In the Beginning" and "In The Wilderness" are in the league of decent songs. The former has some great feedback at the beginning, while the latter has the only good use of orchestra on the album. "The Serpent" has some good electric guitar and organ. "The Conquerer" is one of the better songs. At the end of "Fireside Song" you can hear a preview of "Twilight Alehouse". The best song is "One Eyed Hound" which is the b-side to "Winter's Tale". It may be a bonus track but it's the best thing on the whole CD.

This is only for people who want everything Genesis did. This is the worst studio album they ever did. The work of amateurs with no sense of direction. Awful production to boot. This honestly does not deserve anything more than 1 star.

I've owned this album forever but have always been close-minded when listening to it because I came to it after the entire Gabriel era was over and was, thus, tainted by the magic of "what was yet to come." But now, in my later years, as I study the band and it's history, hear their interviews (especially those with Ant Phillips), I can listen with an entirely different appreciation for the songs here. There are some pretty decent songs here--and yes, even some songs that give some indication for what was coming with Trespass and even Nursery Cryme. So, I cannot pan the album for not being proggy enough--the band wanted to go in that direction but were being reigned in by their record label and manager and even family members! The ideas and intentions are now more evident, the songs more pleasurable taken out of the context of the "but this is Genesis!" colored glasses. This is still kind of just for collectors, but, if you like Family and The Nice, you might like these songs--they're actually pretty good!

Thumbing through the LPs at the local record store in 1975 I suddenly came across a new Genesis album selling for half the price of normal LPs. Here was Gabriel in his flower mask so surely it must be from around the Foxtrot/Live period...but it was a Decca release not Charisma. Perhaps this was a bootleg? I certainly didn't know any of the songs. What to do? Of course take it home...even if this was half as good as the other Genesis albums I already had (all of them Trespass to Selling England by the Pound) It would be worthwhile.

The songs were pleasant enough - interesting lyrics and some nice musical interludes although the strings were overdone. Not to the standard of the others so what was this about?

It took some time to find out (no internet back then) that this was a re-release of the original from 1969 with new cover (and extra tracks), recorded in a single day when the boys were still at school and then only 2 to 3 years older than me.

This changed the context and the progression to Trespass can be seen. The ideas are there but a bit more maturity was needed to bring it out.

This is very inoffensive pop music. My father loved it. In fact I'm surprised that some of the songs were not successful singles given what made the charts in those days. Of course this is a blessing. Had Revelations been even a partial success perhaps Genesis would have followed a short lived pop path before disappearing into obscurity.

I actually like the album and CD but it is not essential. It is certainly not 4 or 5 stars (as some have given) but it is not the worst music I have heard. Some of the tracks also appear as demos or rough mix without strings on the Genesis Archive 1967-75 which gives a clue to what may have been without the added strings.

2 stars

We all have to start somewhere. In the case of the masters of prog; with an album like this.

This album is the odd one out in Genesis discography. And that says a lot because Genesis has done a lot of strange things. Most of all; this is the band that Jonathan King (now thankfully rotting away in a British jail for the rest of his life) discovered and threw into a studio without teh band really knowing what they wanted. The result is a mishmash of styles. But still; Peter Gabriel is still present and so is some good pastorial ideas which came into full bloom on Trespass and Foxtrot. There are also some turkeys here in the form of some folk halls type of songs (aka what David Bowie did) and some over bloated pop songs.

In short; the ideas is here, but they are not that well presented and not carried out. But it is still a decent debut album. It is still a two stars album though.

2.5 stars

Pleasant, pretty songs. A little rock sometimes. 9/10

Can't say that I've really wanted to explore Genesis albums. Some months back I checked out "Prog" magazine's reader poll on the greatest prog albums of all time and noticed that Genesis were very prominent in that. In the past I've tended to avoid prog music, but recently I've been exploring it a little. Thought I'd start with Genesis at their start.

Bought the 2005 release of this, which has a bonus disc and Peter Gabriel's original liner notes. The sound quality is very good. Sometimes you get that faux stereo soundscape which albums at this time had, but it's not as annoying as in earlier Beatles albums. Both speakers do fill out. My bonus disc doesn't have the interviews on it which this particular version has, I think.

Musically, the songs are pleasant and pretty. Occasionally they're a little more rock. You get proggy instruments like violins and horns as well as brass instruments, piano and acoustic guitar. Thought I may have brought a new observation to the discussion of this album, but it's already been said...you can hear a Bee Gees influence on some of the tracks here. The other liner notes on the album acknowledge this fact (i.e. not the Peter Gabriel notes). The album itself is of the "concept" variety...biblical references etc. Not being a huge one for pouring over the lyrics and mythology of albums, I can't say how strong the concept is, but you do notice thematic coherence.

Initially I was planning on giving this album 4/5, but on second listen I marked down many songs which I liked...ones that hadn't really seemed particularly noteworthy on first listen. In other words, the album grew on me second time around, and I'd say it definitely has repeat listen value.

The best song (on second listen):

Am I very wrong? - piano and harpsichord intro, followed by pleasant singing. Nice and cool piano melody at the start. Acoustic guitar, nice horn and backing singing. Some 'sticky' percussion, if I can read my notes properly here.

Next best songs (on second listen):

In the wilderness - piano, violins, cello (?), pretty melody/chorus. Gets more rock with the drum later. Piano outro.

One day - acoustic guitar, violins, then gets stronger. A hooky, melodic song, in a Broadway musical kind of way (uplifting chorus etc.). Piano, nice brass, cello and backing vocals.

Window - piano, acoustic guitar, pretty horn, pleasant singing and a nice chorus. Pretty violins, backing vocals. A pretty, pleasant song.

Best of the rest (on second listen):

In the beginning - spacey synthesiser intro, then bassy track (double bass?) with acoustic guitar. Piano, poetic lyrics, electric lead guitar, wide stereo type vocals which are catchy.

The serpent - instrumental preamble (bongos, acoustic guitar then electric guitar) then a theologically 'interesting' story covering, in part, how women are "the vessel of Satan's hold". 'Sticky' percussion, backing vocals.

In hiding - nice acoustic guitar strumming and singing. Piano, pleasant singing and violins. Backing vocals have that touch of the Bee Gees I mentioned earlier. Pleasant chorus.

The rest:

Where the sour turns to sweet - found the lyrics to the album opener sappy but parts of it are pretty enough. Simple intro - a vocal invitation (found that lyric daggy), finger clicks, brass, piano, then strings (violins) and choral singing.

Fireside song - prelude, then pleasant music. Acoustic guitar, violins, nice vocals but more sappy lyrics. Harmonies.

The conquerer - the intro carries the melody from the previous track ("In the wilderness") goes into something new. Piano...a little bit funky and rock. Acoustic guitar. Tambourine, nce backing vocals.

In limbo - harpsichord and piano at the start, then the piano becomes stronger. Good horn, acoustic guitar note plucking, tambourine. Backing vocals, hand claps.

Silent sun - piano, sort of 1960s pop harmonising a la the Bee Gees. Violins, acoustic guitar.

A place to call my own - quiet piano and vocal song. Violins, horns, backing vocals.

Selected bonus tracks:

A winters tale - nice track...touch of the Righteous Brothers to it.

She is beautiful - another nice track.

Patricia - an instrumental version of "Am I very wrong?"

One-eyed hound - has Hendrix type licks on it. Cool backing vocals. Good song.

Recommendations from around this time:

Cream - Wheels of fire Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention - Freak out! The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground Bee Gees - (I don't know any of their studio albums...try something from before this Genesis release).

I really like this album! As many reviewers have said, From Genesis To Revelation can't be compared to the majesty or complexity of the band's later works but it's still very enjoyable. Musically, it's best described as psychedelic pop. I can acknowledge some similarities to Moody Blues and early Bee Gees.

It was recorded in 1968 and I must say that it wasn't at all groundbreaking at the time, though the lyrics are different and quite interesting. The boys already had a knack for melody too and the strings and horns, as well as backing vocals bring out a nice relaxing mood. I also love the piano and organ work.

Overall, this release is loosely based on the bible, and the songs are sequenced together like a concept album, with no gaps in between the tracks. Over the years, I've come to feel that everything here is very good but the most delightful moments are; Fireside Song, The Serpent, The Conqueror, Window and Silent Sun.

I recently played this early one morining and it made me feel extremely mellow for the rest of the day, so it has a certain power to it. I think it should be in every Genesis fan collection. The bonus cd is an extra plus, very nice to hear a bunch of teenagers taking their first steps to stardom.

If you can enjoy Piper at the Gates of Dawn and eponymous debuts from Yes, Fairport Convention, Caravan etc without undue critical comparison with later masterpieces, do give it a go. Of course, the bags of talent these lads had would be shining through full blast by their next release. Three stars.

While it is possible to hear the great band that is buried in this release, it is still pretty murky. FROM GENESIS TO REVELATION is pretty much a collection of average to below average late- 60s pop and folky songs. (I only have the original so I can't speak about the bonus cuts). Are there guitars in this somewhere? They seem to be buried way back in the final mix of the songs. This sounds exactly like the "demo" album that is basically was. Below average production, short half-finished concepts.....But Genesis did manage to outlast this mess and go on to much better things, as we know. The difference between FROM GENESIS TO REVELATION and their next record, TRESPASS is amazing. What progress! I suppose "The Conquerer" makes this at least a 2 star recording. Barely.

A very ambitious and original debut. This album has some things in common with their later work, as well as with the subsequent releases, but in overall sound is unique to their canon. I like both the folky sides of it like "In Hiding" and "Fireside Song" and the more dark groove- garage rock of "In The Beginning" and "The Serpent." The playing in general offers only a hint of what they could do later, but Peter Gabriel's voice is already awakeningly emotive. The band is actually very good at playing these types of songs at this point, and they come together with the vocals to make pure magic in numerous places, especially in "In the Beginning" during the part where Peter Gabriel sings "That is the sound of a newborn world/and the light from the curious sky/It has begun/You're in the hands of destiny." It's very intriguing to hear a concept album about creation that references things from The Bible to romantic love to the crusades to reincarnation. There's even what I perceive to be a few anti-establishment lines in the song "Am I Very Wrong?" when Peter sings about "the curse of the happiness machine." They weren't yet virtuosos, but Tony Banks plays competantly, and Mike Rutherford's bass is very pronounced and has a very good tone. A lot of people complain about the string section and brass ruining the songs, but I think they actually helped some of them: I cannot imagine "In Limbo" or "Where the Sour Turns To Sweet" without their heralding counterparts. Maybe they could have been used on less of the songs, though. The drumming of Chris Stewart and John Silver is more rooted in 60's rock and pop than what you may be used to hearing in Genesis music, but I get a lot out of the snare fills in "The Serpent", personally. And Anthony Phillips is a great guitarist, but his electric playing is so buried in the mix it's almost not even noticable on this album. I wouldn't call From Genesis To Revelation an absolute masterpiece, but it is much better than often given credit for, and it has a nice song order flow that makes it very easy to listen to.

Moody Blues?

"From Genesis to Revelation" is an album that is overlooked even by members of Genesis, and it is not hard to see why. This here sounds more like a proto-prog album from those produced in 60´s years (Moody Blues come to mind) than a real wonderful album of this band. It is known that the true progressive career of Genesis begins with the next album, the beautiful "Trespass" , but if you want to risk, listen to this album Mood ... oh, no, Genesis!

Tracks to highlight? No! This album is bad from start to finish, there is no saying that the '80s albums are worse ! (I need to hear "Calling all stations" to see if this is really the worst album of Genesis)

Note: There are a few sparse clues of progressive rock, but the sound here is as bittersweet as anything existing in this world!

1 star for this production. But calm down people because the real Genesis will emerge even ... !

"That is the sound of the new-born world and a light from the curious sky. It has begun! You're in the hands of DES-STI-INY!" And it's not so much a matter of the lyrics as it is a matter of the voice.

I know that this album is not a favorite of lots of people. Maybe it's because it does not sound prog the way, say, "Trespass" does. In other words, it does not sound prog at all. But it does. You have a string and brass orchestra and the occasional use of modulation (which is, actually, so 60's pop.) Okay, maybe the strings don't sound quite like Robert Kirby's strings on "Five Leaves Left" (because of the music itself) or the Mellotron (which is not very necessary), but still this is very nice. Also, the album is a concept album about the creation of earth and man (come to think of that.) In addition to that, Peter Gabriel's melodic pop sensibilities are present, so it would be nearly impossible for an average prog-rock listener not to sing along with that guy. Plus, there are plenty of emotional sequences ('Am I Very Wrong'), some of which are just deeply moving ('Fireside Song', 'In Hiding' (yeah, go ahead, sue me.)) There is something very British about some of the melodies ('In Hiding', 'Am I Very Wrong.') Maybe it's because some of those songs sound really folky.

I forgot to mention one more thing: just like about any other Genesis record, this one will take time to be fully appreciated. I think that is the reason so many prog listeners give up on it, along with the fact that it sounds a lot like Motownesque psych-pop-rock. As for me, I'm just cool with that. I think their take on that mix of old genres sounds truly decent. Just give it more time, as much time as you need, and you will probably get a real kick out of it. Who would know that I would soon forget about the silliness of the lyrics of 'The Serpent' ("Man is wonderful, very wonderful; look at him. Beware the future!") and finally enjoy Peter's vocal melodies and the way they are sung. "Selling England by the Pound" took me about two or two-and-a-half years to be appreciated. Ditto for "Nursery Cryme." But that's all because I ran out of hope for these. This album took only a month. Insane, huh?

You might ask me: "Why in the world did you give 'The Silent Sun', a song that sounds so basic, so simplistic, so derivative, four stars? Are you insane?" For all I know, I'm not insane enough to deny the fact that this is a very catchy song, adequately built, that is, without any excesses. But does the band underpay on it? Maybe a little. But still, this is a good song. I like Gabriel's melodies, and I see no reason why I should not sing the chorus along with the band. I think it's really nice. I'm trying to write a good-enough song, but I think I haven't written one yet, one quite like this one.

As for the tracks that did not work for me, I don't really want to discuss them. Hear them for yourselves and make your own conclusions about them.

'Where the Sour Turns to Sweet' - ****

'In the Beginning' - ****

'Fireside Song' - **** (was a five once)

'The Serpent' - ****

'Am I Very Wrong?' - ****

'In the Wilderness' - ****

'The Conqueror' - **

'In Hiding' - **** (also could have been a five)

'One Day' - ****

'Window' - *

'In Limbo' - ****

'The Silent Sun' - ****

'A Place To Call My Own' - ***

Bonus tracks:

'The Silent Sun' - ****

'That's Me' - *

'A Winter's Tale' - *

'One-Eyed Hound' - **

Although many die-hard proggers don't even count this as part of the "splendid" Gabriel era, it is oh so more than meets the ear. My usual way of rating things is giving each track up to two points, finding a fraction, and rounding it to the nearest fifth. Since I'm assuming everyone knows about how this album came to be, let's begin.

Where the Sour Turn the Sweet is like a PG rated showtune. Surprisingly, it works well enough. One point.

In the Beginning is a lot like "The Knife" in style. I wouldn't say it is as good, but it has guts. Two points.

Fireside Song is comforting, but a little sappy. Maybe it's the strings. One point.

I like that The Serpent is a combination of the future ("Twilight Alehouse") and the past ("She is Beautiful"). I also like that it can be Christian rock without saying "God is great, everything else sucks". Two points.

Am I Very Wrong is beautiful transition from "The Silent Sun" to "Stagnation". Two very different songs, but it works here. Two Points.

In the Wilderness is another ancestor of "The Knife". It is also one of the few songs Tony Banks likes from this album. Two Points.

The Conqueror opens up side two for us nicely. It's just... sassy... Two points.

In Hiding is based off of one of the first demo tracks in 1967, "Patricia". I love both. It makes no sense lyrically, but it is still beautiful. Yeah, Peter Gabriel, go take off your face clothes. (*Sniff*) Two Points.

One Day comes up as another Broadway showtune, but it has a charm at the beginning that does not wear off, only change form. Two points.

Window is a very quiet tune, but it helps go to sleep without being boring. One point.

In Limbo is a very uplifting little ditty. The key gets a little too high for Gabriel's vocal chords, but it's overall okay. One point.

The Silent Sun may be a generic Bee Gees rip-off, but it sounds so sincere you might as well melt in the love. One point.

A Place to Call my Own is apparently about being born. Since this was supposed to be longer originally and the album started as a concept album about the Bible, I assume it was about the birth of Jesus. Whatever it discusses, it ends leaving you wanting more, and in a good way. One point (Two if it were longer...)

In all, it's 20/26, which is about 77%. So, four stars it is, for the pop and the prog. For those who despise this album, listen to In the Beginning, The Conqueror, or In the Wilderness. This is truly the seed of The Knife and Stagnation, and most artsy fartsy music lovers out there love those. Give it a try. You'll be surprised.

I really like this album. I know its not considered up their with their later works, but I find it more listenable than any other of their albums. I have both the record and later the cd version with the bonus tracks. I really wish Genesis had continued with this sound, because it has much more soul and feel to it than anything they released thereafter. I'm not sure it fits into the classic progressive sound that later made Genesis famous, but if this were not looked at purely for its progressive elements and solely as a work of art, it would easily be their most artistic effort. However, since we must consider the progressive elements, I can not give this five stars as I would otherwise be tempted to do. Nor can I say its an essential addition to any prog rock music collection, because of the lack of prog, but it is great rock music and probably their best theme album in terms of setting a mood of Genesis and creation in a purely artistic sense.

Oh, you little poor, quite underrated thing. I love you. You can not be compared with later Genesis albums, but you have your own magic. I have a beautiful memories with you. It was last spring, when the nature was slowly beginning to wake up, but very slowly. I was riding the bike every day, riding through beautiful places, watching the first blossoms blooming, first leaves appearing and last rests of snow melting. I was listening to you and enjoying that time. I confess, I ignored most of your lyrics, but I loved the fragile music. Fragile like the first leaves, that could be destroyes by the frost the next day. Listening to Fireside song I saw the sun reflecting in the stream. I was sitting on the edge of a rock and I was listening to Am I Very Wrong, thinking about the past. In the wilderness gave me taste to discover new places. On my beloved ruined castle I was listening to The Conqueror and got middle-age mood. In hiding...I saw lots of badger's, foxes' and mouse's holes...they were hiding like me in my room sometimes. Silent Sun was like love song of that fresh, new spring. And I was remembering the past winter listening to A winter's Tale.

I love you for one hated thing as well, for your beautiful fiddlesticks. So I was quite sentimental this time. I'll never forget you, my dear. 4/5

Today's task was to listen carefully to my two favourite progressive rock band's first albums, both from 1969. Of course I am talking about Genesis and Yes. I began with Genesis, which I hold as the little better of those two combatants. I know this was Genesis so I thought this must be underrated. After listening I agree. This is not so good. We are fastidious about Genesis. After this record I wonder, how was it possible to change so much to next marvelous album Trespass? Ok the guy here were very young, not even twenty years old and they hadn't found their style yet. From Genesis to Revelation was recorded the autumn 1968 and it feautures Peter Gabriel, Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford, Anthony Phillips (guitar) and John Silver (drums). A bunch of good lads.

This record has two good things. First I mention the vocals. This really shows how competent Peter Gabriel was as a singer. He charms us for example in "In the beginning", "Fireside song", "The Serpent" and "Am I very wrong". In some of the first songs there are also great organ work with a groovy feeling. "In the beginning" is dark och little progressive ? a good song. The best song is "The Serpent". That is a really good track. They could have reworked it and used it again later in their career. This is a rich song with great guitar work and also fascinating lyrics. This song sounds like Genesis.

Besides that this record is very boring. If you want to listen to this, stop after the first five songs, the rest are very bad. With very simple compositions in pop style and terrible string arrangements this record deserves a place in the shadows. I say it again, the worst with this record is the strings arrangements, they are repulsive and destroy what had been a little better without them. I recommend you to enjoy "The Serpent" and Peter Gabriel's wonderful voice and let us all question how Genesis could change so much. Praise the fact that this band took another direction with their music!

Here is the debut of one of the best and most inventive Prog Rock bands to come out of Britain in the late 1960's and early 1970's. I'm of course talking about Genesis. This debut doesn't really sound like Genesis and what they would eventually become but I feel it's still a good listen. But remember that if you purchase this album the royalties go to John King(no!!!!!!!!) not Genesis so you aren't really helping the band but I still suggest buying it and giving it a listen. One thing about this album that Genesis was unaware of was that the producer Jonathan King decided to add strings to the album without the band's knowledge (this ticked them off!! they would eventually leave and get signed by Charisma and Atlantic). Laughing out loud(hahaha) the strings actually give the songs some added color and I love that(no other album does this!!!) They since have really disowned the album. Tony Banks says that Trespass was the first proper Genesis album(but I happen to disagree with him). There is still some fine songs on here.To me it sounds a little like the Moody Blues and the Bee Gees with a young Peter Gabriel singing(that can't be bad). Peter actually delivers and sings very well on this album(I think he was 19 when this came out). The whole band was barely out of school when this was recorded and released. The line-up consisted of Peter Gabriel, Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford, Anthony Phillips and a few different drummers who are rather forgettable(hate to say it though). This was before Phil and Steve joined the band. For teenagers to create something like this is really mind-baffling though the songs are fairly simple. I recommend giving it a listen if you're a Genesis fan who isn't familiar with it. Here is the album and what I like and don't really like about it.

Here is the track listing for From Genesis to Revelation:

1. Where The Sour Turns To Sweet-This song is a sweet little ballady type and it's really good in my opinion though it's not really up to par from what Genesis would eventually become. 8/10

2. In The Beginning- I like this one, it sounds rather 1960ish but it's still a good listen. "It has begun, you're in the hands of destiny". Genesis has begun and you better be ready. 8/10

3. Fireside Song- I love this piece it's a sweet delicate sounding ballad(yes I love ballads, nothing wrong with that!!!). Up to this point it's my favorite piece on the album. 9/10

4. The Serpent- I like the guitar from Anthony on this song, it's probably the most rocking song on here so it gets a thumbs up from me. "Creator made the serpent wise, evil and his tempting eyes"(wow!!! what lyrics) 10/10

5. Am I Very Wrong?- This again slows things down when compared to "The Serpent" and it's a decent piece just not really crazy about it. 7/10

6. In The Wilderness-This is another piece from this album that I love quite a bit towards the end it starts to sound like a proper Genesis tune, listen to that piano from Tony enough to send chills down your spine(and they are teenagers for christ sake!!). 10/10

7. The Conqueror-This song is rather repetitive and somewhat annoying but decent.6/10

8. In Hiding-This is yet another ballad type song on here, if you want to listen to ballads give it a listen if you don't stay away.7/10

9. One Day- I like it, it's decent but really nothing special.7/10

10. Window-This is another great song from this debut, it kind of reminds me of The Lamia(say what???). The soft delicate vocals from Peter are spot on and it's perfectly delivered pop song. 10/10

11. In Limbo- Decent piece just never really been too crazy about it.7/10

12. Silent Sun- This is another great song from this album it was released as a single and it's yet again another great pop tune.10/10

13. A Place To Call My Own- Short but probably the most Proggy song on here(huh??what?? really??). Yes, no joking.10/10

Overall this album gets a 109/130 which translates to 54 out of 65(f*** math, I hate it). Hell, I think it's around a four star recording not anything close to their later recordings but still a good listen in my opinion. However, because it pales in comparison I will give it 3 stars! Peace out!!!!!

Not as bad as you think!

Many people will say that this album is not well done or is just not worth listening to, but what they might not realize is that this album is the 'beginning' of Genesis. Their cheesy 3 min songs are more than meets the ear. The lyrics are poetic and though the songs aren't any Suppers Ready, for what they are, they are catchy and fun. They have a 60's nostalgic feel that kind of makes the heart melt. And because its Peter Gabriel, it just puts a smile on your face to hear the young, kind of out of tune part of him.

I am giving this album 4 solid stars because it is seriously a classic to this 3 decade band. Its nice to look at all aspects of Genesis, this is including the 90's point of view. Though this album had little influence on their future albums, it is still a piece of history in the Genesis music discography.

For the purposes of this review I have stuck to the original recording and not to the extended release with bonus tracks. This is very much lighter fare to later Genesis albums and I would suggest that this is very much psychadelic pop music for the time period of the release. It isn't hard to recognise Peter Gabriel's voice here and that is a good thing. I do hear strains of the Genesis to come in "When the Sour turns to Sweet", "Am I very Wrong" and "In the Wilderness". This is purely pleasant music without any sharp edges and I wonder what it would have sounded like had Collins and Hackett been members from the beginning instead of Silver and Phillips, not that I can fault the latter two for their performance in what this is. It's bubbly stuff and one has to remember that these were essentially schoolboys when this was released. Those wondering if the intelligence and the maturity lyrically and musically that made up later Genesis works is here are looking in the wrong place. This isn't a poor album at what it attempts to do but there is nothing seperating it from similar works of the time. It is very competent considering the ages of the band members and as an airy psychadelic pop music album. I would rate this to be an album for Genesis completionists as it holds no other importance to the world of prog rock music and thus I award 2 stars. It won't hurt you but it won't make you jump up and down in ecstacy either.

Anyone who sees this review will think I'm being way too generous with 5 stars, but the truth is I really do love it! "Trespass" (Genesis' next offering) is my all-time favourite album - it has a very live and rough quality with some great progressive folky themes, and I think all that "From Genesis To Revelation" is missing is the strong progressive feel. I suppose that this 2-album era really clicks with me, for some reason. It feels much more youthful and immature (in a good way) than something like "Nursery Cryme" from the classic era. For most other bands, it would probably be my favourite album released by them, but Genesis set the bar very high, so only about my 6th favourite Genesis release.

I love Anthony Phillip's guitar on this album, especially in songs such as "Am I Very Wrong?", where he holds onto a chord and just changes the bass note (as heard later on his solo albums). Tony Banks does some pretty basic but effective piano playing throughout (e.g. "Where The Sour Turns To Sweet" and "A Place To Call My Own"), with a great sort of muffled sound. Gabriel's vocals are a little inconsistent in places (for example, "Window" and "One Day" are more weak than quiet), but when it's good, it's excellent! On the other hand, the drumming by John Silver is pretty basic overall, although there are some nice surprises. Then the orchestration...

Most people are put off by Jon King's added orchestration (rightly so). The first 3 tracks have some of the worst strings on the album, but it gets better (sort of). Songs like "A Place To Call My Own" and one of my favourites of all-time "In The Wilderness" work very well. I do think that the orchestration ruins "In Limbo" however, coming in way too loudly in the intro (over the piano). Another "grey area" for me, is some of the backing vocals. Over time, I have grown to like them, but I think the others should have some singing lessons or something...

Of course, these are just the things I don't like on the album. Most of the songs are brilliant in my opinion, it has a nice concept of the Bible throughout but doesn't keep too strongly to it, - an advantage for me as it would become too laboured/serious for me - and quite a mysterious atmosphere paired with the cover and inside doodles outlining each song. Anyone thinking it's just a black cover is wrong, even that subtle gothic typeface in the top corner gives it a different impression to albums like "Godbluff" or "Metallica". Gabriel has some great lyrics and melodies in here, and quite adventurous for a debut from some teenage private school boys!

A+ (A- as a prog rock album): Don't get me wrong, I think I'm in love...

Where The Sour Turns To Sweet: ***** In The Beginning: ***** Fireside Song: **** The Serpent: ***** Am I Very Wrong?: ***** In The Wilderness: ****** (yes, 6 stars :P) The Conqueror: ***** In Hiding: ***** One Day: ***** Window: **** In Limbo: **** The Silent Sun: **** A Place To Call My Own: *****

I think Genesis debut is a pleasant album. The young group had interesting rock songs, nothing really great or very relevant, but the good tracks, like The Serpent and Am I Very Wrong, are far better than most of A Trick of The Tail songs and this album is much more impressive than the high rated post-Gabriel Genesis era. It's much more funnier to watch an amateur band performing three or four good track before grow up and turn into masters than listen to a full album of prog monsters like Tony Banks, Steve Hacket and Phil Collins trying to do something, a single good track inspired in their own previous works, but not successful, leaving everything behind and shapeshifting their own sound to something for the masses. From Genesis to Revelation is not a progressive rock album at all. Is leaded by pop/melodic rock ballads, very similar to some of Peter Gabriel's solo works in my point of view. I notice a certain mainstream psychedelia touch in tracks like In The Beggining. That's not bad, I like this. It's very funny to listen to the teenager Peter Gabriel singins songs like this, about to become a symphonic prog rock reference. Listening carefully, you will notice some naive symphonic sounding even in the background of the mainstream ballads here. Of course, this album have poor moments, a lot of them. But it's not terrific. Just boring, like The Conqueror (the vocal line reminds me of Oasis, or probably Beatles). From Genesis To Revelarion sounds much more like an oldschool Crossover Prog. Short and premature songs, but fine. The enjoyment I had listening this are superior than listening to most of Barclay James Harvest.

2.3 Stars. A prog band trapped in a pop cage, but they could still sing their prog

So here is the debut album of a band that would become a prog (and later on pop) legend, although when listening to this album for the first time it's pretty difficult to see that potential. The music found here is best described as chamber pop/rock which sticks to fairly simple and short song structures. There are no bad songs here (although the single "Silent Sun" is too sickly sweet for my taste) and almost everything here are either sweet and pretty ballads or upbeat catchy rock or something in-between.

So from this description it's no surprise that this album is getting the 2 star treatment, because musically there is (almost) no prog to be found. This is not because the band was not interested in complex music, but their producer Jonathan King was able to stop anything complex getting though. Considering the age and experience of the band at the time they couldn't fight back. We can't be too harsh with Mr King, because otherwise the band would probably have never got the break they needed.

The only aspect of this album that belongs to the prog world is the lyrics, which are surprisingly imaginative and mature. The lyrics are full of well thought out biblical imagery that could inspire many a prog/psychedelic band to come up with some inspired music to match the inspired lyrics. This is the only true hint that the band were capable of producing songs and albums such as Supper's Ready and The Lamb, not though their musical talents but though their wild imagination.

I can't be bothered to go to cover the 13 songs present, they are all nice and listenable, but most of them make no impact on me and I forget them instantly. The only 2 songs that I can remember afterwards are "Where the Sour Turns to Sweet" and "The Serpent". The first song is IMO the best of the pop songs with its very cute versus and extremely catchy and upbeat chorus. "The Serpent" is one of the most complex (it contains a decent intro that is separate to the rest of the song) and hardest hitting songs. There is some genially interesting lyrics about the snake and the downfall of mankind so for me this my favourite song on the album.

The album was a flop (I'm sure the non-existent album art didn't help) which was probably the best thing that could have happened to the band. It gave them the confidence to give Mr King the boot and become independent. So a strong 2 stars, but it definitely doesn't deserve any more.

Not the best start for a band that would become one of the greatest prog rock acts. It's not terrible, it just isn't very memorable. It sounds like other stuff that had come before it (Moody Blues, Bee Gees). This is a pop album and not progressive. The band were supposedly told to write songs loosely based on the bible, and in that case it is not bad. It could've been a lot worse.

That being said, it is not all mediocre. There are some songs that I like a lot. For example, "The Serpent", "In The Wilderness", and "In Hiding" are good songs. "The Serpent" gives a glimpse of what was to come and "In The Wilderness" and "In Hiding" are enjoyable pop songs. The entire album seems to be of a certain time period and has not aged well.

Many refer to Trespass as being their real first album because it has more sophisticated music, also because it is a much better record. From Genesis to Revelation is for the curious listener; it holds a significant historical value. As a record though, it fails to keep the listener's attention. Also, if you buy this album, the money goes to Jonathan King and not the band Genesis. Take from that what you will.

In a way GENESIS started out as they would end, namely being a pop band that blended in with the style of the day. Although I have a soft spot for great bands who had a quirky debut, I have to say that the debut album by GENESIS is the perfect representation of my hit / miss relationship with this band throughout their entire career. Of all the most popular progressive rock bands to have emerged throughout the days, it is GENESIS that I probably like the least in terms of total output in their discography. Although I wholeheartedly admit they have produced some amazing masterpieces, I find many of even their most revered albums to be lukewarm in my world. I think i'm in the majority with this one however.

Although they had their symphonic tendencies in play with their debut album FROM GENESIS TO REVELATION, it is clear that this was a symphonic pop band at this point. As a lover of pop music that is not what bothers me with this release. What truly bugs me the most about this first outing is simply the songs are BORING! The fact that Peter Gabriel, Banks, Phillips, Rutherfield and Silver would go on to anything great totally eludes the listener at this point. I mean even in the world of pop music of 1969 this is weak! The melodies aren't melodic enough. The symphonics aren't symphonic enough. Everything just seems like amateur hour. And so it is here.

It's obvious why this one wants to be forgotten and I am in the camp where I find this extremely boring despite my eclectic nature but there is little on here to warrant interest other than the historical interpretation of a famous band and their origins. There really is no standout track and although I have tried to find some redeeming value in this, I utterly fail every time. In the case of GENESIS I can only recommend totally skipping this debut and heading to the second release "Trespass" which is hard to believe that it is performed by the same band. If you want symphonic prog from the 60s, skip this and head straight to the Moody Blues. Yawn!

Review Nº 12

'From Genesis To Revelation' is the debut studio album by Genesis and was released in 1969. It was produced by Jonathan King, who discovered them in 1967 while they were pupils at the Charterhouse School. Despite be their first work, in some Genesis' catalogs, this debut album doesn't appear as part of the official group's discography.

The original line up of Genesis consisted of Peter Gabriel, Anthony Phillips, Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford, without any drummer. When their demo tapes caught the attention of King, with the addition of Chris Stewart on drums a schoolmate of them, they recorded their first single 'The Silent Sun'. 'From Genesis To Revelation' was issued several months later, in the same year.

'From Genesis To Revelation' has thirteen tracks. All songs were written by Gabriel, Phillips, Banks and Rutherford. The first track 'Where The Sour Turns To Sweet' is a very interesting song and, in my humble opinion, is one of the best and one of the few really good songs on the album. We can even say that this song has the seeds of what will be the future of their musical sound. The second track 'In The Beginning' isn't really a bad track. It's a nice rock song with some interesting musical parts. However, the sound quality of the song is a little bit poor and the developing of the song isn't particularly brilliant. The third track 'Fireside Song' represents also, in my humble opinion, one of the best musical moments on the album. It's a very beautiful song, very pleasant and nice to listen to. I particularly like the piano parts and the acoustic passages. Even the orchestra sounds beautifully on the song. The fourth track 'The Serpent' starts quiet and very well, with its bass line, good drumming and beautiful acoustic parts. However, it sounds too much to the 60's and makes me remember strongly The Beatles and The Doors. It's not a bad song but I can't see anything special on it. The fifth track 'Am I Very Wrong?' is one of the highlights of the album. It's a very good song with beautiful musical passages. The piano parts are great and very pretty to listen to, and they can move with me. This song has also one of the best vocal performances on the album and shows the real skills of Gabriel as a singer. The sixth track 'In The Wilderness' represents also, for me, another highlight on the album. This is a very beautiful song with excellent orchestration. The strings parts and the piano solo are very nice and bring to the song a very special touch. It's also a song with a brilliant vocal performance by Gabriel. The seventh track 'The Conqueror' is a song that opens with a guitar repeating the main theme of 'In The Wilderness'. It has some nice acoustic and piano parts but the harmony isn't particularly brilliant. In reality, this is a weak song, a little bit repetitive, and with nothing special on it. The eighth track 'In Hiding' is another weak song. Unfortunately, it has the same problems of the most of the songs on the album. It's also a repetitive song and where the theme doesn't develop very well. The Gabriel's voice sounds nice, but the rest of the song doesn't deserve more attention. The ninth track 'One Day' is fortunately better than 'The Conqueror' and 'The Hiding', are. This is a very nice song where all the musical instruments are performed nicely, and especially the piano and the bass parts are very good. The tenth track 'Window' is unfortunately another non memorable song. It has some interesting musical parts like the acoustic and piano parts, which are very pleasant to listen to, but only that is interesting. The rest of the song isn't also particularly brilliant. The eleventh track 'In Limbo' is another perfectly vulgar song, without any musical idea and that sounds too much to the 60's. It's another song with anything special on it. This is probably my less favourite song on the album. The twelfth track 'Silent Sun', as I wrote above, was released as the debut single of the band. So, we can say that it represents the beginning of all. Musically, we can say that it's a fusion between folk and pop rock with the heavy use of orchestral strings. Personally, I must confess that I like particularly of this song and it represents, for me, another highlight on the album. The thirteenth track 'A Place To Call My Own' is a very short track. It isn't also, in my humble opinion, a brilliant song. However, it has very nice performances by Gabriel and Banks, which shows their real musical talents.

Conclusion: I'm a big Genesis fan, and for me, Genesis is one of the best progressive bands ever, and is also my favourite progressive band too. Despite, 'From Genesis To Revelation' have some real very good songs like 'Where The Sour Turns Sweet', 'Fireside Song', 'Am I Very Wrong?', 'In The Wilderness', 'One Day' and 'Silent Sun', the album is in general very weak. The problem of this album is that it sounds like more an album of the 60's, and its music has more in common with the Moody Blues and the early Bee Gees, than the future sound of Genesis as a progressive group, especially if we compare it with their second studio album 'Trespass', released only one year later. So, despite this debut be not properly a bad album, it has nothing to do with the great and influential prog band as Genesis are.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

Different from later Genesis, but still quality tunesmiths.

Their first album sounds a lot different from the lengthy thundering epics Genesis would produce as early as their second album (Trespass). Here the songs are shorter and structured more like (then-) mainstream radio tunes. Genesis made this album when they were very young (just after writing their 'A' levels!) without having ever toured, often coming up with the songs in the studio. Their chops are not yet developed, and the songs are not in any way complex. However, they have a charm to them. Gabriel and Anthony Phillips are the members who stand out the most on this recording, as the main singers, guitar players (many of the songs are structured around acoustic guitars) and songwriters, although Rutherford and Banks also helped compose some of the tunes. I actually think this album is more successful (on its own terms) than Trespass. Even though that second album is a lot more ambitious, with more complex progressive compositions, there are also a number of sections on that album which are just not sufficiently musical. But on "Revelation" every song is quite pleasant and listenable, even if some of the songs are somewhat forgettable. But there are also a number of very memorable songs. I think the opener, "Where the Sour Turns to Sweet" is a fantastic song. It has so much potential as a song - I still come back to this song often. But the rest of the album contains a lot of great songs too, including "In the beginning", "Am I very wrong?", "Silent Sun", and the wonderful closer, "A Place to Call my Own". The album in imbued with a great vibe. It is not four-star material, though, but one can hear the song-writing talent bubbling under the surface here. I give this album 6.8 out of 10 on my 10-point scale, which is the same I give to Trespass, placing this in the mid 3 PA stars realm.

Every thing has a beginning and here is the genesis of Genesis. "From Genesis to Revelation" suffers bad production from the hands of Bee Gees producer Jonathan King. The symphonic strings are a hindrance at times but certainly make this one of a kind as far as Genesis is concerned. The musicianship is good enough from Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford. Peter Gabriel shows the promise of things to come with some wonderful vocals throughout. The first half is better than the rest with class acts like Fireside Song and The Serpent. Then the orchestra becomes all consuming and swallows the songs whole towards the end. By the time The Window is finished I have all but lost interest as it is getting rather bland. The trumpet on In Limbo rekindles my interest but it is a slog to get through this rather dated trippy album.

There are some dark moments, some weird moments, some good melodies and some mediocre moments, but overall the album gels together well enough. It is more of a curio for those who wish to delve into the early years of the band. A bit like listening to The Golliwogs prior to the glory days of Creedence Clearwater Revival, or listening to The Murray Men before The Beatles. A nice piece of archival music for the connoisseur but little else. As a massive Genesis fanatic it was inevitable I would get around to this album, which is marginally better than the troubled 80s era, but it has no chance against the 70s albums of Genesis that are simply masterpieces.

#13 Review

This is where it all started, the band released this album in 1969 but it probably started production when the band conformed in 1967, already over 18 years old the members of the band where when the ablum released, composed of Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford, Peter Gabriel, Anthony Philips and Chris Stewart (Drums).

I really don't have that much to say on this album, so i'll get into reviewing the songs as always.

1.- Where the Sour Turns to Sweet 5/10 I dig the style on this one, but the song really falls short and it never gives that "moment", it's like a joke that lacks the "punch-line". Still a nice and interesting rythm to start but this is not near what the band will accomplish one year later.

2.- In the Beginning 4/10 Another nice rythm, but this song shows even more that early "garage-made" album quality sound. It feels more repetitive than the last one and it gets boring quickly.

3.- Fireside Song 6/10 Tony Banks showing himself as the heart of the band here, this song feels like a nice departure from the last 2, it's really pretty and feels warm... but gets repetitive as well.

4.- The Serpent 5/10 All instruments are making a bigger presence here, but the song still gets repetitive quick, specially when the instruments stop.

5.- Am I Very Wrong 7/10 The flute appears here, and the atmosphere of this song makes it feel closer to the next Genesis album, this is the best song so far, just the voices need a little more polish... as well as the sound, obviously.

6.- In the Wilderness 5/10 Another song that feels warm and nostalgic, but this song it's mostly made by the chorus, so it gets repetitive as well, the piano ending adds something a little special.

7.- The Conqueror 4/10 I expected this song to be darker judging by the intro, but it got like any other average song from this album. Too repetitive near the end, almost annoying. The guitar ending saves this song from being a 3/10.

8.- In Hiding 6/10 I like the lyrics and what Tony Banks does here, this is another song that's near Trespass, but not quite.

9.- One Day 8/10 What i like in this album it's done in this song, Piano, Violin, Trumpets and a choir in the back, it's another pretty song with nice lyrics. This should be the song that guided this album, it marks what the album should've been in its entirety.

10.- Window 6/10 This song gets increasingly better, the mood is clearly set but i can feel the lyrics through the music, really well done, a little repetitive tho.

11.- In Limbo 5/10 Another song that i expected to get darker for some reason, and also more atmospheric, but it lost it quickly, and then when it got back to those first chords, it's already too late, the "pop" alredy kicked in. It's still not a bad song tho, just average to this album and repetitive as well (with good lyrics).

12.- The Silent Sun 4/10 Similar case as the last song, except that it's worse, like it was made from the most average parts of this album.

13.- A Place to Call my Own 6/10 1 minute with lyrics and the rest with instruments, the instrument part it's really nice and it feels like a testament to what's to come, a nice ending indeed.

13 songs and 1 stands out more and 5 others are better than average, but it has one song that almost made the top worst from the band, or it'll probably be. I give it a 55/100, better score than "Abacab" but the same amounts of stars, i think that i did a pretty fair review, it was though to make, i did this review like 3 times, the first time it was like a 40/100, the second time was a 62/100 and now i inspected it a little more (and also compared a little more with their other works) and it came out this way.

As a side note, i have heard people say that side 1 is better, but i think that both are equally enjoyable.

I love Genesis! I grew up on the Phil Collins pop-era stuff, and as I later discovered progressive music, I came to appreciate the bands earlier material. But, I'd imagine like many others, the only reason I own this, the bands 1969 debut, is simply because it's Genesis.

Not because I like it.

But honestly, I really don't have the energy to bash 'From Genesis to Revelation'. Not much, anyway. It's just so 'not my thing' that I'm really not interested. None of the songs stand out to me, and this is literally music from a bygone era. The performances are fine and all, but the compositions themselves are just so flat and lifeless. They're mostly acoustic or orchestral pop songs, very simple structures and vocal patterns, and a huge lack of drums to give the tracks any energy.

It's kind of like a cross between the Beatles and Simon & Garfunkel, but nowhere near as good as either. Again, I love Genesis! But I just really don't care for this album.

Perhaps it's the lack of Phil Collins...? Yeah! That must be it! There's a bit of Phil Collins in everyone, and Genesis without Phil Collins... is just Genesis. And that's boring! Ah well... better things are just round the corner. Watch this space...

This is essentially a bundle of demo tracks that Jonathan King had the nascent Genesis record and then, without their knowledge, tossed a load of syrupy orchestration on (as was the fashion at the time) and presented as a concept album. I want to be a little careful about what I say here because it's emerged in more recent years that King was very much not the benign, helpful starmaker that he likes to present himself as, but I want to keep this review mostly focused on the mishandling of this album rather than King's more serious crimes. (Suffice to say that it was probably a very sensible call for the gang, who were only teenage boys at the time they made this, to get as far away from King as they could.)

I can't really justify giving this album more than the absolute minimum rating for a very simple reason: it's a misrepresentation of who Genesis were even at this very early point in their development, let alone being falling far short of the standards they would later attain. As mentioned, the orchestration on this was imposed by King without the band being informed or involved, and as such doesn't reflect their musical intentions in the slightest; at its worst, it completely smothers what they were going for.

The Genesis Archive boxed set includes some of the demo tracks without the orchestra, which is far more interesting to anyone interested in exploring their pre-Trespass sound, but I can't imagine anyone putting those on regular rotation. As for this set of songs, it's some rather rudimentary psych-folk vandalised with the excessive strings. The overall effect is like going to a folk concert except an orchestra is rehearsing next door and the soundproofing really isn't up to scratch. Avoid, avoid, avoid, and particularly avoid the various poorly-mastered CD knock-offs that circulate.

Genesis debut album (1969) has taken inspiration from the Bible, thanks to the producer J. King. It is an immature and very pretentious album in music and lyrics, but full of creativity. It takes inspiration from pop (Beatles, Kinks, Rolling Stones), orchestral songs (50s style), psychedelic rock (Pink Floyd), classic music (Procol Harum, Moody Blues), soul and blues (Cream) and, for the singing, from the voice hoarse and vibrato of Roger Chapman (Family).

"Where the Sour Turns to Sweet" is an orchestral song, 50s style; "In the Beginning" has a beat sound, quite psychedelic (inspired by Pink Floyd?). In this song Gabriel's voice emerges; "Fireside" starts with a piano intro that shows the emerging Banks talent; it's a cloying song. "The Serpent" has a good rhythm, good Rutherford bass (drums by Silver are in the backgriund) and engaged progression. May be the best song of the Lp. "Am I Very Wrong?" is another well done song, with chorus similar to Mersey beat (Kinks? Beatles?). "In the Wilderness", with the piano played by Banks closes the second side, and take the scene with the string arrangements. Too much pretentious.

Opens side B "The conqueror", beat song with an arrangement quite psychedelic but very monotonous. "In Hiding" with the voice of Gabriel in evidence, is another orchestral song, too much orchestred (if Genesis had George Martin writing the notes of the strings and producing the music...). "One Day" again starts with the string arrangement, then arrives the brass arrangement: it is a very pompous song. The last two songs have a good melody but the arrangement ruins the result. "Window" has maybe the most progressive arrangement, in the beginning, but soon become an orchestral song; "In Limbo" is a beat song, with a good piano, is one of the best tracks. "Silent Sun" is a beat song with a good melody, "A Place to Call My Own" is the last song, a romantic piano ballad.

In this record Genesis are not a progressive rock band, but a band that show a talent for the melody and the beat rhythm, with an orchestral arrangement. The talent of the musicians in playing their instrument has not yet blossomed (Anthony Phillips is wasted on this Lp, doing only rearguard work with the acoustic rhythm guitar) and the songs are limited to orchestrating a pretty melody, but they are almost always swollen, out of focus, and with the string arrangement too much in evidence. Compared to their contemporary progressive rock bands, the Genesis debut album is of much lower quality than the debut of Family, Van der Graaf Generator, King Crimson, Gentle Giant, while it is similar to that of Yes. These correspondence will be significant.

Vote of the album: 7 Two (and a half) stars.

The genesis debut album is not a bad album. In fact, I really like it. But this is not the point. In some moments (like "Silent Sun" or "In The Wilderness ") there are excellent foundations to start a musical career and develop a style. In general, however, I must admit that I prefer the first albums of Nirvana (the Prog band of that period) or the albums of The Moody Blues. Unripe and naive, "From Genesis To Revelation" is a historical album. But nothing more. And in reality, although you still listen well today, it doesn't leave a mark. "From Genesis To Revelation" is not a psychedelic album. Nor is it a baroque POP album. "From Genesis To Revelation" it's just an album produced by honest traders (this seems to be here) seventeen year olds supported in an exalted way by their professor ((poor Jonathan King ... What are you making me write ...). Yet I like it. Unfortunately, the fact that an album you like is not always synonymous with quality. Unfortunately, I must admit, "From Genesis To Revelation" is an album by a band called Genesis. Who is not even related to that of "Trespass". But after all, they were too young, inexperienced and ingenuous to do better. Anyway... These are also Genesis. Like it or not.

Bad production, poor song-writing, very weak drumming, horrific keyboards torturing the left side of the speakers, laughable orchestral arrangements on the right and a very predictable bunch of ideas were the totally forgettable presentation letter of Genesis.

Nevertheless, "From Genesis to Revelation" is an enjoyable album if you do not take it seriously and if you do not compare it with the other albums they made with Peter Gabriel on vocals. In addition, is a very funny piece of music history in the form of a commercially and artistically disastrous debut of a band destined to become one of the biggest of the 20th Century.

So if you like vintage 60's music with influences of acts like The Beatles, Love and The Moody Blues, or if you are a Genesis completionist, you can give "From Genesis to Revelation" a pair of spins. However, it is far from essential and you are not missing anything if you forget that this record even exists.

Best Tracks: The Serpent (it has some sort of catchy guitar melodies), In the Wilderness (surely very funny if you are drunk or on drugs) and One Eyed Hound (a glimpse of what this band would become in the future)

My Rating: **

Review #114

Not every Progressive Rock band started playing Progressive Rock. GENESIS' debut album was released in 1969 and the music it contains resembles a lot to bands of the moment that were flirting with Progressive Rock without going completely into the genre such as PROCOL HARUM or THE MOODY BLUES. This album is filled with very short songs with a very premature style that would be later developed in the following albums of the band.

The first line-up of GENESIS already featured Tony BANKS, Mike RUTHERFORD, Peter GABRIEL, and Anthony PHILLIPS (this last one would only remain for one more album before he left the group), so the classic line-up of GENESIS was almost complete, only after the inclusion of Phil COLLINS and Steve HACKETT in 1971 the band finally become into what I like to call the classic line-up. "From Genesis to Revelation", as I said before, is not a Progressive Rock record per se, but it is a historical and very important episode in the development of GENESIS.

Maybe they were trying to get into the Pop culture of music and they had no idea of the potential and all the magnificent records they were about to create in the next few years but this is certainly not a total waste. The songs in the album never got further than this and honestly, they are easy to forget, so it is necessary to re-discover the album once in a while to remember what was it about.

Being a big fan of the material GENESIS recorded and launched in the first half of the 1970s it is hard to assimilate this album was made by the same band, but it is important to understand this was a debut album and probably they didn't even know what they wanted to play, so for general culture or just curious of how GENESIS' career started, it could be a very nice discovery, and of course, if you enjoy the sixties' symphonic Proto-Progressive Rock bands you're going to love this record.

Genesis - From Genesis To Revelation - Music Club MCCD 133

First single "The Silent Sun" was released On February 22, 1968. Peter Gabriel had just turned eighteen, Tony, Michael and Chris were all seventeen while Anthony Phillips had just turned sixteen. so it's fair to be easy on them. This album was released in March 1969, so they were just a year older. Songs are not outstanding, but main problem is the technical side. It seems they used a four track machine, as drums, bass, guitars and keyboards are all bounced together, usually in the center, while Peter's voice, the bloody violins, the choir or other orchestral instruments (brass or a cor anglais) have their own tracks. The resulting sound is awful, rhythm track is a real mess, sometimes distorted, instruments are indistinguishable, and this even in 1969 is unacceptable. The other big con are string arrangements by Arthur Greenslade, a real pain in the arse, unbearable, haunting, a nightmare. I don't hear no Beatles in this album, I sense a lot of Bee Gees, specially in "Fireside Song".

Peter Gabriel: he's only eighteen but his voice is already incredible, wonderful, he is the big pro of the album.

Tony Banks: usually messed in the rhythm track, he makes no impression, hard to foresee what will come in the future.

Michael Rutherford: virtually unaudible in almost all the album, except for "In The Beginning", is victim of the poor mixing.

Anthony Philips: same thing as Tony Banks, hard to judge what he's playing, rarely pops out.

John Silver: the poor lad plays in eight tracks out of thirteen, he's drowned in the mix, and it's easy to understand the others don't really count on his drums.

1 Where The Sour Turns To Sweet 3:16

2 In The Beginning 3:44

3 Fireside Song 4:18

4 The Serpent 4:38

5 Am I Very Wrong? 3:31

6 In The Wilderness 3:28

7 The Conqueror 3:40

8 In Hiding 2:41

9 One Day 3:21

10 Window 3:33

11 In Limbo 3:30

12 Silent Sun 2:13

13 A Place To Call My Own 1:58

14 A Winter's Tale 3:31 (mono)

15 One Eyed Hound 2:31 (mono)

16 That's Me 2:38 (mono)

17 The Silent Sun (Mono Single Version) 2:12

1 - 74

2 - 69

3 - 71

4 - 70

5 - 67

6 - 74

7 - 69

8 - 72

9 - 73

10 - 70

11 - 74

12 - 73

13 - 72

14 - 65

15 - 64

16 - 63

17 - 72

Imho: 701/1000

'From Genesis to Revelation' is technically Genesis' debut album, though many fans, including myself, consider 'Trespass' to be the first proper album from the band, and for good reason. This album doesn't indicate the musical direction that the band would go on subsequent albums. It's important to consider that this album was released in March 1969, which was before 'In the Court of the Crimson King' was released. Progressive rock didn't exist yet, but there was proto-prog that anticipated the movement. 'From Genesis to Revelation' sounds like a 60s pop or rock album and does not capture the challenging and progressive music that the band would go on to create. Peter Gabriel's vocals are the main element of Genesis' music that has remained consistent with all of the albums that he was present on, for the most part. Most of the songs feature an orchestra arrangement. Unfortunately, the production and songwriting are poor.

The album opens with "Where the Sour Turns to Sweet." Sounds of piano and finger snaps accompany Peter Gabriel's vocals. Then an acoustic guitar and orchestra augment the overall sound. "In the Beginning" starts with a strange noise the leads into a bassline with acoustic guitar, piano, and vocals. I like the hook of the song: "You're in the hands of destiny." "Fireside Song," "Am I Very Wrong?" "Window," and "In Limbo" are, in my opinion, the weakest songs on the album. All of these songs are extremely tedious and lackluster. "The Serpent" starts with the guitar riff from "Twilight Alehouse," and is a more rocky song with a good guitar riff supported by a mimicking bassline. Jonathan Silver's drumming is interesting on this track. "In the Wilderness" is my favorite song on the album. I love the melody and orchestra which adds supports. The minor chord progression during the concluding section is haunting. "The Conqueror" starts with the same melody that ended "In the Wilderness." This song has a soul flavor to it and contains a bluesy guitar solo at the end. "In Hiding" starts with a nice waltz rhythm. This song is led by piano and the orchestra adorns the vocals. "One Day" has a nice chord progression and celebratory chorus. "Silent Sun" is a simple, Bee-Gees-style pop song. The album ends with "A Place to Call My Own" which is a short piano ballad. The ending of the song is beautiful and I wish it was prolonged.

In conclusion, 'From Genesis to Revelation' sounds more like a collection of demos than a proper studio album. Nevertheless, there are some interesting moments which elevate the album slightly from one stars to two.

Even without the virus of the incipient progressive movement inoculated in their veins, there are no major signs in "From Genesis to Revelation", their debut album, of what Genesis would come to represent for progressive rock from the later "Trespass" onwards; Rather, it is an accumulation of short songs in the style of the most classic pop rock of the late 60's, where the acoustic guitar of Anthony Phillips and the piano of Tony Banks support the rhythmic base on which most of the songs unfold, and with Peter Gabriel taking his first steps as a singer, timidly and with some flashes, far from the frontman he would become shortly after.

The album develops correctly, with interesting moments, as with the agile and sweet "Where the Sour Turns to Sweet", the brief introductory piano of Banks in the delicate "Fireside Song", the melancholy of "Am I Very Wrong?", the melody of "In the Wilderness", the very folk and with Dylanian airs "The Conqueror", or the arpeggios of the beautiful "Window". The rest of the pieces follow similar paths, without being out of tune, without any major pretensions other than being part of the presentation letter of adolescent musicians who still did not have a clear idea of the path they would follow.

The greatest value of "From Genesis to Revelation" resides not so much in its musical proposal, but in being the starting point of the musical adventure of Genesis in the genre that has it as one of its main references.

2.5/3 stars

Before Jonathan King became one of the world's biggest scumbags in music, he was a man with great ambition. Already a successful singer songwriter, his next step was to become a producer, and in 1967 he would discover one of the most important bands in Prog history. That band was called New Anon, consisting of five plucky young men who had no idea they would be making waves in music as a whole. For Jonathan King, this was the beginning of his career as a producer, the genesis you could say. And thus, New Anon were no longer anonymous, and became forever known as Genesis. And their to call their first album From Genesis To Revelation rough would be an understatement. FGTR is so rough, it's like a freshly cut down tree that hasn't been made into lumber.

So to give context, when Jonathan King first stumbled upon Genesis, he liked what he had heard. But King wanted control over the band, from small ideas like going fully acoustic, to insisting Genesis write simple pop-rock songs like the Bee Gees before they became the faces of discorama. After the recording of this album, Jonathan King would go behind the backs of the band, and with a team of audio engineers, add in some horns and strings into the music. As you might be guessing, working with Jonathan King would prove to be a frustrating experience that would revolve around the parents of the band renegotiating a predatory contract. This is a recipe for disaster, but perhaps maybe there's something we can salvage from this album knowing the direction Genesis would take.

I'll be honest, this album doesn't get off to a bad start. Where The Sour Turns To Sweet shows a few signs of what will be. I love the opening of this song that feels like a group of friends inviting you to hear their song. Unfortunately, the song fell apart for me when I heard the horns come in out of nowhere. This is going to be a problem with the album, the added strings and horns do not help to elevate these songs, they actually make them worse.

Then things get psychedelic. In The Beginning is the proggiest song on the album, and also has the hint of what Genesis could be. It has that feel of something off of Piper At The Gates Of Dawn, and Gabriel's vocals on top of the instrumentals shines greatly. You know what else makes this song great? I can't hear any added horns or string sections. If only Jonathan King didn't have his head so far up his own ass and realized what he had.

We then jump right into Fireside Song, a pretty little acoustic ballad that allows us to hear a soft Peter Gabriel. Well, I would say it's pretty, but the whole thing is marred by that same god awful added string section robbing the song of any softness and tries to make the song bigger than it needs to be. I don't need added violins Jonathan King, it's absolutely distracting and not in the good way.

The Serpent Song opens with an instrumental interlude before it begins proper, and we once again, hear Genesis as it should sound. There's definitely more of that psychedelic space rock sound to it as we heard on In The Beginning, and the band absolutely shows off what they could be. And I just dig Anthony Phillips' guitar playing on this album, it's a great song, and probably the best thing the album has going for it. Am I saying that because it's the longest song on the album? Not really, it's more about the depth of the instrumental.

Things calm down with another acoustic ballad in Am I Very Wrong, which again, lets Peter Gabriel's vocals shine. But once again, the added horn section takes away from that and creates a distraction. I know, I'm harping on it, but the added horns absolutely destroy the mood of the song. Now I'm starting to understand why No Reply At All backfired with fans, It's an annoying distraction hiding the band's true sound. Horns should never be near Genesis, I get it.

Let's try this again. In The Wilderness is the next song, and it starts off okay, until that damn string section kicks in. Well, if we take the string section out, what are we left with? Frankly, this sounds like Bubblegum Pop, right down to the chorus. This is probably one of those songs written specifically to please Jonathan King, but again, he wasn't pleased enough until he added the extra strings without realizing how much it's drowning out the rest of the band. Even when the song fades out, the strings are still too god damn loud they serve to hide the fact there's a good band underneath it all,

The Conqueror is more like it. No distracting string section, no annoying ass horn section. Just the band as it should be heard. It's fine. Thank god it's not full of horns or strings, because I can actually hear the damn band. Once again, I can hear a little bit of that early Bee Gees, and early Pink Floyd sound. The pieces are there, they just need a better producer than Jonathan King.

In Hiding is another ballad that shows off Peter Gabriel's singing... oh no, you know what that means right? Yep, a string section is going to take away from Peter Gabriel's voice and Anthony Phillips' lovely acoustic guitar. And that's exactly what happens. Only difference is I can hear the guitar against the strings, but still, the strings are too damn loud and absolutely take away from the song's beauty. Oh god, make the horns and string sections stop.

It doesn't stop though. One Day is not an acoustic ballad, but a bit more lovey-dovey song meant to please Jonathan King, but this one not only has the added strings, but it also has the added horns, and once again, everything is so loud it drowns the band out. Which is a shame because Rutherford's bass sounds great on this song, when I can hear it that is. Otherwise my ears are blasted by the same loud string and horn section I can barely hear anything other than Peter Gabriel and Jonathan Silver's drums. Now I understand why Anthony Phillips stormed out after hearing the changes, it sounds like ass.

Onto Window, and this acoustic ballad once again has that damn horn section, in the beginning at least. In the first minute, we get a hornless section where we hear what this ballad is meant to sound like, but then the strings and horns kick in. I'll be honest, if the strings were brought down on this song and used more for texture, and the horns completely eradicated, I could see this song somewhat working. Unfortunately, we cannot have that, the horns and strings need to be loud as hell.

Next, we find ourselves on the track In Limbo. Once again, we have a loud horn section drowning the band out, until eventually the horn section is finally lowered in volume. I can hear some semblance of psychedelic rock when I try to imagine the horn section not being there. In fact, I think the horn section being texture robs us of a solid song. It's not the strongest song on the album, but also not the worst. At least by this point Jonathan King found a way to make the horn section a little less distracting, but unfortunately, it's still there.

And here we go, Genesis writes the earliest attempt of Follow You Follow Me, The Silent Sun. Peter Gabriel has an amazing voice, but he's having to compete against a needless string section that makes the song a lot less romantic. Instead of being an endearing tune, it turns into one of those instances where you're at dinner with your significant other and you want to impress them so you get an entire symphony in to back you up as you sing to them. It's unnecessarily big, kind of embarrassing, and not a good way to show love to someone.

The album ends with A Place To Call My Own, a soft 2 minute song to close out what has been a mess of bad production choices. How does Jonathan King [%*!#] this up? Why don't we add a loud horn and string section to take away from Tony Banks' somber keyboard, that will kill this song's mood for sure!

And that's the best way I can describe FGTR, it's a hot mess of bad production choices well out of the band's control. Everything was working against this album, right down to the release. It's been speculated that the album was mistaken as religious music and got shoved in there by mistake, and while I believe that it's possible, it's more likely people didn't know the album existed. It's been said that the album only managed to push about 600 copies, but I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't even move that many. Well, there is a bright side to all this, and it ends in a goofy fashion for one party. After the band's parents managed to successfully renegotiate their contracts with Jonathan King, Genesis would get back together to join the famous Charisma label and make a proper opening statement in Trespass, while Jonathan King would be stuck with only From Genesis To Revelation. He has re-released the album multiple times, including an instance where he added an extra drum track, and I can recall at one point he attempted to re-release it as a greatest hits CD. If only there was a version of this album that existed without the horns and strings... if only...