sent to Paperlate by Sheldon Levin, August 25, 1996.
From: DUBulldog@aol.com
Date: Sun, 25 Aug 1996 00:31:26 -0400
To: paperlate@ansto.gov.au
Subject: Supernatural Fairy Tales (long post)
Sender: paperlate-owner@ansto.gov.au
Precedence: bulk
Reply-To: DUBulldog@aol.com
Earlier this week, Rhino records released a 5-CD box set
called "Supernatural Fairy Tales: The Progressive Rock Era".
The set features progressive rock of the early '70s. It comes
with a 64 pages booklet, and 2 Genesis songs are included:
"The Musical Box" and "Dancing With the Moonlit Knight".
Some interesting (IMNSHO) quotes from the booklet:
GENESIS: "The Musical Box"
"In the beginning they were called The New Anon, rising from the ashes of two public school bands, The Anon and The Garden Wall. When pop impresaraio Jonathan King took an interest in their career, he renamed them Genesis. In the summer of 1968, during their summer vacation from university, King had them record their first album for Decca, From Genesis to Revelation. The initial reaction to the album, which was basically pop rock with string arrangements, wasn't overwhelming. They then moved on to Tony Stratton Smith's Charisma label, and with the release of their third album, Nursery Cryme, began to build a following in the U.K. and the States. By this time, Genesis' music had become much more artistic, filled with literary allusions and elaborate keyboard orchestrations. They had also developed an elaborate stage show fronted by Peter Gabriel's provocative vocal style and theatrical flair. "The Musical Box" is one of Nursery Cryme's many highlights, resplendent with lush keyboards and dynamic instrumental arrangements. After this album, Genesis moved to the vanguard of the progressive rock revolution."
GENESIS: "Dancing With the Moonlit Knight"
"The album Foxtrot put Genesis on the map internationally. The track "Supper's Ready" became a show-stopper during their live dates. The release of their fifth album, Selling England by the Pound, firmly established them, along with Yes, in the musical forefront. "Dancing With the Moonlit Knight" is classic Genesis filled with lush, flowing keyboards, Stephen Hackett's soaring guitar, and Peter Gabriel's evocative lyrics and voice. The band's progressive era climaxed with the next release, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. After that Gabriel left, taking with him the group's dynamic visual centerpiece and a major part of their creative vision. Phil Collins took over as lead singer, and the band continued, ultimately evolving into a very successful album-oriented rock and eventually Top 40 pop band that celebrated their 30th anniversary by splitting up."
The authors of the booklet attempt to define "progressive rock",
much as we tried to do several months ago.
"For sake of definition, progressive rock is more than a specific style. Generally it has been characterized as having classically influenced, symphonic, keyboard-dominated sound. In a broader sense, however, it was a state of mind thta was shared internationally by a group of musicians. They all started with the beat, a guitar, and a keyboard, then grafted their own cultural influences onto that foundation. The results were distinctive and varied, but all shared the same open compositional style that allowed this new musical mode to mutate into many different sounds. By the time they were through experimenting, rock had indeed progressed.
Arrangements became extended to great lengths, infused with polyrhythms, elaborate time changes, and kaleidoscopic new musical tone colors. some of the early pioneers like Floyd, Genesis, Yes, The Nice, and King Crimson combined diverse styles with fantasy and classicism to create a stylistic revolution. Musically, facilitated by the new electric technology, they went places that no one had imagined before."
If anyone is interested in a complete track listing, please e-mail me privately.
Sheldon Levin, DUBulldog@aol.com
