Journeys of Sonic Discovery: Genesis is Cool, No Really

When I was in high school I must have looked like such a tool, wearing oversized t-shirts with pictures of Frank Zappa on the shitter and talking to everyone who would listen about why New York hardcore and prog rock were the two best genres of music. In retrospect I feel like an ass.

And one reason I was so unpopular (certainly not the only reason) was because I loved Genesis. If popularity is your bag, publicly sharing your love for Genesis is probably the lamest thing you can do. Long Island in the mid-90s was soaked in ska, proto-emo, post-grunge, hardcore, and nu-swing, so implying that Phil Collins is your hero really relegates you to a low stratum of social acceptance. The worst thing was that I couldn't stand Phil Collins, except as a drummer, and Peter Gabriel was brilliant, and blah blah blah quit talking to yourself in the back of the classroom you schmuck.

Genesis was just one example from a genre that I loved, but I loved their music particularly. The first album I ever owned was Peter Gabriel's So, and when I found out he used to be in one of the hokiest white-boy pop outfits in Western Civilization, I was first disgusted, and then intrigued. I bought Selling England by the Pound, and found the band to be entirely new and unfamiliar. 

Peter Gabriel was there, but not the same pop singer who wrote Sledgehammer and Digging in the Dirt. This Peter Gabriel wore batshit insane costumes acted like a total maniac onstage.

Phil Collins was there too, but as an insane super-drummer, not a songwriter (at least until after Peter Gabriel left):

I discovered the fierce keyboardist Tony Banks, who tore the shit out of songs like 'The Cinema Show.'

I also discovered the innovative guitarist Steve Hackett, who had (I still believe) some of the most unique guitar tone coming out of England in the 70s. That includes Brian May, guitar dorks. His solos are still the only ones I’ve ever heard that remind me of actual fire. 

And Mike Rutherford (yup, that Mike Rutherford) had a powerful, driving bass tone, notable in 'Get 'Em Out By Friday'. 

Either way, I bought that shit up, consuming Foxtrot, and Nursery Cryme, and Trespass, and finally their bloated masterpiece, The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway.

The thing is that Genesis is probably the most 'typical' of 1970s prog rock. I know that prog nerds would argue that there is no ‘typical’ prog rock, but if I have to center the genre around a band that not only typified all the tropes of progressive rock (rapid time changes, counterpoint, extended Hammond solos, complex vocal harmonies, mythological and complex lyrics) but also achieved commercial success, I’d be hard-pressed to find a more suitable example. Did Hawkwind write any chart successes like “I Know What I Like”? Is Magma’s Mekanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh held up to Pink Floyd’s The Wall, like Genesis’ The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway often is? (Caveat: I fucking love Magma.) Not that any of those albums make any fucking sense, but the point is that they are both admired and despised by those who either love or hate prog rock, while Magma’s work remains obscure. 

I suppose Rush and Yes were more popular, but fuck it, this is my column and I love Genesis. Anyway, I grew out of the genre when I got to college. I discovered so many new kinds of music that prog rock fell by the wayside, and along with it, my Genesis albums. It wasn’t until a few months ago that I ripped my Genesis collection to iTunes and rediscovered why I loved this band so much. It wasn’t the long, seemingly-aimless keyboard interludes, or the bridges and pre-bridges and post-bridges that sometimes came of nowhere and followed no internal logic at all. 

It was the strength of this band. They played with ferocity. They had an ear for melody that forecasted their future pop sensibility under Phil Collins. Try to listen to “I Know What I Like” and not enjoy it. 

And they did it in a visionary, uncompromising way. The near-23 minute monstrosity ‘Supper’s Ready’ from Foxtrot may seem overdone, but the song is absolutely cathartic and contains moments which are nothing less than gorgeous.

Nevertheless, this band has moments of beauty, and it’s worth examining their catalog to find them and enjoy them.

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