Since I’m currently obsessing over prog bass players, listening now to The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (song), and man does Rutherford have the most snarly and aggressive bass line going on under there.
Another great one now: The Fountain of Salmacis. Some great contrast between the softer groove during the verse and the more aggressive playing during the chorus and instrumental section.
Underrated Rutherford moment: A Trick of the Tale (song). This one sounds a lot like something Pete Trewavas might have channeled in places.
One of Rutherford’s strongest efforts of the trio era: Driving the Last Spike. Lots of space for him to fill on this track that takes its time building up as it moved through different sections and tempos.
You're absolutely right, MR spread those marvellous basslines all over the place. But at the time of The Lamb, Genesis was still a 100% prog band IMO. That means, if you asked the average listener about if he noticed those basslines, he would probably answer: 'What bass?' And I really miss these days, where he still used that sound on the bass and used his creative ideas in the way he did. Another example would be, maybe long time forgotten, 'Inside and Out' from the EP 'Spot the Pigeon':
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyeUizLp1rkAgain if you asked the average Joe about the incredible fast bassruns at 5:20, he would probably answer that he didn't listen to that part, because there were 'too many nodes' or that he found the song 'just boring'...
That song is just a prime example how unique Genesis was, how they were all committed to their ideas about how a song should be performed, especially these 'crazy parts' where all of them went berserk - but still followed each other like one unit.
Another example could be 'One for the Vine' out of 'Wind and Wuthering' - a wonderful composed song with a lot of sections put together, but you get the feeling that this just has to be like that, the song fits 100% together like it is. And again, how many notice the deep and well controlled bass during the quiet beginning, and how well structured it is? I once played in a band where I played the song for the other guitarist, and asked him how he thought about the bass. He said he didn't hear it, and the song was 'utter crap'...
Then the band changed towards their more 'pop oriented' style, and the 'crazy' pieces seemed to to be put to the background, more or less. But if you followed the band from their early days, it's easy to recognize their playing habits, even though they are more like 'under the surface'.
A completely different thing is Mike's other band, 'Mike + Mechanics'. Appearently, his idea was to create a more mainstream oriented band, which I have found rather boring. No crazy parts, and I didn't like his choice of singers. It was like they didn't really fit in, something about the same as with Tony's solo efforts. An exception was 'Smallcreep's Day', his first solo album (not labeled as a Mechanics album). That one had a very special mood and some interesting work, also as a guitarist.