Genesis

This debut Genesis album, which has appeared under license to various labels in addition to Decca and London in different configurations, is largely of historical interest. The group was still in its formative stages, the members barely past their 18th birthdays and still working out what they wanted to sound like. Mostly they sound like the Bee Gees trying to be the Moody Blues (picture something similar to the sound of the former group's Odessa album). "The Silent Sun" and "Where the Sour Turns to Sweet" are pleasant enough, but scarcely indicate the true potential of the group or its members. A pleasant enough piece of pop-psychedelia/art rock, but not a critically important release, except to the truly dedicated.

This was Genesis first album (predating "Trespass", which many assume to be their first album), and was produced by pop music impresario Jonathan King. King's influence is strong, with strings overlaid on many of the short, pop orientated songs….

Genesis' first truly progressive album, and their first record for the Charisma label (although Trespass was released in America by ABC, which is how MCA came to have it), is important mostly as a formative effort. Peter Gabriel, Tony Banks, and Michael Rutherford are here, but the guitarist is Anthony Phillips and the drummer is John Mayhew…

Calling All Stations (stylised as …Calling All Stations…) is the fifteenth studio album by rock band Genesis. Released in 1997, the album was recorded following the departure of longtime drummer/vocalist Phil Collins from the band in 1996, leaving only keyboardist Tony Banks and guitarist/bassist Mike Rutherford from earlier incarnations of the band…

Genesis is a unique case in the world of popular music, as it began its career as a cult band and despite losing its lead singer, the charismatic Peter Gabriel, they moved on with then-drummer Phil Collins as front man, which brought them massive and unexpected success in the 80s. In this chapter of our The Many Faces series, we explore Genesis' inner world, including some of its members' rare side-projects, their collaborations, versions of some of their most iconic songs and the early-stages of the band, when they were still a bunch of teens who hardly imagined they would become one of the greatest bands of all times. The Many Faces Of Genesis is an essential album, that showcases the hidden stories behind a unique band.

Foxtrot is where Genesis began to pull all of its varied inspirations into a cohesive sound – which doesn't necessarily mean that the album is streamlined, for this is a group that always was grandiose even when they were cohesive, or even when they rocked, which they truly do for the first time here…

If Genesis truly established themselves as progressive rockers on Trespass, Nursery Cryme is where their signature persona was unveiled: true English eccentrics, one part Lewis Carroll and one part Syd Barrett, creating a fanciful world that emphasized the band's instrumental prowess as much as Peter Gabriel's theatricality. Which isn't to say that all of Nursery Cryme works…

Depending upon your point of view, Genesis in 1976/1977 was either a band ascending toward its peak commercially, or a group crippled by the departure of a key member, and living on artistic borrowed time. In reality, they were sort of both, and fortunately for the members, their commerciality was more important than their artistic street cred, as their burgeoning record sales and huge audiences on tour during that period attested…

Moments of Genesis are as spooky and arty as those on Abacab – in particular, there's the tortured howl of "Mama," uncannily reminiscent of Phil Collins' Face Value, and the two-part "Second Home by the Sea" – but this eponymous 1983 album is indeed a rebirth, as so many self-titled albums delivered in the thick of a band's career often are. Here the art rock functions as coloring to the pop songs, unlike on Abacab and Duke, where the reverse is true…