From Genesis To Revelation

Foxtrot has my favorite mellotron opening of all time in Watcher of the Skies [no disrespect to the original King Crimson album :p] and is my favorite Genesis album. I came to love Selling England by the Pound as well [except 'Battle of Epping Forest' ; I could never make out the vocals on that even after poring over lyrics].

I did give a chance once to Phil Collins' era Genesis when he was the lead singer but never revisited it much. I think I should listen to couple of solo albums from the band members; I haven't heard a single one from that repository.

I listened to Genesis: Live again and loved it [well, except for 'The Knife']. Good thing the band didn't prey to noodling and endless jamming on this unlike other bands [not that it is always a bad thing but it sometimes makes the song seem unfocussed and wavering]. I am listening to Tony Banks' most recent effort right now which is much more classical inspired, I guess.

And I wouldn't have become a YES fan back in the 1980's if I hadn't heard Owner of a Lonely Heart played on the radio repeatedly. 

HI,

Hmm ... it didn't seem to bother Anthony Phillips much, I don't think as he ended up doing so much of all sizes, shapes and whatnot. But at the time, it was a SINGLE that helped bands get heard and also seen ... and in England, the BBC made sure for many years that the FM radio signal did not get the attention and power that it had in America (usually longer cuts than AM radio)  until it was raped! (Dave Cousins book has a massive history of it as he was trying to put together FM stations) ... so a producer at the time insisting on singles and small stuff is not surprising ... many bands did it ... Caravan's first album is a good example, Pink Floyd is a better example, and I kinda think that Syd leaving opened the way OUT OF SINGLES, though the record company still tried up until DSOTM, by which time I think they knew PF was not going to be about singles ... but heck ... later one song from The Wall brought in more money as a single ... even cut up and shortened!

My thoughts are that by 1972 and beyond, the market for "singles" had died down quite a bit, specially in America with FM being strong for the whole decade until it was raped. Beyond 1980, I don't know that I can name a band that depended on singles so much although England had a few of them that were always trying to get a single out ... I was thinking SLADE and other bands like it, likely their college circuit ... but I think that by 1985 ... it was all album, and when the Internet came around in the early 90's I think that singles got eaten up even more ... and record companies were not even trying to advertise anymore. 

The history of this stuff is kinda neat ... wish we could put it all together in a better, clear and concise way for PA ... something valuable for folks getting to know Progressive Music, which we can easily say had its roots in Classical Music ... despite folks thinking it was just chord changes and time changes and weird/farout vocals, which were much longer and made singles difficult to cut up.

I think you named most of the real proggy tracks there (post Duke). Don't forget that Domino was also in two parts.  Also, maybe Tonight, Tonight, Tonight and maybe Driving the Last Spike. The former has a nice instrumental middle section and the latter is just long. 

Enough for an album maybe?
 

True prog was barely a thing when Genesis recorded FGTR so I hope no one listens to it expecting to hear something that sounds like the later "prog" Genesis.  That just would not be possible at the time (Court wasn't even released yet and Fripp was still in GG&F). I actually like it a lot but I appreciate it more for what it is rather than what it isn't. 

Duke may have been the last Genesis album to have 50 percent more on it to be prog but they still had some good (and even proggy) moments after it imo.