Question to you about Genesis !

^ HAHA. That's so goddamn nerdy. It's great.

Better question: At what point in time were Genesis stoned the most?

Best Collins:  Trick, without a doubt.  No worse than a lot of Gabriel albums.  W&W has some weak points, and has nothing that equals the brilliance of Mad Man Moon or Dance on a Volcano, IMO.

Worst Gabriel (other than FGTR):  I may not have fessed up to this had a couple of people already done so:  Nursery Cryme is just that, a crime, to me.  After the first few times I listened to it, I still couldn't figure out what I didn't like about it.  I figured it out after listening to Genesis Live.  The songwriting is excellent as usual, but the album sounds like it was thrown together in a couple of hours.  That's a bit of an exaduration, I guess, but consider this:  Hogweed and Musical Box sounded better on a live album released in 1973.  The solos were much better, and (pathetically), so was the sound quality.  When I listen to these live versions I think about how much better the album would have been had it been as well recorded as Foxtrot (or Trespass for that matter).

Oh, and just because everyone else is doing it, I'm going to post the early Genesis albums in order from my favorite to my least favorite.

Lamb

Foxtrot

Selling England

Trick

W&W

Trespass

Cryme

ATTW3

FGTR

Favorite post-Gabriel LP is Wind & Wuthering.....a return to prog form after the polish an poppy of ToT.  ToT IS a good record, but I just don't return to it that often.....too much fluff.

Least favorite Gabriel era album is the second LP of the Lamb....repetition of themes, a considerable drop in quality both compositionally and lyrically from the first LP.  Now, saying this is like saying my least favorite family member is my little brother....I love 'em all, but, when forced to choose one, I'd reluctantly list disc 2 of Lamb.

I guess I'm a Genesis fan 'cause, though there's a mega drop in quality after Wind, I think all their LPs are listenable until the obvious drivel of Invisible Touch....anything after that should be cordoned off and made unapproachable by law.

The Gabriel Genesis is flawless.

Collins Genesis is so flawed that I don't have a favorite lp from that era. There are some brilliant moments, but overall very spotty

ivan: thx for the info

interesting that Foxtrot and the lamb are not still least favourite so far, nobody has mentioned that, if iam right...

Wow, Ivan, you have impressed me quite nicely.
It is good to see this analyses of the Genesis Era with all its emotions.

Secondly I could not agree less, that Trespass was the bridge with put Genesis into the progscene and made it the influencing progressive rock band as is has become.

  Trespass is the weakest. Foxtrot is the most consistently good ( one of only 3 albums that I rate as outstanding from start to finish the other two are Abbey Road and Hotel California ).The Lamb is the most astonishing album ever made imho.I love Nursey Crime and with SEBTP the good parts are extraordinary but some of it wasn't pitched too high ( as per Ivan's views).

 From the Collins era Wind and Wuthering, Duke and A trick of the Tail are all excellent possibly WAW ins the best.

 I think WAW is better than Trespass. I don't belong to the  Phil is the antiChrist society . WAW is a mature prog contribution.The pop Genesis made from Abacab onwards was better than other pop played on the radio but disappointing from the angle that Genesis were capable of much better. But still I defend their right to make the music they like.

Fave Collins = Trick of the Tail. A brilliant, bold album full of classic prog songs and wonderful atmospheres. A kick in the nuts, at the time, for any music journo writing a Genesis obituary in light of PG's departure!

Least fave Gabe era - Nursery Cryme. I cant put my finger on it. I know they were still learning their craft, and I like other versions of the songs on it - notably Hogweed, & Sal Marcis - but the album sounds 'scrappy' to me. They sound like poor musicians trying to punch above their height. I cant hold this against them, they had to learn somehow and somewhere, and I feel this album suffered a little for it. The music on Trespass was far less complex, but as an 'official' debut it's an enchanting album, full of all the best elements of the early Genesis formula.

raindance wrote: To be honest, Gabriel era albums havn't aged very well, least of all Tresspass which insn't a very good album by any standards! I would say the first album is the worst followed by Tresspass.I've always found Genesis's studio output to be inconsistent, in fact by their own admission, they were always a live band, not a studio band. Best Collin's era album is defineatlt WAW!

I would agree that all the PG albums  - apart from SEBTP - have not aged well. For me, as a biased Genesis fan, , I would say those albums defined the glory age age of English prog

Tony Banks felt that SEBTP was the first album they actually played well on, I think it was Hacketts favourite too. They were young and still learning. I think much of that early material suffered through not having a good producer to work with. A good producer works with the band, closely to build on all their best aspects. He's not just there to twiddle knobs etc.