O.T. but related , saw Genesis at the Kennington Oval, many many years ago (71 ?) along with Frank Zappa (Not my cup of tea) and Geoff Beck (Brilliant) and failed to see Hawkwind because the bloke with the car had a row with his gf, and we left early.
Huge Genesis fan from their prog period here. My pick:
- Selling England by the pound
- A trick of the tail
No question, I’d rank these two among the 10 best rock albums of all time.
- Foxtrot
- Nursery cryme
The lamb narrowly missed the cut - some of their best songs, but for me not held together well enough for a double album.
- We Can’t Dance
- Sussudio
Okay, just kidding…
*1. Supper’s Ready
2. Selling England by the Pound
3. Wind and Wuthering
I have listened to every Genesis album at least 100 times.
- Wind and Wuthering
- Selling England By the Pound
- A Trick of the Tail
- Seconds Out
You can ignore the idea about live albums, Genesis is the most unique live group I’ve seen. They change nothing from the studio albums. Seconds Out features Phil singing all the classic Genesis music from the Gabriel era, plus the Wind and Wuthering and Trick of the Tail best.
That was 1972, and I would have killed to see that Frank Zappa performance–one of only eight gigs he did with his Grand Wazoo big band.
I know where you’re coming from, I would kill now to have seen Led Zep at Southampton in probably 70.
But couldn’t get the time off.
slight side-track: if you ever get the chance, check out The Musical Box… they are not a cover band, but a 100% accurate re-creation of specific Genesis shows from the past… an incredible experience…
I like two Gabriel-era Genesis tunes: The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway & Carpet Crawlers. I love CC, and it’s goes beautifully with Laserium shows. 
Nothing else grabs me, though. I guess I’m just not much of a Progressive Rock fan. Wish there were at least a few more songs I could enjoy as much as those two. I like some of Gabriel’s solo work, but as much as I like those two tunes, I wish there were a few more I could enjoy from his Genesis years.
I think “Can-Utility and the Coastliners” from Foxtrot has a similar sound to it.
Have you heard any of A Trick of the Tail or Wind & Wuthering? Those two albums build upon the strengths developed during the Gabriel years and IMHO sound like natural progressions from the better parts of The Lamb and Selling England by the Pound.
Thinking of Peter Gabriel, the OP might wish to check out his first solo album (the one whose cover features the blue car in the rain). It is strikingly similar in spots to “classic” Genesis (“Moribund the Burgermeister”), but gives an indication as to where he might have liked to have gone with Genesis (“Down the Dolce Vita”). And then there is the brilliant “Solsbury Hill” to top everything off.
Yay, thanks for that. Since MySpace could disappear at any time, I’m going to copy it and put it on my computer so I can post it if need be in the future.
Edit to add, anyone who loves The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway needs to read that, if they never have. It adds so many details.
blush Thanks! It was very hard culling down links to other songs I love.
You can’t go wrong with any Genesis album from Trespass to Calling All Stations. Even From Genesis To Revelation has some good songs on it.
But I would say:
*Wind And Wuthering *- my favorite album of all time. (One For The Vine>Supper’s Ready)
A Trick Of The Tail - Entangled and Mad Man Moon are two of the best songs in prog history
*
Selling England By The Pound* - Steve Hackett’s best work
The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway - 100 minutes of Genesis awesomeness
Wow, this has turned out to be a lot harder than I thought it would be. I think I would have to go with:
-
Seconds Out - possibly the best live album ever recorded. Steve Hackett’s guitar solo on “Firth of Fifth” still blows me away every time I listen to it. The live versions of “Afterglow” and “Supper’s Ready” are much better than the studio versions.
-
Selling England By The Pound - their best album from the Gabriel era, even better than (dare I say it) The Lamb.
-
Nursery Cryme - tough call between this and Foxtrot, but I think that “The Musical Box”, “Return of the Giant Hogweed” and “Fountain of Salmacis” are stronger tracks than “Watcher of the Skies”, “Get Em Out By Friday” and the studio version of “Supper’s Ready” (which, frankly, sometimes sounds to me like munchkins singing).
-
A Trick of the Tail - proves that while Gabriel may have been the focal point of the band, he was by far not the only creative element in it. Favorite tracks - “Dance on a Volcano”, “Squonk”, and the title track. And another excellent Steve Hackett solo in “Ripples”.
Sonic and… wait wrong thread :smack:
I can’t do it. I love every album solid through from Foxtrot to Duke.
In fact, it’s all the post Duke albums that I could dispense with, even though there are a handful of tracks I enjoy scattered among them.
Thanks for the suggestions. I listened to all of Wind & Wuthering on Youtube, as well as Can-Utility and the Coastliners. I’ve listened to A Trick of the Tail several times in the past. I think the thing is, Lamb, and to a lesser extent perhaps, Carpet Crawlers, sound like later Genesis, when they got away from the Prog Rock and went more mainstream. I like those 2 songs, but they’re not particularly representative of Gabriel-era Genesis, and so I’m not likely to find anything else that appeals to me in their catalog.
Pity, I quite like those songs.
Thanks for this thread and all the great input. I’ve ignored Genesis until now but I think I can really get into them. I’ve had Selling England By The Pound on for a few plays now and it’s great.
<Runs into thread excitedly, reads OP, shuffles out dejectedly without giving any Sega advice whatsoever>
Why listen to Genesis albums when you could just listen to Phil Collins solo stuff instead?
(runs away and hides before he gets torn to shreds by the Genesis fans)
Thanks, all… will give all your comments serious consideration.