DUKE

After embarking on a divergent path from their progressive roots, found in dribs and drabs on the predecessor "...And Then There Were Three", Genesis surprises and, with "Duke", goes back a couple of steps and includes some unexpected winks to their original side, resisting to discard it completely.

And so it is that in their tenth album, headed by the troubled and exceeded "Albert" on the cover, the recessive genes of the band are present, with more vaporous structures and a less complex sound compared to the past, and where the instrumental is guided mainly by the keyboards of Peter Banks, as in the initial "Behind the Lines" and its continuation "Duchess", or in the final and worthy "Duke's Travels" and "Duke's End".

But as not all that glitters is gold, progressively speaking. The new musical orientation of the band, more given to simplifying their musical proposal and making it more digestible, is consolidated in "Duke" with short and direct pieces like "Misunderstanding" and "Turn It On Again" (originally thought as part of the disassembled "Duke Suite"), or tearful ballads like "Alone Tonight" and "Please Don't Ask", under the clear leadership of Phil Collins, a place he comfortably occupies with the approval of the other two members of the surviving trio.

After "Duke" there would not be much turning back, it is the last swan song left in the progressive lake of the British.

3 stars