Look, I think most readers will realise by now that Genesis weren't really my thing and there is no real way that this will get too many airings but I am certainly not blind to some of its good points, however. It is like a movie that I may watch once, think is ok, acknowledge its credibility, but not watch again.
Among all the many artists whose work I have reviewed remains the hulking spectre of Genesis - a group who had two distinct phases, neither of whom I really liked at all. For whatever reasons, I never got it going with these ex-public schoolboys and what I always viewed as a particularly pretentious form of prog rock. I didn't go for their Phil Collins-led poppier phase much either. As far as prog rock goes, I prefer Jethro Tull, East Of Eden, Atomic Rooster, Wishbone Ash - all artists at the rockier or folkier end of the genre. Although Genesis were rockier than, say the keyboard-dominated giants ELP or Yes, there was just something about their lyrical oddness and perceived intellectual smugness that rubbed me up the wrong way. Oh, and, as was often the case, I hated with a vengeance the boys at my school who liked them, boys who invariably got A+ in Mathematics, Latin and Chemistry. I went on to like singer-songwriter Peter Gabriel's solo work, however, so here I am giving him and his old proggy mates a chance. I apologise in advance to Genesis followers for whom these albums mean so much for my possible negativity but I am trying to be open minded in dealing with the work of a group who I have always hated. Maybe time has mellowed my feelings - let's find out.
This first album, like the sixties-released debut albums from many bands (The Grateful Dead, Jethro Tull, Deep Purple, Ten Years After and Yes to name a few) was totally unrepresentative of their subsequent career.
It was very much a product of its time, with a poppy but psychedelic feel - produced by Jonathan King - and it carries with it an endearing youthful innocence. Importantly, the lush strings were added after the songs had been recorded at King's behest, to the annoyance of some of the group. Reviewing it is like writing about a separate group. I bet there are loads of Genesis followers who hate it. Amazingly, the group were still at school when they recorded the album. Given that information, I have to say that it really is quite precocious.
Where The Sour Turns To Sweet is a syrupy, string-orchestrated piece of late sixties intellectual pop featuring some bold brass breaks and an instantly recognisable Peter Gabriel vocal. It has a dreamy, vaguely psychedelic air to it. Very late sixties. As too is the uptempo bassy psych pop of In The Beginning, which sounds like one of those tracks you would find on a Californian garage rock 67-68 compilation. It's actually really good in that sort of way.
The string-backed and slightly twee Fireside Song is nothing like Genesis at all - people would be pushed to identify it as them if they didn't know. I really like the melodically bassy The Serpent - all very freaky and mysteriously psychedelic. Check out that swirling organ sound and Gabriel's breezy sixties vocal.
The quiet Am I Very Wrong is very hippy-trippy and In The Wilderness, with its catchy, poppy chorus, is just so of its time, although the mystifying lyrics are a strong portent of things to come. The Conqueror is great, a really delightful little piece of surprising pop. Fantastic sixties freaky pop - I love it. It should be on any best of Genesis playlist but never is. Not quite so good is the slow string-driven ballad of The Hiding.
One Day is a beguilingly beautiful and also entrancingly lively and clever pop song. Listen to those sixties Beatles-esque brass breaks, though. More lovely horn work is to be found on the sleepy, melodious Window. In Limbo sounds like Traffic meeting the Tijuana Brass and is again a track with a real period appeal that I cannot help but like.
The romantic pop of Silent Sun was the band's first single and was said to be an imitation of The Bee Gees' contemporary sound. I can hear what people mean when they say that, especially Gabriel's quavering voice. Nobody would think this was Genesis in a million years, would they? The album ends with the reflective and very Gabriel A Place To Call My Own. The album was not a success and the group, possibly influenced by their parents, split in order to continue with their education. King, frustrated at their turning away from chart-oriented pop, washed his hands of them. The album has since been disowned by the band. A new Genesis would soon be born.
