Supper's Ready

[Olorin]

Not a fan of early Genesis at all. Never liked PG's mannered,croaky voice. Give me ATTW3 any day.

Early Genesis is definitely an acquired taste, and Gabriel was definitely mannered and croaky, seemingly particularly on Nursery Cryme and Foxtrot. However, if you haven't heard it, listen to Trespass. It's one of my favorite Genesis albums, despite being somewhat obscure and rather underrated. Within the bounds of artists I'm familiar with, no band grew so exponentially between their first and second albums. The first Genesis album is a collection of gentle but mostly forgettable would-be pop songs that they supposedly recorded to showcase themselves as songwriters for other people. When that didn't pan out, they went back into the studio and stunningly came out with a full-blown prog album, one that set their mold for years to come. Anyway, I find the playing and production on Trespass to be better, or at least smoother, than on Nursery Cryme and Foxtrot. Gabriel's use of his voice is much better here too: not so mannered, and used much more effectively. "Dusk" is my favorite song on this album and an early Genesis classic.

[Soundwaveseeker]

Early Genesis is definitely an acquired taste, and Gabriel was definitely mannered and croaky, seemingly particularly on Nursery Cryme and Foxtrot. However, if you haven't heard it, listen to Trespass. It's one of my favorite Genesis albums, despite being somewhat obscure and rather underrated. Within the bounds of artists I'm familiar with, no band grew so exponentially between their first and second albums. The first Genesis album is a collection of gentle but mostly forgettable would-be pop songs that they supposedly recorded to showcase themselves as songwriters for other people. When that didn't pan out, they went back into the studio and stunningly came out with a full-blown prog album, one that set their mold for years to come. Anyway, I find the playing and production on Trespass to be better, or at least smoother, than on Nursery Cryme and Foxtrot. Gabriel's use of his voice is much better here too: not so mannered, and used much more effectively. "Dusk" is my favorite song on this album and an early Genesis classic.

Agree, I think I like Trespass better than Nursery Cryme - the sound at least is better on Trespass. NC is kind of a step backwards in the production & sound. Gabriel vocals are real low in the mix on Fountain Of Salmacis. I love NC too, though. But Trespass - the instrumentation is still very good, despite no Phil and no Hackett yet. You don't really miss them, they still have the 12-string guitars and the flute. People forget that flute was a featured instrument in Genesis. Maybe not in Jethro Tull mode, but it's there. After Gabriel left, he took the flute with him. Mayhew on drums, though no Phil Collins, certainly did not embarrass himself in any way. The drums sound quite decent. The songs are knotty 12-string workouts, blended with organ to achieve this idyllic late summery vibe. Terspass is one of my favorite Gabriel Genesis albums and Stagnation my favorite from the album. Dusk and Looking For Someone are also highlights. It's kind of a dreamy afternoon album.

Between the first album and Trespass, there was unbelievable growth, to the point that there feels like there's a missing album between them. The Shepherd/Pacidy/Let Us Now Make Love and Going Out To Get You may have been tracks that could have been on that missing album. Genesis got good rather quickly in one quick swoop. Tony Banks' piano on that first album sounds like one of those old upright school/church multi-purpose room low quality pianos used by a 4th grade music teacher for a class play. One album later, he's Keith Emerson. Trespass is great.

[Olorin]

The songs are knotty 12-string workouts, blended with organ to achieve this idyllic late summery vibe. ...It's kind of a dreamy afternoon album.

Interesting...It conjures images of a time and a place for me also. I would not have said summer, perhaps late autumn. A time when the light is failing and a darkening world is seen through the prism of a disquiet dream.

[Ash Armstrong]

For most of us who discovered Genesis in or around 1972/3, Trespass was the first Genesis album, and still is. From Genesis to Revelation wasn't available to buy, had been disowned and forgotten about by the band, and we only became aware of it when it was re-released by producer Jonathan King trying to cash-in on the success of The Lamb album and tour in 1974. Few people at the time really noticed. I've still not heard it. King had a history of this kind of thing. He would 'invent' a band, usually assembled quickly, or use a pre-existing band struggling to get started, and in a creepy, Svengali-esque way have them play and record what he wanted, cash-in for a quick return on whatever he'd invested, and then ditch them. The band were still in their mid-teens.
From Genesis to Revelation was just another of Jonathan King's self-serving, narcissistic projects, and of no consequence. He's also a convicted sex-offender.

[Soundwaveseeker]

By the time Genesis was on my radar, Genesis To Revelation was available on various different labels in budget/cutout bins, usually with a photo of Gabriel in full-on sunflower mode, and usually retitled something like Where The Sour Turns To Sweet. It certainly was a cash grab, though this time riding on the coat-tails of the Phil Collins years and the then-current successful Genesis and Invisible Touch albums.

You haven't heard that first Genesis album, Ash? Well, the songs are quite ok in a naive kind of 60's way, though they themselves couldn't play too well. Like I said, Tony Banks' piano sounds like it was recorded in the high school music class room or in the cafeteria basement stockroom. Dreadful sound. The 12-string guitars weren't there yet in any way. the only one who sounds like what we know is Gabriel. His voice is as good as on Trespass or any of the early albums. But the songwriting is actually ok, and there are a few good ones that could have been given the classic Genesis symph-rock treatment if they wanted to go back to them. But why would they? There's some decent Moody Blues moments here and there. Worth hearing to hear the genesis of Genesis, but true - the real first album is Trespass. That's the one where they found their sound.

Jonathan King, I guess he gets some sort of credit for discovering these guys and starting them off, despite being a despicable pedophile. But the slapped-on strings on the album that he forced on the band made Time and a .Word sound like Magnification. They did right by ditching the creep and starting over fresh with Charisma Records. Genesis themselves have pretty much disowned the first album

[Susanne]

I still listen to some of the songs from that first album (before Trespass). I quite like them!
(Admittedly, not all of them made it to my digital collection. It's too long ago to remember the reasons for that, now.)

[Ash Armstrong]

By the time Genesis was on my radar, Genesis To Revelation was available on various different labels in budget/cutout bins, usually with a photo of Gabriel in full-on sunflower mode, and usually retitled something like Where The Sour Turns To Sweet. It certainly was a cash grab, though this time riding on the coat-tails of the Phil Collins years and the then-current successful Genesis and Invisible Touch albums.

You haven't heard that first Genesis album, Ash? Well, the songs are quite ok in a naive kind of 60's way, though they themselves couldn't play too well. Like I said, Tony Banks' piano sounds like it was recorded in the high school music class room or in the cafeteria basement stockroom. Dreadful sound. The 12-string guitars weren't there yet in any way. the only one who sounds like what we know is Gabriel. His voice is as good as on Trespass or any of the early albums. But the songwriting is actually ok, and there are a few good ones that could have been given the classic Genesis symph-rock treatment if they wanted to go back to them. But why would they? There's some decent Moody Blues moments here and there. Worth hearing to hear the genesis of Genesis, but true - the real first album is Trespass. That's the one where they found their sound.

Jonathan King, I guess he gets some sort of credit for discovering these guys and starting them off, despite being a despicable pedophile. But the slapped-on strings on the album that he forced on the band made Time and a .Word sound like Magnification. They did right by ditching the creep and starting over fresh with Charisma Records. Genesis themselves have pretty much disowned the first album

The 1974 re-release was re-titled In The Beginning. It was at a budget price I think. I can remember seeing it in the racks in record shops. The band weren't happy about it being reissued, unsurprisingly, and I can vaguely remember someone writing in the weekly music press, NME or Melody Maker, scathingly about it, and about Jonathan King's cynical opportunism.

[michelforest]

Early Genesis is definitely an acquired taste, and Gabriel was definitely mannered and croaky, seemingly particularly on Nursery Cryme and Foxtrot. However, if you haven't heard it, listen to Trespass. It's one of my favorite Genesis albums, despite being somewhat obscure and rather underrated.

Trespass is a gem and it makes you wonder how Genesis would have sounded if Anthony Phillips had stayed. He's all over the album and my guess is that Tony Banks would have had to share the space with the lead guitar a bit more than with Hackett in the band, because Phillips was such a major composer in the early days.

[michelforest]

The 1974 re-release was re-titled In The Beginning. It was at a budget price I think. I can remember seeing it in the racks in record shops. The band weren't happy about it being reissued, unsurprisingly, and I can vaguely remember someone writing in the weekly music press, NME or Melody Maker, scathingly about it, and about Jonathan King's cynical opportunism.

I am a diehard Genesis fan but I confess that I've never been able to listen to that album all the way through. It's simply very dull. The improvement from that first album to Trespass is amazing.

[Soundwaveseeker]

The first album is one I don't listen to that often, really, but I don't mind it or anything Genesis. But I have to be in the mood for that naive 60's sounding recording where they were literally learning their craft - and the basics at that - on the record. Check out the Archive 1967-75 box set - disc four is early demos of other tracks that never made it to the album and/or dropped when they left King and headed for Trespass avenue. These are without any strings and King's tampering but are very basic and sound recorded in the school cafeteria. They could have grabbed any one of these later and fleshed them out to make some ok Genesis music. 'Anyway' from side 3 of the Lamb was an earlier composition they went back for, and it turned out decent.

[Yorkshire Square]

That first album has been re-released so many times and under a plethora of titles.

This Rock Roots version from 1976, released on Decca, is particularly interesting as it includes the two singles released in February and May 1968.

The first single is The Silent Sun which appeared on the album in 1969, but is a mono version, backed with a track That's Me. The second single is A Winter' Tale with a b side of One Eyed Hound.

I also have a straight re-release under the Pop Legends range, also on Decca which features totally incorrect artwork. Finally a facsimile CD on Disky from 1989, has the same running order as the Rock Roots release, but also includes Image Blown Out and She's So Beautiful, both tracks also turning up on the subsequent Archive 1967-1975 release (the second of these as She Is Beautiful).

Some of Anthony Phillips earlier solo albums also feature tracks original offered to Genesis but not used.

[Oldie on the Goldie]

Gabriel era Genesis were a very theatrical offering. Most of the songs tell a story within a very definite framework. Yes, on the other hand, are more an ideas and concepts band rarely providing a clear storyline.

There are some great moments in Suppers Ready, but the whole just doesn't hang together like many of the Yes epics. I suspect that the yin and yang of Gabriel and Banks didn't quite work as well as Howe and Anderson. Post Gabriel, the longer workouts of Dukes Travels/Dukes End, Home by the Sea/Second Home by the Sea and Tonight, Tonight, Tonight are overall more effective.

More effective for what? Duke's Travels/End is a great instrumental, but the other two songs you mention are just standard 80s pop cheese. But if you like that sort of thing, I guess I've answered my own question.

[Mr. Holland]

More effective for what? Duke's Travels/End is a great instrumental, but the other two songs you mention are just standard 80s pop cheese. But if you like that sort of thing, I guess I've answered my own question.

If you think Home by the Sea/Second Home by the Sea is standard pop cheese, I'd like to see what other stuff very similar was in the charts in the 80s. If it's so standard, there should be plenty of examples.

[Oldie on the Goldie]

If you think Home by the Sea/Second Home by the Sea is standard pop cheese, I'd like to see what other stuff very similar was in the charts in the 80s. If it's so standard, there should be plenty of examples.

Here's the context of my comment: awhile ago I was discussing post-Duke Genesis with someone who thought their music from that era wasn't all bad, and suggested I listen to Home by the Sea as an example of late Genesis "prog". So I found it online and started to listen to it, and immediately recognized it as one of those annoyingly overplayed songs I heard everywhere in the 80s in L.A. - on the radio, or blaring through loudspeakers in malls, petrol stations, restaurants etc. So sorry to say, I am not a fan, though maybe I should give the whole thing another chance (as soon as I recognized it, I turned it off). Nothing against anyone who likes that sort of stuff, music is subjective. But I can't imagine that anyone with some musical training would regard Home by the Sea as even remotely comparable a composition to Supper's Ready, much less a better one. I have to admit though that it took me a long time to "get" Supper's Ready. Complex compositions can be like that, whether classical or prog.

PS I should've said standard Genesis pop cheese from that era.

[Oldie on the Goldie]

.....and of course, Home by the Sea doesn't even remotely compare to the masterpiece that is TEAKBOIS.