Alternative Weekend: Focus on ‘Genesis’ - The Collins Years Part Two

I have been posting most weekends using @detlev’s #metalweekend tag, but my main love of music is progressive and alternative music. Some of my posts have included these songs, but I feel they are not keeping with the spirit of metal.

I will continue to post article’s using #metalweekend occasionally but feel I have more to offer regarding these other genres that I am more familiar with.

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Introducing #alternativeweekend. Post an article that highlights THREE great songs that are either progressive or alternative and use the tag #alternativeweekend or use the ‘Focus on’ series if you like. There are no rules, just make your own!

If you have a short story or something to offer regarding an opinion on your songs, then share it with us!

Post ‘Duke’, the band were on a climb to become a super group though it would not happen overnight.

‘Duke’ had spawned a couple of singles in the UK with ‘Turn it on Again’ but more importantly, ‘Misunderstanding’ had gained them some exposure to a much larger market in the form of the United States.

‘Abacab’ bought us yet another hit single with the title track but what of the album? Could it compete with the fantastic ‘Duke’?

I remember blindly buying ‘Abacab’ solely on the strength of its predecessor but what was this crap? Trumpets for god sake! Genesis doesn't do trumpets or any brass instrument.

But ‘No Reply at All’ did and I was left with a hanging jaw in a bad way. After a couple of listens, my long play album was consigned to be never played again and I felt that that band had sold out and gone off the rails.

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Only recently have I given ‘Abacab’ another play and though I find it patchy, it does have its moments. Abacab also includes the worst Genesis song ever in the form of ‘Who Dunnit?’, and that’s by public consensus.

The self-titled ‘Genesis’ would follow, an improvement on ‘Abacab’ and then the hit album ‘Invisible Touch’ that would see them playing stadiums instead of concert halls.

The prog had turned mostly to pop and although it was quality pop my interest had waned. The final album, ‘We Can't Dance' is one I have not been able to crack in terms of the album tracks.

I will as usual highlight FOUR songs, one from each of the final Collins period. ‘Calling all Stations’ is not included as I have never listened to it and it is not Collins related.

Genesis – Dodo/Lurker (Abacab – 1981)

How I missed this one in 1981 I will never know. To me its the standout song on the album. From the first few seconds you can hear it is a powerful song, once again written by the great Tony Banks.

Many of the songs on ‘Abacab’ were more pop orientated than ‘Duke’ ever was, and patchy as the album is it’s not so bad as first impressions indicate.

‘Me and Sarah Jane’ has grown on me since I started listening to the album again and is worthy of a listen. This is another song that evolves at a later stage.

Genesis – Mama (Genesis – 1983)

‘Mama’ was a bit special on release. A moody, sweaty, creepy kind of song that immediately got my attention and then there was the maniacal laugh.

As for the rest of the ‘Genesis’ album – (why use this moniker so late?) it was a mixed bag with one side of the vinyl being decent and the other not so.

The ‘Home by the Sea’s’ were OK and the singles it spawned were not so bad if you like the new ‘pop’ Genesis. At least there's a video with this one.

Genesis – Domino (Invisible Touch – 1986)

After a THREE year break, they came back with their most successfully commercial album ever.

How many singles did this one spawn? It was a lot and they were decent too. ‘Invisible Touch’ was an album I largely ignored in 1986 but revisited later to find ‘Domino’ with its two parts.

If I was to criticise this song, it would be simply to say, ‘It's so eighties'. The big drums and the sound typify the time but it's a longer more complex song that kind of goes back to their origins.

Genesis – Fading Lights (We Can’t Dance – 1991)

I wonder if they knew that it was the end? The lyrics tell a story to state such a fact in a similar way to Pink Floyds’ ‘High Hopes’. Yes, it was the last Collins effort and it’s a decent one if a little lethargic to start.

Besides the singles, the other album tracks just did not resonate with me whatsoever. Maybe it being the last offering was a good thing.

There are many stories of a Genesis reunion and I think it may happen in a similar way to the Led Zeppelin one in London a few years ago. A world tour just isn't gonna happen, though I would welcome one if it did.

Other articles in the ‘Focus on’ series:

Alternative Weekend: Focus on ‘Genesis’ - The Collins Years Part One
Alternative Weekend: Focus on ‘Genesis’ - The Gabriel Years
Alternative Weekend: Focus on ‘The Pixies’
Alternative Weekend: Focus on ‘Sonic Youth’
Alternative Weekend: Focus on ‘Talking Heads’
Alternative Weekend: Focus on ‘Blackfield’
Alternative Weekend: Focus on ‘Karnivool’
Alternative Weekend: Focus on 'Tears for Fears'
Alternative Weekend: Focus on 'The Cranberries'
Alternative Weekend: Focus on 'Kate Bush'
Alternative Weekend: Focus on 'The Smiths'
Alternative Weekend: Focus on 'Radiohead'
Alternative Weekend: Focus on 'Rush'

If you found this article so invigorating that you are now a positively googly-eyed, drooling lunatic with dripping saliva or even if you liked it just a bit, then please upvote, comment, resteem, engage me or all of these things.