Genesis Appreciation/Discussion

[Fritzinger]

Their catalog is so vast and diverse, I don't know how anyone can rank their favorites. To me, when I listen to Invisible Touch, that's my favorite. When I listen to Trick of the Tail, that's my favorite. Foxtrot? Favorite. Shit, I even love Calling All Stations, although I guess I've never said it was my favorite, but there are times I feel like it gets close.

Basically, whatever I'm mood I'm in dictates what I listen to and love at that moment.

I so much agree!

And Calling All Stations (what a dumb title) is a weird record. It's an example of a group losing their DNA when replacing a key member - in this case Phil Collins. They sound like another band, far from the Genesis I knew and loved. They got some excellent session drummers in it as well, but they can't catch the spirit of Genesis IMO. The singer tries to copy Peter Gabriel, but fails. What still makes me play it is Mike's guitar work and of course, Tony. When I heard it the first time, my immediate thought was that it sounded like one of Tony's solo efforts, which never did much for me, it was like he went from prog to pop, and not pop in the 'Genesis style', if it makes sense. Oh, whatever...

There are some real high points on CAS: Uncertain Weather, The Dividing Line, There Must Be Some Other Way, One Man’s Fool. I also like the title track and Congo just fine for what they are. I don’t hate Shipwrecked or Not About Us even, though they don’t seem like Genesis songs. It does seem like a new project though more than a continuation of Genesis if that makes sense. Like Tony Banks and Rutherfords solo/side projects mixed.

There are also several strong tracks that didn’t make the album that would have really improved the final project, and they definitely missed an opportunity in picking Ray Wilson over David Longdon (Big Big Train) as the singer. I like Wilson to an extent, but Longdon would have given them a more charismatic voice who could pull off both the Collins and Gabriel material.

Thaaank yoouu. Ray Wilson is a good singer, but David Longdon would have taken Calling All Stations to a whole new level. Like he took Big Big Train to a new level.

By the way, does anyone know why Chester Thompson didn't just replace Phil on the album? And on the tour, too?

[Madman Shepherd]

Their catalog is so vast and diverse, I don't know how anyone can rank their favorites. To me, when I listen to Invisible Touch, that's my favorite. When I listen to Trick of the Tail, that's my favorite. Foxtrot? Favorite. Shit, I even love Calling All Stations, although I guess I've never said it was my favorite, but there are times I feel like it gets close.

Basically, whatever I'm mood I'm in dictates what I listen to and love at that moment.

I so much agree!

And Calling All Stations (what a dumb title) is a weird record. It's an example of a group losing their DNA when replacing a key member - in this case Phil Collins. They sound like another band, far from the Genesis I knew and loved. They got some excellent session drummers in it as well, but they can't catch the spirit of Genesis IMO. The singer tries to copy Peter Gabriel, but fails. What still makes me play it is Mike's guitar work and of course, Tony. When I heard it the first time, my immediate thought was that it sounded like one of Tony's solo efforts, which never did much for me, it was like he went from prog to pop, and not pop in the 'Genesis style', if it makes sense. Oh, whatever...

There are some real high points on CAS: Uncertain Weather, The Dividing Line, There Must Be Some Other Way, One Man’s Fool. I also like the title track and Congo just fine for what they are. I don’t hate Shipwrecked or Not About Us even, though they don’t seem like Genesis songs. It does seem like a new project though more than a continuation of Genesis if that makes sense. Like Tony Banks and Rutherfords solo/side projects mixed.

There are also several strong tracks that didn’t make the album that would have really improved the final project, and they definitely missed an opportunity in picking Ray Wilson over David Longdon (Big Big Train) as the singer. I like Wilson to an extent, but Longdon would have given them a more charismatic voice who could pull off both the Collins and Gabriel material.

Thaaank yoouu. Ray Wilson is a good singer, but David Longdon would have taken Calling All Stations to a whole new level. Like he took Big Big Train to a new level.

By the way, does anyone know why Chester Thompson didn't just replace Phil on the album? And on the tour, too?

Yes. Chester approached the band about becoming a full time member and being part of the writing. They said they weren't interested. He said he was no longer interested in drumming for them then.

Not that he would have been the secret ingredient but I think his inclusion could have given them a slight additional degree of success. I love Tony and Mike but they lack charisma. The average fan is also probably unaware that they wrote the majority of material with phil that saw them reach such big success.

[HOF]

Their catalog is so vast and diverse, I don't know how anyone can rank their favorites. To me, when I listen to Invisible Touch, that's my favorite. When I listen to Trick of the Tail, that's my favorite. Foxtrot? Favorite. Shit, I even love Calling All Stations, although I guess I've never said it was my favorite, but there are times I feel like it gets close.

Basically, whatever I'm mood I'm in dictates what I listen to and love at that moment.

I so much agree!

And Calling All Stations (what a dumb title) is a weird record. It's an example of a group losing their DNA when replacing a key member - in this case Phil Collins. They sound like another band, far from the Genesis I knew and loved. They got some excellent session drummers in it as well, but they can't catch the spirit of Genesis IMO. The singer tries to copy Peter Gabriel, but fails. What still makes me play it is Mike's guitar work and of course, Tony. When I heard it the first time, my immediate thought was that it sounded like one of Tony's solo efforts, which never did much for me, it was like he went from prog to pop, and not pop in the 'Genesis style', if it makes sense. Oh, whatever...

There are some real high points on CAS: Uncertain Weather, The Dividing Line, There Must Be Some Other Way, One Man’s Fool. I also like the title track and Congo just fine for what they are. I don’t hate Shipwrecked or Not About Us even, though they don’t seem like Genesis songs. It does seem like a new project though more than a continuation of Genesis if that makes sense. Like Tony Banks and Rutherfords solo/side projects mixed.

There are also several strong tracks that didn’t make the album that would have really improved the final project, and they definitely missed an opportunity in picking Ray Wilson over David Longdon (Big Big Train) as the singer. I like Wilson to an extent, but Longdon would have given them a more charismatic voice who could pull off both the Collins and Gabriel material.

Thaaank yoouu. Ray Wilson is a good singer, but David Longdon would have taken Calling All Stations to a whole new level. Like he took Big Big Train to a new level.

By the way, does anyone know why Chester Thompson didn't just replace Phil on the album? And on the tour, too?

In an alternate universe somewhere, Genesis picked NDV and David Longdon to be the full time drummer and singer and Genesis ends up being a part of the late 90s/2000s prog revival. It would have taken some real vision because neither were established artists at that point though.

I’m also ultimately happy with the way things turned out. That would have seriously altered the histories of Spock’s Beard and Big Big Train. In the end, those two found the musical home where they belonged with Big Big Train.

[KevShmev]

It doesn't have anything as awesome as The Cinema Show or Firth of Fifth, but I honestly think that A Trick of the Tail is their best and most consistent album at this point in time.  None of the songs would be in my Genesis top 5, but probably 5-6 of them would be in that 6-20 range.

I tend to think of Los Endos as one of those signature Genesis moments up there with stuff like Cinema Show or Firth of Fifth. It’s one of my favorite instrumental tracks (by anyone).

Los Endos is great, yet still probably only my 5th favorite song from that record! 

I would rank them in this order:

1. Entangled (that ending is so sublime)
2. Mad Man Moon
3. Ripples
4. Robbery, Assault and Battery
5. Los Endos
6. Dance on a Volcano
7. Squonk
8. A Trick of the Tail

[Orbert]

1980 Lyceum Ballroom May 7, 1980

I'm not into a lot of bootleg recordings, but this is one of the few Genesis bootlegs I have that I really like.  It's a soundboard recording, and one of the original sources for the Three Sides Live album.  The great thing is that it includes the entire "Duke" suite.  This is the only tour where they played the entire six-part suite in order.  I re-did my Three Side Live playlist to incorporate "Duke" in its entirety, and it's pretty sweet.

If you're a fan of the Duke album (and hey, who isn't?) then this is a boot that you want, whether you realize it or not.

[HOF]

It doesn't have anything as awesome as The Cinema Show or Firth of Fifth, but I honestly think that A Trick of the Tail is their best and most consistent album at this point in time.  None of the songs would be in my Genesis top 5, but probably 5-6 of them would be in that 6-20 range.

I tend to think of Los Endos as one of those signature Genesis moments up there with stuff like Cinema Show or Firth of Fifth. It’s one of my favorite instrumental tracks (by anyone).

Los Endos is great, yet still probably only my 5th favorite song from that record! 

I would rank them in this order:

1. Entangled (that ending is so sublime)
2. Mad Man Moon
3. Ripples
4. Robbery, Assault and Battery
5. Los Endos
6. Dance on a Volcano
7. Squonk
8. A Trick of the Tail

I’d probably put Squonk as my second favorite. Love that song. I’d also have the title track above Robbery, Assault and Battery and maybe even Dance on a Volcano, which I like but for some reason don’t love. I agree about Entangled though. That’s a gorgeous song.

[Orbert]

In the 80's, I was in a band that opened with Squonk for a while, because we were all progheads playing in a bar band and we liked the song.  Opening song from Seconds Out seemed like a good choice, right?  The other two Genesis songs we did were Abacab and Turn It On Again just because we could.  We played some Alan Parsons Project, a bunch of The Police, some crazy shit.  Problem is, we were playing backwoods bars in Northern Michigan who had no idea what to make of it.  They tolerated it, but came alive when we played Born To Be Wild.  Okay.

We had fun, though.  We were practicing during the day in a bar in Manistee, and the bartender asked us if we knew any Emerson Lake & Palmer, and me, the bassist, and the drummer had just figured out the beginning of Tarkus like a week before for the hell of it, so we threw it at him.  Blew his mind.  He said he'd never, ever expected to hear Tarkus in a bar before, let alone this one.  We made his day, his whole weekend.

[HOF]

In the 80's, I was in a band that opened with Squonk for a while, because we were all progheads playing in a bar band and we liked the song.  Opening song from Seconds Out seemed like a good choice, right?  The other two Genesis songs we did were Abacab and Turn It On Again just because we could.  We played some Alan Parsons Project, a bunch of The Police, some crazy shit.  Problem is, we were playing backwoods bars in Northern Michigan who had no idea what to make of it.  They tolerated it, but came alive when we played Born To Be Wild.  Okay.

We had fun, though.  We were practicing during the day in a bar in Manistee, and the bartender asked us if we knew any Emerson Lake & Palmer, and me, the bassist, and the drummer had just figured out the beginning of Tarkus like a week before for the hell of it, so we threw it at him.  Blew his mind.  He said he'd never, ever expected to hear Tarkus in a bar before, let alone this one.  We made his day, his whole weekend.

That’s some good stuff there. Squonk is something that seems like it was meant to be played live. The version on Seconds Out is great (and I’m not usually one for live recordings).

[HOF]

So Steve Hackett has also been doing a series of YouTube videos recently talking about Genesis songs. Here he is talking about one of my favorites, Can Utility and the Coastliners. Pretty fun story about it in here:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=r5nJNcMjuvo

[ytserush]

1980 Lyceum Ballroom May 7, 1980

I'm not into a lot of bootleg recordings, but this is one of the few Genesis bootlegs I have that I really like.  It's a soundboard recording, and one of the original sources for the Three Sides Live album.  The great thing is that it includes the entire "Duke" suite.  This is the only tour where they played the entire six-part suite in order.  I re-did my Three Side Live playlist to incorporate "Duke" in its entirety, and it's pretty sweet.

If you're a fan of the Duke album (and hey, who isn't?) then this is a boot that you want, whether you realize it or not.

I think this is the only Genesis bootleg I have. I guess I've had it for almost 20 years now. (The one I have fuses film/video with the audio and I think it might be the entire show.) I love that show and really that 1980-82 era. Of course 1976 to 84 isn't band either. The sets were great from that era also. Right in my Genesis wheelhouse.

[ytserush]

In the 80's, I was in a band that opened with Squonk for a while, because we were all progheads playing in a bar band and we liked the song.  Opening song from Seconds Out seemed like a good choice, right?  The other two Genesis songs we did were Abacab and Turn It On Again just because we could.  We played some Alan Parsons Project, a bunch of The Police, some crazy shit.  Problem is, we were playing backwoods bars in Northern Michigan who had no idea what to make of it.  They tolerated it, but came alive when we played Born To Be Wild.  Okay.

We had fun, though.  We were practicing during the day in a bar in Manistee, and the bartender asked us if we knew any Emerson Lake & Palmer, and me, the bassist, and the drummer had just figured out the beginning of Tarkus like a week before for the hell of it, so we threw it at him.  Blew his mind.  He said he'd never, ever expected to hear Tarkus in a bar before, let alone this one.  We made his day, his whole weekend.

I didn't become a huge fan of Squonk until I saw Spock's Beard play it during their encore at NEARFest '99. Still think I might like the Spock's Beard version more, but my love for the song likely comes from there. Like the version on Seconds Out more than the studio version.

Probably the most awesome experience I ever had in a bar was when Pinnacle decided to cover all of Marillion's Misplaced Childhood. Of course, there was advance notice of this so some people knew it was coming, but that didn't make it any less special.

I've heard Tarkus played in a bar before a few times, but it was Carl Palmer's Band that played it. That was really cool too.

[HOF]

Hackett on Entangled and his own hypnotization:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1kCpQuQzqf8

[Stadler]

It doesn't have anything as awesome as The Cinema Show or Firth of Fifth, but I honestly think that A Trick of the Tail is their best and most consistent album at this point in time.  None of the songs would be in my Genesis top 5, but probably 5-6 of them would be in that 6-20 range.

I tend to think of Los Endos as one of those signature Genesis moments up there with stuff like Cinema Show or Firth of Fifth. It’s one of my favorite instrumental tracks (by anyone).

Los Endos is great, yet still probably only my 5th favorite song from that record! 

I would rank them in this order:

1. Entangled (that ending is so sublime)
2. Mad Man Moon
3. Ripples
4. Robbery, Assault and Battery
5. Los Endos
6. Dance on a Volcano
7. Squonk
8. A Trick of the Tail

I'm a sucker for lists, so:
1. Ripples
2. Dance On A Volcano
3. Los Endos
4. Entangled
5. Squonk
6. Mad Man Moon
7. Robbery, Assault and Battery
8. A Trick of the Tail

The reality is, 1 through 3 are virtually interchangeable, and depend on the day, as are 6 though 8.   This is a strong album; I don't usually just "decide" I want to hear "R, A & B", but I don't skip it.   It's also a beautiful album; the pastoral feel of several of the tracks is pervasive, and even if each individual song doesn't "nail it" (like Ripples does) it's very much a mood album for me.

[KevShmev]

I'm a sucker for lists, so:
1. Ripples
2. Dance On A Volcano
3. Los Endos
4. Entangled
5. Squonk
6. Mad Man Moon
7. Robbery, Assault and Battery
8. A Trick of the Tail

The reality is, 1 through 3 are virtually interchangeable, and depend on the day, as are 6 though 8.   This is a strong album; I don't usually just "decide" I want to hear "R, A & B", but I don't skip it.   It's also a beautiful album; the pastoral feel of several of the tracks is pervasive, and even if each individual song doesn't "nail it" (like Ripples does) it's very much a mood album for me.

Robbery, Assault and Battery is such a favorite for me largely because the latter half of the instrumental section is one of my favorite Tony Banks moments ever, which is a bold statement for me since he has so many great moments.

[Stadler]

1980 Lyceum Ballroom May 7, 1980

I'm not into a lot of bootleg recordings, but this is one of the few Genesis bootlegs I have that I really like.  It's a soundboard recording, and one of the original sources for the Three Sides Live album.  The great thing is that it includes the entire "Duke" suite.  This is the only tour where they played the entire six-part suite in order.  I re-did my Three Side Live playlist to incorporate "Duke" in its entirety, and it's pretty sweet.

If you're a fan of the Duke album (and hey, who isn't?) then this is a boot that you want, whether you realize it or not.

Duke on my iPod is in that order:  The Duke Suite as side one, and the remaining songs as side two.  For me, it flows better this way (only "Turn It On Again" is difficult to absorb, though that's not a knock on the song, because I LOVE it, just that I can't really fit the words in). 

[Orbert]

I tried that for a while.  According to Tony, they originally wanted to arrange the album that way, with the suite on one side and the other songs on the other side, but shied away from it at the last minute because they didn't want to invite the inevitable comparisons to Supper's Ready, their only other side-long epic.  So they ended up with the arrangement they did, with the suite opening and closing the album, Turn It On Again in the middle, and the rest of the songs arranged so as to form a loose narrative if you overthink it enough, thus making Duke their first and only true concept album.  But even Tony admitted that that was kinduv artificial anyway.

For me, it worked, but I eventually went back to the original run order, simply because it's what I was used to, and I like hearing Duke's End as the album closer.  But since it's an iPod, I had a playlist with just the Duke suite for a while.  I don't know, I nuked it at some point, mostly because I just never bothered with it.

[Stadler]

I tried that for a while.  According to Tony, they originally wanted to arrange the album that way, with the suite on one side and the other songs on the other side, but shied away from it at the last minute because they didn't want to invite the inevitable comparisons to Supper's Ready, their only other side-long epic.  So they ended up with the arrangement they did, with the suite opening and closing the album, Turn It On Again in the middle, and the rest of the songs arranged so as to form a loose narrative if you overthink it enough, thus making Duke their first and only true concept album.  But even Tony admitted that that was kinduv artificial anyway.

For me, it worked, but I eventually went back to the original run order, simply because it's what I was used to, and I like hearing Duke's End as the album closer.  But since it's an iPod, I had a playlist with just the Duke suite for a while.  I don't know, I nuked it at some point, mostly because I just never bothered with it.

You nuked the Duke?  I saw that in a movie once... 

Similar thing to the Dodo Suite; I stitched those together too for a while; that was much less satisfying, though. 

[KevShmev]

Maybe it's because I am used to the running order, but I tried the Duke suite a few times and while I won't say it didn't work, it never came off to me as a selection of songs that just had to go together. 

[pg1067]

It doesn't have anything as awesome as The Cinema Show or Firth of Fifth, but I honestly think that A Trick of the Tail is their best and most consistent album at this point in time.  None of the songs would be in my Genesis top 5, but probably 5-6 of them would be in that 6-20 range.

I tend to think of Los Endos as one of those signature Genesis moments up there with stuff like Cinema Show or Firth of Fifth. It’s one of my favorite instrumental tracks (by anyone).

Los Endos is great, yet still probably only my 5th favorite song from that record! 

I would rank them in this order:

1. Entangled (that ending is so sublime)
2. Mad Man Moon
3. Ripples
4. Robbery, Assault and Battery
5. Los Endos
6. Dance on a Volcano
7. Squonk
8. A Trick of the Tail

I'm a sucker for lists, so:
1. Ripples
2. Dance On A Volcano
3. Los Endos
4. Entangled
5. Squonk
6. Mad Man Moon
7. Robbery, Assault and Battery
8. A Trick of the Tail

The reality is, 1 through 3 are virtually interchangeable, and depend on the day, as are 6 though 8.   This is a strong album; I don't usually just "decide" I want to hear "R, A & B", but I don't skip it.   It's also a beautiful album; the pastoral feel of several of the tracks is pervasive, and even if each individual song doesn't "nail it" (like Ripples does) it's very much a mood album for me.

ATOTT is easily my favorite Genesis album, with every song having something exceptional about it.  I think I'd rank the songs thusly:

1. Dance On A Volcano
2. Robbery, Assault and Battery
3. A Trick of the Tail
4. Entangled
5. Squonk
6. Ripples
7. Los Endos
8. Mad Man Moon

There could be a lot of movement here in the 3-6 area on any given day, but the top 2 are locked, and MMM and Los Endos sit at the bottom only because I think everything else is better.  The instrumental section in RA&B is one of the best things ever.

[Orbert]

Maybe it's because I am used to the running order, but I tried the Duke suite a few times and while I won't say it didn't work, it never came off to me as a selection of songs that just had to go together. 

Exactly.  There are recurring melodic and chordal motifs, but they stand well enough alone.  The first three parts segue, as do the last two, and I never split up songs that segue, but Turn It On Again is the odd one out.  For one thing, the studio version fades out.  That happened so rarely with early Genesis that I noticed it right away, and wondered how exactly it was supposed to fit into the suite when you have a clear stopping point.  But things stop after Guide Vocal, too.

I guess it's knowing that the songs were originally meant to go together a certain way that makes recreating that running order something to try.  As with the Dodo suite from Abacab, it's kinda cool, but hardly required.

[XeRocks81]

I guess there’s an ending to Turn it on Again that they did live,  but it always seemed to me like something they threw together for the tour and just stuck with it for years.   

[Orbert]

Genesis always baffled me in that respect.  When the original studio version of a song fades out, a lot of bands will just end it by slamming on the last chord when they play it live.  Or maybe repeat the chorus or other section that isn't being repeated, and then slam on the last chord.  Genesis came up with some pretty cool endings for songs, and Turn It On Again has one of my favorites.  Not the Phil scat-singing (although that got better over time), but the chords after the intro reprise.  Abacab does the same thing (actually the same chords, transposed to C rather than B) after a pretty cool buildup.  The live version of The Cinema Show from Seconds Out has that awesome buildup and syncopated ending.  Even Squonk has an actual coda, making the original ending sound like they faded it out just as it was going somewhere.

Anyway, if you can come up with a great ending like that, why not just end the song that way on the album in the first place?  You already know that if you're gonna play the song live, that you'll have to come up with an ending.

[Stadler]

And then of course, there is the 'fade out' to Supper's Ready that they DID in fact play live.

[Orbert]

And then of course, there is the 'fade out' to Supper's Ready that they DID in fact play live.

Yes and no.  It decrescendos for a while, then ends very quietly.  It does resolve.

[Madman Shepherd]

https://ultimateclassicrock.com/genesis-solo-albums-ranked/

Don't know if this has been posted before but it's a pretty good overview of all of the solo album/side projects of Genesis members. I'm not a big fan of ranking but it is interesting to hear other peoples perspectives. Also, this encouraged me to seek out more Anthony Phillips stuff. Only heard his debut and it didn't do much for me.

[HOF]

https://ultimateclassicrock.com/genesis-solo-albums-ranked/

Don't know if this has been posted before but it's a pretty good overview of all of the solo album/side projects of Genesis members. I'm not a big fan of ranking but it is interesting to hear other peoples perspectives. Also, this encouraged me to seek out more Anthony Phillips stuff. Only heard his debut and it didn't do much for me.

Can’t get all the way through the list without the page crashing. But I actually think as PC solo albums go, Dance Into the Light and Testify are a little under appreciated. I prefer them both to Both Sides at least I think. Dance had some nice Beatles-ish stuff and was a little bit more of a drum album than Both Sides. Testify was at least a good sounding album that I generally enjoy when I hear it. I don’t revisit either all that often. Going to do that now while I’m thinking about it.

Edit: Lorenzo is a wonderful track, even if it does sound like the inspiration for the Tarzan soundtrack.

[SoundscapeMN]

https://ultimateclassicrock.com/genesis-solo-albums-ranked/

Don't know if this has been posted before but it's a pretty good overview of all of the solo album/side projects of Genesis members. I'm not a big fan of ranking but it is interesting to hear other peoples perspectives. Also, this encouraged me to seek out more Anthony Phillips stuff. Only heard his debut and it didn't do much for me.

No Marscape and nothing from Brand X?   

[Orbert]

I would categorize those as side projects that they happened to be involved in, and not solo albums.  Of course, within the article, that distinction is moot since they didn't include any of Tony's neo-classical stuff or movie soundtracks, which have a lot of great music.  The scope was limited to what they thought would be most relevant to most readers.

[Fritzinger]

I would categorize those as side projects that they happened to be involved in, and not solo albums.  Of course, within the article, that distinction is moot since they didn't include any of Tony's neo-classical stuff or movie soundtracks, which have a lot of great music.  The scope was limited to what they thought would be most relevant to most readers.

I didn't go through it all: they didn't include Tony's classical albums??? This list has just disqualified itself.

Tony's last album was beautiful. It shows that he is still very capable of composing his signature harmony progressions. The ones that only he can compose.

[XeRocks81]

I would categorize those as side projects that they happened to be involved in, and not solo albums.  Of course, within the article, that distinction is moot since they didn't include any of Tony's neo-classical stuff or movie soundtracks, which have a lot of great music.  The scope was limited to what they thought would be most relevant to most readers.

I didn't go through it all: they didn't include Tony's classical albums??? This list has just disqualified itself.

Tony's last album was beautiful. It shows that he is still very capable of composing his signature harmony progressions. The ones that only he can compose.

Tony really was the secret sauce wasn't he?  Even in more straight ahead stuff like Follow You Follow me,  just paying attention to all the little changes he does on the organ is rewarding in and of itself.

[ytserush]

Thanks for the heads up on this! I thoroughly enjoyed Three Sides Live tonight. I look forward to watching the Mama tour next week. I don't think I ever saw that film and I'm bummed I didn't see that tour live back into in the day at one of the 3 nights at the Spectrum in Philly.

Watching Three Sides Live online for like the 5th of 6th time. Probably like the CD more because there is more music but I forgot about the incidental vignettes sprinkled throughout so that was cool to watch too, but I wish there was a version without that when I just want the music.  They were totally on fire.  Great balance of old and new. (I keep playing Abacab over and over again!)

I still may need to get the DVD.  I'll watch the Mama Tour too and then I'm out. MAYBE I'll hang around for the Invisible Touch Tour.

The IT performance is pretty darn good.   That's the tour I actually saw live (in an arena), but that's also the phase where Phil has the mullet, so there's that.  (I always loved that almost certainly unintentional metaphor:  business in the front, i.e. stage front, when he was singing, and party in the rear, i.e. when he went back and let loose on drums.)

I caught Abacab on You Tube from this video. (I may or may not watch the entire thing later this week.) That was one of the best versions of that song I've ever heard.  REALLY love Mike's performance on this too.  I think it should have gone on longer, but that was really fantastic.

Abacab got left off of The Way We Walk set (which is my live cut off) and the rest of it isn't too impressive, but it sure has its moments.

[ytserush]

With ...and then there were three..., Mike had to step up.  He'd always played guitar in the band as well as bass, but this was the first album where he had to do both.  Also, as sole guitarist, he clearly wanted to show that he could fill the gap.  Maybe he's no Steve Hackett, but he takes some nice leads, and his sounds are very similar to Hackett's, and also to Anthony Phillips before him.  I like what he does here, as well as on the later albums.

What Genesis lost when they went three-piece was the acoustic side.  Those wonderful interludes with acoustic six- and 12-string guitars and Tony's piano.  And it's a bit confusing as well, because that was part of the Genesis sound before Hackett joined, so there was no real reason to lose it when he left.  Maybe it was a decision based more on the direction the band was going in at the time.

Good points.
 
I'm not sure they had a direction with this album. I really don't like Down and Out as a lead track. To me it doesn't make much of a statement.  For me the album really doesn't get going until Ballad Of Big.

[Orbert]

I love Down and Out.  This was my first Genesis album, and that opening got me good, the way it stumbles into the 5/4 via a single bar of 6/4 that makes it sound like the record skipped.  Guitar leads and synth leads, Phil pounding those skins, the intro and outro, I love pretty much everything about the song.  I thought it was a hell of a statement.  "So there's only three of us now, but check this out."

[Fritzinger]

I love Down and Out.  This was my first Genesis album, and that opening got me good, the way it stumbles into the 5/4 via a single bar of 6/4 that makes it sound like the record skipped.  Guitar leads and synth leads, Phil pounding those skins, the intro and outro, I love pretty much everything about the song.  I thought it was a hell of a statement.  "So there's only three of us now, but check this out."

Down & Out is awesome. Phil is absolutely on phire on this track!
Also, I always thought of it as an answer to Dance On A Volcano: "better start doing it right" vs "show me someone doing it better".

[XeRocks81]

I love Down and Out.  This was my first Genesis album, and that opening got me good, the way it stumbles into the 5/4 via a single bar of 6/4 that makes it sound like the record skipped.  Guitar leads and synth leads, Phil pounding those skins, the intro and outro, I love pretty much everything about the song.  I thought it was a hell of a statement.  "So there's only three of us now, but check this out."

isn’t it that song where they tried to play it live a couple of times and got all confused  because they couldn’t agree where the downbeat of « 1 » was?