BATTLEMENT

Let's face it: if you're going to clone and update the classic Genesis sound, you'd best bring your "A"-game, because there are plenty of people happy to do the exact same thing, and the original Genesis albums themselves are some pretty excellent releases all told.

One of the best bands to pull off this sort of borrowing is Neuschwanstein, whose 1978 album absolutely nails the trick of playing material clearly inspired by Genesis but also updating and progressing the sound a little. A big part of the album's success can be laid at the feet of lead vocalist and acoustic guitarist Frédéric Joos, whose Gabriel impression is outright uncanny: it's perhaps no coincidence that the title track, which veers slightly away from the Genesis sound to something more like Camel, has vocals from bassist Rainer Zimmer instead.

On the musical side of things, keyboardist Thomas Neuroth, guitarist Roger Weiler, and the synthesiser wrangling of Klaus Mayer (who also provides some nice flute here and there) combine to add a dark electronic edge to the Genesis sound, a certain harshness which was mostly absent from Gabriel-era Genesis but fits the album's more foreboding tone nicely. The whole package is not quite a five-star classic - in particular, I'm not entirely taken with Zimmer's vocals on the title track - but it's certainly one of the better overlooked gems of 1970s prog.