NURSERY CRYME

"Nursery Crime" is in many ways an advancement of Genesis's previous album 'Trespass', and in terms of musician ship "Nursery Crime" is slightly more advanced. I believe this extra touch is brought by guitar noir Steve Hackett who displays his amazing talent on this album very well. Anthony Phillips is in no way a bad guitarist, and I wonder what would have become of Genesis if he had stayed in the band. Anyway let's not think what might have been and look towards the future, and past.

"Nursery Crime" has the same epic concepts which are characterized by song lengths, lyrics and instrumental passages as Trespass. The epic nature blossoms forth here on songs such as "The Musical Box", "Return of the Giant Hogweed" and "Fountain of Salamics." There is also a slight quirky fell to some of the other songs, the track that comes to mind as being most prominent is "Harold the Barrel." This sensation is not bad, as it provides something different thought the course of an album.

The opener to "Nursery Crime", "The Musical Box" has gone done as one of the best symphonic songs around with its quiet, floating melodies which can quickly change to retribution and thunder. The song opens quietly with a beautiful floating melody accented by acoustic guitar, flute, a keyboard line and airy vocals. The tempo soon increases as the tension beings to mount, it just keeps increasing before the giant crash happens and chaos ensues. Steve Hackett shows in this loud section why we regard him as one of the best. There is a lull in the music as Peter Gabriel sing of the blues artist King Cole before the loudness re-occurs. The ending of "The Musical Box" is something to be envied, its hard to describe. Next up is a short tune called "For Absent Friends", the song is played on guitars and it is an effective interlude between long songs.

"Return of the Giant Hogweed" is one of the more interesting songs on "Nursery Crime", whether it is the name or the fun beginning- it is a catchy song. It is about animals called "Giant Hogweeds", one day an explorer captures one and the other Hogweeds go looking for revenge. The story sounds viable and proggy, but the way the band executes the plot is very interesting - a good listen. Up next is "Seven Stones", a song which I started off hating and is now my favorite from the album. The song is full of lush melodies and the harmony vocals and keyboards enhance the song that extra mile. The last minute or so is one of the best moments of "Nursery Crime" - very epic.

Following "Seven Stones" is another great and catchy song, "Harold the Barrel." The entire song - especially the chorus melody sticks like superglue, it is just a very entertaining song. It is similar to Return of the "Giant Hogweed" in its sound, but "Harold the Barrel" is less chaotic. Next up is "Harlequin" which is reminiscent of "For Absent Friends" in my opinion. The whole song consists of quiet guitar and keyboard backing and floating vocal harmonies. It is a very effective song and when listened to in the right mood is very meaningful. Last of all is" Fountain of Salamics" which is one of the epic structured (not in length) songs on "Nursery Crime." The song opens with string Mellotrons and synthesizers before going into a positively haunting vocal and instrumental passage - a very good closing song which ends "Nursery Crime" on an epic note.

1. The Musical Box (4/5) 2. For Absent Friends (4/5) 3. The Return Of The Giant Hogweed (4/5) 4. Seven Stones (5/5) 5. Harold The Barrel (5/5) 6. Harlequin (4/5) 7. The Fountain Of Salmacis (5/5) Total = 31 divided by 7 (number of songs= 4.42857 = 4 stars Excellent addition to any prog music collection

"Nursery Crime" is without a doubt a classic Symphonic Prog album and harbors all elements of the genre. For me it is one of the very best Genesis albums and indeed one of the best in all progressive rock - not as good as 'Trespass' though! I'd recommend "Nursery Crime" to all Symphonic prog fans and secondly to everyone else, it's a good listen. The secret, as with most Symphonic albums is to not over listen the material.