Illegal Alien or Who Dunnit?
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Category: Progressive Music Lounges
Forum Name: Prog Polls
Forum Description: Create polls on topics related to progressive music
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=134118
Printed Date: February 22 2025 at 08:27
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Topic: Illegal Alien or Who Dunnit?
Posted By: AFlowerKingCrimson
Subject: Illegal Alien or Who Dunnit?
Date Posted: December 27 2024 at 21:44
| Yeah, yeah I know. Both are crap right? These are considered (as far as I can tell) to be the two worst Genesis songs. But really which one is better (political correctness aside)? |
Replies:
Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: December 27 2024 at 23:37
| Both are equally bad. |
Posted By: Necrotica
Date Posted: December 28 2024 at 00:20
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Equally bad. Even as a fan/apologist of pop-era Genesis, there are still a few songs that I honestly can't defend in good conscience. And those are two of them ------------- Take me down, to the underground Won't you take me down, to the underground Why oh why, there is no light And if I can't sleep, can you hold my life https://www.youtube.com/@CocoonMasterBrendan-wh3sd |
Posted By: verslibre
Date Posted: December 28 2024 at 00:49
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Both are crap, but "Illegal Alien" (song + video) is downright offensive. ------------- https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_ipg=50&_sop=1&_rdc=1&_ssn=musicosm" rel="nofollow - eBay |
Posted By: Cristi
Date Posted: December 28 2024 at 00:53
| Both are bad. Not equally bad, Whodunnit is worse than Illegal Alien IMO. |
Posted By: A Crimson Mellotron
Date Posted: December 28 2024 at 00:55
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More like neither of these for me |
Posted By: someone_else
Date Posted: December 28 2024 at 02:23
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Nwither, obviously. ------------- 
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Posted By: tdfloyd
Date Posted: December 28 2024 at 03:07
| I'll write in Anything She Does as the worst Genesis song |
Posted By: Hrychu
Date Posted: December 28 2024 at 03:13
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I pick Illegal Alien. BTW, I don't think the songs are bad. They're just not the type of music hardcore prog nerds would truly enjoy. The instrumental performance is good, the arangements do the job, the mixing isn't terrible either and Phil's vocal work is more than competent. ------------- “On the day of my creation, I fell in love with education. And overcoming all frustration, a teacher I became.” — Ernest Vong |
Posted By: Mirakaze
Date Posted: December 28 2024 at 03:47
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I actually like the melody and arrangement of "Illegal Alien" but the lyrics, Phil Collins's fake accent and all the stupid sound effects littered onto it make it something I would really rather avoid in the remainder of my lifetime. Who Dunnit never really bothered me, honestly. It's just a tolerable piece of filler if you ask me ------------- https://mirasnelder.wordpress.com/" rel="nofollow - Freelance composer, accepting commissions | https://mirasnelder.bandcamp.com/album/altered-acuity" rel="nofollow - Bandcamp page |
Posted By: Octopus II
Date Posted: December 28 2024 at 03:49
Neither 
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Posted By: Psychedelic Paul
Date Posted: December 28 2024 at 04:11
The same for me too.
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Octopus II wrote:Posted By: Heart of the Matter
Date Posted: December 28 2024 at 04:45
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As sure as the good Genesis is seriously great, the bad is seriously poor. I cannot point my finger at their worst song, but these two are serious contenders both. |
Posted By: Cristi
Date Posted: December 28 2024 at 04:53
True, I think Whodunnit is their worst song. If anyone else had created Whodunnit, i would not have cared, but coming from Genesis, it's weird... And Tony admitted they created the song just to let loose, let off steam, playing with some new synths of the time. You Might Recall was supposed to be used on the album, but they used Whodunnit instead. It's a "what were they thinking" situation, if there ever was one.
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Posted By: twosteves
Date Posted: December 28 2024 at 07:42
| I get thru 2 minutes of whodunnit and can’t get to the end |
Posted By: twosteves
Date Posted: December 28 2024 at 07:46
Far from WOKE but illegal alien is shockingly offensive- saw it live and was sad for the band I loved
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Posted By: Criswell
Date Posted: December 28 2024 at 12:03
| Ick! |
Posted By: mathman0806
Date Posted: December 28 2024 at 12:41
| I went with neither. And it's hard to put political correctness aside on Illegal Alien because it is so terrible. |
Posted By: Big Sky
Date Posted: December 28 2024 at 13:10
| Whodunnit vies for the worst song ever produced by Genesis. Illegal alien is bad, but not as bas as Whodunnit. |
Posted By: AFlowerKingCrimson
Date Posted: December 28 2024 at 16:19
| I guess maybe I'm able to sit through Illegal Alien because I grew up with it and also because I'm not taking it too seriously. I realize it was recorded during a different time. I seriously doubt the band were trying to be racist or offensive. I don't really know what they were thinking exactly but I doubt they were intentionally trying to make fun of people. Anyway, that's the one I voted for here. |
Posted By: AFlowerKingCrimson
Date Posted: December 28 2024 at 16:21
| Other so called bad Genesis songs would be more fool me, robbery assault and battery (which I like quite a bit to be honest) and the entire calling all stations album. I doubt throwing it all away and in too deep have many fans on here either. |
Posted By: Cristi
Date Posted: December 28 2024 at 16:55
I've never understood why some people dislike Robbery...  There are no songs on CAS as bad as Whodunnit or Illegal Alien. Anything She Does on Invisible Touch is another bad one IMO.
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Posted By: Big Sky
Date Posted: December 28 2024 at 16:56
I would disagree with Robbery, Assault and Battery. I know my brother and a good friend of mine who is a prog fan like that song. Rick Beato called A Trick of the Tail a perfect album. I don't think there is a bad track on that album. The title track is a little meh, but bad, no. Calling All Stations is just blah for the most part. No song on that album is as bad as the songs involved in the poll or Throwing it All Away, In to Deep, Invisible Touch or pretty much most of the We Can't Dance album. |
Posted By: AFlowerKingCrimson
Date Posted: December 28 2024 at 17:10
Because of the voice thing that Phil Collins does during that song which I suppose is a big reason they don't like Illegal Alien also. You know, I kind of like "anything she does." It's not as good as the Brazilian or others on the album but I still like it the same way I still like "silver rainbow."
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Posted By: Psychedelic Paul
Date Posted: December 28 2024 at 17:12
Totally agree. I prefer Calling All Stations over any of the five previous Genesis albums, and that includes Duke.
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Posted By: AFlowerKingCrimson
Date Posted: December 28 2024 at 18:43
CAS is actually a pretty solid album imo (yes, I know that's not popular opinion at all). It doesn't have many highs but there aren't really many (if any) real lows either imo.
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Posted By: Cristi
Date Posted: December 29 2024 at 01:59
Silver Rainbow is fine. I need a special mood to enjoy Brazilian, the 80s synths and drums are a bit too much for me.
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Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: December 29 2024 at 22:05
There just isn't anything on it, avoiding any creative ideas. I tried listening to it earlier in the year but managed about 4 tracks and then was done. For 1997 it was especially weirdly bad as rock music was on the rise again and I would have thought Ray Wilson could have brought something interesting to the mix. I think Banks and Rutherford were intent on proving to the world they could prosper without Collins but it was one domino too much (see what I did there
 ) |
Posted By: Cristi
Date Posted: December 30 2024 at 01:09
The second half is better than the first  , especially Dividing Line and There Must Be Some Other Way. Ray could have brought something interesting, if Tony and Mike had let him. Also Nick D'Virgilio was a session drummer, they could have used his talent better as well. I don't know what happened with Chester and Daryl, why not use them?! But i guess the two of them were much closer to Phil than Tony & Mike.
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Posted By: Mormegil
Date Posted: December 30 2024 at 05:14
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Ouch. Both are "meh". Illegal Alien, I guess. ------------- Welcome to the middle of the film. |
Posted By: Steve Wyzard
Date Posted: December 30 2024 at 13:10
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"Who Dunnit?" is by far the better track. "The Waiting Room", "Jesus He Knows Me", "Tell Me Why", and "Living Forever" are all much worse than these two.
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Posted By: progaardvark
Date Posted: December 30 2024 at 15:12
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I like Who Dunnit? Where do I hand in my prog credentials? ------------- ---------- i'm shopping for a new oil-cured sinus bag that's a happy bag of lettuce this car smells like cartilage nothing beats a good video about fractions |
Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: December 30 2024 at 23:07
I quite like at least 2 of those (the first 2). I know you like Abacab as an album, I can get into some of it for sure, but Whodunnit is the prog equivalent of post ironic dad dancing.
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Posted By: AFlowerKingCrimson
Date Posted: December 31 2024 at 03:27
| I like Abacab also and unlike many I consider it and not Duke to be their last real stab at prog. Abacab the album has not one but two prog tracks which are the title track and dodo and possibly others if you can count keep it dark and man on the corner. Yes it's a bit patchy but the title track at least makes up for the so called stinkers (like who dunnit and another record). |
Posted By: Boojieboy
Date Posted: December 31 2024 at 18:49
| They were basically wasting our time at that point. |
Posted By: AFlowerKingCrimson
Date Posted: December 31 2024 at 20:15
Abacab or shapes?
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Posted By: Cristi
Date Posted: January 01 2025 at 01:57
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Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: January 01 2025 at 04:32
yep for sure but I would extend that to many prog bands in the 80's. Genesis get a kicking more than most but at least I can name a handful of tracks on Abacab onwards that were decent and I would happily listen to. Even the much hated The Way We Walk hasd a couple of decent 10 minute tracks imo. I would much prefer to listen to them in the 80's than Yes who were just AOR pop nonsense at this point. At least Genesis retained some semblance of art in their music albeit occasionally. Collins rise as one of the big pop artists in that decade certainly skewed the band's output but as we find out later he was irreplaceable. No Collins no Genesis.
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