Genesis (Audio Cassette) [Import]

This is my favorite Genesis album. In 83 and 84,7 out of 9 songs on this CD were either small or big hits on the radio. Phil Collins drums really kick on this one. Tony Banks outdid himself with the synthesizers on this album. This album is very solid from start to finish with a very smooth and polished haunting rock sound. MAMA and HOME BY THE SEA are my favorites along with SILVER RAINBOW. ILLEGAL ALIEN is the only song that I don't like on this CD.

It has often been said that Phil Collins moved Genesis from progressive to popular music, but I think the group managed to maintain at least a progressive feel in a lot of their work. I think it is fair to say that they did have many songs which one would not call progressive at all, but at the same time one can't ignore those pieces which clearly aren't pop style songs.

"Mama" opens the album and was released as the first single, but it is hardly a standard "pop" song by any measure. It has a darker sound than one would expect for a Genesis song, though it does fit well with other songs on the album. The song didn't do very well on the U.S. pop charts, though it did reach #4 in the UK. "That's All" comes next and it is more of a standard pop tune, soft and simple and not surprisingly it did better in the U.S. as a result. The last song(s) on the first half of the album is/are "Home By the Sea". Though split into "Home By the Sea" and "Second Home By the Sea" this is really one piece and is a good example of how Genesis still incorporated progressive elements in their songs. The song was played on tour for years after this album and was often a showpiece with its extended instrumental section. The piece also works well with "Mama" in giving the album a somewhat eerie feel up to this point with the exception of "That's All".

The second half opens with "Illegal Alien" a light and humorous piece which suffered from overplay. It was released as a video, but after hearing and seeing it a few times it tends to become annoying. "Taking it All Too Hard" is next and is another typical soft-rock type pop song. Being on the same album as "That's All" and "It's Gonna Get Better" made it somewhat redundant. It was released as a single but didn't do particularly well. "Just a Job to Do" provides a fairly high energy piece in an album which needs something other than "Illegal Alien". It is one of my favorites on the album, though it isn't quite at the level of "Mama" or "Home By the Sea". "Silver Rainbow" is a rather odd piece, especially with regard to the lyric, but perhaps that is why I tend to like it. "It's Gonna Get Better" is another ballad, making 3 of the 9 tracks ballads, and when one considers that "Home By The Sea" is really one piece it tends to make the album a bit ballad-heavy.

On the whole, this is a fairly decent album. One can always skip over "Illegal Alien" and one of the second half ballads and have an enjoyable listen. The first half of the album is clearly the strongest part of the album, though other than "Illegal Alien" the rest of the tracks are fairly easy to listen to. The group shares the writing credits for all the tracks with: Phil Collins (drums, percussion, lead vocals); Tony Banks (keyboards, backing vocals); Mike Rutherford (guitars, bass, backing vocals).

This is one of that albums that puts you up in a dark day. There's very good songs here, like the outstanding Mama one of the best of the album, That's All, a great and very nice tune Home By The Sea, and Second Home By The Sea, a very more prog pop approach, Illegal Alien, an OK song, Taking It All To Hard, a very nice pop tune, Just a Job To do, another good one, Silver Rainbow, a very beautiful tune, and the nice It's Gonna Get Better. It's one of the best album from pop Genesis, together with Invisible Touch! If you're new to Genesis, get one prog album (I recommend Foxtrot) and one from the pops (I recommend this one).