FROM GENESIS TO REVELATION

One could be forgiven for thinking this must be a great relic. After all, the first Yes album is dated but good and rocking, and the first Floyd album is a masterpiece. Certainly Genesis' debut had to be as great too? Many proggers hunted down this collection hoping such logic would pay off, only to be disappointed to varying degrees. For the Genesis debut is nowhere near the otherworldly genius of Piper or the already formidable chops of Yes. Long before names like Phil Collins or Steve Hackett were but a glimmer in the eye of Genesis lore, school mates Peter Gabriel and Tony Banks (of a band called Garden Wall) were collaborating with Ant Phillips and Mike Rutherford (of Anon.) The resulting music caught the ear of rising musical man Jonathan King who got the lads into the studio in the summer of 1968. Upon completion and apparently without permission King took the new material and layered it with strings and horns making what could have possessed more original personality into a finished product that sounded a bit commercial and ordinary. Phillips was the most openly critical of what King saw as the chance to get the band viable:

"Ah, the strings on "From Genesis to Revelation." I was the one who really blew my top about it....the originals were rough but at least they had some power....in those days you couldn't get back to a previous version, it was too late, there was no undo button. And I completely freaked out. I can only quote all my other friends saying 'He's butchered it.'" [Anthony Phillips]

"The part that the band really didn't like was that I added the strings....I think they work terribly well, actually. It gives the songs a sweetness that wasn't there in the original thing and covers up some of the slight amateurishness of the basic tracks." [Jonathan King]

And yet it has its moments. The music is 60s pop to an extent, sometimes sounding a bit like the Moodies "Go Now" or The Hollies, maybe a bit of Cat Stevens' "Mona Bone Jakon", etc. But there was more depth and a trace of that English & dark folk/rock vibe underneath that Genesis fans will recognize as the foundational sounds of the later group. Gabriel's warm and soulful voice is already a showcase. The acoustic guitars have a briskly strummed pace, controlled, with Ant peeling off a modest solo here or there. Tony has some lovely piano episodes. But the band's talents are certainly modest, as is the sound and production which are pretty weak, to be expected as this was recorded in about 3 days. I can see what excited King however as the songwriting shows some real potential. Especially cool is the fantasy vibe of "The Serpent" and the foreboding piano lines of "Am I Very Wrong" which also sports Gabriel's flute playing. Tony plays a minute long piano solo to introduce "Fireside Song" which is rather somber and yet hopeful, quite lovely. Other tracks sport short piano ballads with a bit of folk influence, a dramatic young Gabriel, some "la la" backing vocals, occasionally a bit of light rock and soul. But these short tracks never develop to the point of any interesting instrumental jamming that would become commonplace later. The best moments sounds like simplistic and shortened demos from Trespass, far below that level of execution, yet with some of the same naïve wonder and innocence.

This debut is mostly for fans of Genesis and/or 60s pop and there is surely enough little bits of the future here to please them. But the overall performance and sound are fairly weak and there are some duds as well. I think 2 ½ stars is probably the most accurate rating and yet it is a very affectionate 2 stars I give. I enjoy this music quite a lot despite the strikes against it. What a leap they would take on the next album!

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