DUKE

After almost a year of not working together as a band, GENESIS returned to work as a band with this album, which was recorded at Polar Studios in Stockholm (ABBA`s recording studios). Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford also recorded their first solo albums there, in 1979, before "Duke" (and this studio was also used by LED ZEPPELIN in 1978 for the recording of their last album called "In Through the Out Door" which was released in 1979). GENESIS recorded this album between late 1979 and early 1980. So, for me, this is a "farewell album" to the GENESIS`s sound of the 70s, with David Hentschel as producer. But it is still "progressive" in some ways. For me, the main sound in this album is Tony Banks`Yamaha Electric piano, which appears in several songs. Banks` work in this album is very influenced by the sound of his first solo album, "A Curious Feeling", which was released in October 1979. "Behind the lines", "Duchess" and "Guide Vocal" are very "progressive". It seems that for this album Banks also bought new keyboards, as the mellotron is absent in this album. "Man of our times" is a song composed by Mike Rutherford with distorted guitars and bass pedals, with very good drums by Phil Collins. "Misunderstanding" is the first appearance of a Collins`song in an GENESIS album, and yes, it`s a very pop song, but it `s a good song. "Heathaze" is the best song of this album, in my opinion, composed by Banks, with Banks`s very good electric piano and backing keyboards, and maybe he also played 12 string guitar in this song, which is similar in sound as another song which was released as the B side of one of the singles of this album, called "Evidence of Autumn", which also was recorded during the "Duke" recording sessions. This song was also released in the U.S. version of the "Three Sides Live" album, and now it is available in the "Genesis Archive vol. 2" Box Set. "Evidence of Autumn" is a beautiful song which could have been released in this "Duke" album. Side Two of the original L.P. starts with "Turn it on again", another pop song. "Alone Tonight" is another song composed by Rutherford, a ballad with good guitars and keyboards, plus Collins`emotive vocals. This song is similar as another song released as the B side for another single from this album, called "Open Door", also released in the "real" "Three Sides Live" album (as the original U.S. double L.P. had 3 sides recorded live and one side recorded in the studio) and also now available in "Archive Vol. 2". In his song "Cul-de-sac", Banks also uses the electric piano, and it is one of the best songs in this album. The next song, Collins` "Please Don`t Ask", is a song about the divorce or the separation of a couple, and is similar to the "divorce songs" Collins recorded for his first solo album. The instrumental medley, "Duke`s Travels/Duke` s end" is similar in structure to previous instrumental medleys included by GENESIS in previous albums ("Los Endos" and "In that Quiet Earth") as it reprises some musical themes used in other songs of the album.