Genesis

 

 

Create your own review

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).

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 85 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

 

2.0 out of 5 stars The Usual Trio Garbage
With the exception of the interesting Mama and two prog rock numbers Home By The Sea and Second Home By The Sea Genesis is a terrible album.

Published on July 11 2004 by Brian Ogilby

5.0 out of 5 stars genesis's finest album with phil collins
this self titled album was the best effort of this great prog rock band with collins and though it signified a change towards a more pop rock orientation it still was a great... Read more

Published on July 6 2004 by snow blind100

4.0 out of 5 stars Ignore the Snobbish Prog-Rock Fans.
What these prog-rockers fail to realize is that "Progressive" means "moving forward in a new direction" or "chaning the past." That's what Genesis did. Read more

Published on Jun 8 2004

4.0 out of 5 stars Great effort ruined by prog-rockers.
Well, it certainly is disheartening to see supposedly grown-up progressive rock fans cloud up reviews for perfectly good CD's and drive ratings down just because their favorite... Read more

Published on May 28 2004

4.0 out of 5 stars Underrated
I don't know where to begin. My review of Abacab said everything I wanted to say about comparing Genesis phases. But this album is just amazing. Read more

Published on May 23 2004 by Benjamin Ray

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow, breathtaking! 3rd great pop work by Genesis!
There are a lot of great qualities on this one that makes it a truly classic of world pop music. One of them, by itself is the outstanding open track "Mama" that worths... Read more

Published on May 19 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars I got a name, I got a number ....
I will admit ... I am not a Peter Gabriel era Genesis fan ... I do like some of his solo work, but their material with him reminded me considerably of stuff that Yes & ELP... Read more

Published on April 8 2004 by Brian Campbell

4.0 out of 5 stars Genesis becomes The Police (and that's a good thing)
This album was produced by the guy who gave The Police their distinctive sound (before Sting decided to become some sort of a political advisor rather than a bass player). Read more

Published on April 7 2004 by Big Kahuna

4.0 out of 5 stars It was official now; Genesis were superstars!
At the start of the MTV generation in the early 1980s, most veteran bands faced a dicey proposition. Read more

Published on Mar 1 2004 by 31-year old wallflower

1.0 out of 5 stars YET ANTOHER DUD OF A RECORDING
EXCEPT MAMA EVERY SONG IN HERE IS BAD

Published on Feb 24 2004 by Wendy Trainor

Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

› See all 85 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

Search Listmania!