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White Mountain-Trespass

Posted : 1 year, 4 months ago on 8 May 2007 07:16 (A review of Trespass)

"White Mountain" is a song by the progressive rock group Genesis. It was released on their second studio album, Trespass.

Like most of the songs on the album, "White Mountain" has a folk-like feel, although the drum parts give it some energy. The song was performed live during 1976, on the A Trick of the Tail tour. Live versions did not include significant drum parts, but rather an accompaniment using a hi-hat.

Lyrically, the song tells a fable of a wolf named 'Fang'.



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Trespass Review:

Posted : 1 year, 4 months ago on 8 May 2007 07:15 (A review of Trespass)

Trespass is the second studio album by Genesis and was recorded and released in 1970. The only album with drummer John Mayhew and the last with guitarist Anthony Phillips, Trespass had a folk-flavored progressive rock sound that was a marked departure from their earlier work, and foreshadowed the path the band would follow through the 1970s.

The compositions were generally much longer and complex than before, featuring several different musical sections. The sound evokes a kind of 'pastoral English idyll' espoused by numerous progressive rock bands of the time. To this end, much use is made of multi-tracked 12-string acoustic guitars, blended with folky vocal harmonies, flute, acoustic piano, and gentle keyboard pads on Hammond organ and mellotron. The drum playing is generally fairly soft, which actually complements the atmosphere, although the band were unhappy with John Mayhew's skills and replaced him with Phil Collins following Trespass' completion and Anthony Phillips' departure.

Despite its generally muted, pastoral, folky feel, the album is not without dynamic moments. Peter Gabriel's vocals are soulful and angst-ridden throughout, particularly at the climax of "Stagnation", which also includes a prominent Hammond organ solo from Tony Banks. Closing track "The Knife" is aggressive and bombastic, featuring some biting lyrics from Gabriel, with Mike Rutherford playing fuzz bass. The song, which received great praise by The Nice's Keith Emerson, became a favorite closer to live shows and appeared - with lyrical changes - on Genesis' 1973 first live album Genesis Live.

Although Trespass was not a commercial success, it was a critical one and despite its lack of sales, it managed to reach a peak of #98 in the UK upon its 1984 re-release.

A SACD / DVD double disc set (including new 5.1 and Stereo mixes) is planned for release in late 2007/early 2008.


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Review:

Posted : 1 year, 4 months ago on 7 May 2007 04:57 (A review of Invisible Touch)

Invisible Touch is an album by Genesis, released in 1986. As their most commercially successful pop album, it got generally favorable reviews from critics and achieved five US Top 5 singles, including the title track which reached the pole position.

The album was structured to appeal to both newer and older Genesis fans, with radio-friendly pop singles like "Land of Confusion" and the title track for pop fans, and longer tracks like "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" and "Domino" aimed more towards fans of the band's progressive rock style of the 1970s. The idiosyncratic instrumental "The Brazilian" showed the band had not lost its willingness to experiment.

The lyrics on this album are among Genesis' rare attempts at social and political commentary, with "Domino" evoking nightmarish nuclear war scenarios and "Land of Confusion" commenting satirically on the political turmoil of the Reagan/Thatcher/Gorbachev era. A widely acclaimed video for "Land of Confusion", featuring the Spitting Image puppets, won Genesis the MTV Video of the Year award.

Catching Genesis at their commercial peak, Invisible Touch was an instant UK #1, while it reached #3 in the US and went six times platinum there.

A SACD / DVD double disc set (including new 5.1 and Stereo mixes) is planned for release in June/July 2007.



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Review:

Posted : 1 year, 4 months ago on 7 May 2007 04:55 (A review of Abacab)

Overview:

The album marks a sharp stylistic jump, begun by the band on its preceding album Duke, away from their progressive rock style of the 1970s and toward a more radio-friendly pop music sound. Despite the change, the title track, "No Reply At All", "Keep It Dark" and "Man on the Corner" were all respectable hits as singles and Abacab earned Genesis further fans, with the album hitting UK #1 and US #7, and selling several million copies worldwide and became the band's first Platinum selling album in the US.

Another noteworthy element of Abacab is drummer Phil Collins's further refinement of his distinctive drum sound, involving reverberation, noise gates and compression in order to achieve an inordinately loud and authoritative percussive effect. This continued a trend Collins began on his solo hit single "In the Air Tonight", as well as the song "Intruder" from former bandmate Peter Gabriel's third album.

In addition to pounding rock, Abacab incorporates upbeat, accessible music - an increasingly important element in Genesis's style at the time. "No Reply At All" features the Earth, Wind & Fire horn section (as did Collins' solo album Face Value earlier in 1981), and even "Dodo/Lurker," whose adventurous lyrics recall traditional Genesis, features a funky rhythm, propelled by Tony Banks's keyboards.

After years of using outside record producers, Genesis produced Abacab solely by themselves, while limiting further than before the number of solo compositions in favor of the group-written pieces. They also had the expertise of engineer Hugh Padgham, who assisted Collins on Face Value and would continue to work on Genesis and Collins recordings through the end of the decade.

The album takes its name from an early arrangement of the musical parts that make up the title track. Guitarist Mike Rutherford said on the US radio show In the Studio with Redbeard (which spotlighted Duke and Abacab in one episode): "There were three bits of music in Abacab, and we referred to them as 'section a', 'section b', and 'section c'... and at different times, they were in different order. We'd start with 'section a' and then have 'section c'... and at one point in time, it spelled Abacab. On the final version, it's not that at all, it's like 'Accaabbaac'."

Due to its daring shift in style, Abacab is generally considered one of Genesis' most important releases, and was a springboard for future hit albums Genesis and Invisible Touch. The band had been influenced by the punk/new wave revolution in Britain insofar as what they were now offering fans was a set of minimalist, bare, punchy songs, much more in step with the pop charts than Genesis had ever been before. Indeed the compositions are very much a musical companion to the abstract artwork on album's sleeve. Opening with the hard hitting yet pulsing beat of the title song, nothing could be further from the highly orchestrated work of the mid-seventies.

That said, the complexity of a song like "Me and Sarah Jane" remained as musically challenging as anything on earlier recordings, even if the sound of the instrumental palette had expanded since the mid-seventies to encompass an innumerably wider array of synthesizers, a more effects-driven sound to Rutherford's guitars, and the more aggressive sound of Collins' vocals and 'gated' drums. The lyrical content is also identifiable as woe:

“ Me and Sarah Jane,
We had it coming
All along,
Walking down the streets,
And finding nothing is the same,
And now the city lights are dimming one by one,
It costs too much money to keep them all on. ”

Parts of this album lean toward the nihilistic, with "Dodo's" references to 'big noise, black smoke' as a clear indication that the band was shying away from the incredibly personal introspection of 'Duke', and had returned to a more existential bent. That said, in contrast to more refined, 'poetic' approaches to these issues during the late 70's, by "Abacab" there is a more abrasive, punk-inflected sensibility to the lyrics, favoring cut-up collage to the baroque stylings of the earlier years. Take for example the following lyric (also from "Dodo"):

“ Caretaker
horror movie
Only one eye, only needs one boot
Sweet lady, she knows she looks good
Vacuum coming for the bright and the brute. ”

While the album is often cited as a central album in terms of the stylistic shift, many have also noted that it is incredibly inconsistent in terms of overall quality. Stronger material that had been left off of Abacab was soon issued on the 3 X 3 EP, which broke the top ten of the UK singles chart, on the strength of the song "Paperlate."



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Review:

Posted : 1 year, 4 months ago on 7 May 2007 04:28 (A review of A Trick of the Tail)

A Trick of the Tail was the first studio album by progressive rock band Genesis following the departure of original vocalist Peter Gabriel. It was released in February 1976.

Post-Gabriel Genesis:

After Peter Gabriel left Genesis, the remaining members held auditions for a permanent lead singer. Initially Phil Collins did not wish to take over from Gabriel, instead teaching the potential lead singers the songs. When the auditions failed to produce a suitable vocalist, Collins reluctantly went in the studio to sing "Squonk" and the band decided that Collins should be the new vocalist.

Recording:

The album was recorded and mixed at Trident Studios in October / November 1975. It also marked the first album that the band would co-produce with David Hentschel. They would work with David for the next four years.

Videos:

Three videos were shot for the album. The first was for the album's title cut which depicted the band playing to the track and a very miniature Phil Collins hopping around on a piano and a guitar (Collins later revealed this clip was the most embarrassing video of his career). The second was for Ripples which was a performance clip. The last was "Robbery, Assault and Battery" which depicted Phil as a bank robber who kills an elderly man (played by Mike Rutherford) after holding him up and then pursued by cops (played by Banks, Hackett and Rutherford).

Chart performance:

A Trick of the Tail reached #3 in the UK and #31 in the US. Additionally, the album was certified Gold in the US by the RIAA in March of 1990. Also according to Tony Banks in the essay that comes with The Genesis Platinum Collection, the album doubled the band's previous albums sales. This success proved crucial for Genesis whom were $400,000 in debt by the time Peter Gabriel left so it was good news financially as well as artistically.







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Turn It On Again

Posted : 1 year, 4 months ago on 7 May 2007 02:59 (A review of Duke)

All I need is a TV show, that and the radio
Down on my luck again, down on my luck again
I can show you I can show you some of the people in my life
I can show you I can show you some of the people in my life
It's driving me mad just another way of passing the day
I, I get so lonely when she's not there
I, I, I...

You're just another face that I know from the TV show
I have known you for so very long I feel you like a friend
Can't you do anything for me, can I touch you for a while
Can I meet you another day and we will fly away

I can show you I can show you some of the people in my life
I can show you I can show you some of the people in my life
It's driving me mad it's just another way of passing the day
I, I get so lonely when she's not there
I, I, I...

Turn it on, turn it on, turn it on again
Turn it on, turn it on, turn it on again (I can see another face)
Turn it on, turn it on, turn it on again (I can see another face)
Turn it on, turn it on, turn it on again



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Misunderstanding

Posted : 1 year, 4 months ago on 7 May 2007 02:57 (A review of Duke)

There must be some misunderstanding
There must be some kind of mistake
I waited in the rain for hours
And you were late

Now it's not like me to say the right thing
But you could've called to let me know
I checked your number twice, don't understand it
So I went home

Well I'd been waiting for this weekend
I thought that maybe we could see a show
Never dreamed I'd have this feeling
Oh but seeing you is believing
That's why I don't know why
You didn't show up that night

There must be some misunderstanding
There must be some kind of mistake
I was waiting in the rain for hours
And you were late

Since then I've been running around trying to find you
I went to the places that we always go
I rang your home but got no answer
Jumped in my car, I went round there
Still don't believe it
He was just leaving

There must be some misunderstanding
There must be some kind of mistake (Repeat to fade)



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Duchess

Posted : 1 year, 4 months ago on 7 May 2007 02:54 (A review of Duke)

Times were good
She never thought about the future
She just did what she would
But she really cared about her music
It all seemed so important then

And she dreamed that every time that she performed
Everyone would cry for more
That all she had to do was step into the light
And everyone would start to roar

And on the road
Where all but a few fall by the wayside on the grassier verge
She battled through
Against the others in her world
And the sleep, and the odds

But now everytime that she performed
Everybody cried for more
Soon all she had to do was step into the light
For everyone to start to roar
And the people cried, you're the one we've waited for

But time went by
It wasn't so easy now
All uphill, and not feeling so strong
Yes times were hard
Too much thinking 'bout the future
And what people might want

And then there was the time that she performed
When nobody called for more
And soon everytime she stepped into the light
They really let her know the score

But she dreamed of the times when she sang her songs
And everybody cried for more
When all she had to do was step into the light
For everyone to start to roar
And all the people cried, you're the one we've waited for

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Behind The Lines

Posted : 1 year, 4 months ago on 7 May 2007 02:52 (A review of Duke)

I held the book so tightly in my hands, saw your picture, heard you call my name
There was something strange, I could not look away
I wanted to be there, I wanted to go

You gave me no warning
You gave no reason
But I was with you
Right by your side
Give me the strength, and I will help you
They can try their hardest, they don't frighten me

It is written in the book

It is hotter than I've known before, but I feel so cold, and I don't know why
But if the fire within your heart can beat the storm
Then I really believe, you could make it right

The time has come now
We must show our feelings
But I'm looking right through you
And your heart is empty

Whatever happened to you it's too late to change now
There's nowhere you can run to, no place to hide
Oh you let me down!

...but wait a minute, I don't understand
It's getting stronger, grab my hand
Don't wanna leave you, don't wanna go
But I'm losing all control
Can't you see me slipping away?
I can only stay if you've the will to keep me here

It is written in the book

Oh so many times since I've read those words
Just waiting to see you, can you see me?

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Track Listing:

Posted : 1 year, 4 months ago on 30 April 2007 02:07 (A review of ...And Then There Were Three...)

1. Down And Out
2. Undertow
3. Ballad of Big
4. Snowbound
5. Burning Rope
6. Deep In The Motherlode
7. Many Too Many
8. Scenes From The Night's Dream
9. Say It's Alright Joe
10. The Lady Lies
11. Follow You Follow Me


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