Genesis (band)
Encyclopedia
Genesis are an English
rock
band that formed in 1967. The band currently comprises the longest-tenured members Tony Banks
(keyboards), Mike Rutherford
(bass, guitar) and Phil Collins
(vocals, drums). Past members Peter Gabriel
(vocals, flute), Steve Hackett
(guitar) and Anthony Phillips
(guitar), also played major roles in the band in its early years. Genesis are among the top 30 highest-selling recording artists of all time with approximately 150 million albums sold worldwide.
In the late 1960s, with the release of their first album
, Genesis's music was initially regarded by the band and the fans as a pop experiment, referring to then-popular melodic pop. They then (beginning with their second album
) quickly evolved into a progressive rock
band with the incorporation of complex song structures and elaborate instrumentation. Their concerts became theatrical experiences with innovative stage design, pyrotechnics, extravagant costumes and on-stage stories. This second phase was characterised by lengthy performances such as the 23 minute "Supper's Ready
" and the 1974 concept album
, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
. In the late 70s and early 80s the band's musical direction changed once again, becoming more pop oriented and commercially accessible. This resulted in their first top 40 single in the US with "Follow You Follow Me", their first number one album in the United Kingdom, Duke
, and their only number one single in the United States, "Invisible Touch
".
Genesis has undergone several personnel changes throughout its history. Stage fright
forced founding member Anthony Phillips
to leave the band in 1970. In 1975, Collins
, then the band's drummer, replaced Peter Gabriel
as lead singer after a lengthy search for a replacement. To facilitate Collins's move to lead vocals during concerts, Bill Bruford
and Chester Thompson
played drums for the band as they toured, with Collins joining in briefly during lengthy instrumental passages. In 1977, guitarist Steve Hackett
left the band. After Phil Collins left the band in 1996, Genesis recruited Ray Wilson
(formerly of Stiltskin
). Wilson appeared on the 1997 album Calling All Stations
, after which the band announced an indefinite hiatus. However, in 2007, Banks, Collins and Rutherford reunited for a 20-city tour of Europe and North America
, which included a free concert at Rome's Circo Massimo in front of 500,000 fans. Genesis were among five bands inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
in 2010. The future of the band remains uncertain with Collins's retirement from the music business and the other members' solo work.
in Godalming
. Formed out of school bands Garden Wall
and The Anon
, Genesis's original line-up consisted of Peter Gabriel
(vocals), Anthony Phillips
(guitar), Tony Banks
(keyboards), Mike Rutherford
(bass & guitar) and Chris Stewart
(drums). The group (minus Stewart) originally formed as a songwriting partnership with no intention of performing, but with more and more bands writing their own songs, there was no demand for a team of young and inexperienced songwriters.
Charterhouse School alumnus Jonathan King
attended a concert at Charterhouse in 1968 while the band was still in school. Following the concert, another student gave King a tape of songs the band had recorded and King thought enough of them to sign them to a recording contract. King was a songwriter and record producer who had a hit single at the time, "Everyone's Gone to the Moon". King named the band Genesis (after previously suggesting the name Gabriel's Angels), recalling that he had "thought it was a good name... it suggested the beginning of a new sound and a new feeling."
The resulting album, From Genesis to Revelation
, was released on Decca Records
in March 1969. During the sessions, Stewart was replaced by John Silver
on drums. The band recorded a series of songs influenced by the light pop style of the Bee Gees
, one of King's favourite bands at the time. King assembled the tracks as a concept album
, and added string arrangements during the production. Their first single, "The Silent Sun", was released in February 1968. The album sold poorly but the band, on advice from King, decided to pursue a career in music. King holds the rights to the songs on the From Genesis to Revelation album and has re-released it many times under a variety of names, including In the Beginning, Where the Sour Turns to Sweet, Rock Roots: Genesis, ...And the Word Was and, most recently, The Genesis of Genesis.
Silver was replaced by John Mayhew before the recording of Trespass
. Genesis then secured a new recording contract with Charisma Records
. The band built a following through live performances which featured the band's hypnotic, dark and haunting melodies and Gabriel's numerous eye-catching costumes.
Trespass, which was made from many of the songs the band had written during their earliest live shows
, was the template for the band's albums in the 1970s – lengthy, sometimes operatic pieces resembling the style of progressive rock bands such as King Crimson
, Yes
and Gentle Giant
, along with the occasional shorter and more accessible, sometimes humorous, number. Trespass included progressive rock elements such as elaborate arrangements and time signature
changes, as in the nine-minute song "The Knife".
Ill health and recurring stage fright
caused Phillips to leave the band in the summer of 1970. Phillips would later record many solo albums, sometimes in collaboration with other Genesis members. Phillips's departure traumatised Banks and Rutherford, causing the band to doubt whether it could continue. However, the remaining members decided to carry on, replacing Mayhew and Phillips with Phil Collins
on drums and Mick Barnard
on guitar in the autumn of 1970. Barnard's tenure was short-lived, and the band brought in Steve Hackett
, formerly of Quiet World
, on guitar in January 1971.
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Collins and Hackett made their studio debut in 1971 on Nursery Cryme
, which features "The Musical Box" and Collins's first lead vocal performance in "For Absent Friends", the song was also the first written by new members Collins and Hackett within the band. Two engineers were hired and then quit before John Burns
took over during the recording of their next album, and this began a successful three-album collaboration between Burns and the group. Foxtrot
was released in October 1972 and contains what has been described as "one of the group's most accomplished works", the 23-minute multi-part epic "Supper's Ready
". Songs such as the Arthur C. Clarke
-inspired "Watcher of the Skies
" solidified their reputation as songwriters and performers. Gabriel's flamboyant and theatrical stage presence, which involved numerous and elaborate costumes and surreal spoken song introductions, made the band a popular live act. Genesis Live
, was recorded on the Foxtrot tour in 1973, shortly before the band's upcoming album was released.
Selling England by the Pound
was released in November 1973 and was well received by critics and fans. Gabriel insisted on the title, a reference to a current Labour Party
slogan, in an effort to counter the impression that Genesis was becoming too US-oriented. The album contains "Firth of Fifth
" and "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)"; these songs became part of their live repertoire, with the latter becoming their first charting single, reaching No. 17 on the UK singles charts.
During this period Hackett became an early user of the electric guitar "tapping
" technique, which was later popularised by Eddie Van Halen
, as well as "sweep-picking
", which was popularised in the 1980s by Yngwie Malmsteen
. These guitar techniques were incorporated in the song "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight
". At the same time, the band signed with new manager Tony Smith
, who published all subsequent Genesis songs through his company Hit & Run Music Publishing
.
In 1974, Genesis recorded a double disc concept album
The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
which was released on 18 November. In contrast to the lengthy tracks featured on earlier albums, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway is a collection of shorter tracks, connected by a number of segue
s. The story describes the spiritual journey of Rael, a Puerto Rican
youth living in New York City, and his quest to establish his freedom and identity. During his adventure, Rael encounters several bizarre characters including the Slippermen and The Lamia
, the latter being borrowed from Greek mythology and influenced by a poem by Keats
.
The band embarked on a world tour to promote the album, performing it 102 times in its entirety, with Gabriel adding spoken narration. This choice of set was soon regretted by the band members, since it lacked the variety of playing material from throughout their career and compelled them to perform songs which didn't work well live. During their live performances, Genesis pioneered the use of lasers
and other light effects, most of which were built by the Dutch technician Theo Botschuijver. A customised handheld unit was used to channel laser light, which allowed Gabriel to sweep the audience with various light effects.
Creating the ambitious The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway album strained relations between band members, particularly Banks and Gabriel, who were good friends. Gabriel was the album's lyricist
, while the other band members (chiefly Banks and Rutherford) wrote the music, with the exception of "Counting Out Time" and "The Carpet Crawlers
". "The Light Dies Down on Broadway" was co-authored by Banks and Rutherford. The other-worldly, blurbling, sequenced synth sounds and shattering glass loops in the track "The Waiting Room", as well as the vocal effects in the track "The Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging" coined "Enossifications", were produced by the ambient composer Brian Eno
.
During the Lamb tour, Gabriel announced to his bandmates that he had decided to leave the band, citing estrangement from the other members, and the strains of his marriage and the difficult birth of his first child. Nonetheless, he saw his commitment through to the conclusion of the tour. In a letter to fans, delivered through the music press at the end of the tour, entitled Out, Angels Out, Gabriel explained that the "...vehicle we had built as a co-op to serve our songwriting became our master and had cooped us up inside the success we had wanted. It affected the attitudes and the spirit of the whole band. The music had not dried up and I still respect the other musicians, but our roles had set in hard." Collins later remarked that the other members "...were not stunned by Peter's departure because we had known about it for quite a while." The band decided to carry on without Gabriel.
Gabriel's first solo album, Peter Gabriel
1977, features the hit single "Solsbury Hill
", an allegory
that refers to his departure from the band.
, who had provided backing vocals, coached prospective replacements. Eventually, the band decided to use Collins as the lead vocalist for 1976's A Trick of the Tail
. The new producer David Hentschel
, who had served as engineer on Nursery Cryme, gave the album a clearer-sounding production. Music historians later commented that Collins sounded "more like Gabriel than Gabriel did".
Despite the success of the album, the group remained concerned with their live shows, which now lacked Gabriel's elaborate costume changes and dramatic behaviour. Since Collins required the assistance of a second drummer while he sang, Bill Bruford
, drummer for Yes
and King Crimson was hired for the 1976 tour. Their first live performance without Peter Gabriel was on 26 March 1976, in London, Ontario
, Canada.
Later that year, Genesis recorded Wind & Wuthering
, the first of two albums recorded at the Relight Studios in Hilvarenbeek
in the Netherlands. Released in December 1976, the album took the second part of its title from Emily Brontë
's novel Wuthering Heights
, whose last lines—"how anyone could ever imagine unquiet slumbers for the sleepers in that quiet earth"—inspired the titles of the seventh and eighth tracks.
For the 1977 Genesis tour, the jazz fusion
-trained Chester Thompson
—a veteran of Weather Report
and Frank Zappa
—took on live drumming duties. Collins' approach to Genesis shows differed from the theatrical performances of Gabriel, and his interpretations of older songs were lighter and more subtle. At the 1982 Milton Keynes
reunion show, Gabriel admitted that Collins sang the songs "better", though never "quite like" him.
Guitarist Hackett had become increasingly disenchanted with the band by the time of Wind & Wutherings release, and he felt confined. He was the first member of the band to record a solo album, 1975's Voyage of the Acolyte
, and greatly enjoyed the feelings of control over the recording process that working within a group could not provide. Hackett had asked that a quarter of Wind & Wuthering be allocated to Hackett's songs, which Collins described as "a dumb way to work in a band context". While Hackett was given songwriting credits on the instrumental track "Unquiet Slumbers for the Sleepers..."/"...In That Quiet Earth" , the Hackett/Collins "Blood on the Rooftops" was never performed live, and his song "Please Don't Touch" (which appeared as the title track to his 1978 solo album) was rejected by the rest of the band, who opted for the shorter and catchier instrumental "Wot Gorilla?" which closes Side 1. Hackett left the band following the release of the 1977 Spot the Pigeon
EP while the band was mixing the live album Seconds Out
, which was recorded during the 1976 and 1977 tours.
. The album was a further move away from lengthy progressive epics, and yielded their first American radio hit, "Follow You Follow Me", whose popularity led to ...And Then There Were Three... being the band's first U.S. Platinum-certified album
.
For live performances that year, Rutherford alternated again between guitar and bass with Daryl Stuermer
, formerly guitarist with Jean-Luc Ponty
's band. Generally, Rutherford played the guitar pieces he composed during the most recent album, but stuck with bass for all of the material recorded prior to 1978. Their 1978 world tour took them across North America, over to Europe, back to North America, and, eventually, to their first performances in Japan at the end of 1978.
As the band had been recording and touring constantly since the winter of 1977–78, it was decided by Banks, Collins, and Rutherford to take the majority of 1979 off. Collins had previously informed his bandmates that he needed to attempt to save his marriage by following his wife to her new home in Vancouver. If they planned to go back into the studio, they were going to have to count him out. Banks and Rutherford responded by proposing that the band go into hiatus while he sorted out his family issues and record solo material in the meantime.
. When the three bandmates came back together to begin recording their next album, Duke
, the product was much more the result of all three working together equally. Duke was the real transition from their 1970s progressive rock sound to the 1980s pop era. The use of a drum machine became a consistent element on subsequent Genesis albums, as well as on Collins's solo releases. The first Genesis song to feature a drum machine was the Duke track "Duchess
". The more commercial Duke was well received by the mainstream media, and was the band's first UK number one album, while the tracks "Misunderstanding
" and "Turn It On Again
" became live performance favourites.
Duke was followed by Abacab
, which features a collaboration with the Earth, Wind & Fire
horn section on the track "No Reply at All
". Much of the album's rehearsals took place at The Farm
, the band's newly-built studio in Surrey
, and the site where all of their subsequent albums were recorded. The album used a forceful drum sound which used an effect called gated reverb
, which uses a live—or artificially reverberated—sound relayed through a noise gate
set, which rapidly cuts off when a particular volume threshold is reached. This results in a powerful "live" sounding, yet controlled, drum ambiance. The distinctive sound was first developed by Peter Gabriel, Collins, and their co-producer/engineer Hugh Padgham
, when Collins was recording the backing track for "Intruder", the first song on Gabriel's 1980 solo album. The technique, in addition to Padgham's production, had been apparent on Face Value. The "gated" drum sound would become an audio trademark of future Genesis and Collins albums.
The Abacab tour also marked the first public appearances of the Vari-Lite
automated moving light
system, the development of which had been paid for by the band and their management.
In 1982, the band released the live double album Three Sides Live
. The U.S. version contains three sides of live material—hence the album's title—in addition to a side of studio material. The studio material includes the song "Paperlate
", which again features an Earth, Wind and Fire horn section. In the UK and the rest of Europe, the studio material was replaced by a fourth side of live recordings from previous tours. 1982 closed with a one-off performance alongside Gabriel and Hackett at the Milton Keynes Bowl
, under the name Six of the Best
. The concert was hastily put together to help raise money for Gabriel's WOMAD
project, which at the time was suffering from considerable financial hardship. Hackett, who arrived late from South Africa, performed the final two songs of the show ("I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)" and "The Knife") with his former bandmates.
1983's eponymous Genesis album became their third consecutive number one album in the UK. The album includes the radio-friendly tracks "Mama
" and "That's All
". The track "Just a Job to Do
" was later used as the theme song for 1985's ABC
detective drama The Insiders
. The final cut to hit the airwaves was "Taking It All Too Hard
", which in addition to being highly played on AOR radio, crossed over to soft rock radio stations and became a fixture for 20 years. The album became a worldwide success.
Genesis' highest-selling album, Invisible Touch
, was released in 1986, at the height of Collins' popularity as a solo artist. The album yielded five U.S. Top 5 singles: "Throwing It All Away
", "In Too Deep", "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight", "Land of Confusion
" and "Invisible Touch
". The title track reached #1 in the United States; the only Genesis song to do so; however, it stalled at #15 in the UK. In July 1987, Genesis became the first band to play four sold out consecutive nights at Wembley Stadium. Genesis was the first band to use Vari*Lite technology
, and the Prism sound system, all of which are now standard features of arena rock concerts.
Earlier that year, Collins viewed a spoof of himself on Spitting Image
, a satirical British television show which used puppets to lampoon politicians and celebrities. He was impressed with the representation, and commissioned the show's creators, Peter Fluck
and Roger Law
, to work on the video for the "Land of Confusion" single. The video was formed as an ironic commentary on the Cold War
, and played on the perception that the coalition's leaders were "trigger happy" with the nuclear
"button". In addition to puppet representations of Banks, Collins and Rutherford, the video showed Ronald Reagan
dressed as Superman
. It was nominated for the MTV Video of the Year, losing to Gabriel's "Sledgehammer
".
"Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" was used in a Michelob commercial—as was Collins' "In the Air Tonight
"—while "In Too Deep" was featured in the film Mona Lisa
. The instrumental "The Brazilian", appeared in the animated movie When the Wind Blows, alongside a score written by Roger Waters
. At the 1988 Prince's Trust
concert held in the Royal Albert Hall
, Collins and Gabriel performed together for the first time since 1982. Collins was drummer for the house band, while Gabriel performed his hit single "Sledgehammer". As of September 2007, the two Genesis frontmen have not publicly played together since, although they did play together at Gabriel's wedding in 2002.
After a hiatus of five years, Genesis reconvened for the 1991 release of We Can't Dance
, which was to be Collins' last studio album with the group. The album features the hit singles "Jesus He Knows Me
", "I Can't Dance
", "No Son of Mine
", "Hold on My Heart
", "Tell Me Why
" and "Never a Time" (a U.S. release only), as well as lengthy pieces such as "Driving the Last Spike
" and "Fading Lights
". The album which was produced by Nick Davis includes "Since I Lost You", which Collins wrote in memory of Eric Clapton
's son Conor.
Collins left the band in March 1996. He reasoned that he "felt it time to change direction in my musical life. For me now, it will be music for movies, some jazz projects, and of course my solo career. I wish the guys in Genesis all the very best in their future. We remain the best of friends."
and Chester Thompson
. Stuermer was approached, but was touring with Collins at the time; Thompson inquired regarding the vacant drum stool, but after he was refused full-band membership, he ended his 19-year association with the band. Eventually, drumming duties were shared between Nir Zidkyahu
, an Israeli session drummer who had played with Hidden Persuaders, and Nick D'Virgilio
, from the progressive rock band Spock's Beard
. The difference in their playing styles was marked; D'Virgilio played softer, more subtle rhythms in comparison to Zidkyahu's bombastic technique.
Ex-Stiltskin
singer Ray Wilson
was appointed as the new lead singer of Genesis. Other candidates had included Paul Carrack
from Rutherford's Mike + The Mechanics, Francis Dunnery
(ex-It Bites
), David Longdon (ex-Louis Philippe
band), Alan Barton
(ex-Black Lace
) and ex-Marillion
vocalist—and two-time Banks collaborator—Fish
. Kevin Gilbert
was offered an audition just before his death in 1996. On the band's criteria in the search for a singer, Banks noted: "We needed someone who fits as many of the things you require as possible—being able to improvise with the kind of music we write and also someone capable of jumping in at the deep end and fronting a band." Wilson was immediately incorporated into the songwriting process, being given "half-a-dozen" songs to work on and ending up with three co-writing credits on the final album.
1997's Calling All Stations
sold well in Europe, while the track "Congo" reached #29 in the UK. The album was not as successful in America, where it failed to reach the Billboard Top 50. During 1997 and 1998, Genesis toured across Europe; Banks, Rutherford, and Wilson were joined live by Zidkyahu and the guitarist Anthony Drennan
, who previously worked with Paul Brady
and The Corrs
. However, a planned American tour was cancelled due to the album's poor sales performance. Following the truncation of the Calling All Stations tour, Genesis dismissed Wilson and went on an extended hiatus, although the members remained in regular contact. In an April 2007 interview, Wilson expressed his disgust at how his dismissal was handled, saying "it was like death by silence." He also said he regretted his time spent with the band, feeling uncomfortable as a self-described "working class" man with the wealthier likes of Banks and Rutherford, and also revealed one of Phil Collins's assistants told him Collins "wasn't happy that they had continued."
compilation. In 2000, Collins, Banks, and Rutherford along with Daryl Stuermer performed acoustic
renditions of "I Can't Dance
", "Invisible Touch
", "Follow You, Follow Me," and "Turn It On Again
" at the Music Managers Forum, in honour of their manager Tony Smith. Most of the original members were involved in compiling the two Archive boxed-sets. Acoustic versions of "Afterglow", "No Son of Mine" and "Follow You, Follow Me" were recorded for a documentary film about the band's history at this time.
on 7 November 2006; nearly 40 years after the band first formed. The tour took place during summer 2007, and played twelve countries across Europe, followed by a second leg in North America. The trio had wanted to reunite as a five-piece with Gabriel and Hackett for a live performance of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
. While Gabriel reportedly agreed in principle to perform, he was unable to commit to a date. Collins later observed that "Peter is a little over-cautious about going back to something which fundamentally is just fun". Hackett agreed to participation, but without Peter joining in on the tour, Phil, Tony and Mike thought that it would be more appropriate to bring back Chester Thompson and Daryl Stuermer. Hackett, however still maintains good relations with the rest of the band. A short note expressing his good wishes for the reunion tour currently appears on his Web site.
The band and producer since 1991, Nick Davis, remixed their back catalogue (into 5.1 and new stereo mixes) for release in three batches over the course of 2007 and 2008, each comprising a third of the band's albums (from Trespass
to Calling All Stations
) in a boxset-style release. Each album is presented as a double-disc set containing a multi-channel hybrid Super Audio CD
, as well as a DVD-Video
with DTS
24bit/96K and Dolby Digital
24bit/48K 5.1 tracks. The DVDs also include extras such as promo videos, live performances, TV appearances, tour programmes and new interviews in which the band discuss the period surrounding each album. (For the US and Canada pressings, the audio discs are regular CDs and not SACD hybrids.) These remasters were released in three box sets: Genesis 1976–1982 in May 2007, Genesis 1983–1998 in October 2007, and Genesis 1970–1975 in November 2008, in addition to each album being released individually. Each box set contains the albums from its designated time period, as well as a bonus CD/DVD-A of non-album tracks.
On 12 May 2007, the band was an honouree at the second annual VH1 Rock Honors
, along with Ozzy Osbourne
, Heart
and ZZ Top
. Genesis performed "Turn It On Again", "No Son of Mine" and "Los Endos", which later was broadcast on VH1 in the U.S. on 25 May 2007. On 11 June 2007 Genesis officially kicked off their 2007 Turn It On Again World Tour in Helsinki, Finland. The band performed over 50 shows in several countries including Denmark, Belgium, Germany, Poland, France, Italy, Great Britain, the United States and Canada. The German show was broadcast live to several cinemas across the UK and Europe. On 7 July 2007, Genesis participated at Live Earth
, a series of concerts to promote action to confront global climate change
at the new Wembley Stadium
in London, along with other artists including Madonna
, Duran Duran
and Red Hot Chili Peppers
.
In an August 2007 interview, Collins has stated that the recording of a new album is currently "very, I repeat, very unlikely" [emphasis in original], citing a lack of both time and inspiration. However, Banks, on 22 August, stated "The three of us would be quite keen to have a go and see what happens."
On 2 October, Starbucks released the CD Sampler Genesis: 14 From Our Past. The track list is: "The Knife", "Happy The Man", "Watcher of the Skies", "I Know What I Like", "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway", "Squonk", "Your Own Special Way", "Follow You, Follow Me", "Turn It On Again", "Abacab", "That's All", "Land of Confusion", "Hold on My Heart" and "Congo".
An album of the reunion tour, entitled Live Over Europe 2007
was released in November of that year. The tracklist features a balanced set list covering most of their career. None of the songs recorded during Ray Wilson's time with the band were featured. In addition to the aforementioned album, sound deck recordings of each show were released by "The Music" A DVD of the concert on 14 July 2007 in Rome's Circo Massimo, When in Rome 2007
was released on 26 May. A microsite has been launched to accompany the release: www.wheninromedvd.com.
In an interview to celebrate the release of the Genesis: 1970–1975 boxset, Tony Banks revealed that it is a possibility that the band may reunite with Peter Gabriel and Steve Hackett. He said: "We've never said 'never' about it, you know. I know Phil (Collins) would be quite happy with the idea of just playing the drums; it would be quite fun for him. Mike (Rutherford) and I are certainly happy to do it. I know Steve (Hackett) is keen as well. I think it'd be down to Peter (Gabriel) more than anyone else." However, Collins has stated in various interviews that he is unable to play the drums due to a medical ailment. "After playing drums for 50 years, I've had to stop. My vertebrae have been crushing my spinal cord because of the position I drum in. It comes from years of playing. I can't even hold the sticks properly without it being painful, I even used to tape the sticks to my hands to get through."
On 10 September 2009, Collins revealed in a post on the official Genesis website that during the 2007 Turn It On Again tour, he dislocated a vertebra in his neck which has required surgery to repair. The injury and resulting recovery has made it "impossible to play the drums or piano" according to the article. However, Collins states that in a years time or more this situation could change. Future plans for any Genesis reunion could hinge on Collins' ability to recover and play the drums again.
On 21 September 2009, Genesis released Genesis Live 1973–2007
, a box set containing remixed and remastered editions of the band's first four live albums. The box includes Genesis Live
and Seconds Out
in both stereo and 5.1 surround sound versions, and Three Sides Live
and The Way We Walk
in stereo-only editions. On 23 November 2009, the band released a box set of live concert videos filmed between 1981 and 1992.
On 15 March 2010, Genesis was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
. The band was inducted by Phish
guitarist Trey Anastasio
. Collins, Banks, Rutherford and Steve Hackett appeared at the ceremony, but Peter Gabriel did not appear due to rehearsals for his solo tour to support his new solo album Scratch My Back
. Genesis did not perform at the ceremony. Phish paid tribute to them by opening the show with "Watcher of the Skies
" and then followed Anastasio's speech with a version of "No Reply at All
".
In a September 2010 interview with Billboard
, Collins was less than optimistic about the future of Genesis, stating "I think Genesis are no longer. I don't foresee me doing any more Genesis shows. Not because I don't like it or don't want to. But it doesn't fit in with my life and wanting to be with the boys, and taking onboard [my other interests like] the Alamo and writing a book about that. And the other stuff that I'd like to do-and that includes doing nothing as well. But also, I can't physically play the drums. I don't want to sound like a spoiled kid, like I've had my stuff and I don't want to do it anymore. But I have done it all my life, and now I'm enjoying another side of life."
Citing health problems and other concerns, Collins announced on 4 March 2011 that he ended his music career.
In an interview with Rolling Stone
on 27 September 2011, Peter Gabriel said that a reunion with the classic lineup is still a possibility, but hopes remain very slim, stating "I won't say never ever, but it's in the outside department of the betting shop...if you stick with the stuff that nourishes you the most then you'll probably be the happiest."
. Banks drew influence from Alan Price
of The Animals
, whom he regarded as "[t]he first person who made me aware of the organ in a rock context". Collins has cited Buddy Rich
and the jazz-rock outfits The Mahavishnu Orchestra
and Weather Report
, while Gabriel's early career with Genesis took influence from Nina Simone
and King Crimson
.
, Marillion
, IQ
, Pendragon
, Pallas
and Dream Theater
. They have also been cited as an influence by alternative rock
bands Elbow
and Coheed and Cambria
. Several Genesis tribute band
s, including ReGenesis and The Musical Box
routinely perform material from the Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins eras.
Collins became the first artist to cover a Genesis song in a studio release—"Behind the Lines"—which he included on Face Value one year after the original's release. Other former members previously and subsequently performed the band's material live during their solo shows—Gabriel played "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" and "Back in NYC", while Hackett has performed "In That Quiet Earth", "Los Endos", "Horizons", "Firth of Fifth" and "Blood on the Rooftops", among others. Hackett has performed "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)" on his own solo tours, and on a 1986 tour with his short lived supergroup GTR
. Rutherford has performed "I Can't Dance
" during his tours with the Mechanics. Collins also later formed The Phil Collins Big Band
, which played jazz arrangements of Genesis songs, which were "That's All", "Invisible Touch", "Hold On My Heart" and "Los Endos" (renamed "The Los Endos Suite"), during its 1998 world tour. Ray Wilson has covered the most Genesis songs during his solo concerts. His two solo live albums, Live and Life and Acoustic, feature the Genesis songs "The Carpet Crawlers", "Follow You Follow Me", "I Can't Dance", "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway", "No Son of Mine
", "Shipwrecked", and "Mama
". He has interpreted two songs from the solo careers of his two predecessors—"In the Air Tonight
" (Collins) and "Biko
" (Gabriel).
Jeff Buckley
reworked "Back in NYC" for the posthumously released 1998 Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk
; And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead also covered "Back in NYC" as a B-side in 2005. The Brazilian power metal
band Angra
covered "Mama
" in 2002. The Swedish death metal
band In Flames
covered "Land of Confusion
" on Trigger
, as did Disturbed on their 2005 album Ten Thousand Fists
. Disco-pop band Alcazar, also from Sweden, has covered parts of "Land of Confusion" on their song "This is the World We Live In". Dream Theater
covered "Turn It On Again
" as part of their song "The Big Medley". In 2007, Simon Collins
recorded his own version of "Keep It Dark" as a tribute to the 40th anniversary of his father's band.
Inducting the band into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
in 2010, Trey Anastasio
of Phish
acclaimed Genesis as "rebellious, restless and constantly striving for something more … Every musical rule and boundary was questioned and broken … It's impossible to overstate what impact this band and musical philosophy had on me as a young musician. I'm forever in their debt."
Beyond purely musical ventures, the theatrical style of Genesis's 1970s concerts with Gabriel and advanced lighting of their 1980s shows have provided inspiration for Cirque du Soleil
's productions: the 2004 anniversary show Midnight Sun and the arena-based touring show Delirium
trace their musical and multimedia elements back to these concerts. According to Victor Pilon, co-creator and co-director of both shows, "We're not inventing anything. Genesis did it years ago. We're just using new technology."
, used a plain black sleeve with Genesis written in a green gothic
typeface
. The three subsequent album covers were developed by the popular Charisma Records
graphic artist Paul Whitehead
. The Foxtrot sleeve depicts a feminine figure in a red dress with the head of a fox. Whitehead has said in an interview that Jimi Hendrix
's "Foxy Lady
" was an inspiration for the character.
The cover for Selling England by the Pound was painted by Betty Swanwick. Peter Gabriel saw the original drawing, called The Dream, at an exhibition and asked Swanwick to modify it for use as the album cover. Most notably, Swanwick added a lawnmower to the image in order to tie the painting to the lyrics of I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe).
After Whitehead moved to Los Angeles, Genesis signed with the art collective Hipgnosis
, whose artists had created high profile album covers for Pink Floyd
's The Dark Side of the Moon
and Led Zeppelin
's Houses of the Holy
. Hipgnosis's first Genesis album cover was for The Lamb, which featured a male model, credited simply as "Omar", portraying the album's protagonist "Rael".
Through the rest of the 1970s, various Hipgnosis artists heavily—designed all Genesis studio albums. The Trick of the Tail cover depicts the characters from the album songs, including the robber from "Robbery, Assault and Battery", the beast from the title track, and a metaphor
ic image of old age reminiscing on youth from the song "Ripples". Beginning with Duke, Genesis albums have featured artwork designed by Bill Smith Studios. The band's highest-selling album Invisible Touch, features the artwork of Assorted Images, which had previously designed sleeves for Simple Minds
, Duran Duran
and Culture Club
. The We Can't Dance cover art features the work of Felicity Roma Bowers, and is reminiscent of Wind & Wuthering, now presented in hazy watercolour
. The Calling All Stations and the compilation Turn It On Again: The Hits sleeves were designed by Wherefore Art?
.
More specifically, some in Britain—especially supporters of the punk
movement—regarded Genesis in particular, but also the genre more generally, as overtly middle class (paying particular attention to Gabriel, Banks and Rutherford's private education
), and claimed that rock music was being taken away from the working class, whom they regarded as its core audience. But Peter Gabriel is quoted as saying in a Genesis biography that their audience was a "mixture of social classes" and that accusation was a fabrication of the critics.
Gabriel's theatrics were unpalatable to some of the mainstream rock audience, resulting in a cult following rather than mainstream. This was exemplified during live performances of Gabriel's last Genesis album, The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, during which he appeared on stage as various characters in the album's lyrics. The elaborate storyline for The Lamb proved difficult to understand and accept, and caused a bit of friction within the band. Collins later recalled that "he'd be in a Slipperman costume trying to get a mic anywhere near his throat, and be out of breath—all twisted up. Towards the end I felt the singing wasn't really being heard; the songs weren't really being heard".
Conversely, the band's transition from lengthy, complex songs to more compact, simplistic, radio-friendly material was not welcomed by critics; Rolling Stone's review of ...And Then There Were Three... read: "...this contemptible opus is but the palest shadow of the group's earlier accomplishments." "I don't feel we've bastardised the way we were", Collins remarked in an interview with Music Express
: "on a generous day I'll blame me for the change, but I just think it is us growing up, listening to different things".
In a 1982 interview in Sounds
, Phil Collins talked about the band’s reputation in the music press and claimed that he only knew of one music journalist, Hugh Fielder, who openly liked Genesis.
Reviewing Genesis 1976–1982 in Q
, Andy Fyfe wrote: "... in spite of 150 million album sales the bottom line is that little of the band’s output has aged well ... There are moments of impressive songwriting, such as the tender "Many Too Many
", the darkly tragic "Duchess
" and the epic "One For The Vine", but little of Genesis’s music transcends in the way real classics do, and that is why they will remain perennial whipping boys for decades to come."
Music critic J. D. Considine
wrote of the band: "Genesis has had a hard time getting respect. In the early '70s, when the group specialized in ambitious, theatrical story-songs, it attracted an avid cult following but was largely ignored by the rock press and public at large. Later in the decade, lead singer Peter Gabriel was finally recognized as a major talent - but only after he'd left the band, who were at this point being derided as middlebrow throwbacks still in thrall to the pomposities of art rock. Even in the early '80s, when Genesis did finally shed its art-rock inclinations and move toward pop, becoming international stars in the process, the press was unimpressed, dismissing the group as easy-listening lightweights. By the '90s, even the solo success of members Phil Collins and Mike Rutherford was being held against the group, by then one of the best-known rock acts in the world. All of which, to be honest, has been grossly unfair to the group. Granted, Genesis has made its share of mediocre albums - perhaps even more than its share, considering how long the band has been around. But bad albums? None to speak of."
In a 1991 interview with Rolling Stone during the promotion of We Can't Dance
, Tony Banks admitted, "Well, we've never been fashionable. We've never been the critics' darlings." Phil Collins summed up in the same interview, "We know that people like us, because our records sell."
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band that formed in 1967. The band currently comprises the longest-tenured members Tony Banks
Tony Banks (musician)
This article is about the musician. For other people named Tony Banks, see Tony BanksAnthony George "Tony" Banks is a British composer, and multi-instrumentalist, who performs as a keyboardist and a guitarist...
(keyboards), Mike Rutherford
Mike Rutherford
Michael John Cleote Crawford Rutherford is an English musician. He is a founding member of Genesis, initially as a bassist and backup vocalist. In later incarnations of Genesis, he assumed the role of lead guitarist. He is one of only two constant members in Genesis . He also fronts Mike + The...
(bass, guitar) and Phil Collins
Phil Collins
Philip David Charles "Phil" Collins, LVO is an English singer-songwriter, drummer, pianist and actor best known as a drummer and vocalist for British progressive rock group Genesis and as a solo artist....
(vocals, drums). Past members Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
(vocals, flute), Steve Hackett
Steve Hackett
Stephen Richard Hackett is a British singer-songwriter and guitarist. He gained prominence as a member of the British progressive rock group Genesis, which he joined in 1970 and left in 1977 to pursue a solo career...
(guitar) and Anthony Phillips
Anthony Phillips
Anthony Edwin "Ant" Phillips is an English multi instrumentalist, best known as a founding member of the band Genesis. He played guitar and sang backing vocals until leaving in 1970, following the recording of their second album, Trespass...
(guitar), also played major roles in the band in its early years. Genesis are among the top 30 highest-selling recording artists of all time with approximately 150 million albums sold worldwide.
In the late 1960s, with the release of their first album
From Genesis to Revelation
From Genesis to Revelation was the first album by Genesis, released in March 1969 on Decca Records in England...
, Genesis's music was initially regarded by the band and the fans as a pop experiment, referring to then-popular melodic pop. They then (beginning with their second album
Trespass (album)
Trespass is the second studio album by Genesis and was recorded and released in 1970. Their last with guitarist Anthony Phillips, Trespass had a folk-flavoured progressive rock sound that was a marked departure from their earlier work....
) quickly evolved into a progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
band with the incorporation of complex song structures and elaborate instrumentation. Their concerts became theatrical experiences with innovative stage design, pyrotechnics, extravagant costumes and on-stage stories. This second phase was characterised by lengthy performances such as the 23 minute "Supper's Ready
Supper's Ready
"Supper's Ready" is a song by the band Genesis. A recorded version appeared on their 1972 album Foxtrot, and the band performed the song regularly on stage for several years following this...
" and the 1974 concept album
Concept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
The Lamb Lies down on Broadway
The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway is a double concept album recorded and released in 1974 by the British rock band Genesis. It was their sixth studio album and the last album by the group to feature the involvement of lead singer Peter Gabriel.-Premise:...
. In the late 70s and early 80s the band's musical direction changed once again, becoming more pop oriented and commercially accessible. This resulted in their first top 40 single in the US with "Follow You Follow Me", their first number one album in the United Kingdom, Duke
Duke (album)
Duke is the tenth studio album by British band Genesis, released in March 1980.-Overview:The release of Duke followed solo albums by Genesis members Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford ....
, and their only number one single in the United States, "Invisible Touch
Invisible Touch (song)
"Invisible Touch" is the title track of the 1986 Genesis album of the same name. It is the most successful single in the band's lengthy history and was their first and only #1 single in the United States. It went to number four in Canada, but only reached number 15 in the United Kingdom.Its B-side...
".
Genesis has undergone several personnel changes throughout its history. Stage fright
Stage fright
Stage fright or performance anxiety is the anxiety, fear, or persistent phobia which may be aroused in an individual by the requirement to perform in front of an audience, whether actually or potentially . In the context of public speaking, this fear is termed glossophobia, one of the most common...
forced founding member Anthony Phillips
Anthony Phillips
Anthony Edwin "Ant" Phillips is an English multi instrumentalist, best known as a founding member of the band Genesis. He played guitar and sang backing vocals until leaving in 1970, following the recording of their second album, Trespass...
to leave the band in 1970. In 1975, Collins
Phil Collins
Philip David Charles "Phil" Collins, LVO is an English singer-songwriter, drummer, pianist and actor best known as a drummer and vocalist for British progressive rock group Genesis and as a solo artist....
, then the band's drummer, replaced Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
as lead singer after a lengthy search for a replacement. To facilitate Collins's move to lead vocals during concerts, Bill Bruford
Bill Bruford
William Scott "Bill" Bruford is an English drummer, percussionist, composer, producer, and record label owner. He was the original drummer for the progressive rock group Yes, from 1968-1972. Bruford has performed for numerous popular acts since the early 1970s, including a stint as touring...
and Chester Thompson
Chester Thompson
Chester Cortez Thompson is an American drummer and session musician.-Biography:Thompson made his name as a session drummer, going on to play in Frank Zappa's touring band and with Weather Report...
played drums for the band as they toured, with Collins joining in briefly during lengthy instrumental passages. In 1977, guitarist Steve Hackett
Steve Hackett
Stephen Richard Hackett is a British singer-songwriter and guitarist. He gained prominence as a member of the British progressive rock group Genesis, which he joined in 1970 and left in 1977 to pursue a solo career...
left the band. After Phil Collins left the band in 1996, Genesis recruited Ray Wilson
Ray Wilson (musician)
Ray Wilson is a Scottish musician, best known as vocalist in the post-grunge band Stiltskin, and in Genesis between 1996 and 1998.Wilson started off in a band called Guaranteed Pure in the early 1990s...
(formerly of Stiltskin
Stiltskin
Stiltskin is a Scottish post-grunge/rock band, who first achieved widespread popularity in the mid 1990s. Currently, Stiltskin's only original member is vocalist Ray Wilson...
). Wilson appeared on the 1997 album Calling All Stations
Calling All Stations
Calling All Stations, is the 15th studio album by rock band Genesis. It was recorded following Phil Collins's departure from the band in 1996, and was released in 1997...
, after which the band announced an indefinite hiatus. However, in 2007, Banks, Collins and Rutherford reunited for a 20-city tour of Europe and North America
Turn It on Again: The Tour
Turn It On Again: The Tour was a 2007 concert tour of Europe and North America by progressive rock band Genesis. The tour was notable for the return of drummer and vocalist Phil Collins, who left the group in 1996.-History:...
, which included a free concert at Rome's Circo Massimo in front of 500,000 fans. Genesis were among five bands inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
in 2010. The future of the band remains uncertain with Collins's retirement from the music business and the other members' solo work.
1967–1970: The beginning
Genesis was formed in 1967 when Peter Gabriel and Tony Banks were students at Charterhouse SchoolCharterhouse School
Charterhouse School, originally The Hospital of King James and Thomas Sutton in Charterhouse, or more simply Charterhouse or House, is an English collegiate independent boarding school situated at Godalming in Surrey.Founded by Thomas Sutton in London in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian...
in Godalming
Godalming
Godalming is a town and civil parish in the Waverley district of the county of Surrey, England, south of Guildford. It is built on the banks of the River Wey and is a prosperous part of the London commuter belt. Godalming shares a three-way twinning arrangement with the towns of Joigny in France...
. Formed out of school bands Garden Wall
Garden Wall (band)
Garden Wall were a band from Charterhouse School in Surrey that went on to merge with the remains of another band from the same school, The Anon to form the progressive rock band Genesis. The band was formed around May 1965.-History:...
and The Anon
The Anon
Anon was one of two bands made up of pupils from Charterhouse School in Surrey, members of which went on to form the progressive rock band Genesis with another band from the same school, called Garden Wall. The band formed in May 1965 and split up in December 1966...
, Genesis's original line-up consisted of Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
(vocals), Anthony Phillips
Anthony Phillips
Anthony Edwin "Ant" Phillips is an English multi instrumentalist, best known as a founding member of the band Genesis. He played guitar and sang backing vocals until leaving in 1970, following the recording of their second album, Trespass...
(guitar), Tony Banks
Tony Banks (musician)
This article is about the musician. For other people named Tony Banks, see Tony BanksAnthony George "Tony" Banks is a British composer, and multi-instrumentalist, who performs as a keyboardist and a guitarist...
(keyboards), Mike Rutherford
Mike Rutherford
Michael John Cleote Crawford Rutherford is an English musician. He is a founding member of Genesis, initially as a bassist and backup vocalist. In later incarnations of Genesis, he assumed the role of lead guitarist. He is one of only two constant members in Genesis . He also fronts Mike + The...
(bass & guitar) and Chris Stewart
Chris Stewart (author)
Christopher 'Chris' Stewart , was the original drummer and a founding member of Genesis. He is now a farmer and an author.-Background and musical career:...
(drums). The group (minus Stewart) originally formed as a songwriting partnership with no intention of performing, but with more and more bands writing their own songs, there was no demand for a team of young and inexperienced songwriters.
Charterhouse School alumnus Jonathan King
Jonathan King
Jonathan King is an English singer, songwriter, impresario and record producer. He is also the author of three novels, Bible Two and The Booker Prize Winner , and Beware the Monkey Man , and an autobiography, 65 My Life So Far .King first came to prominence as an...
attended a concert at Charterhouse in 1968 while the band was still in school. Following the concert, another student gave King a tape of songs the band had recorded and King thought enough of them to sign them to a recording contract. King was a songwriter and record producer who had a hit single at the time, "Everyone's Gone to the Moon". King named the band Genesis (after previously suggesting the name Gabriel's Angels), recalling that he had "thought it was a good name... it suggested the beginning of a new sound and a new feeling."
The resulting album, From Genesis to Revelation
From Genesis to Revelation
From Genesis to Revelation was the first album by Genesis, released in March 1969 on Decca Records in England...
, was released on Decca Records
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
in March 1969. During the sessions, Stewart was replaced by John Silver
John Silver
Jonathan Silver was the second drummer for the English rock band Genesis. He replaced Chris Stewart in the summer of 1968 and appears on their first full length album, From Genesis to Revelation, and on the Genesis Archive 1967-75 box set...
on drums. The band recorded a series of songs influenced by the light pop style of the Bee Gees
Bee Gees
The Bee Gees are a musical group that originally comprised three brothers: Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was successful for most of their 40-plus years of recording music, but they had two distinct periods of exceptional success: as a pop act in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and as a...
, one of King's favourite bands at the time. King assembled the tracks as a concept album
Concept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
, and added string arrangements during the production. Their first single, "The Silent Sun", was released in February 1968. The album sold poorly but the band, on advice from King, decided to pursue a career in music. King holds the rights to the songs on the From Genesis to Revelation album and has re-released it many times under a variety of names, including In the Beginning, Where the Sour Turns to Sweet, Rock Roots: Genesis, ...And the Word Was and, most recently, The Genesis of Genesis.
Silver was replaced by John Mayhew before the recording of Trespass
Trespass (album)
Trespass is the second studio album by Genesis and was recorded and released in 1970. Their last with guitarist Anthony Phillips, Trespass had a folk-flavoured progressive rock sound that was a marked departure from their earlier work....
. Genesis then secured a new recording contract with Charisma Records
Charisma Records
Charisma was a record label founded by former journalist Tony Stratton-Smith in 1969. Manager for The Nice, the Bonzo Dog Band and Van der Graaf Generator at the time, Stratton-Smith was unable to find a record company willing to release an album by one of his favourite groups so he founded his own...
. The band built a following through live performances which featured the band's hypnotic, dark and haunting melodies and Gabriel's numerous eye-catching costumes.
Trespass, which was made from many of the songs the band had written during their earliest live shows
The Early Gigs
The 1969-1971 period during Genesis' career in which many shows were played across the United Kingdom without an organized tour is commonly referred to by fans as The Early Gigs or The Early Days...
, was the template for the band's albums in the 1970s – lengthy, sometimes operatic pieces resembling the style of progressive rock bands such as King Crimson
King Crimson
King Crimson are a rock band founded in London, England in 1969. Often categorised as a foundational progressive rock group, the band have incorporated diverse influences and instrumentation during their history...
, Yes
Yes (band)
Yes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets...
and Gentle Giant
Gentle Giant
Gentle Giant were a British progressive rock band active between 1970 and 1980. The band was known for the complexity and sophistication of its music and for the varied musical skills of its members. All of the band members, except the first two drummers, were multi-instrumentalists...
, along with the occasional shorter and more accessible, sometimes humorous, number. Trespass included progressive rock elements such as elaborate arrangements and time signature
Time signature
The time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat....
changes, as in the nine-minute song "The Knife".
Ill health and recurring stage fright
Stage fright
Stage fright or performance anxiety is the anxiety, fear, or persistent phobia which may be aroused in an individual by the requirement to perform in front of an audience, whether actually or potentially . In the context of public speaking, this fear is termed glossophobia, one of the most common...
caused Phillips to leave the band in the summer of 1970. Phillips would later record many solo albums, sometimes in collaboration with other Genesis members. Phillips's departure traumatised Banks and Rutherford, causing the band to doubt whether it could continue. However, the remaining members decided to carry on, replacing Mayhew and Phillips with Phil Collins
Phil Collins
Philip David Charles "Phil" Collins, LVO is an English singer-songwriter, drummer, pianist and actor best known as a drummer and vocalist for British progressive rock group Genesis and as a solo artist....
on drums and Mick Barnard
Mick Barnard
Mick Barnard was a guitarist in the UK rock band, The Farm. He was also the guitarist of the band Genesis for a brief time, following the departure of founding member Anthony Phillips, the role for which he is perhaps best remembered today.-Stint in Genesis:...
on guitar in the autumn of 1970. Barnard's tenure was short-lived, and the band brought in Steve Hackett
Steve Hackett
Stephen Richard Hackett is a British singer-songwriter and guitarist. He gained prominence as a member of the British progressive rock group Genesis, which he joined in 1970 and left in 1977 to pursue a solo career...
, formerly of Quiet World
Quiet World
Quiet World were an English band formed by the Heather Brothers in 1969 to record their concept album "The Road". The group included Steve Hackett on guitar, his younger brother John Hackett on flute, Gill Gilbert on vocals, Lea Heather vocals and percussion, Neil Heather composers, John Heather...
, on guitar in January 1971.
1971–1975: The classic era
Nursery Cryme
Nursery Cryme is the third studio album by Genesis and was recorded and released in 1971. It is also the first album to feature the classic five-piece line-up of Peter Gabriel, Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford, Phil Collins and Steve Hackett; the latter two replacing John Mayhew and Anthony Phillips, on...
, which features "The Musical Box" and Collins's first lead vocal performance in "For Absent Friends", the song was also the first written by new members Collins and Hackett within the band. Two engineers were hired and then quit before John Burns
John Burns (audio engineer)
John Burns is a British recording engineer best known for his credits with noted bands of the 1970s including Jethro Tull, Clouds, Genesis, John Martyn and reggae acts Burning Spear, Jimmy Cliff and Toots & The Maytals....
took over during the recording of their next album, and this began a successful three-album collaboration between Burns and the group. Foxtrot
Foxtrot (album)
Foxtrot is the fourth studio album by English progressive rock band Genesis and the second from the band line-up which included Peter Gabriel, Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford, Phil Collins, and Steve Hackett.-History:...
was released in October 1972 and contains what has been described as "one of the group's most accomplished works", the 23-minute multi-part epic "Supper's Ready
Supper's Ready
"Supper's Ready" is a song by the band Genesis. A recorded version appeared on their 1972 album Foxtrot, and the band performed the song regularly on stage for several years following this...
". Songs such as the Arthur C. Clarke
Arthur C. Clarke
Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, CBE, FRAS was a British science fiction author, inventor, and futurist, famous for his short stories and novels, among them 2001: A Space Odyssey, and as a host and commentator in the British television series Mysterious World. For many years, Robert A. Heinlein,...
-inspired "Watcher of the Skies
Watcher of the Skies
Watcher of the Skies is the first track on Genesis' 1972 album Foxtrot. The title is borrowed from John Keats' 1817 poem "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer":Then felt I like some watcher of the skiesWhen a new planet swims into his ken;...
" solidified their reputation as songwriters and performers. Gabriel's flamboyant and theatrical stage presence, which involved numerous and elaborate costumes and surreal spoken song introductions, made the band a popular live act. Genesis Live
Genesis Live
Genesis Live is the first live album released by rock group Genesis in 1973. It was the band's first top 10 hit in the UK reaching No.9 and remaining on the charts for 10 weeks.-History:...
, was recorded on the Foxtrot tour in 1973, shortly before the band's upcoming album was released.
Selling England by the Pound
Selling England by the Pound
- Sound and live performance :The piano introduction to "Firth of Fifth" has not been included in a performance since 1974, in a Drury Lane Theatre concert, when Banks misplayed and Collins covered by starting the song from after the intro...
was released in November 1973 and was well received by critics and fans. Gabriel insisted on the title, a reference to a current Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
slogan, in an effort to counter the impression that Genesis was becoming too US-oriented. The album contains "Firth of Fifth
Firth of Fifth
"Firth of Fifth" is a progressive rock song by progressive rock band Genesis, from their 1973 album Selling England by the Pound. The title is a pun on the estuary of the River Forth in Scotland, commonly known as the Firth of Forth....
" and "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)"; these songs became part of their live repertoire, with the latter becoming their first charting single, reaching No. 17 on the UK singles charts.
During this period Hackett became an early user of the electric guitar "tapping
Tapping
Tapping is a guitar playing technique, where a string is fretted and set into vibration as part of a single motion of being pushed onto the fretboard, as opposed to the standard technique being fretted with one hand and picked with the other...
" technique, which was later popularised by Eddie Van Halen
Eddie Van Halen
Edward Lodewijk "Eddie" Van Halen is a Dutch-American guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter and producer, best known as the lead guitarist and co-founder of the hard rock band Van Halen, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...
, as well as "sweep-picking
Sweep-picking
Sweep picking is a guitar playing technique in which a 'sweeping' motion of the pick is combined with a matching fret hand technique in order to produce a specific series of notes which are fast and fluid in sound. Despite being commonly known as sweep picking, both hands essentially perform an...
", which was popularised in the 1980s by Yngwie Malmsteen
Yngwie J. Malmsteen
Yngwie Johann Malmsteen is a Swedish guitarist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and bandleader. Malmsteen became known for his neo-classical playing approach in heavy metal music which became a new musical style in the early 1980s.- Early life :...
. These guitar techniques were incorporated in the song "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight
Dancing with the Moonlit Knight
"Dancing with the Moonlit Knight" is the first track on the Genesis album Selling England by the Pound, released in 1973.The a cappella voice of Peter Gabriel opens the track. Then, the song progressively gets louder and more upbeat, becoming a powerful rock number...
". At the same time, the band signed with new manager Tony Smith
Tony Smith (manager)
Tony Smith is best known as talent manager for Genesis since 1973 and for the solo careers of Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford and Anthony Banks. He is also, as of 2007, co-manager of Pink Floyd along with Paul Loasby....
, who published all subsequent Genesis songs through his company Hit & Run Music Publishing
Hit & Run Music Publishing
Hit & Run Music Publishing in the United Kingdom founded in 1977 by Tony Smith and Jon Crawley. Hit & Run's clients include Phil Collins, Genesis, Mike & the Mechanics and Kula Shaker, among others. The company owned publishing rights to such songs as the 1991 Grammy Award winning "Record of the...
.
In 1974, Genesis recorded a double disc concept album
Concept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
The Lamb Lies down on Broadway
The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway is a double concept album recorded and released in 1974 by the British rock band Genesis. It was their sixth studio album and the last album by the group to feature the involvement of lead singer Peter Gabriel.-Premise:...
which was released on 18 November. In contrast to the lengthy tracks featured on earlier albums, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway is a collection of shorter tracks, connected by a number of segue
Segue
A segue is a smooth transition from one topic or section to the next.-In music:In music, segue is a direction to the performer. It means continue without a pause. It comes from the Italian "it follows". The term attacca is also used in classical music.For written music it implies a transition...
s. The story describes the spiritual journey of Rael, a Puerto Rican
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
youth living in New York City, and his quest to establish his freedom and identity. During his adventure, Rael encounters several bizarre characters including the Slippermen and The Lamia
Lamia (mythology)
In ancient Greek mythology, Lamia was a beautiful queen of Libya who became a child-eating daemon. Aristophanes claimed her name derived from the Greek word for gullet , referring to her habit of devouring children....
, the latter being borrowed from Greek mythology and influenced by a poem by Keats
Lamia and Other Poems
"Lamia" is a narrative poem written by English poet John Keats.Believing himself a failure as a poet, Keats asked for his tombstone to read "Here lies one whose name was writ in water"...
.
The band embarked on a world tour to promote the album, performing it 102 times in its entirety, with Gabriel adding spoken narration. This choice of set was soon regretted by the band members, since it lacked the variety of playing material from throughout their career and compelled them to perform songs which didn't work well live. During their live performances, Genesis pioneered the use of lasers
Laser lighting display
A laser lighting display or laser light show involves the use of laser light to entertain an audience. A laser light show may consist only of projected laser beams set to music, or may accompany another form of entertainment, typically a dance concert or other musical performance.Laser light is...
and other light effects, most of which were built by the Dutch technician Theo Botschuijver. A customised handheld unit was used to channel laser light, which allowed Gabriel to sweep the audience with various light effects.
Creating the ambitious The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway album strained relations between band members, particularly Banks and Gabriel, who were good friends. Gabriel was the album's lyricist
Lyricist
A lyricist is a songwriter who specializes in lyrics. A singer who writes the lyrics to songs is a singer-lyricist. This differentiates from a singer-composer, who composes the song's melody.-Collaboration:...
, while the other band members (chiefly Banks and Rutherford) wrote the music, with the exception of "Counting Out Time" and "The Carpet Crawlers
The Carpet Crawlers
"The Carpet Crawlers", also sometimes listed as "Carpet Crawl", "The Carpet Crawl" or "Carpet Crawlers", is a song originally from the 1974 Genesis concept album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway...
". "The Light Dies Down on Broadway" was co-authored by Banks and Rutherford. The other-worldly, blurbling, sequenced synth sounds and shattering glass loops in the track "The Waiting Room", as well as the vocal effects in the track "The Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging" coined "Enossifications", were produced by the ambient composer Brian Eno
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
.
During the Lamb tour, Gabriel announced to his bandmates that he had decided to leave the band, citing estrangement from the other members, and the strains of his marriage and the difficult birth of his first child. Nonetheless, he saw his commitment through to the conclusion of the tour. In a letter to fans, delivered through the music press at the end of the tour, entitled Out, Angels Out, Gabriel explained that the "...vehicle we had built as a co-op to serve our songwriting became our master and had cooped us up inside the success we had wanted. It affected the attitudes and the spirit of the whole band. The music had not dried up and I still respect the other musicians, but our roles had set in hard." Collins later remarked that the other members "...were not stunned by Peter's departure because we had known about it for quite a while." The band decided to carry on without Gabriel.
Gabriel's first solo album, Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel (I)
-Side Two:- Personnel :*Peter Gabriel – vocals, keyboards, flute, recorder*Allan Schwartzberg – drums*Tony Levin – bass, tuba, leader of the Barbershop Quartet*Jimmy Maelen – percussion, synthibam, bones...
1977, features the hit single "Solsbury Hill
Solsbury Hill (song)
"Solsbury Hill" is a song by British musician Peter Gabriel, about a spiritual experience atop Solsbury Hill in Somerset, England. Gabriel wrote the song after his departure from the progressive rock band Genesis, of which he had been the lead singer since its inception, explaining the reasons...
", an allegory
Allegory
Allegory is a demonstrative form of representation explaining meaning other than the words that are spoken. Allegory communicates its message by means of symbolic figures, actions or symbolic representation...
that refers to his departure from the band.
1976–1977: The four-man era
The group auditioned reportedly over 400 lead singers to find a replacement for Gabriel. Phil CollinsPhil Collins
Philip David Charles "Phil" Collins, LVO is an English singer-songwriter, drummer, pianist and actor best known as a drummer and vocalist for British progressive rock group Genesis and as a solo artist....
, who had provided backing vocals, coached prospective replacements. Eventually, the band decided to use Collins as the lead vocalist for 1976's A Trick of the Tail
A Trick of the Tail
-B Side:*This is the first song in the Genesis catalogue to feature an ellipsis in its name, used to convey the mysteriousness of the track. All future issues of this track omit the elipsis, however....
. The new producer David Hentschel
David Hentschel
David Hentschel is an English recording engineer, writer and music producer who engineered on George Harrison's All Things Must Pass and Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, as well as with artists including Genesis, Elton John, Ringo Starr, Queen, Marti Webb, Andy Summers, Mike Oldfield, Peter...
, who had served as engineer on Nursery Cryme, gave the album a clearer-sounding production. Music historians later commented that Collins sounded "more like Gabriel than Gabriel did".
Despite the success of the album, the group remained concerned with their live shows, which now lacked Gabriel's elaborate costume changes and dramatic behaviour. Since Collins required the assistance of a second drummer while he sang, Bill Bruford
Bill Bruford
William Scott "Bill" Bruford is an English drummer, percussionist, composer, producer, and record label owner. He was the original drummer for the progressive rock group Yes, from 1968-1972. Bruford has performed for numerous popular acts since the early 1970s, including a stint as touring...
, drummer for Yes
Yes (band)
Yes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets...
and King Crimson was hired for the 1976 tour. Their first live performance without Peter Gabriel was on 26 March 1976, in London, Ontario
London, Ontario
London is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, situated along the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. The city has a population of 352,395, and the metropolitan area has a population of 457,720, according to the 2006 Canadian census; the metro population in 2009 was estimated at 489,274. The city...
, Canada.
Later that year, Genesis recorded Wind & Wuthering
Wind & Wuthering
"It's Yourself" is the B-side to "Your Own Special Way", released February 1977-Related EP:All tracks from the Single Spot the Pigeon 20 May 1977-2007 SACD/CD/DVD Release:...
, the first of two albums recorded at the Relight Studios in Hilvarenbeek
Hilvarenbeek
Hilvarenbeek is a municipality and a town in the south of the Netherlands, along the border with Belgium.- Population centres :The municipality of Hilvarenbeek also includes the following villages with their own churches: Baarschot, Biest-Houtakker, Diessen, Esbeek and Haghorst.In addition, the...
in the Netherlands. Released in December 1976, the album took the second part of its title from Emily Brontë
Emily Brontë
Emily Jane Brontë 30 July 1818 – 19 December 1848) was an English novelist and poet, best remembered for her only novel, Wuthering Heights, now considered a classic of English literature. Emily was the third eldest of the four surviving Brontë siblings, between the youngest Anne and her brother...
's novel Wuthering Heights
Wuthering Heights
Wuthering Heights is a novel by Emily Brontë published in 1847. It was her only novel and written between December 1845 and July 1846. It remained unpublished until July 1847 and was not printed until December after the success of her sister Charlotte Brontë's novel Jane Eyre...
, whose last lines—"how anyone could ever imagine unquiet slumbers for the sleepers in that quiet earth"—inspired the titles of the seventh and eighth tracks.
For the 1977 Genesis tour, the jazz fusion
Jazz fusion
Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...
-trained Chester Thompson
Chester Thompson
Chester Cortez Thompson is an American drummer and session musician.-Biography:Thompson made his name as a session drummer, going on to play in Frank Zappa's touring band and with Weather Report...
—a veteran of Weather Report
Weather Report
Weather Report was an American jazz-rock band of the 1970s and early 1980s. The band was co-led by the Austrian-born keyboard player Joe Zawinul and the American saxophonist Wayne Shorter...
and Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
—took on live drumming duties. Collins' approach to Genesis shows differed from the theatrical performances of Gabriel, and his interpretations of older songs were lighter and more subtle. At the 1982 Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes , sometimes abbreviated MK, is a large town in Buckinghamshire, in the south east of England, about north-west of London. It is the administrative centre of the Borough of Milton Keynes...
reunion show, Gabriel admitted that Collins sang the songs "better", though never "quite like" him.
Guitarist Hackett had become increasingly disenchanted with the band by the time of Wind & Wutherings release, and he felt confined. He was the first member of the band to record a solo album, 1975's Voyage of the Acolyte
Voyage of the Acolyte
Voyage of the Acolyte is the debut solo album from then-Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett. It was released in 1975 on Chrysalis Records in the US and Charisma Records for the rest of the free world. Due to the heavy contributions of Phil Collins and Michael Rutherford it is often thought of as a...
, and greatly enjoyed the feelings of control over the recording process that working within a group could not provide. Hackett had asked that a quarter of Wind & Wuthering be allocated to Hackett's songs, which Collins described as "a dumb way to work in a band context". While Hackett was given songwriting credits on the instrumental track "Unquiet Slumbers for the Sleepers..."/"...In That Quiet Earth" , the Hackett/Collins "Blood on the Rooftops" was never performed live, and his song "Please Don't Touch" (which appeared as the title track to his 1978 solo album) was rejected by the rest of the band, who opted for the shorter and catchier instrumental "Wot Gorilla?" which closes Side 1. Hackett left the band following the release of the 1977 Spot the Pigeon
Spot the Pigeon
Spot the Pigeon is a 7 inch EP by the British progressive rock band Genesis, released in 1977. Its three songs were holdovers from the Wind & Wuthering sessions, which the band felt did not fit the feel of the album....
EP while the band was mixing the live album Seconds Out
Seconds Out
Seconds Out is a live double album by Genesis, released in October 1977. It reached No.4 in the UK, remaining in the charts for 17 weeks. The performances were recorded in Paris in 1976 and 1977 on their tours in support of A Trick of the Tail and Wind & Wuthering...
, which was recorded during the 1976 and 1977 tours.
1978–1979: And Then There Were Three
Following the departure of Hackett, Rutherford took on guitar duties in the studio and the band was getting closer to a balance of what each member provided from a creative standpoint. The group decided to continue as a trio, a fact they acknowledged in the title of the 1978 album ...And Then There Were Three......And Then There Were Three...
...And Then There Were Three... is the ninth studio album by the British band Genesis and was released in 1978. It is the band's first album as a trio.-Background and recording:...
. The album was a further move away from lengthy progressive epics, and yielded their first American radio hit, "Follow You Follow Me", whose popularity led to ...And Then There Were Three... being the band's first U.S. Platinum-certified album
RIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
.
For live performances that year, Rutherford alternated again between guitar and bass with Daryl Stuermer
Daryl Stuermer
Daryl Mark Stuermer is an American musician who plays guitar and bass for Genesis during live shows, and lead guitar for Phil Collins during most of his solo tours and albums.-Biography:...
, formerly guitarist with Jean-Luc Ponty
Jean-Luc Ponty
Jean-Luc Ponty is a French virtuoso violinist and jazz composer.- Early years:Ponty was born into a family of classical musicians on 29 September 1942 in Avranches, France. His father taught violin, his mother taught piano...
's band. Generally, Rutherford played the guitar pieces he composed during the most recent album, but stuck with bass for all of the material recorded prior to 1978. Their 1978 world tour took them across North America, over to Europe, back to North America, and, eventually, to their first performances in Japan at the end of 1978.
As the band had been recording and touring constantly since the winter of 1977–78, it was decided by Banks, Collins, and Rutherford to take the majority of 1979 off. Collins had previously informed his bandmates that he needed to attempt to save his marriage by following his wife to her new home in Vancouver. If they planned to go back into the studio, they were going to have to count him out. Banks and Rutherford responded by proposing that the band go into hiatus while he sorted out his family issues and record solo material in the meantime.
1980–1984: Breakout mainstream success
After his attempt to save his marriage (which ended in divorce), Collins returned to the UK in August 1979, and found himself in a holding pattern while Banks and Rutherford were working on solo recordings. With time to spare and new equipment in his home, Collins immersed himself in the recording of home demos that would become his first solo album Face Value (released in 1981) and provide two songs for the upcoming Genesis project. In addition, he rejoined Brand X for their 1979 tour, and appeared on their album ProductProduct (Brand X album)
-Side one:# "Don't Make Waves" – 5:28# "Dance of the Illegal Aliens" – 7:50# "Soho" – 3:38# "...And So to F..." – 6:29-Side two:...
. When the three bandmates came back together to begin recording their next album, Duke
Duke (album)
Duke is the tenth studio album by British band Genesis, released in March 1980.-Overview:The release of Duke followed solo albums by Genesis members Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford ....
, the product was much more the result of all three working together equally. Duke was the real transition from their 1970s progressive rock sound to the 1980s pop era. The use of a drum machine became a consistent element on subsequent Genesis albums, as well as on Collins's solo releases. The first Genesis song to feature a drum machine was the Duke track "Duchess
Duchess (song)
"Duchess" is a song by the British band Genesis, appearing as the second track on their 1980's album, Duke. It peaked at number 46 in the UK Singles Chart....
". The more commercial Duke was well received by the mainstream media, and was the band's first UK number one album, while the tracks "Misunderstanding
Misunderstanding (Genesis song)
"Misunderstanding" is a song by British band Genesis, released on their 1980 album Duke. It reached number 14 in the US and number 42 in the UK.-History:...
" and "Turn It On Again
Turn It On Again
"Turn It On Again" is a single from the British progressive rock band Genesis, from their 1980 album Duke.The lyrics deal with a man who does nothing more than watch his television, so much that he becomes obsessed with the people he watches on it, believing them to be his friends.The song is also...
" became live performance favourites.
Duke was followed by Abacab
Abacab
Abacab, released in 1981, is the 11th studio album by British band Genesis. It reached No.1 in the UK, where it remained in the charts for 27 weeks.-Background and recording:...
, which features a collaboration with the Earth, Wind & Fire
Earth, Wind & Fire
Earth, Wind & Fire is an American soul and R&B band formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 1969 by Verdine and Maurice White. Also known as EWF, the band has won six Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards. They have been inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of...
horn section on the track "No Reply at All
No Reply at All
"No Reply at All" is a song by British band Genesis, from their 1981 album Abacab.-Structure:This song, like Phil Collins' solo track "I Missed Again" , makes prominent use of a horn section, arranged by Tom Tom 84 "No Reply at All" is a song by British band Genesis, from their 1981 album...
". Much of the album's rehearsals took place at The Farm
The Farm (recording studio)
Fisher Lane Farm is the main recording studio of the English progressive rock band Genesis. The studio is located in Chiddingfold, Surrey, England...
, the band's newly-built studio in Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, and the site where all of their subsequent albums were recorded. The album used a forceful drum sound which used an effect called gated reverb
Gated reverb
Gated reverb is an audio processing technique that is applied to recordings of drums to make the drums sound powerful and "punchy," while keeping the overall mix clean and transparent-sounding...
, which uses a live—or artificially reverberated—sound relayed through a noise gate
Noise gate
A Noise Gate or gate is an electronic device or software that is used to control the volume of an audio signal. In its most simple form, a noise gate allows a signal to pass through only when it is above a set threshold: the gate is 'open'. If the signal falls below the threshold no signal is...
set, which rapidly cuts off when a particular volume threshold is reached. This results in a powerful "live" sounding, yet controlled, drum ambiance. The distinctive sound was first developed by Peter Gabriel, Collins, and their co-producer/engineer Hugh Padgham
Hugh Padgham
Hugh Padgham is a British record producer. He has won many awards, including four Grammys, with Producer of the Year and Engineer of the Year. A 1992 poll in Mix magazine voted him one of the world's Top Ten Most Influential Producers....
, when Collins was recording the backing track for "Intruder", the first song on Gabriel's 1980 solo album. The technique, in addition to Padgham's production, had been apparent on Face Value. The "gated" drum sound would become an audio trademark of future Genesis and Collins albums.
The Abacab tour also marked the first public appearances of the Vari-Lite
Vari-Lite
VARI*LITE is the brand name of one of the first automated, variable-colour stage lighting systems to be created. Their intelligent lighting fixtures are commonly used in theatre, concerts, television, film and corporate events.-Pre-History:...
automated moving light
Intelligent lighting
Intelligent lighting refers to stage lighting that has automated or mechanical abilities beyond those of traditional, stationary illumination. Although the most advanced intelligent lights can produce extraordinarily complex effects, the intelligence lies with the programmer of the show rather...
system, the development of which had been paid for by the band and their management.
In 1982, the band released the live double album Three Sides Live
Three Sides Live
Three Sides Live is the third live album by British Progressive Rock band Genesis, released in 1982.-History:The title for this album comes from the original world release, which contained three sides of live material from the band's 1981-82 tour, and a fourth side of studio tracks, three of which...
. The U.S. version contains three sides of live material—hence the album's title—in addition to a side of studio material. The studio material includes the song "Paperlate
Paperlate
"Paperlate" was the lead song from the second of two EPs by the British rock group Genesis. The EP, titled 3 X 3 , peaked at #10 on the album charts in mid-1982. The success of the EP led to an appearance on Top of the Pops...
", which again features an Earth, Wind and Fire horn section. In the UK and the rest of Europe, the studio material was replaced by a fourth side of live recordings from previous tours. 1982 closed with a one-off performance alongside Gabriel and Hackett at the Milton Keynes Bowl
National Bowl
The National Bowl is an entertainment venue in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The site was a former clay-pit , filled in and raised to form an amphitheatre using sub-soil excavated by the many new developments in the area and it has a current maximum capacity of 65,000...
, under the name Six of the Best
Six of the best
Six of the Best was the name chosen for the reunion concert of the rock band Genesis with former founding member Peter Gabriel which took place on a wet 2 October 1982 at National Bowl, in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England...
. The concert was hastily put together to help raise money for Gabriel's WOMAD
World of Music, Arts and Dance
WOMAD is an international arts festival. The central aim of WOMAD is to celebrate the world's many forms of music, arts and dance.-History:...
project, which at the time was suffering from considerable financial hardship. Hackett, who arrived late from South Africa, performed the final two songs of the show ("I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)" and "The Knife") with his former bandmates.
1983's eponymous Genesis album became their third consecutive number one album in the UK. The album includes the radio-friendly tracks "Mama
Mama (Genesis song)
"Mama" was the first single from Genesis' 1983 self-titled album. It is recognizable for its harsh drum machine introduction composed by Mike Rutherford, which leads into minimalist synthesizer lines in minor keys and finally Phil Collins' reverb-laden voice. It remains the band's biggest...
" and "That's All
That's All (Genesis song)
"That's All" is a song by Genesis. The song, a group composition with lyrics written by lead singer/drummer Phil Collins, appears as the second track on their 1983 album Genesis, and was its second single after "Mama"....
". The track "Just a Job to Do
Just A Job To Do
"Just a Job to Do" is a song by Genesis. It was released on their 1983 self-titled album Genesis. The lyrics, written by guitarist–bassist Mike Rutherford, tell the story of a private investigator chasing down his subject...
" was later used as the theme song for 1985's ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
detective drama The Insiders
The Insiders
The Insiders was a mid-1980s American television detective series starring Nicholas Campbell, Stoney Jackson and Gail Strickland.-Notes:The one season program aired on Tuesday nights on ABC in the fall of 1985...
. The final cut to hit the airwaves was "Taking It All Too Hard
Taking It All Too Hard
"Taking It All Too Hard" is the sixth track from the 1983 album Genesis by Genesis. It is known for Tony Banks' work on his Yamaha CP-70 electric piano....
", which in addition to being highly played on AOR radio, crossed over to soft rock radio stations and became a fixture for 20 years. The album became a worldwide success.
1985–1996: Height of popularity and Collins' departure
Invisible Touch
Invisible Touch is the 13th studio album by the band Genesis, released in 1986. It reached No.1 in the UK where it remained in the charts for 96 weeks, making it by far the most commercially successful album of their career, eventually selling over 15 million copies worldwide...
, was released in 1986, at the height of Collins' popularity as a solo artist. The album yielded five U.S. Top 5 singles: "Throwing It All Away
Throwing It All Away
"Throwing It All Away" is the seventh track on the 1986 album Invisible Touch by Genesis. It was issued as the second single from the album in 1986, reaching number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 22 in Britain, where it was released as the last single of the album in 1987...
", "In Too Deep", "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight", "Land of Confusion
Land of Confusion
"Land of Confusion" is a rock song written by the band Genesis for their 1986 album Invisible Touch. The song was the third track on the album and was the fourth track from the album to become a single, which reached #4 in the US and #14 in the UK in early 1987. It made #8 in the Netherlands...
" and "Invisible Touch
Invisible Touch (song)
"Invisible Touch" is the title track of the 1986 Genesis album of the same name. It is the most successful single in the band's lengthy history and was their first and only #1 single in the United States. It went to number four in Canada, but only reached number 15 in the United Kingdom.Its B-side...
". The title track reached #1 in the United States; the only Genesis song to do so; however, it stalled at #15 in the UK. In July 1987, Genesis became the first band to play four sold out consecutive nights at Wembley Stadium. Genesis was the first band to use Vari*Lite technology
Vari-Lite
VARI*LITE is the brand name of one of the first automated, variable-colour stage lighting systems to be created. Their intelligent lighting fixtures are commonly used in theatre, concerts, television, film and corporate events.-Pre-History:...
, and the Prism sound system, all of which are now standard features of arena rock concerts.
Earlier that year, Collins viewed a spoof of himself on Spitting Image
Spitting Image
Spitting Image is a British satirical puppet show that aired on the ITV network from 1984 to 1996. It was produced by Spitting Image Productions for Central Television. The series was nominated for 10 BAFTA Awards, winning one for editing in 1989....
, a satirical British television show which used puppets to lampoon politicians and celebrities. He was impressed with the representation, and commissioned the show's creators, Peter Fluck
Peter Fluck
Peter Nigel Fluck is a caricaturist and one half of the partnership known as Fluck and Law , creators of the satirical TV puppet show Spitting Image.-Early life:...
and Roger Law
Roger Law
Roger Law is a caricaturist and one half of Fluck & Law , creators of the satirical TV puppet show Spitting Image.-Early life:...
, to work on the video for the "Land of Confusion" single. The video was formed as an ironic commentary on the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, and played on the perception that the coalition's leaders were "trigger happy" with the nuclear
Nuclear warfare
Nuclear warfare, or atomic warfare, is a military conflict or political strategy in which nuclear weaponry is detonated on an opponent. Compared to conventional warfare, nuclear warfare can be vastly more destructive in range and extent of damage...
"button". In addition to puppet representations of Banks, Collins and Rutherford, the video showed Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
dressed as Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
. It was nominated for the MTV Video of the Year, losing to Gabriel's "Sledgehammer
Sledgehammer (song)
"Sledgehammer" is a song by British musician Peter Gabriel from his 1986 album So. It hit number one in Canada on 21 July 1986 where it spent four weeks; number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States on 26 July 1986; and number four in the UK singles chart, thanks in part to a...
".
"Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" was used in a Michelob commercial—as was Collins' "In the Air Tonight
In the Air Tonight
"In the Air Tonight" is a song by Phil Collins that first appeared on his 1981 album Face Value. It was recorded in 1979 and was the first single of Collins' solo career, and remains one of his best-known hits. The music video, directed by Stuart Orme, was released in 1981.-The song/recording:The...
"—while "In Too Deep" was featured in the film Mona Lisa
Mona Lisa (film)
Mona Lisa is a 1986 British film about a petty criminal who becomes entangled in the dangerous life of a high-class call girl. The movie was written by Neil Jordan and David Leland, and directed by Jordan. It was produced by George Harrison's HandMade Films...
. The instrumental "The Brazilian", appeared in the animated movie When the Wind Blows, alongside a score written by Roger Waters
Roger Waters
George Roger Waters is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. He was a founding member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd, serving as bassist and co-lead vocalist. Following the departure of bandmate Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became the band's lyricist, principal songwriter...
. At the 1988 Prince's Trust
The Prince's Trust
The Prince's Trust is a charity in the United Kingdom founded in 1976 by Charles, Prince of Wales to help young people. They run a range of training programmes, provide mentoring support and offer financial grants to build the confidence and motivation of disadvantaged young people...
concert held in the Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
, Collins and Gabriel performed together for the first time since 1982. Collins was drummer for the house band, while Gabriel performed his hit single "Sledgehammer". As of September 2007, the two Genesis frontmen have not publicly played together since, although they did play together at Gabriel's wedding in 2002.
After a hiatus of five years, Genesis reconvened for the 1991 release of We Can't Dance
We Can't Dance
Rolling Stone chiefly commented on the album's lyrics. They criticized "Tell Me Why" and "Way of the World" for being soulless and impersonal social commentaries, but regarded most of songs as outstanding, and summarized "Although We Can't Dance doesn't quite achieve the vulnerable grace of Duke or...
, which was to be Collins' last studio album with the group. The album features the hit singles "Jesus He Knows Me
Jesus He Knows Me
"Jesus He Knows Me" is the second track on the 1991 Genesis album We Can't Dance, and its fourth single. The song is a satire about televangelism, released in a period when several televangelists such as Robert Tilton, Jim Bakker, Larry Lea and Benny Hinn were under investigation for promising...
", "I Can't Dance
I Can't Dance
"I Can't Dance" is the fourth track from the Genesis album We Can't Dance and was the second single from the album . The song peaked at number seven on both the U.S...
", "No Son of Mine
No Son of Mine
"No Son of Mine" is the first single by the British rock group Genesis from their 1991 album We Can't Dance, which reached #6 in the UK and #12 in the U.S. It made #8 on the Dutch Top 40.-Lyrics and music:...
", "Hold on My Heart
Hold on My Heart
"Hold on My Heart" is a 1992 single by rock band Genesis. It was released as the third single from their 1991 album We Can't Dance. The song proved to be successful in both the UK and the U.S. reaching number 16 on the official UK Top 75 singles chart and number 12 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100...
", "Tell Me Why
Tell Me Why (Genesis song)
"Tell Me Why" is a rock song by Genesis. It first appeared as the seventh track on their 1991 album We Can't Dance, and was later issued as a single in Europe and Britain . It was the last Genesis single featuring Phil Collins on vocals.-Background:A royalty from the single was donated to the...
" and "Never a Time" (a U.S. release only), as well as lengthy pieces such as "Driving the Last Spike
Driving The Last Spike
"Driving the Last Spike" is the third track on the Genesis album We Can't Dance, released in 1991.The song's lyrics were written by Phil Collins. They are about the railroad workers of the 19th century, many of whom died constructing Britain's railways. The song narrates the thoughts and feelings...
" and "Fading Lights
Fading Lights
Fading Lights is the twelfth and final song on the album We Can't Dance by Genesis. It is also one of the last songs that would include Phil Collins as a member of the progressive rock group. The song was written by Tony Banks, Phil Collins, and Mike Rutherford. It is also the longest song on the...
". The album which was produced by Nick Davis includes "Since I Lost You", which Collins wrote in memory of Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
's son Conor.
Collins left the band in March 1996. He reasoned that he "felt it time to change direction in my musical life. For me now, it will be music for movies, some jazz projects, and of course my solo career. I wish the guys in Genesis all the very best in their future. We remain the best of friends."
1996–1998: Calling All Stations and Ray Wilson
Rutherford and Banks decided to continue as Genesis. However, they required more than one new member, because the band had lost not only Collins, but also the live musicians Daryl StuermerDaryl Stuermer
Daryl Mark Stuermer is an American musician who plays guitar and bass for Genesis during live shows, and lead guitar for Phil Collins during most of his solo tours and albums.-Biography:...
and Chester Thompson
Chester Thompson
Chester Cortez Thompson is an American drummer and session musician.-Biography:Thompson made his name as a session drummer, going on to play in Frank Zappa's touring band and with Weather Report...
. Stuermer was approached, but was touring with Collins at the time; Thompson inquired regarding the vacant drum stool, but after he was refused full-band membership, he ended his 19-year association with the band. Eventually, drumming duties were shared between Nir Zidkyahu
Nir Zidkyahu
Nir Zidkyahu is a well-established studio-session drummer, and the brother of Blackfield's drummer Tomer Z. He played the drums for eight songs on Genesis' 1997 album, Calling All Stations, and subsequently joined the band for their 1998 tour.In 2001, he drummed on John Mayer's breakthrough album,...
, an Israeli session drummer who had played with Hidden Persuaders, and Nick D'Virgilio
Nick D'Virgilio
Nick D'Virgilio is an American drummer and multi-instrumentalist musician, often referred to as NDV, best known as a former member of the progressive rock band Spock's Beard. He was also one of two drummers chosen to replace Phil Collins in Genesis on the Calling All Stations album...
, from the progressive rock band Spock's Beard
Spock's Beard
Spock's Beard is a progressive rock band formed in 1992 in Los Angeles by brothers Neal and Alan Morse. Neal played keyboards and was the lead vocalist, as well as being the primary songwriter before leaving the band in 2002 to pursue a solo career. Alan plays electric guitar...
. The difference in their playing styles was marked; D'Virgilio played softer, more subtle rhythms in comparison to Zidkyahu's bombastic technique.
Ex-Stiltskin
Stiltskin
Stiltskin is a Scottish post-grunge/rock band, who first achieved widespread popularity in the mid 1990s. Currently, Stiltskin's only original member is vocalist Ray Wilson...
singer Ray Wilson
Ray Wilson (musician)
Ray Wilson is a Scottish musician, best known as vocalist in the post-grunge band Stiltskin, and in Genesis between 1996 and 1998.Wilson started off in a band called Guaranteed Pure in the early 1990s...
was appointed as the new lead singer of Genesis. Other candidates had included Paul Carrack
Paul Carrack
Paul Carrack is an English singer, songwriter and musician. Carrack has been a member of several bands including Ace, Squeeze, Mike + The Mechanics, and Roxy Music, been a session and touring musician for several others including Nick Lowe, and has enjoyed success as a solo artist as well...
from Rutherford's Mike + The Mechanics, Francis Dunnery
Francis Dunnery
Francis Dunnery is an English musician, singer-songwriter, record producer and record label owner. He is best known as a solo performer , and for fronting the original lineup of the band It Bites between 1982 and 1990 .Dunnery served as a sideman and...
(ex-It Bites
It Bites
It Bites are an English progressive rock and pop fusion band, formed in Egremont, Cumbria, England in 1982 and best known for their 1986 single "Calling All The Heroes", which gained them a Top 10 UK Singles Chart hit...
), David Longdon (ex-Louis Philippe
Louis Philippe (musician)
Louis Philippe is a London-based French singer, songwriter, arranger and producer who has been active from the mid-1980s onwards...
band), Alan Barton
Alan Barton
Alan Barton was a member of the hit-making duo Black Lace, alongside Colin Routh. Their hits included: "The Music Man", "Agadoo" and "Superman"...
(ex-Black Lace
Black Lace (band)
Black Lace is a British Euro pop band, best known for novelty party records, including their biggest hit, "Agadoo". The band first came to the public eye after being selected to represent the UK in the 1979 Eurovision Song Contest, in which they finished seventh with the song "Mary Ann"...
) and ex-Marillion
Marillion
Marillion are a British rock band, formed in Aylesbury, England in 1979. Their recorded studio output comprises sixteen albums generally regarded in two distinct eras, delineated by the departure of original vocalist & frontman Fish in late 1988, and the subsequent arrival of replacement Steve...
vocalist—and two-time Banks collaborator—Fish
Fish (singer)
Derek William Dick, better known as Fish, is a Scottish progressive rock singer, lyricist and occasional actor, best known as the former lead singer of Marillion.-Biography:...
. Kevin Gilbert
Kevin Gilbert
Kevin Matthew Gilbert was an American songwriter, musician, composer, producer and collaborator born in Sacramento, California, later living in San Mateo, California where he attended Junipero Serra High School...
was offered an audition just before his death in 1996. On the band's criteria in the search for a singer, Banks noted: "We needed someone who fits as many of the things you require as possible—being able to improvise with the kind of music we write and also someone capable of jumping in at the deep end and fronting a band." Wilson was immediately incorporated into the songwriting process, being given "half-a-dozen" songs to work on and ending up with three co-writing credits on the final album.
1997's Calling All Stations
Calling All Stations
Calling All Stations, is the 15th studio album by rock band Genesis. It was recorded following Phil Collins's departure from the band in 1996, and was released in 1997...
sold well in Europe, while the track "Congo" reached #29 in the UK. The album was not as successful in America, where it failed to reach the Billboard Top 50. During 1997 and 1998, Genesis toured across Europe; Banks, Rutherford, and Wilson were joined live by Zidkyahu and the guitarist Anthony Drennan
Anthony Drennan
Anthony Drennan is an Irish guitarist noted for his involvement with Genesis, Mike + the Mechanics and The Corrs whom he has played with throughout most of his career. He was born in Luton, England, but moved back to Ireland at a young age. He has also played with Clannad, Paul Brady, Moving...
, who previously worked with Paul Brady
Paul Brady
Paul Joseph Brady is an Irish singer-songwriter, whose work straddles folk and pop. He was interested in a wide variety of music from an early age...
and The Corrs
The Corrs
The Corrs are an Irish band which combine pop rock with traditional Celtic folk music. The brother and sisters are from Dundalk, Ireland. The group consists of the Corr siblings: Andrea ; Sharon ; Caroline ; and Jim .The Corrs came to international prominence with their performance at the...
. However, a planned American tour was cancelled due to the album's poor sales performance. Following the truncation of the Calling All Stations tour, Genesis dismissed Wilson and went on an extended hiatus, although the members remained in regular contact. In an April 2007 interview, Wilson expressed his disgust at how his dismissal was handled, saying "it was like death by silence." He also said he regretted his time spent with the band, feeling uncomfortable as a self-described "working class" man with the wealthier likes of Banks and Rutherford, and also revealed one of Phil Collins's assistants told him Collins "wasn't happy that they had continued."
1998–2005: Partial reunions and hiatus
In 1998, the group gathered for a photo session and dinner to celebrate the release of the box set, Genesis Archive 1967–75. In 1999, the 1971–75 lineup of Banks, Collins, Gabriel, Hackett and Rutherford recorded a new version of "The Carpet Crawlers" for the Turn It On Again: The HitsTurn It on Again: The Hits
Turn It On Again: The Hits is a greatest hits collection by British progressive rock band Genesis. The album was first released as a single album on 26 October 1999 by Virgin Records in England and by Atlantic Records in the United States.In 2007, an expanded two-disc edition, subtitled The Tour...
compilation. In 2000, Collins, Banks, and Rutherford along with Daryl Stuermer performed acoustic
Acoustic music
Acoustic music comprises music that solely or primarily uses instruments which produce sound through entirely acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means...
renditions of "I Can't Dance
I Can't Dance
"I Can't Dance" is the fourth track from the Genesis album We Can't Dance and was the second single from the album . The song peaked at number seven on both the U.S...
", "Invisible Touch
Invisible Touch
Invisible Touch is the 13th studio album by the band Genesis, released in 1986. It reached No.1 in the UK where it remained in the charts for 96 weeks, making it by far the most commercially successful album of their career, eventually selling over 15 million copies worldwide...
", "Follow You, Follow Me," and "Turn It On Again
Turn It On Again
"Turn It On Again" is a single from the British progressive rock band Genesis, from their 1980 album Duke.The lyrics deal with a man who does nothing more than watch his television, so much that he becomes obsessed with the people he watches on it, believing them to be his friends.The song is also...
" at the Music Managers Forum, in honour of their manager Tony Smith. Most of the original members were involved in compiling the two Archive boxed-sets. Acoustic versions of "Afterglow", "No Son of Mine" and "Follow You, Follow Me" were recorded for a documentary film about the band's history at this time.
2006–present: Reunion and future
After much speculation regarding a reunion, Banks, Collins and Rutherford announced Turn It On Again: The TourTurn It on Again: The Tour
Turn It On Again: The Tour was a 2007 concert tour of Europe and North America by progressive rock band Genesis. The tour was notable for the return of drummer and vocalist Phil Collins, who left the group in 1996.-History:...
on 7 November 2006; nearly 40 years after the band first formed. The tour took place during summer 2007, and played twelve countries across Europe, followed by a second leg in North America. The trio had wanted to reunite as a five-piece with Gabriel and Hackett for a live performance of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
The Lamb Lies down on Broadway
The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway is a double concept album recorded and released in 1974 by the British rock band Genesis. It was their sixth studio album and the last album by the group to feature the involvement of lead singer Peter Gabriel.-Premise:...
. While Gabriel reportedly agreed in principle to perform, he was unable to commit to a date. Collins later observed that "Peter is a little over-cautious about going back to something which fundamentally is just fun". Hackett agreed to participation, but without Peter joining in on the tour, Phil, Tony and Mike thought that it would be more appropriate to bring back Chester Thompson and Daryl Stuermer. Hackett, however still maintains good relations with the rest of the band. A short note expressing his good wishes for the reunion tour currently appears on his Web site.
The band and producer since 1991, Nick Davis, remixed their back catalogue (into 5.1 and new stereo mixes) for release in three batches over the course of 2007 and 2008, each comprising a third of the band's albums (from Trespass
Trespass (album)
Trespass is the second studio album by Genesis and was recorded and released in 1970. Their last with guitarist Anthony Phillips, Trespass had a folk-flavoured progressive rock sound that was a marked departure from their earlier work....
to Calling All Stations
Calling All Stations
Calling All Stations, is the 15th studio album by rock band Genesis. It was recorded following Phil Collins's departure from the band in 1996, and was released in 1997...
) in a boxset-style release. Each album is presented as a double-disc set containing a multi-channel hybrid Super Audio CD
Super Audio CD
Super Audio CD is a high-resolution, read-only optical disc for audio storage. Sony and Philips Electronics jointly developed the technology, and publicized it in 1999. It is designated as the Scarlet Book standard. Sony and Philips previously collaborated to define the Compact Disc standard...
, as well as a DVD-Video
DVD-Video
DVD-Video is a consumer video format used to store digital video on DVD discs, and is currently the dominant consumer video format in Asia, North America, Europe, and Australia. Discs using the DVD-Video specification require a DVD drive and a MPEG-2 decoder...
with DTS
Digital Theater System
DTS is a series of multichannel audio technologies owned by DTS, Inc. , an American company specializing in digital surround sound formats used for both commercial/theatrical and consumer grade applications...
24bit/96K and Dolby Digital
Dolby Digital
Dolby Digital is the name for audio compression technologies developed by Dolby Laboratories. It was originally called Dolby Stereo Digital until 1994. Except for Dolby TrueHD, the audio compression is lossy. The first use of Dolby Digital was to provide digital sound in cinemas from 35mm film prints...
24bit/48K 5.1 tracks. The DVDs also include extras such as promo videos, live performances, TV appearances, tour programmes and new interviews in which the band discuss the period surrounding each album. (For the US and Canada pressings, the audio discs are regular CDs and not SACD hybrids.) These remasters were released in three box sets: Genesis 1976–1982 in May 2007, Genesis 1983–1998 in October 2007, and Genesis 1970–1975 in November 2008, in addition to each album being released individually. Each box set contains the albums from its designated time period, as well as a bonus CD/DVD-A of non-album tracks.
On 12 May 2007, the band was an honouree at the second annual VH1 Rock Honors
VH1 Rock Honors
The VH1 Rock Honors were an annual ceremony paying homage to bands who influenced the sound of rock music. The events began in 2006, and the final event took place in 2008. The general format of each show is for modern bands to "pay tribute" to classic greats of the rock/metal world , after which...
, along with Ozzy Osbourne
Ozzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is an English vocalist, whose musical career has spanned over 40 years. Osbourne rose to prominence as lead singer of the pioneering English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, whose radically different, intentionally dark, harder sound helped spawn the heavy metal...
, Heart
Heart (band)
Heart is an American rock band who first found success in Canada. Throughout several lineup changes, the only two members remaining constant are sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson. The group rose to fame in the 1970s with their music being influenced by hard rock as well as folk music...
and ZZ Top
ZZ Top
ZZ Top is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "That Little Ol' Band from Texas". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based boogie rock, has come to incorporate elements of arena, southern, and boogie rock. The band, from Houston Texas, formed in 1969...
. Genesis performed "Turn It On Again", "No Son of Mine" and "Los Endos", which later was broadcast on VH1 in the U.S. on 25 May 2007. On 11 June 2007 Genesis officially kicked off their 2007 Turn It On Again World Tour in Helsinki, Finland. The band performed over 50 shows in several countries including Denmark, Belgium, Germany, Poland, France, Italy, Great Britain, the United States and Canada. The German show was broadcast live to several cinemas across the UK and Europe. On 7 July 2007, Genesis participated at Live Earth
Live Earth concert, London
The Live Earth concert in the United Kingdom was held at Wembley Stadium, London, England on 7 July 2007.-Running order:In order of appearance :...
, a series of concerts to promote action to confront global climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
at the new Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium
The original Wembley Stadium, officially known as the Empire Stadium, was a football stadium in Wembley, a suburb of north-west London, standing on the site now occupied by the new Wembley Stadium that opened in 2007...
in London, along with other artists including Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
, Duran Duran
Duran Duran
Duran Duran are an English band, formed in Birmingham in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States...
and Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers is an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles in 1983. The group's musical style primarily consists of rock with an emphasis on funk, as well as elements from other genres such as punk, hip hop and psychedelic rock...
.
In an August 2007 interview, Collins has stated that the recording of a new album is currently "very, I repeat, very unlikely" [emphasis in original], citing a lack of both time and inspiration. However, Banks, on 22 August, stated "The three of us would be quite keen to have a go and see what happens."
On 2 October, Starbucks released the CD Sampler Genesis: 14 From Our Past. The track list is: "The Knife", "Happy The Man", "Watcher of the Skies", "I Know What I Like", "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway", "Squonk", "Your Own Special Way", "Follow You, Follow Me", "Turn It On Again", "Abacab", "That's All", "Land of Confusion", "Hold on My Heart" and "Congo".
An album of the reunion tour, entitled Live Over Europe 2007
Live Over Europe 2007
Live over Europe 2007 is the sixth live album by British band Genesis recorded during the Turn It on Again: The Tour of 2007. It was released in North America by Atlantic Records on 20 November 2007, and in Europe on by Virgin Records on 26 November 2007.-Disc 1:# "Duke's Intro" – Manchester –...
was released in November of that year. The tracklist features a balanced set list covering most of their career. None of the songs recorded during Ray Wilson's time with the band were featured. In addition to the aforementioned album, sound deck recordings of each show were released by "The Music" A DVD of the concert on 14 July 2007 in Rome's Circo Massimo, When in Rome 2007
When in Rome 2007
When In Rome 2007 is a live DVD by Genesis recorded at Circo Massimo, Rome, Italy, on 14 July 2007, during the successful Turn It On Again Tour. The concert was directed by David Mallet. The collection was released on 26 May 2008 in most of the world and 10 June 2008 in North America...
was released on 26 May. A microsite has been launched to accompany the release: www.wheninromedvd.com.
In an interview to celebrate the release of the Genesis: 1970–1975 boxset, Tony Banks revealed that it is a possibility that the band may reunite with Peter Gabriel and Steve Hackett. He said: "We've never said 'never' about it, you know. I know Phil (Collins) would be quite happy with the idea of just playing the drums; it would be quite fun for him. Mike (Rutherford) and I are certainly happy to do it. I know Steve (Hackett) is keen as well. I think it'd be down to Peter (Gabriel) more than anyone else." However, Collins has stated in various interviews that he is unable to play the drums due to a medical ailment. "After playing drums for 50 years, I've had to stop. My vertebrae have been crushing my spinal cord because of the position I drum in. It comes from years of playing. I can't even hold the sticks properly without it being painful, I even used to tape the sticks to my hands to get through."
On 10 September 2009, Collins revealed in a post on the official Genesis website that during the 2007 Turn It On Again tour, he dislocated a vertebra in his neck which has required surgery to repair. The injury and resulting recovery has made it "impossible to play the drums or piano" according to the article. However, Collins states that in a years time or more this situation could change. Future plans for any Genesis reunion could hinge on Collins' ability to recover and play the drums again.
On 21 September 2009, Genesis released Genesis Live 1973–2007
Genesis Live 1973–2007
Genesis Live 1973–2007 is a box set by Genesis which includes all of their live albums except Live Over Europe 2007. Genesis Live its bonus tracks, Seconds Out, and Live at the Rainbow 1973 include bonus DVDs which feature their respective albums in 5.1 Surround Sound. Three Sides Live and The Way...
, a box set containing remixed and remastered editions of the band's first four live albums. The box includes Genesis Live
Genesis Live
Genesis Live is the first live album released by rock group Genesis in 1973. It was the band's first top 10 hit in the UK reaching No.9 and remaining on the charts for 10 weeks.-History:...
and Seconds Out
Seconds Out
Seconds Out is a live double album by Genesis, released in October 1977. It reached No.4 in the UK, remaining in the charts for 17 weeks. The performances were recorded in Paris in 1976 and 1977 on their tours in support of A Trick of the Tail and Wind & Wuthering...
in both stereo and 5.1 surround sound versions, and Three Sides Live
Three Sides Live
Three Sides Live is the third live album by British Progressive Rock band Genesis, released in 1982.-History:The title for this album comes from the original world release, which contained three sides of live material from the band's 1981-82 tour, and a fourth side of studio tracks, three of which...
and The Way We Walk
The Way We Walk
The Way We Walk refers to one of three works by the rock band Genesis:*The Way We Walk, Volume One: The Shorts, a 1992 live album containing Genesis' shorter, commercial hits...
in stereo-only editions. On 23 November 2009, the band released a box set of live concert videos filmed between 1981 and 1992.
On 15 March 2010, Genesis was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
. The band was inducted by Phish
Phish
Phish is an American rock band noted for its musical improvisation, extended jams, and exploration of music across genres. Formed at the University of Vermont in 1983 , the band's four members – Trey Anastasio , Mike Gordon , Jon Fishman , and Page McConnell Phish is an American rock band...
guitarist Trey Anastasio
Trey Anastasio
Trey Anastasio is an American guitarist, composer, and vocalist most noted for his work with the rock band Phish...
. Collins, Banks, Rutherford and Steve Hackett appeared at the ceremony, but Peter Gabriel did not appear due to rehearsals for his solo tour to support his new solo album Scratch My Back
Scratch My Back
-Singles:Gabriel originally intended to release Scratch My Back and I'll Scratch Yours simultaneously. However, as completion of the latter dragged out, it was instead decided to release a series of double A-sided singles with one song from each album every new full moon during 2010 on iTunes...
. Genesis did not perform at the ceremony. Phish paid tribute to them by opening the show with "Watcher of the Skies
Watcher of the Skies
Watcher of the Skies is the first track on Genesis' 1972 album Foxtrot. The title is borrowed from John Keats' 1817 poem "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer":Then felt I like some watcher of the skiesWhen a new planet swims into his ken;...
" and then followed Anastasio's speech with a version of "No Reply at All
No Reply at All
"No Reply at All" is a song by British band Genesis, from their 1981 album Abacab.-Structure:This song, like Phil Collins' solo track "I Missed Again" , makes prominent use of a horn section, arranged by Tom Tom 84 "No Reply at All" is a song by British band Genesis, from their 1981 album...
".
In a September 2010 interview with Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
, Collins was less than optimistic about the future of Genesis, stating "I think Genesis are no longer. I don't foresee me doing any more Genesis shows. Not because I don't like it or don't want to. But it doesn't fit in with my life and wanting to be with the boys, and taking onboard [my other interests like] the Alamo and writing a book about that. And the other stuff that I'd like to do-and that includes doing nothing as well. But also, I can't physically play the drums. I don't want to sound like a spoiled kid, like I've had my stuff and I don't want to do it anymore. But I have done it all my life, and now I'm enjoying another side of life."
Citing health problems and other concerns, Collins announced on 4 March 2011 that he ended his music career.
In an interview with Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
on 27 September 2011, Peter Gabriel said that a reunion with the classic lineup is still a possibility, but hopes remain very slim, stating "I won't say never ever, but it's in the outside department of the betting shop...if you stick with the stuff that nourishes you the most then you'll probably be the happiest."
Inspiration and influences
Genesis has taken influence from a wide range of music, ranging from classical music to mainstream rock and jazzJazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
. Banks drew influence from Alan Price
Alan Price
Alan Price is an English musician, best known as the original keyboardist for the English band The Animals, and for his subsequent solo work....
of The Animals
The Animals
The Animals were an English music group of the 1960s formed in Newcastle upon Tyne during the early part of the decade, and later relocated to London...
, whom he regarded as "[t]he first person who made me aware of the organ in a rock context". Collins has cited Buddy Rich
Buddy Rich
Bernard "Buddy" Rich was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. Rich was billed as "the world's greatest drummer" and was known for his virtuosic technique, power, groove, and speed.-Early life:...
and the jazz-rock outfits The Mahavishnu Orchestra
The Mahavishnu Orchestra
The Mahavishnu Orchestra was a jazz fusion group, led by John McLaughlin, that debuted in 1971, dissolved in 1976 and reunited from 1984 to 1987.-First Mahavishnu Orchestra:...
and Weather Report
Weather Report
Weather Report was an American jazz-rock band of the 1970s and early 1980s. The band was co-led by the Austrian-born keyboard player Joe Zawinul and the American saxophonist Wayne Shorter...
, while Gabriel's early career with Genesis took influence from Nina Simone
Nina Simone
Eunice Kathleen Waymon , better known by her stage name Nina Simone , was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist widely associated with jazz music...
and King Crimson
King Crimson
King Crimson are a rock band founded in London, England in 1969. Often categorised as a foundational progressive rock group, the band have incorporated diverse influences and instrumentation during their history...
.
Legacy
As a group that influenced the growth of the progressive rock genre, Genesis has been cited by a number of progressive rock groups, including RushRush (band)
Rush is a Canadian rock band formed in August 1968, in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario. The band is composed of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart...
, Marillion
Marillion
Marillion are a British rock band, formed in Aylesbury, England in 1979. Their recorded studio output comprises sixteen albums generally regarded in two distinct eras, delineated by the departure of original vocalist & frontman Fish in late 1988, and the subsequent arrival of replacement Steve...
, IQ
IQ (band)
IQ are a British neo-progressive rock band founded by Mike Holmes and Martin Orford in 1981 following the dissolution of their original band The Lens...
, Pendragon
Pendragon (band)
Pendragon are an English neo-progressive rock band established in 1978 in Stroud, Gloucestershire as Zeus Pendragon by guitarist and vocalist Nick Barrett. The Zeus was dropped before the band started recording as the members decided it was too long to look good on a t-shirt...
, Pallas
Pallas (band)
Pallas are a progressive rock band based in the UK. They were one of the bands at the vanguard of what was termed neo-progressive during progressive rock's second-wave revival in the early 1980s...
and Dream Theater
Dream Theater
Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung, and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Massachusetts. They subsequently dropped out of their studies to further concentrate on the band that would...
. They have also been cited as an influence by alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
bands Elbow
Elbow (band)
Elbow are an English rock band. They have played together since 1990 and recorded five studio albums, the most recent of which is Build a Rocket Boys!, released in March 2011...
and Coheed and Cambria
Coheed and Cambria
Coheed and Cambria is an American progressive rock band from Nyack, New York. Formed in 1995, the group incorporates aspects of progressive rock, punk rock, metal and post-hardcore....
. Several Genesis tribute band
Tribute band
A tribute act is a music group, singer, or musician who specifically plays the music of a well-known music act - sometimes one which has disbanded, ceased touring or is deceased. Probably the largest class of tributes acts are Elvis impersonators, individual performers who mimic the songs and style...
s, including ReGenesis and The Musical Box
The Musical Box (band)
The Musical Box is a prominent Genesis tribute band.-Covering the Peter Gabriel era of Genesis:Taking their name from the 1971 track of the same name, The Musical Box formed in Montreal, Quebec in 1993 to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the 1973 album Selling England by the Pound...
routinely perform material from the Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins eras.
Collins became the first artist to cover a Genesis song in a studio release—"Behind the Lines"—which he included on Face Value one year after the original's release. Other former members previously and subsequently performed the band's material live during their solo shows—Gabriel played "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" and "Back in NYC", while Hackett has performed "In That Quiet Earth", "Los Endos", "Horizons", "Firth of Fifth" and "Blood on the Rooftops", among others. Hackett has performed "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)" on his own solo tours, and on a 1986 tour with his short lived supergroup GTR
GTR (band)
GTR were a rock band founded in 1985 by former Yes and Asia guitarist Steve Howe and former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett. In comparison to the two leaders' earlier work within progressive rock, GTR's work followed more of an Adult Oriented Rock format. The band was short-lived, lasting for two...
. Rutherford has performed "I Can't Dance
I Can't Dance
"I Can't Dance" is the fourth track from the Genesis album We Can't Dance and was the second single from the album . The song peaked at number seven on both the U.S...
" during his tours with the Mechanics. Collins also later formed The Phil Collins Big Band
The Phil Collins Big Band
The Phil Collins Big Band was a side project of English pop singer Phil Collins which performed in the late 1990s. The group presented big band renditions of Phil Collins and Genesis songs, including hits such as "Sussudio" and "Invisible Touch"...
, which played jazz arrangements of Genesis songs, which were "That's All", "Invisible Touch", "Hold On My Heart" and "Los Endos" (renamed "The Los Endos Suite"), during its 1998 world tour. Ray Wilson has covered the most Genesis songs during his solo concerts. His two solo live albums, Live and Life and Acoustic, feature the Genesis songs "The Carpet Crawlers", "Follow You Follow Me", "I Can't Dance", "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway", "No Son of Mine
No Son of Mine
"No Son of Mine" is the first single by the British rock group Genesis from their 1991 album We Can't Dance, which reached #6 in the UK and #12 in the U.S. It made #8 on the Dutch Top 40.-Lyrics and music:...
", "Shipwrecked", and "Mama
Mama (Genesis song)
"Mama" was the first single from Genesis' 1983 self-titled album. It is recognizable for its harsh drum machine introduction composed by Mike Rutherford, which leads into minimalist synthesizer lines in minor keys and finally Phil Collins' reverb-laden voice. It remains the band's biggest...
". He has interpreted two songs from the solo careers of his two predecessors—"In the Air Tonight
In the Air Tonight
"In the Air Tonight" is a song by Phil Collins that first appeared on his 1981 album Face Value. It was recorded in 1979 and was the first single of Collins' solo career, and remains one of his best-known hits. The music video, directed by Stuart Orme, was released in 1981.-The song/recording:The...
" (Collins) and "Biko
Biko (song)
"Biko" is a protest song by British rock musician Peter Gabriel. The song was included on Gabriel's third album, Peter Gabriel . It is about Steve Biko, a noted black South African anti-apartheid activist. Biko had been arrested by the South African police in late August 1977...
" (Gabriel).
Jeff Buckley
Jeff Buckley
Jeffrey Scott "Jeff" Buckley , raised as Scotty Moorhead, was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was the son of Tim Buckley, also a musician...
reworked "Back in NYC" for the posthumously released 1998 Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk
Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk
Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk is a collection of polished studio tracks and four-track demos recorded by Jeff Buckley. Being dissatisfied with material recorded in the summer of 1996 and early in 1997, Buckley worked on many demos to reach the sound he was hoping to achieve...
; And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead also covered "Back in NYC" as a B-side in 2005. The Brazilian power metal
Power metal
Power metal is a style of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. The term refers to two different but related styles: the first pioneered and largely practiced in North America with a harder sound similar to speed metal, and a...
band Angra
Angra (band)
Angra is a Brazilian metal band from São Paulo, Brazil known for its symphonic interludes, highly technical instrumental playing and Brazilian regional elements.- Biography :...
covered "Mama
Mama (Genesis song)
"Mama" was the first single from Genesis' 1983 self-titled album. It is recognizable for its harsh drum machine introduction composed by Mike Rutherford, which leads into minimalist synthesizer lines in minor keys and finally Phil Collins' reverb-laden voice. It remains the band's biggest...
" in 2002. The Swedish death metal
Death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....
band In Flames
In Flames
In Flames is a Swedish heavy metal band from Gothenburg, formed in 1990. Since the band's inception in 1993, they have released ten studio albums and one live DVD...
covered "Land of Confusion
Land of Confusion
"Land of Confusion" is a rock song written by the band Genesis for their 1986 album Invisible Touch. The song was the third track on the album and was the fourth track from the album to become a single, which reached #4 in the US and #14 in the UK in early 1987. It made #8 in the Netherlands...
" on Trigger
Trigger (EP)
-Video:The music video for the single "Trigger" featured In Flames playing a club and being constantly pestered and booed by the members of Soilwork, with interspersed footage of other incidents between the two bands. The Soilwork video for "Rejection Role" showed the situation vice versa, Soilwork...
, as did Disturbed on their 2005 album Ten Thousand Fists
Ten Thousand Fists
Ten Thousand Fists is the third studio album by American heavy metal band Disturbed. It was released on September 20, 2005 and became Disturbed's second consecutive #1 debut on the Billboard 200 in the United States, shipping around 239,000 copies in its opening week. It has been certified Platinum...
. Disco-pop band Alcazar, also from Sweden, has covered parts of "Land of Confusion" on their song "This is the World We Live In". Dream Theater
Dream Theater
Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung, and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Massachusetts. They subsequently dropped out of their studies to further concentrate on the band that would...
covered "Turn It On Again
Turn It On Again
"Turn It On Again" is a single from the British progressive rock band Genesis, from their 1980 album Duke.The lyrics deal with a man who does nothing more than watch his television, so much that he becomes obsessed with the people he watches on it, believing them to be his friends.The song is also...
" as part of their song "The Big Medley". In 2007, Simon Collins
Simon Collins
Simon Philip N. Collins is a British-Canadian musician. He is the son of English pop singer Phil Collins.-Early years:...
recorded his own version of "Keep It Dark" as a tribute to the 40th anniversary of his father's band.
Inducting the band into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
in 2010, Trey Anastasio
Trey Anastasio
Trey Anastasio is an American guitarist, composer, and vocalist most noted for his work with the rock band Phish...
of Phish
Phish
Phish is an American rock band noted for its musical improvisation, extended jams, and exploration of music across genres. Formed at the University of Vermont in 1983 , the band's four members – Trey Anastasio , Mike Gordon , Jon Fishman , and Page McConnell Phish is an American rock band...
acclaimed Genesis as "rebellious, restless and constantly striving for something more … Every musical rule and boundary was questioned and broken … It's impossible to overstate what impact this band and musical philosophy had on me as a young musician. I'm forever in their debt."
Beyond purely musical ventures, the theatrical style of Genesis's 1970s concerts with Gabriel and advanced lighting of their 1980s shows have provided inspiration for Cirque du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil , is a Canadian entertainment company, self-described as a "dramatic mix of circus arts and street entertainment." Based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul in 1984 by two former street performers, Guy...
's productions: the 2004 anniversary show Midnight Sun and the arena-based touring show Delirium
Delirium (Cirque du Soleil)
Delirium was a touring multimedia stage show by Cirque du Soleil featuring live music, video projections, and performances by acrobats and other circus performers. The production featured remixes of existing Cirque du Soleil music...
trace their musical and multimedia elements back to these concerts. According to Victor Pilon, co-creator and co-director of both shows, "We're not inventing anything. Genesis did it years ago. We're just using new technology."
Album cover art
The band's album covers often incorporate complex and intricate art intended to reflect the themes explored in the music. The initial release of the band's first album, From Genesis to RevelationFrom Genesis to Revelation
From Genesis to Revelation was the first album by Genesis, released in March 1969 on Decca Records in England...
, used a plain black sleeve with Genesis written in a green gothic
Blackletter
Blackletter, also known as Gothic script, Gothic minuscule, or Textura, was a script used throughout Western Europe from approximately 1150 to well into the 17th century. It continued to be used for the German language until the 20th century. Fraktur is a notable script of this type, and sometimes...
typeface
Typeface
In typography, a typeface is the artistic representation or interpretation of characters; it is the way the type looks. Each type is designed and there are thousands of different typefaces in existence, with new ones being developed constantly....
. The three subsequent album covers were developed by the popular Charisma Records
Charisma Records
Charisma was a record label founded by former journalist Tony Stratton-Smith in 1969. Manager for The Nice, the Bonzo Dog Band and Van der Graaf Generator at the time, Stratton-Smith was unable to find a record company willing to release an album by one of his favourite groups so he founded his own...
graphic artist Paul Whitehead
Paul Whitehead
Paul Whitehead is a painter and graphic artist known for his surrealistic album covers for artists on the Charisma Records label in the 1970s, such as Genesis and Van der Graaf Generator.-England: Liberty Records and Charisma Records:...
. The Foxtrot sleeve depicts a feminine figure in a red dress with the head of a fox. Whitehead has said in an interview that Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
's "Foxy Lady
Foxy Lady
"Foxy Lady" is a song by The Jimi Hendrix Experience from their 1967 album Are You Experienced. It can also be found on a number of Hendrix's greatest hits compilations, including Smash Hits and Experience Hendrix: The Best of Jimi Hendrix...
" was an inspiration for the character.
The cover for Selling England by the Pound was painted by Betty Swanwick. Peter Gabriel saw the original drawing, called The Dream, at an exhibition and asked Swanwick to modify it for use as the album cover. Most notably, Swanwick added a lawnmower to the image in order to tie the painting to the lyrics of I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe).
After Whitehead moved to Los Angeles, Genesis signed with the art collective Hipgnosis
Hipgnosis
Hipgnosis was a British art design group that specialized in creating cover art for the albums of rock musicians and bands, most notably Pink Floyd, T.Rex, The Pretty Things, UFO, 10cc, Bad Company, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Scorpions, Yes, The Alan Parsons Project, Genesis, Peter Gabriel, ELO and XTC...
, whose artists had created high profile album covers for Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
's The Dark Side of the Moon
The Dark Side of the Moon
The Dark Side of the Moon is the eighth studio album by English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released in March 1973. It built on ideas explored in the band's earlier recordings and live shows, but lacks the extended instrumental excursions that characterised their work following the departure...
and Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
's Houses of the Holy
Houses of the Holy
Houses of the Holy is the fifth studio album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, released by Atlantic Records on 28 March 1973. The album title is a dedication by the band to their fans who appeared at venues they dubbed "Houses of the Holy". It was the second Led Zeppelin album to not...
. Hipgnosis's first Genesis album cover was for The Lamb, which featured a male model, credited simply as "Omar", portraying the album's protagonist "Rael".
Through the rest of the 1970s, various Hipgnosis artists heavily—designed all Genesis studio albums. The Trick of the Tail cover depicts the characters from the album songs, including the robber from "Robbery, Assault and Battery", the beast from the title track, and a metaphor
Metaphor
A metaphor is a literary figure of speech that uses an image, story or tangible thing to represent a less tangible thing or some intangible quality or idea; e.g., "Her eyes were glistening jewels." Metaphor may also be used for any rhetorical figures of speech that achieve their effects via...
ic image of old age reminiscing on youth from the song "Ripples". Beginning with Duke, Genesis albums have featured artwork designed by Bill Smith Studios. The band's highest-selling album Invisible Touch, features the artwork of Assorted Images, which had previously designed sleeves for Simple Minds
Simple Minds
Simple Minds are a Scottish rock band who achieved worldwide popularity from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s. The band produced a handful of critically acclaimed albums in the early 1980s and best known for their #1 US, Canada and Netherlands hit single "Don't You ", from the soundtrack of the...
, Duran Duran
Duran Duran
Duran Duran are an English band, formed in Birmingham in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States...
and Culture Club
Culture Club
Culture Club are a British rock band who were part of the 1980s New Romantic movement. The original band consisted of Boy George , Mikey Craig , Roy Hay and Jon Moss...
. The We Can't Dance cover art features the work of Felicity Roma Bowers, and is reminiscent of Wind & Wuthering, now presented in hazy watercolour
Watercolor painting
Watercolor or watercolour , also aquarelle from French, is a painting method. A watercolor is the medium or the resulting artwork in which the paints are made of pigments suspended in a water-soluble vehicle...
. The Calling All Stations and the compilation Turn It On Again: The Hits sleeves were designed by Wherefore Art?
Wherefore Art?
Wherefore Art? is an art studio and design studio based in London, England. The studio has designed such books as The Beatles' The Beatles Anthology, The Rolling Stones's A Life on the Road and album art covers for Genesis, Phil Collins, Mark Knopfler and Eric Clapton....
.
Criticism
Early incarnations of Genesis were often targets for criticism during the 1970s. An article in Q Magazine describes a 1977 Ray Lowry cartoon which depicted an arena of "either asleep, moribund, [or] comatose" fans watching a live Genesis performance, with the band's name emblazoned on a banner above the stage reading "GENESNOOZE".More specifically, some in Britain—especially supporters of the punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
movement—regarded Genesis in particular, but also the genre more generally, as overtly middle class (paying particular attention to Gabriel, Banks and Rutherford's private education
Independent school (UK)
An independent school is a school that is not financed through the taxation system by local or national government and is instead funded by private sources, predominantly in the form of tuition charges, gifts and long-term charitable endowments, and so is not subject to the conditions imposed by...
), and claimed that rock music was being taken away from the working class, whom they regarded as its core audience. But Peter Gabriel is quoted as saying in a Genesis biography that their audience was a "mixture of social classes" and that accusation was a fabrication of the critics.
Gabriel's theatrics were unpalatable to some of the mainstream rock audience, resulting in a cult following rather than mainstream. This was exemplified during live performances of Gabriel's last Genesis album, The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, during which he appeared on stage as various characters in the album's lyrics. The elaborate storyline for The Lamb proved difficult to understand and accept, and caused a bit of friction within the band. Collins later recalled that "he'd be in a Slipperman costume trying to get a mic anywhere near his throat, and be out of breath—all twisted up. Towards the end I felt the singing wasn't really being heard; the songs weren't really being heard".
Conversely, the band's transition from lengthy, complex songs to more compact, simplistic, radio-friendly material was not welcomed by critics; Rolling Stone's review of ...And Then There Were Three... read: "...this contemptible opus is but the palest shadow of the group's earlier accomplishments." "I don't feel we've bastardised the way we were", Collins remarked in an interview with Music Express
Music Express (magazine)
Music Express was a Canadian music magazine.Founded in 1976 as Alberta Music Express by Keith Sharp, it was renamed Music Express in 1978 for most of its run, also becoming Rock Express for the duration of 1986 to 1988. Initially published in a tabloid format, it adopted the magazine format in 1982...
: "on a generous day I'll blame me for the change, but I just think it is us growing up, listening to different things".
In a 1982 interview in Sounds
Sounds (magazine)
Sounds was a long-term British music paper, published weekly from 10 October 1970 – 6 April 1991. It was produced by Spotlight Publications , which was set up by Jack Hutton and Peter Wilkinson, who left "Melody Maker" to start their own company...
, Phil Collins talked about the band’s reputation in the music press and claimed that he only knew of one music journalist, Hugh Fielder, who openly liked Genesis.
Reviewing Genesis 1976–1982 in Q
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
, Andy Fyfe wrote: "... in spite of 150 million album sales the bottom line is that little of the band’s output has aged well ... There are moments of impressive songwriting, such as the tender "Many Too Many
Many Too Many
"Many Too Many" is a song performed by Genesis and released as a single from the album ...And Then There Were Three... in 1978. The single peaked at number 43 on the UK Chart. Its B-side had two non-album songs, "Vancouver" and "The Day the Light Went Out", both of which were released on compact...
", the darkly tragic "Duchess
Duchess (song)
"Duchess" is a song by the British band Genesis, appearing as the second track on their 1980's album, Duke. It peaked at number 46 in the UK Singles Chart....
" and the epic "One For The Vine", but little of Genesis’s music transcends in the way real classics do, and that is why they will remain perennial whipping boys for decades to come."
Music critic J. D. Considine
J. D. Considine
J. D. Considine is an established music critic who has been writing about music professionally since 1977. His work has been published in numerous newspapers and music magazines, and he has contributed to several books. Over the years, he has claimed to have put over three million words into...
wrote of the band: "Genesis has had a hard time getting respect. In the early '70s, when the group specialized in ambitious, theatrical story-songs, it attracted an avid cult following but was largely ignored by the rock press and public at large. Later in the decade, lead singer Peter Gabriel was finally recognized as a major talent - but only after he'd left the band, who were at this point being derided as middlebrow throwbacks still in thrall to the pomposities of art rock. Even in the early '80s, when Genesis did finally shed its art-rock inclinations and move toward pop, becoming international stars in the process, the press was unimpressed, dismissing the group as easy-listening lightweights. By the '90s, even the solo success of members Phil Collins and Mike Rutherford was being held against the group, by then one of the best-known rock acts in the world. All of which, to be honest, has been grossly unfair to the group. Granted, Genesis has made its share of mediocre albums - perhaps even more than its share, considering how long the band has been around. But bad albums? None to speak of."
In a 1991 interview with Rolling Stone during the promotion of We Can't Dance
We Can't Dance
Rolling Stone chiefly commented on the album's lyrics. They criticized "Tell Me Why" and "Way of the World" for being soulless and impersonal social commentaries, but regarded most of songs as outstanding, and summarized "Although We Can't Dance doesn't quite achieve the vulnerable grace of Duke or...
, Tony Banks admitted, "Well, we've never been fashionable. We've never been the critics' darlings." Phil Collins summed up in the same interview, "We know that people like us, because our records sell."
Studio albums
- From Genesis to RevelationFrom Genesis to RevelationFrom Genesis to Revelation was the first album by Genesis, released in March 1969 on Decca Records in England...
(1969) - TrespassTrespass (album)Trespass is the second studio album by Genesis and was recorded and released in 1970. Their last with guitarist Anthony Phillips, Trespass had a folk-flavoured progressive rock sound that was a marked departure from their earlier work....
(1970) - Nursery CrymeNursery CrymeNursery Cryme is the third studio album by Genesis and was recorded and released in 1971. It is also the first album to feature the classic five-piece line-up of Peter Gabriel, Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford, Phil Collins and Steve Hackett; the latter two replacing John Mayhew and Anthony Phillips, on...
(1971) - FoxtrotFoxtrot (album)Foxtrot is the fourth studio album by English progressive rock band Genesis and the second from the band line-up which included Peter Gabriel, Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford, Phil Collins, and Steve Hackett.-History:...
(1972) - Selling England by the PoundSelling England by the Pound- Sound and live performance :The piano introduction to "Firth of Fifth" has not been included in a performance since 1974, in a Drury Lane Theatre concert, when Banks misplayed and Collins covered by starting the song from after the intro...
(1973) - The Lamb Lies Down on BroadwayThe Lamb Lies down on BroadwayThe Lamb Lies Down on Broadway is a double concept album recorded and released in 1974 by the British rock band Genesis. It was their sixth studio album and the last album by the group to feature the involvement of lead singer Peter Gabriel.-Premise:...
(1974) - A Trick of the TailA Trick of the Tail-B Side:*This is the first song in the Genesis catalogue to feature an ellipsis in its name, used to convey the mysteriousness of the track. All future issues of this track omit the elipsis, however....
(1976) - Wind & WutheringWind & Wuthering"It's Yourself" is the B-side to "Your Own Special Way", released February 1977-Related EP:All tracks from the Single Spot the Pigeon 20 May 1977-2007 SACD/CD/DVD Release:...
(1976) - ...And Then There Were Three......And Then There Were Three......And Then There Were Three... is the ninth studio album by the British band Genesis and was released in 1978. It is the band's first album as a trio.-Background and recording:...
(1978) - DukeDuke (album)Duke is the tenth studio album by British band Genesis, released in March 1980.-Overview:The release of Duke followed solo albums by Genesis members Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford ....
(1980) - AbacabAbacabAbacab, released in 1981, is the 11th studio album by British band Genesis. It reached No.1 in the UK, where it remained in the charts for 27 weeks.-Background and recording:...
(1981) - Genesis (1983)
- Invisible TouchInvisible TouchInvisible Touch is the 13th studio album by the band Genesis, released in 1986. It reached No.1 in the UK where it remained in the charts for 96 weeks, making it by far the most commercially successful album of their career, eventually selling over 15 million copies worldwide...
(1986) - We Can't DanceWe Can't DanceRolling Stone chiefly commented on the album's lyrics. They criticized "Tell Me Why" and "Way of the World" for being soulless and impersonal social commentaries, but regarded most of songs as outstanding, and summarized "Although We Can't Dance doesn't quite achieve the vulnerable grace of Duke or...
(1991) - Calling All StationsCalling All StationsCalling All Stations, is the 15th studio album by rock band Genesis. It was recorded following Phil Collins's departure from the band in 1996, and was released in 1997...
(1997)
Live albums
- LiveGenesis LiveGenesis Live is the first live album released by rock group Genesis in 1973. It was the band's first top 10 hit in the UK reaching No.9 and remaining on the charts for 10 weeks.-History:...
(1973) - Seconds OutSeconds OutSeconds Out is a live double album by Genesis, released in October 1977. It reached No.4 in the UK, remaining in the charts for 17 weeks. The performances were recorded in Paris in 1976 and 1977 on their tours in support of A Trick of the Tail and Wind & Wuthering...
(1977) - Three Sides LiveThree Sides LiveThree Sides Live is the third live album by British Progressive Rock band Genesis, released in 1982.-History:The title for this album comes from the original world release, which contained three sides of live material from the band's 1981-82 tour, and a fourth side of studio tracks, three of which...
(1982) - The Way We Walk, Volume One: The Shorts (1992)
- The Way We Walk, Volume Two: The Longs (1993)
- Live over Europe 2007Live Over Europe 2007Live over Europe 2007 is the sixth live album by British band Genesis recorded during the Turn It on Again: The Tour of 2007. It was released in North America by Atlantic Records on 20 November 2007, and in Europe on by Virgin Records on 26 November 2007.-Disc 1:# "Duke's Intro" – Manchester –...
(2007)
See also
- Genesis discographyGenesis discographyThe Genesis discography is a list of official studio and live albums released by the band Genesis. Genesis are a British progressive rock band comprising several artists including Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford, Tony Banks, Chester Thompson, Daryl Stuermer and previously including Peter Gabriel,...
- List of awards and nominations received by Genesis
- The Farm (recording studio)The Farm (recording studio)Fisher Lane Farm is the main recording studio of the English progressive rock band Genesis. The studio is located in Chiddingfold, Surrey, England...