FROM GENESIS TO REVELATION

Every thing has a beginning and here is the genesis of Genesis. "From Genesis to Revelation" suffers bad production from the hands of Bee Gees producer Jonathan King. The symphonic strings are a hindrance at times but certainly make this one of a kind as far as Genesis is concerned. The musicianship is good enough from Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford. Peter Gabriel shows the promise of things to come with some wonderful vocals throughout. The first half is better than the rest with class acts like Fireside Song and The Serpent. Then the orchestra becomes all consuming and swallows the songs whole towards the end. By the time The Window is finished I have all but lost interest as it is getting rather bland. The trumpet on In Limbo rekindles my interest but it is a slog to get through this rather dated trippy album.

There are some dark moments, some weird moments, some good melodies and some mediocre moments, but overall the album gels together well enough. It is more of a curio for those who wish to delve into the early years of the band. A bit like listening to The Golliwogs prior to the glory days of Creedence Clearwater Revival, or listening to The Murray Men before The Beatles. A nice piece of archival music for the connoisseur but little else. As a massive Genesis fanatic it was inevitable I would get around to this album, which is marginally better than the troubled 80s era, but it has no chance against the 70s albums of Genesis that are simply masterpieces.