Genesis (Genesis album)

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Genesis is an eponymous album by Genesis and is their twelfth studio album, recorded and released in 1983.

Building on the advancements of Abacab, Genesis (so named for the fact that all three band members composed every song together) was a further example of Genesis' evolution in the 1980s. The album also marked the beginning of Hugh Padgham's formal production assistance after engineering Abacab.

The drum machine, used to startling effect on lead-single "Mama", was central to the song's atmosphere, and was responsible for further opening up songwriting possibilities within the band. One of their most uncommercial releases, "Mama" became Genesis' biggest UK hit, reaching #4 upon release although the song tanked on the US singles chart.

Further successes "That's All" (which became the band's first US Top 10 hit), "Illegal Alien" and "Taking It All Too Hard" ensured that Genesis was well-received upon its release and it consequently reached UK # 1, while making #9 in the US and eventually selling over four million copies there alone. The album was followed by the highly successful Mama tour, which was the last tour to fully incorporate both older and newer Genesis materials.

Among fans, the album has a generally favorable, yet still mixed reputation. The sheer catchiness of some of the songs clearly paved the way for the shift to pop which was to happen with the next two albums, but the complexity of the song forms and the sheer inventiveness of the sonic landscape of this album make it one of Genesis' most musically developed albums as well. Combining the new sounds developed over the last two albums, and with a wide array of technology and one of the largest array of synthesizers in the business, this album shows Genesis truly experimenting with sound ("Second Home by the Sea" in particular), in ways that combine the power of Abacab with the instrumental and atmospheric adventures of Genesis in its heyday.

While the album certainly features straight-out pop songs, they still retain the abstruse chording of Genesis' past ("Taking it All Too Hard", for example, is full of seventh chords and subtle key shifts). While many of the sonically experimental songs remain shorter in form ("Silver Rainbow", "It's Gonna Get Better"), the album continues to break new ground.

Opening with dark, haunting, sonic minimalism, "Mama" is a foray into direct sexuality which is often absent from Genesis' more directly intellectual or pastoral sides. The song builds gradually from the spare drum machine track and guitar and synth fills, strips down again, and then builds to a climax (accompanied near the end by Collins' gated live drum, similar to his own "In the Air Tonight"). It became a favorite in Genesis' live act.

The centerpiece of the album, "Home by the Sea," opens with a haunting, jaunty mid-tempo riff covered with electronic effects, and culminates in a dark, long form instrumental soundscape. Layers of processed sounds and minimalist keyboard and guitar lines produce the musical complexity which Genesis' earlier compositions achieved with counterpointed harmonized instrumental parts. At once recalling the experimentation of earlier works, yet full of pop phrasings which managed to gain many new fans, the "shapes album" aims for a precarious balance, one which, according to many critics and fans, the band was able to pull off.

While this album contains many catchy songs, most fans still consider this album a small masterpiece in the Genesis catalog, even if in hindsight it directly lead to the sea-change towards pop which was to come with their next release, Invisible Touch.

A SACD / DVD double disc set (including new 5.1 and Stereo mixes) is planned for release in June/July 2007.

Track listing

All songs by Tony Banks/Phil Collins/Mike Rutherford

1. "Mama" (lyrics: Phil Collins) – 6:46
2. "That's All" (lyrics: Phil Collins) – 4:23
3. "Home by the Sea" (lyrics: Tony Banks) – 4:53
4. "Second Home by the Sea" (lyrics: Tony Banks) – 6:21
5. "Illegal Alien" (lyrics: Phil Collins) – 5:14
6. "Taking It All Too Hard" (lyrics: Mike Rutherford) – 3:56
7. "Just a Job to Do" (lyrics: Mike Rutherford) – 4:45
8. "Silver Rainbow" (lyrics: Tony Banks) – 4:28
9. "It's Gonna Get Better" (lyrics: Phil Collins) – 4:59

• Note: The album versions of "Mama" and "It's Gonna Get Better" are edits. The full versions were released on a 12-inch single (later also a CD single).

Personnel

• Phil Collins - vocals, drums, percussion
• Tony Banks - keyboards, background vocals
• Mike Rutherford - guitars, bass guitar, background vocals

Miscellanea

• The shapes on the album cover are plastic blocks from the Shape-O Toy made by Tupperware.

• The band photo in the album liner notes is a promo photograph from the "Illegal Alien" music video.

• "Just a Job to Do" was used as the theme of the 1985 ABC Television series The Insiders.