'Genesis, a Revelation: 'Genesis, a Revelation:
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From Crawdaddy, USA, March '74
Genesis combines surreal songwriting with an interesting instrumental and visual approach. Lead singer Peter Gabriel notes: "We all took courses in pretentiousness."
Throughout the history of British rock there has been a flourishing school of bands who owe much to the European classical heritage, from Procol Harum clipping a Bach fugue for 'Whiter Shade of Pale' to Keith Emersons wholesale mutation of Mussorgsky's 'Pictures at an Exhibition'. These forms have been so well received by audiences hungry for musical melodrama that many bands have begun to incorporate classical structures into their music even though they have no formal training in the medium. In most cases this has led to an overblown sort of music featuring long, boring solos by a bunch of semi-competent musicians. Occasionally, however, the conceptualizing abilities and soloing abilities of a band combine to create a distinctive sound that works on its own terms.
Genesis is a band in this category that is just starting to make major inroads in America, combining a penchant for surrealistic songwriting with an interesting instrumental approach and a well conceptualized visual presentation, starring Peter Gabriel, the group's lead singer and flautist, who has a predilication for the cryptic anecdote both on stage and off.
Over a cup of onion soup at a midtown Manhattan restaurant, Gabriel explained that the group originally got together at college as songwriters (himself, keyboardman Tony Banks, bassist Michael Rutherford and a fourth member who didn't stick). "We all took courses in pretentiousness," Gabriel noted with a curt turning down of the ends of his mouth. Gabriel is self-consciously bemused as a matter of course, carrying t off with a comedien's tact and the consistancy of a well-practiced mimetitian, which is all really an extension of his stage personality. As the band conjures up a surreal program music behind him, Gabriel sings and acts out the story simultaneously, using body gestures and props sometimes to establish character, as in the use of a bowler hat to portray the renting agent in 'Get 'Em Out By Friday' or just for visual pyrotechnics, as in the case of the fox head he often wears. "People have interpreted the visual aspect of our performance to be part of a trend," he observes, "and thus liken us to Bowie and Alice Cooper, but the influence for our visuals is actually closer to Arthur Brown."
The first album, 'From Genesis To Revelation', was released in England in 1967, when they still considered themselves primarily songwriters. It's a wierdly conventional record, absurdly attempting to present Gabriel in some kind of Tom Jones role. By the time their second album, 'Trespass', was recorded, they had become the pet project of Tony Stratton-Smith, founder of Charisma records, and had assumed an instrumental shape closer to the one they now posess. They were beginning to build a cult following in England, but they seemed to be headed for a cul de sac. Steve Hackett joined the group as a guitarist, partly because the audition ad had requested a proficient acoustic as well as electric player, and "very few groups were into that then, psychedelia was still the big thing." Eight months later, drummer Phil Collins joined, completing the lineup as it stands now.
At the same time an American distribution deal was arranged with Buddah records, and their next album, 'Nursery Cryme', became their first release on this side of the Atlantic and they played at their first American concert in New York. "Some people mentioned they could detect a lack of cohesion on 'Nursery Cryme'," Gabriel mused, "because it was a relatively new group, but each album has improved since."
Their next release, 'Foxtrot', had its moments, but a certain unevenness remained. After a long layoff (a live album was put out by Charisma in England, but never released here) they returned with a new American label, Atlantic, and their best effort yet, 'Selling England By The Pound'. The songwriting is up to par, especially 'Dancing With The Moonlit Knight', 'Firth Of Fifth' and 'The Battle of Epping Forest', but the most dramatic improvement is in the consistency of the instrumental work. The sympathetic interaction between Banks on synthesizer, melotron, organ, piano and 12-string, Hackett's electric and acoustic guitar and Gabriel's flute and oboe, surpasses anything the group has yet produced. For sheer inventiveness, it also cuts such well-respected contemporaries as Yes.
Still, it's difficult to reproduce such a complex sound on stage, and Gabriel isn't convinced that he wants to continue on the road for much longer. "If the much heralded video casettes ever make their appearance," he projects, "things will change drastically in a way which will undoubtedly benefit us. It's good to be able to travel around and take in different places, but the pace we have to keep is frustrating. You begin to forget where you are and what day it is. I can't really see myself doing this for more than another year or two."
Typed up by Thomas Holter, from GENESIS MAGAZINE No: 14, January 1980.
