Genesis by Genesis

Genesis

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Genesis

Features

Audio CD (October 25, 1990)

Number of Discs: 1

Label: Atlantic / Wea

Catalog Number: 80116

Reader Reviews
Genesis eponymous 1983 album marked further exprimentation and a move from progressive into more radio friendly pop/rock. Since Peter Gabriel left in 1976 and Steve Hackett right after we had seen a new start for the band with Phil Collins as lead singer but it wasn't really til Abacab that they truly took the big step into more mainstream music, but needless to say they were still a progressive rock band and we could still see it on many songs, even on latter album like "Invisible Touch" and "We Can't Dance". On this 1983 album however, the band continued on going pop and they also composed all the songs together, not like in the past when every member had their fair share of personal songs. The sound was also considered modern back in the day, 23 years ago! and with the synthesizers and drum machines eveolving in the early 80's you could see why. We also saw glimpses of humour on songs like "Illegal Alien" that hadn't been present much before but came to play a major part in Genesis and Phil Collins latter careers. When released this album got mixed reviews, most people were excited and positive but there were also negative comments on the band jumping the bandwagon. "Genesis" is regardless of that among the best Genesis album released. The album starts with the dark haunting "Mama", haunting is a perfect word to describe it since Collins vocals often sound exactly like that, this song reminds me of "In the Air Tonight" cause it's sang in the same way and it features slow drums and a frightening sound of synthesizers from Banks. Originally it was suppost to be a song about prostitutes, but I'm not sure if that's the impression people get. It hit #4 at the UK charts and became the bands biggist hit at the time. "That's All" is memorable for it's melody, Banks keyboards makes half of the song. The lyrics brings up relationships again, quite typical for Collins at the time. Third song "Home By the Sea" and forth song "Second Home By The Sea" segues into each other and you should listen to them both after each other. They're ghost stories and proves Genesis fantastic quality for story telling. Both lyrically and musically this is one of the strongest Genesis songs, it's melancholy midtempo with haunting lyrics "Dreaming of the time we were free, So many years ago, Before the time when we first heard Welcome to the home by the sea". "Second Home By The Sea" is much darker, it's almost like the same song but somewhat slower and almost without lyrics, infact Collins only start singing in the end of it. It also got more influential drum machines feautured then on the first version. A song that progressive fans would love. "Illegal Alien" is where the humour of Genesis firstly took off, Collins tells the story of a illegal mexican immigrant in USA, and he even sings it with an accent. Ofcourse this is highly exaggerated and it's only a satire, The lyrics and obviously the cheesy accent are funny and the bridge sound like a major traffic chaous. "Taking it All Too Hard" is a song about a breakup, seems like something that could have feautured on Collins "Face Value". It's not so surprising a slow-paced song. "A Job To Do" could have worked as a single, it's extremly cathcy uptempo about a private investigator with a job to do. "Silver Rainbow" tells the story of the land that lies beyond the silver rainbow, it's another story teller like "Home By The Sea" but this is probably the weakest song on this album. The last song "It's Gonna Get Better" is a catchy midtempo about going through rough times in life, but to stay positive and get over it and move on. Collins sings with a incredibly soft voice, very diverse compared to "Mama" for example. The keyboards are very good on this one. Overall, a new step for Genesis, even if Abacab was somewhat pop/rock this eponymous 1983 album was where they eventually made the big step into a more pop minded band with shorter songs and more radio friendly material, still they don't fully abandon their roots. "Genesis" is a rich album, it fearues a great mix of old and new and it delives some of the bands best songs to date. A personal favorite and highly recommended.

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