'Genesis' is a compilation album of Genesis that was released in 1989. It's a compilation that covers tracks that belong to very different phases of Genesis' career. It has tracks from their early days, the days of the 60's, a track when Hackett was still member of the band and tracks that belong to their most pop phase, which are the most of them, actually.'Genesis' is a compilation album with nine tracks. The tracks chosen to be part of this compilation album are: 'Where The Sour Turns To Sweet' and 'The Serpent' are from their debut studio album 'From Genesis To Revelation' released in 1969. 'Afterglow' is from their eighth studio album 'Wind And Wuthering' released in 1976. 'Follow You Follow Me' is from their ninth studio album '...And Then There Were Three...' released in 1978. 'Behind The Lines' is from their tenth studio album 'Duke' released in 1980. 'No Reply At All' and 'Abacab' are from their eleventh studio album 'Abacab' released in 1981. 'Illegal Alien' and 'Mama' are from their twelfth studio album 'Genesis' released in 1983.'Where The Sour Turns To Sweet' has a fairly nice melody and vocals. It's a very interesting song and is one of the best songs written in their earlier days. We can even say that this song has the seeds of what will be the future of their musical sound. 'The Serpent' starts quiet and very well with its bass line, good drumming and beautiful acoustic parts. However, it sounds too much to the 60's and makes me remember strongly The Beatles and The Doors. It's not a bad song but I can't see anything special on it. Besides, in general, I'm not a big fan of the music of the 60's, really. 'Illegal Alien' is a very weak song, written in the reggae musical style. It's one of the worst and silly songs ever written by the band, justifying perfectly its name. This is with 'Who Dunnit?' of 'Abacab', the two worst songs of Genesis. I cannot understand how was possible it has been chosen for this compilation. 'Mama' was released as a single on their studio album 'Genesis' and remains the band's most successful single in UK. It's easily recognizable for its harsh drum machine introduction which leads into synthesizer musical lines and finally it follows to the Phil Collins' leaden voice. This is an excellent song that retains sufficient quality and credibility, for me, to stands in one of the highlights of that album. 'No Reply At All' was the song released as the first single from 'Abacab'. This song marks clearly a step towards the mainstream pop direction that Genesis was taking at the time, and shows perfectly well the main influence of Phil Collins in the song writing of the group. It's a nice and typical pop song in the same vein of Collins' solo studio albums. See the inclusion of horns on it which is one example of that. 'Abacab' was also released as a single on their studio album 'Abacab'. This time it was the second single of that album. The title of the album was taken from the structure of an earlier version of the song, which no longer followed that format. I like very much of this song and I sincerely think we are in presence of one of the best songs on that album. This is a song with a very simple structure but that progress in a modern sound. 'Behind The Lines' is upbeat tempo music. It has a great progressive start with about two minutes, full of energy, but after that, the song enters on a pop rhythm. It has really a nice moment guided by Banks' keyboards and some creative guitar/bass from Rutherford, but it never reaches the stellar heights it hints at. It's an interesting song with some nice musical moments, but it fades all over the time. 'Afterglow' represents the grand final for their fantastic and unforgettable musical work, their studio album 'Wind And Wuthering'. This is one of the most majestic themes ever composed by Banks, and so, no wonders that this is for him one of his favourite Genesis' songs. We can consider that 'Afterglow' is the atmospheric, relaxing and magical moment of that great album. It's the third and final part of the three fantastic suite pieces of music that closes that album with a great musical atmosphere. 'Follow You Follow Me' is clearly a song released for a single with the intention to be a big hit and that achieved the top sales. It's a good pop song, but sincerely, it should never have been part of their album '...And Then There Were Three...'. I really think that it should never have been recorded by Genesis, but recorded by Collins on one of his solo albums. Unfortunately, this is the song that would make the definitive turning point in the Genesis' musical career.Conclusion: 'Genesis' is in reality a very strange compilation of the band. As happened with many other compilations of Genesis, I can't a see a clear guided line in the choice of the tracks to be part of them. But, in this case, this is even much more evident to me. It's very hard to understand why were chosen two of the tracks from their first studio album, which is really a rarity, and the almost complete absence of the tracks that belong to their best and most progressive phase. Only one track was chosen of that phase, and that track doesn't belong to an album when Gabriel was a member of Genesis. This is a huge mystery to me. Even if we see the choice by a mere commercial light, it's hard to understand too. Why choose two songs from their initial phase, which isn't properly commercial? Besides, why choose some songs that are clearly weak points in their amazing career, such as 'Illegal Alien'? So, it's only for collectors and fans.Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*) social review comments Review PermalinkPosted Tuesday, December 27, 2022 Review this album Report (Review #2871002)
Acoustic/12 strings and a classical/folk sounding introduction. Flute solo and the voice of Peter Gabriel. Going into some awesome Iron Maiden-like electric guitar solos. Insane lyrics about the afterlife and being trapped in another world inside a music box. "The Musical Box" is a timeless gem. While the other tracks have plenty to offer the opening track is as good as it gets and an unforgettable memory never to be forgotten."Return of the Giant Hogweed" is a menacing track. The guitar driven intro mirrored by keyboards and intense drums and angry vocals. Starts out quite a bit metallic sounding. Next thing you know is the classically driven piano solos. Unconventional and original. Some slower folk sounding songs dominate in between that are not too far different than the previous album Trespass. But the musicianship is far superior. Worth hearing but not anything memorable or groundbreaking. "Seven Stones" is perhaps the most compelling and most worth mentioning of those tracks."The Fountain of Salmacis" is a wonderfully crafted song. A Prog rockers dream in just about every way possible. It's biggest problem is sounds very dated. The guitar solo at the end really gives it some wind. This is definitely the beginning of something great. While Genesis would become the cream of the crop of Progressive Rock bands this album is an impressive introduction. It would only get better. And what a great way to start especially with "The Musical Box" being the epic to start it all. social review comments Review PermalinkPosted Monday, December 26, 2022 Review this album Report (Review #2870942)
Phil Collins-Platinum Collection (CD 1) full album zip
A couple of years ago, Collins, Banks and Rutherford announced something of a last hurrah, a tour of the USA, UK, and Western Europe over two years which ended this March. They did this against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic, the fact that all 3 would be in their early seventies by the end of the tour, and Phil Collins' own ill-health meaning he can barely stand, and that drumming was out of the question. His son Nic would take up the sticks having previously done so on Papa Phil's solo tour.The age and health of the trio, the fact Peter Gabriel and Steve Hackett were obviously not involved, and the fact that Nic hadn't really played the Genesis discography before meant that the more complex and lengthy progressive tracks were out of the question. Los Endos and Supper's Ready were both rehearsed at times, but deemed too much for a live show which for obvious reasons could only really be a couple of hours long. Despite all the difficulties above, the tour was a hit, even notably seeing tickets bought by fans who weren't alive even when We Can't Dance was released in 1991. The set list contained what I would generously describe as the best of the worst - commercial hits from the 80s, but also a selection from Selling England, Lamb, Wind & Wuthering which were still accessible to the aging group. These though were either played as a medley, shortened, or acoustically.It was successful, but quite rightly rather than release a live album, they opted for a compilation album matching the set list. Happily though, they included the full versions of those bigger 70s tracks, and in 2021 the album sent Genesis high in the charts once again.Should it be a must-buy for a long-time Genesis fan or prog-afficionado? Not in the slightest.But as a way of slowly introducing a newer Genesis fan to the earlier, better Genesis by carefully mixing some 'accessible' prog in with the moderately acceptable commercialised stuff? Might someone buy this album for someone as an introduction, which then makes them check out the whole of Selling England, and lead them on to Foxtrot, Nursery Cryme and Trespass? Will someone listen to this album and then within a few years be playing Supper's Ready on repeat? Who knows. But it might work.Yes they could have just tacked The Knife or Watcher of the Skies, or even Suppers Ready on to the end of this album. But there's other ways.Not essential for any existing Genesis / Prog fan. But could be for someone new to the world. social review comments Review PermalinkPosted Tuesday, November 22, 2022 Review this album Report (Review #2853852) 2ff7e9595c
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