Genesis

Do I have to pick a favorite?  Damn

older stuff all with Hackett, and his live shows are fantastic.

Lamb is a masterpiece. 
 

80s Domino. Superb, thoughtful and powerful 

@larsman  Good catch!

@tomcarr - and their first album was called 'From Genesis to Revelation', so there ya go! 

@mahler123 Good one! I get it. Not many Bible scholars here, apparently, haha.

@simonmoon 

Thanks for the suggestions. We seem to be like minded when it comes to prog. I've heard of most of the bands you mentioned, some I like (Anglagard, Anekdoten, Deus ex Machina Thinking Plague, Zopp) and some I don't (Haken, IQ, After Crying). 

Corima's Quetzalcoatl is new to me and I think it is very good. Will probably pick up a copy. Have you heard Ruins’ Symphonica or Koenjihyakkei's Angherr Shisspa?

The Omnific – Escapades is very good. Two bass players and drums.

Never heard of Il Tempio Delle Clessidre. Sampled it on YouTube and may purchase my own copy. Speaking of keys, you're probably familiar with Egg - if not I'd suggest you give them a listen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAmCmNa-NSE

Love this tune!

@bzawa - That's great that you checked out Strange Days, and I'm glad you enjoyed them. They put out that one album of 6 songs, and then disappeared; the keyboard player is/was in the Glitter Band (post Gary) but the others seem to have vanished without a trace. Such a shame, as Graham Ward was such an awesome songwriter/singer/guitarist. 

@richmon thanks for the recommendations. Camel and Strawbs never did it for me but thumbs up for Porcupine Tree and Caravan. Have a few PT albums and lots of Caravans. 5 strars for "For girls who grow...  Like "In the land of Grey and pink" a lot.

@larsman strange days, that's one completely unknown to me. Found it on YouTube. Pretty cool and very Genesis-like. Can't agree with the Gabriel substitute. Thanks for the tip. This record deserves a spin on my system. 

If you like story/songs like 'Get 'em Out by Friday', I would recommend the one and only album called '9 Parts To the Wind' by a band called Strange Days back in 1975. Graham Ward, who plays guitar, sings, and writes all the songs would have been a perfect replacement for Peter Gabriel, in my opinion.... 

So hard to recomend prog in the Genesis vein, but here goes, if you like early Genesis you might like these- 

Porcupine Tree "Stupid Dream"

Caravan "In the land of Grey and pink"

Strawbs " From the Witchwood"

Camel "Rain Dances"

@simonmoon - I saw Anglagard at Nearfest, three mellotron

viking prog, tho I prefer Anekdoten's spin on Viking Prog (my word).

All on utube but sometimes my favorite stuff took a few listens to digest and appreciate. 

@Simonmoon x2 thanks for the recommendations especially the descriptions.   Will check out some.  Familiar with IQ.

Maybe not pure prog but I have been loving and impressed with Opeth's Pale Communion.  Amazing talent and sound.  Unlike earlier metal-grunting vocal style.  I'm sure metal heads will say they sold out.  

Love the my three sons avatar.  

@simonmoon 

Thanks for the suggestions. I will check them out. I might have missed it, but I didn't hear anyone mention Big Big Train. I bought their CD based on a recommendation, and I was disappointed. I seemed to imitate late 70's Genesis, but without the songwriting talent.

Omg you guys, I REALLY, REALLY REALLY want to like these new bands.

But I have listened, and NONE have lived up to the OG’s!

Help! 

@akgwhiz 

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!

Don’t get me started with recommendations of great modern prog!

I’m a huge prog fan from the 70’s, and from the modern era, I could go on for pages.

Anglagard -- Swedish band who are most often credited with starting the prog revival starting in the 90’s. Only 3 albums. Bits of Genesis, King Crimson, Gentle Giant.

Anekdoten - another Swedish band. Early albums were a bit heavy, King Crimson influenced. Then they got a bit more ambient, but their latest is more like their earlier stuff.

Haken - British band that really blends classic prog and prog-metal well. Usually quite complex. Entire band has chops from hell.

IQ - The best band to come out of the neo-prog movement of the 80’s.  still going strong with some of their best material coming from their most recent recordings.

After Crying - Great band from Hungary. Mostly in the chamber-prog vein. Got a bit more symphonic on later albums. Incredible musicianship.

Deus ex Machina - Italy. Amazing band that may be a bit too close to fusion for a lot of prog purists. Vocalist has a 5 octave voice, entire band is killer.

Echolyn - USA. Early recordings are the best, but all are good. Multi-part vocals a bit like Gentle Giant.

Corima - USA. Firmly in the Zeuhl subgenre of prog. Killer intense Magma influenced prog with great violin. A bit in the challenging, deep end of prog.

Sleepytime Gorilla Museum - USA. Even further in the deep end of prog. Avant-prog. Dissonant and a bit "thorny" sounding. Not for the faint of heart, but worth the effort.

Thinking Plague - USA. See description for Sleepytime Gorilla Museum.

Zopp - England. If you’re a fan of Canterbury prog, i.e., National Health, Caravan, Hatfield and the North, this band is a must.

Il Tempio Delle Clessidre - Italy*. Retro Italian prog with the amazing Elisa Montaldo on keys.

I could list plenty more.

* Some of the best prog ever, came from Italy, and still does.

Try this wonderful instrumental on qobuz

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

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! 

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! 

Los Endos from Seconds Out

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)

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.

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.

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

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.

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.  

GENSIS  LIVE

Selling England, Trick, Foxtrot 

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.

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!

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

@guscreek Dennis Erectus was crazy!!

@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. 

@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.

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.  

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

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

@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

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!

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.

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.

@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. 

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

Never could get into Genesis.  All that begatting…

@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.

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

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.

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

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!

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.

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.