Rain
I discovered Genesis with Genesis, Abacab and Duke, and for me, that was Genesis for a long time. Not being much of a prog rock fan, I never really got into the older stuff, though I was obviously familiar with it. Last year however, I bought a Trick of the Tail on an impulse, and I actually quite like it. Maybe it'll be the gateway to the rest of the stuff.
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Hi,
There are some things worth getting. Even though some of the stuff is the darling of "prog-bs", in the end, there are some things that are far beyond the words and excellent music.
Trespass/Foxtrot, are both very good.
Selling England by the Pound is totally excellent and top notch
The Lamb Dies Down ... is one of the best albums ever. Takes guts and talent to write real pieces of music, and if this day and age still appreciated "opera", this one would take the cake.
Of all the solo albums, I love listening to Anthony Phillips (original lead guitar) and his solo albums, and many of them are really neat. The Geese and the Ghost is worth having. And then there is Steve Hackett, and his first solo is a must have regardless. Voyage of the Acolyte is fantastic from beginning to end, were it not that we have been stuck in an age of "songs" to actually appreciate a concept piece in its entirety!
Other than that, for me, Genesis died with "Trick of the Tail".
As much as I like PG and his solo material, in the end, it is all just songs, and there is no continuity or concept, and for me, that is not as enjoyable. Let's write a song about ... and to me, music has always been more than just that. It's a life, not a song! One minute, or three is is the case in rock'n'roll, rarely defines the life! In fact, it tends to define the end of a band for me.
There are far superior bands that did more work with the kind of style that Genesis did, and ANGE, the French band is far superior, and much more attuned to the real thing -- theater -- than PG and Genesis EVER were. When you hear Christian Decamps whisper "ecoute ... ecoute ... ", you get the feeling immediately that this is serious, not just a song! And "Au Dela du Delire" and "Emile Jacotey" are unbelievably good albums, and Emile Jacotey was done almost 20 years before Roger Waters thought about it! And then there is BANCO and PFM. Banco was on its own, and did not need Manticore or ELP to survive, and their first 5 or 6 albums are totally out of this world. PFM's first 4 or 5 albums the same ... totally excellent ... but ... sadly, this is nothing like a top ten song in many other places, and that makes for music that few folks have given a solid listen to.
Just put on the first cut from PFM's The World Became the World, on your music box, and blast it loud ... VERY LOUD ... and you know that pop music is not where it's at!
Also remember that in those days, nothing was called "progressive" though some Melody Maker writers had determined that some bands in London were "progressive" by 1969. The European scen, by that time, was already totally independent and different all around, and they were not creating music because it was anything, but MUSIC ... the sound of your heart and soul!
The rest is a song, and you know it!