DUKE

This album signals the sea-change in Genesis' musical direction and the confirmation that Phil Collins was the driving force behind the band in more ways than the obvious.Listening to the first two tracks, Behind The Lines and Duchess you can hear the foundations of Collins' solo career-the booming drums and mock angst-ridden vocals.These tracks are Ok, but they aren't Prog Rock-maybe a new hybrid of Prog Rock and pop:Regressive rock anyone?

Guide Vocal, 12 minutes into the album, and the cat is out of the bag - Collins wants to be the Dean Friedman of the Eighties Coffee Table Pop generation. On we go: Man Of Our Times,actually sounds more Stygian than Styx. The "poppy" Misunderstanding and Turn It On Again staples of AOR Radio Stations sandwich Alone Tonight- a dire monologue about Collin's marriage problems. Cul-De Sac, Please Dont Ask should have been used as B-sides to Misundersatanding and Turn It On Again, they aren't of sufficient quality to warrant inclusion on a studio album. Duke's Travels and Duke's End are tolerable musically but sound to this reviewer like going through the motions and I am not convinced these were ever intended to be full-blown "songs". This album sounds worse now than it did nearly 25 years ago-that in itself is a feat.