Genesis

Gabriel:  Selling England by the Pound 

Collins:  Trick of the Tail

Collins-Trick of the Tail

Gabriel- None

Became a Genesis fan early on when I picked up a copy of Genesis Live in the $1.99 budget bin.   It was cool to see them transition from Peter Gabriel and evolve into mega stars. Gabriel too. I guess I was on to something. Plus Phil Collins a top act in the 1980’s?  Whoda thunk that!   So many great albums!  Even From Genesis to Revelation and Trespass. 
 

Hands down Three Sides Live with that incredible version of Abacab, Hell Ya!

Peter is a whole different story...The album Security is amazing!

Matt M

I agree with @rick_n.

SEbtP  & TotT

If the Lamb was two sides instead of four, it could be a contender. 

Seconds Out

saw their farewell concert. Phil sat on a stool the whole concert. It was a great show despite Phil’s physical limitations and without Gabriel.

Just like @mapman , “ I became a Genesis fan early on when I picked up a copy of Genesis Live in the $1.99 budget bin”. Then I bought Selling England By the Pound - still my favorite.  For the collins era it’s a toss up between Trick of the Tale, and Wind and Wuthering.  I like every one of the Gabriel albums a lot. Some of the Collins albums get too pop for me.  How about “Calling all Stations”? If it had Steve Hacket playing on it it would have been great.

I've been a big fan since I saw them play at my college gym in early 1973 on the 'Foxtrot' tour. Seen and photographed them many times since then.

I seem to be the only Genesis fan who doesn't rate 'Selling England' very high in my faves; 'Dancing with the Moonlit Knight' is awesome and as good as anything they've ever done, and 'Cinema Show' and 'Firth of Fifth' are both very good, but the rest I never need to hear again. I'm not dissing it; I wish I enjoyed it as much as everybody else!

Fave Peter album - "Lamb Lies Down on Broadway"

Fave Phil album - "Trick of the Tail"

Funny. I also found Genesis Live in the discount bin. The live version of Watcher of the skies is great. I appreciate the Gabriel era most. So for me Nursery Cryme, Foxtrot, Selling England and Lamb are the best. "Return of the Giant Hogweed" and  "Suppers Ready" are two of my all time faves. 

I’m a huge fan of everything from Trespass up through Wind and Wuthering.

Everything after that is pretty bad, or worse, IMO.

It is also my opinion that they lost a lot more, musically speaking, when Steve Hackett left the band, than when Gabriel left the band.

For me, it is not the Gabriel era vs the Collins era. It is the Philips/Hackett era vs the post Hackett era.

Hackett and Philips both did solo albums that are much better that any Genesis album of the post hackett era.

My favorite albums are, SEbtP and The Lamb.

I recently heard Selling England By The Pound and one side of The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway for my first time. The AP/75 series lps were used. So much music I've yet to hear.

Foxtrot my favorite. I agree Hackett era best, became pop band post Gabriel. I put them in art rock category vs prog rock.

Many excellent Hackett solo albums.  Besides the usuals I like Guitar Noir and A Midsummer Nights Dream as well as Sketches of Satie.  Live archive and Tokyo Tapes are excellent. Also many great performances scattered about many solo albums released. 
 

Saw Genesis on Duke tour at MSG. Saw Hackett in a small theater in Pa. A couple years back.   Wife hated it but it was awesome. Also saw Gabriel in Philly on his “Up” tour.  
 

From Genesis to Revelation, Nursery Crime and Foxtrot were other $1.99 budget bin scores.  Prices went up ever since. 

I saw solo Gabriel about 5 times. Always a great show! I only wish saw I him with Banks, Rutherford, Hackett and Collins. Did see Genesis without Gabriel at a stadium somewhere. Great show with two drummers I believe. Phil Collins was a great drummer. By the way, if you haven't heard Collins with Brand X, I would recommend it. Great musicians. 

I was first introduced to them with the We Can’t Dance album, around the time it came out. I have since worked my way all of the way back and pretty much enjoy it all. Early Genesis and late Genesis are very different musical styles obviously, but I like them both. They are definitely in my top three favorite musical groups of all time. 

1. The Genesis tribute band “The Musical Box” does a great job of recreating original Genesis live performances and worth seeing if in your area. 

So close to my heart, my discovery of good music, prog rock on general.  As mentioned, they are a different animal after Hacket AND Gabriel left.  For me it's hard but Lamb is hard to beat.  SEBTP is prob fave 2 sided.  And yes, Collins in Brand X is awesome although its only one or two albums.  I could take Then There Were 3 but after that, big Nope.

Anyone else discover Hackett in Djabe?  A mix of E European elite musicians doing prog rock / jazz fusion.  Lots of great live recordings and many Genesis covers.  Check out Life is a Jouney - The Budapest Tapes and Live in Blue.  Amazing bassist.

Now that we have Genesis fans here,  any good "newer" groups that fill that niche for you?  I'll throw out Riverside.   Start with their first 3 "trilogy" CDs.  Go from there.  Recommendations welcome!

Lamb Lies Down... - also, one of my top 10 favorite albums of all time.

With Peter I'll say Lamb Lies Down, but for Phil I have to say the yellow blocks self titled album. That the one I listen to most of his. I like several others by both of these guys.

I discovered 1) Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (Genesis); 2) Country Life (Roxy Music) and 3) El Dorado (ELO) all at the same time I purchased my first new stereo system, a SONY HP 161 phono compact.   These albums will always be favorites.

Rich

@Simonmoon is exactly right >>

It is also my opinion that they lost a lot more, musically speaking, when Steve Hackett left the band, than when Gabriel left the band.

For me, it is not the Gabriel era vs the Collins era. It is the Philips/Hackett era vs the post Hackett era.

Hackett and Philips both did solo albums that are much better that any Genesis album of the post hackett era.

Never could get into Genesis.  All that begatting…

I've been a fan since late 70's in my teen years - I would hear them on radio listening to Stone Trek on KOME on Sunday nights in the bay area - Greg Stone had a great show of mostly progressive rock.  I was just a bit too young to have gone to a show with Gabriel and Duke Tour was my 1st show.  But have seen Peter in concert a few times.

Perhaps I'm one of the "weird" fans that like most all of their music - other than CAS something about Ray's voice that just doesn't agree with me.

In truth - Seconds Out is still loaded on my Jay's transport after listening to a few tracks last nite.

The Lamb, Genesis Live, Seconds Out, 3 Sides Live( the 4 sides live version) and Duke are prob my favorite albums.

Didn't see them on final tour - had tix for Dublin but covid cancelled that - then had tix for Raleigh but had to sell tix as my sister was in hospital - so my last show was on We Can't Dance tour

@jpconer - did you ever listen to KOME in the '73 - '76 period when they were pretty much prog and psychedelic rock all the time, with DJ's like Phil Charles and Zim Zoots? They turned me on to so many great bands.

@mapman - you are right about The Musical Box, from Montreal; I've seen them several times in San Francisco, including the Lamb show and the Foxtrot tour show, which was a real blast from the past for me, having seen Genesis do it in '73. One of the guys from the band even contacted me concerning early photos I have of them from those early tours. 

@bzawa - yes indeed, Phil was a brilliant drummer; back in the early 70's, Phil Collins and Bill Bruford were considered (arguably) the best drummers in progressive rock. And on the first Trick of The Tail tour, Bill was the original second drummer before Chester Thompson. 

Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.  A top-5 pick for me (of any music).  Saw Genesis do the entire album live (plus encores of course) at the NY Academy of Music (on Broadway!) back in Dec. 1974.  A life-changing experience, they were that good.  I think it helped that I was in the 11th row (I kept notes of all the shows that I attended).

Next in order: Selling England by the Pound, Trespass (highly underrated IMO), Trick of the Tail, Foxtrot, Nursery Cryme, all good.  Can’t get into any post-Gabriel stuff past Trick of the Tail.

I agree with the commentary re: Hackett.  Also a highly underrated guitarist that brought so much to Genesis.  IMO after he left, the band was done.

For me, that’s a hard question. The PG albums are different, more “progressive rock” and PC’s stuff became less progressive and more rock/pop rock with each release. PG’s lyrics were more “heady” as well.  Selling England is a wonderful album and so is Lamb.

to me, A Trick Of The Tail is the only PC/Genesis album I like as a whole album.  After that things began to quickly change.

Genesis is one of the bands that really led me to get into high-end audio.  I saw them twice (And Then There Were Three and Abacab) and Gabriel solo twice (Three and So).  Previous comments about how they changed after Gabriel left are all true and some of the later stuff is far more commercially oriented.  That said, writing good pop tunes is very hard to do consistently and the pop stuff they did was all done to a superior level.

Favorites, for me like many others, are hard to pick.  I enjoyed all of the stuff with Gabriel and have multiple copies on domestic, English and Japanese pressings.  the later stuff is highlighted by Trick of the Tail and both double live sets.  Abacab also represents a fusion that worked well for me.

Happy listening to it all!

@akgwhiz Some recommdations. Most of these are not Genesis sound alikes but are art rock, prog rock, avant gard or what ever you want to call it. Sound samples can be found on Discogs. Hopefully a few might suit your tastes. Some are way out there. Also, I've heard a few Hackett albums and wasn't turned on. Maybe I didn't hear the best ones. In your opinion, what's his best?

Anglagård - Hybris 

Narr – Oxymore Dans La Chrysalide Des Rêves

A Piedi Nudi – Creazione

Dewa Budjana – Mahandini 

Kultivator – Barndomens 

Wobbler – Hinterland

 Present – Triskaidekaphobie, Certitudes

Taal – Mister Green, Skymind

 Weidorje – Weidorje

Ange – Caricatures

Anekdoten – From Within

Egg  – The Civil Surface

The Omnific - Escapades

Supersister – Present From Nancy / To The Highest Bidder

@effischer Hi Appreciate your comments. Would your recommend a superior sounding version of Nursery Cryme? Thanks

@jpconer I remember the station well!  Don't touch the dial...

I like both lineups.  Favorite album for each:  The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway - Gabriel.  Genesis (the blocks) - Collins.  Saw several times in concert with Collins.  Saw both Collins and Gabriel solo in concert.  All were excellent.  

@bzawa  -- great suggestions, happy to see Kultivator mentioned!

The five first Ange records are a delight, and their second 'Le Cimetière Des Arlequins' is in my top ten prog albums of all time.

Have you heard Hackett's ' Voyage Of The Acolyte'?  It's an awesome record in my opinion.

@bzawa - for the best sounding 'Nursery Cryme', look into the double-45 version from Acoustic Sounds/Analog Productions.... Unfortunately, those earlier Gabriel-era Genesis albums were not the best sounding ones, so even that leaves something to be desired. Looking forward to that version of 'Foxtrot' coming out later this year. 

@larsman I started listening to KOME somewhere around that mid '70s time - since I was only 9 in '73.

@guscreek Dennis Erectus was crazy!!

Larsman is likely correct; I haven't purchased any of the new 45 RPM re-issues but the early Genesis stuff has inconsistent mastering.

Regardless, my best 33.3 RPM copy of Nursery Crime was pressed by Nippon Phonograph, item RJ-7302 copyright 1978.  It has the quietest vinyl out of the three  I have.

It may be difficult to find.  Good luck!

Who can forget those Michelob commercials? lol...Gabriel fans should check out that live 4 CD box set. Full Lamb set but best part is live SEBP.

Selling England, Trick, Foxtrot 

GENSIS  LIVE

On a related note, the band and Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins sound great on the Lexicon system in my Genesis GV70.  Nothing like the sound of Genesis in a Genesis.  

Just note that Collins learned singing from Gabriel, it is quite clear Gabriel's influence on Collins formation. And I like more Genesis early albums with Peter Gabriel.

Genesis without Gabriel is like  the Modern Jazz Quartet without Milt Jackson.

Favorite album would be Trespass. Been a fan since I heard Nursery Cryme in 1973. Saw the band with Gabriel and costumes way back when. Seen several of the tribute bands, The Watch, Musical Box, The Genesis show (recently, doing Trick of the Tail tour).

Steve Hackett - favorite albums Voyage of the Acolyte or Spectral Mornings. Dozens of his concerts-- Genesis revised tours are superb.

Have close to 20 Anthony Phillips solo albums, his first one Geese and the Ghost closest to early Genesis and has Collins and another band member on it.

Guess you can color me a fan.

SEBTP (hate the Battle of Epping Forest) & Nursery Cryme are their best.

When Gabriel split the "Real" Genesis fans followed his solo career. The Collins era was pop, and seen as a sellout, his only saving grace was Wind & Wuthering.

Hated Collins' solo albums at the time but I can appreciate them now for their excellent production.

Fair play though Gabriel's first few albums bankrupted him because they were critical (Solsbury Hill), but not commercial successes. Collins et al helped him out big time.

Underrated songs in the Genesis catalog? I'll throw out three:

1) Seven Stones (Nursey Cryme)

2)Wot Gorilla? (Wind and Wuthering)

3)Many to Many (And Then There Were Three)

Los Endos from Seconds Out

Couldn't disagree more with LordMelton except for hating 'Battle of Epping Forest', but I prefer their albums that don't have anything I hate on them. 

@scottya118 - Yeah, 'Seven Stones' is awesome, yeah? I never got into that when I first got the album, but it's become one of my faves.... So many underrated songs in their catalog, especially in the post-Gabriel years. I'll throw in some Tony Banks epics - 'Mad Man Moon' (Trick of the Tail), 'One For the Vine' (Wind and Wuthering), 'Burning Rope' (And Then There Were Three), 'Duke's Travels' (Duke), and 'Dodo/Lurker' (Abacab)....  Real 'pop' those were! 

Once Hackett left, it was pretty much over for me. There are glimmers of the real Genesis in And Them There Were Three. But ya Nursery Cryme-Trick! 

Seconds out (Live) & Wind and Wuthering were my favorites.

Try this wonderful instrumental on qobuz