GENESIS - Trespass (1970-2014) RM / SHM-CD / FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Genesis' first truly progressive album, and their first record for the Charisma label (although Trespass was released in America by ABC, which is how MCA came to have it), is important mostly as a formative effort. Peter Gabriel, Tony Banks, and Michael Rutherford are here, but the guitarist is Anthony Phillips and the drummer is John Mayhew. Gabriel, Banks, Phillips, and Rutherford are responsible for the compositions, which are far more ambitious than the group's earlier efforts ("Silent Sun," etc.). Unfortunately, much of what is here is more interesting for what it points toward than what it actually does -- the group reflects a peculiarly dramatic brand of progressive rock, very theatrical as music, but not very successful. The lyrics are complex enough but lack the unity and clarity that would make Genesis' subsequent albums among the most interesting of prog rock efforts to analyze. Gabriel's voice is very expressive but generally lacks power and confidence, while the conventional backup vocalizing by the others is wimpy, and Phillips' playing is muted. Tony Banks' keyboards are the dominant instruments, which isn't that bad, but it isn't the Genesis that everyone came to know. The soft, lyrical "Visions of Angels" and "Stagnation" are typical, gentle works by a band that later learned how to rock much harder. Only one of the songs here, "The Knife" -- which rocks harder than anything else on Trespass and is easily the best track on the album -- lasted in the group's concert repertory past the next album. by Bruce Eder  
Tracklist:
1 Looking For Someone 7:03
2 White Mountain 6:44
3 Visions Of Angels 6:50
4 Stagnation 8:46
5 Dusk 4:10
6 The Knife 8:55
Credits:
Acoustic Guitar, Electric Bass, Cello, Backing Vocals – Mike Rutherford
Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Dulcimer, Backing Vocals – Anthony Phillips
Drums, Percussion, Backing Vocals – John Mayhew
Lead Vocals, Flute, Accordion, Bass Drum, Tambourine – Peter Gabriel
Organ, Mellotron, Piano, Acoustic Guitar, Backing Vocals – Tony Banks

GENESIS - Nursery Cryme (1971-2014) RM / SHM-CD / FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

If Genesis truly established themselves as progressive rockers on Trespass, Nursery Cryme is where their signature persona was unveiled: true English eccentrics, one part Lewis Carroll and one part Syd Barrett, creating a fanciful world that emphasized the band's instrumental prowess as much as Peter Gabriel's theatricality. Which isn't to say that all of Nursery Cryme works. There are times when the whimsy is overwhelming, just as there are periods when there's too much instrumental indulgence, yet there's a charm to this indulgence, since the group is letting itself run wild. Even if they've yet to find the furthest reaches of their imagination, part of the charm is hearing them test out its limits, something that does result in genuine masterpieces, as on "The Musical Box" and "The Return of the Giant Hogweed," two epics that dominate the first side of the album and give it its foundation. If the second side isn't quite as compelling or quite as structured, it doesn't quite matter because these are the songs that showed what Genesis could do, and they still stand as pinnacles of what the band could achieve. by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Tracklist:

1. The Musical Box

2. For Absent Friends

3. The Return of the Giant Hogweed

4. Seven Stones

5. Harold the Barrel

6. Harlequin

7. The Fountain of Salmacis

Musicians:

- Tony Banks / organ, mellotron, piano, electric piano, 12 string guitar, voices 

- Phil Collins / drums, voices, percussion, lead vocals(2) 

- Peter Gabriel / lead voice, flute, tambourine, bass drum 

- Steve Hackett / electric and 12 string guitar 

- Mike Rutherford / bass guitar, bass pedals, 12 string guitar, backing vocals

GENESIS - Foxtrot (1972-2014) RM / SHM-CD / FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Foxtrot is where Genesis began to pull all of its varied inspirations into a cohesive sound -- which doesn't necessarily mean that the album is streamlined, for this is a group that always was grandiose even when they were cohesive, or even when they rocked, which they truly do for the first time here. Indeed, the startling thing about the opening "Watcher of the Skies" is that it's the first time that Genesis attacked like a rock band, playing with a visceral power. There's might and majesty here, and it, along with "Get 'Em Out by Friday," is the truest sign that Genesis has grown muscle without abandoning the whimsy. Certainly, they've rarely sounded as fantastical or odd as they do on the epic 22-minute closer "Supper's Ready," a nearly side-long suite that remains one of the group's signature moments. It ebbs, flows, teases, and taunts, see-sawing between coiled instrumental attacks and delicate pastoral fairy tales. If Peter Gabriel remained a rather inscrutable lyricist, his gift for imagery is abundant, as there are passages throughout the album that are hauntingly evocative in their precious prose. But what impresses most about Foxtrot is how that precociousness is delivered with pure musical force. This is the rare art-rock album that excels at both the art and the rock, and it's a pinnacle of the genre (and decade) because of it. by Stephen Thomas Erlewine 

Tracklist:

1. Watcher of the Skies (7:19)

2. Time Table (4:40)

3. Get 'em out by Friday (8:35)

4. Can-Utility and the Coastliners (5:43)

5. Horizons (1:38)

6. Supper's Ready (22:58)

- a. Lover's Leap

- b. The Guaranteed Eternal Sanctuary Man

- c. Ikhnaton and Itsacon and Their Band of Merry Men

- d. How Dare I Be So Beautiful?

- e. Willow Farm

- f. Apocalypse in 9/8 (featuring the delicious talents of Gabble Ratchet)

- g. As Sure as Eggs is Eggs (Aching Men's Feet) 

Line-up / Musicians

- Peter Gabriel / lead vocals, flute, oboe, tambourine, bass drum

- Steve Hackett / guitars (electric, acoustic 6- & 12-string)

- Tony Banks / organ, Mellotron MkII, piano & electric piano, 12-string guitar, backing vocals

- Mike Rutherford / bass guitar, bass pedals, 12-string guitar, cello, backing vocals

- Phil Collins / drums, percussion, backing vocals

GENESIS - Selling England by the Pound (1973-2014) RM / SHM-CD / FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Genesis proved that they could rock on Foxtrot but on its follow-up Selling England by the Pound they didn't follow this route, they returned to the English eccentricity of their first records, which wasn't so much a retreat as a consolidation of powers. For even if this eight-track album has no one song that hits as hard as "Watcher of the Skies," Genesis hasn't sacrificed the newfound immediacy of Foxtrot: they've married it to their eccentricity, finding ways to infuse it into the delicate whimsy that's been their calling card since the beginning. This, combined with many overt literary allusions -- the Tolkeinisms of the title of "The Battle of Epping Forest" only being the most apparent -- gives this album a storybook quality. It plays as a collection of short stories, fables, and fairy tales, and it is also a rock record, which naturally makes it quite extraordinary as a collection, but also as a set of individual songs. Genesis has never been as direct as they've been on the fanciful yet hook-driven "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)" -- apart from the fluttering flutes in the fade-out, it could easily be mistaken for a glam single -- or as achingly fragile as on "More Fool Me," sung by Phil Collins. It's this delicate balance and how the album showcases the band's narrative force on a small scale as well as large that makes this their arguable high-water mark. by Stephen Thomas Erlewine  
Tracklist:
1 Dancing With The Moonlit Knight 8:03
2 I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) 4:10
3 Firth Of Fifth 9:35
4 More Fool Me 3:11  Vocals – Phil
5 The Battle Of Epping Forest 11:43
6 After The Ordeal 4:15
7 The Cinema Show 10:41
8 Aisle Of Plenty 1:58

Credits:

Drums, Percussion, Vocals – Phil Collins

Electric Guitar, Classical Guitar [Nylon] – Stephen Hackett

Keyboards, Twelve-String Guitar – Tony Banks

Twelve-String Guitar, Bass, Sitar [Electric] – Michael Rutherford

Vocals, Flute, Oboe, Percussion – Peter Gabriel

GENESIS - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (1974-2014) RM / 2CD / SHM-CD / FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Given all the overt literary references of Selling England by the Pound, along with their taste for epic suites such as "Supper's Ready," it was only a matter of time before Genesis attempted a full-fledged concept album, and 1974's The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway was a massive rock opera: the winding, wielding story of a Puerto Rican hustler name Rael making his way in New York City. Peter Gabriel made some tentative moves toward developing this story into a movie with William Friedkin but it never took off, perhaps it's just as well; even with the lengthy libretto included with the album, the story never makes sense. But just because the story is rather impenetrable doesn't mean that the album is as well, because it is a forceful, imaginative piece of work that showcases the original Genesis lineup at a peak. Even if the story is rather hard to piece together, the album is set up in a remarkable fashion, with the first LP being devoted to pop-oriented rock songs and the second being largely devoted to instrumentals. This means that The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway contains both Genesis' most immediate music to date and its most elliptical. Depending on a listener's taste, they may gravitate toward the first LP with its tight collection of ten rock songs, or the nightmarish landscapes of the second, where Rael descends into darkness and ultimately redemption (or so it would seem), but there's little question that the first album is far more direct than the second and it contains a number of masterpieces, from the opening fanfare of the title song to the surging "In the Cage," from the frightening "Back in NYC" to the soothing conclusion "The Carpet Crawlers." In retrospect, this first LP plays a bit more like the first Gabriel solo album than the final Genesis album, but there's also little question that the band helps form and shape this music (with Brian Eno adding extra coloring on occasion), while Genesis shines as a group shines on the impressionistic second half. In every way, it's a considerable, lasting achievement and it's little wonder that Peter Gabriel had to leave the band after this record: they had gone as far as they could go together, and could never top this extraordinary album. by Stephen Thomas Erlewine  
Tracklist:
1-1 The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway 4:52
1-2 Fly On A Windshield 2:45
1-3 Broadway Melody Of 1974 2:11
1-4 Cuckoo Cocoon 2:13
1-5 In The Cage 8:12
1-6 The Grand Parade Of Lifeless Packaging 2:46
1-7 Back In N.Y.C. 5:45
1-8 Hairless Heart 2:10
1-9 Counting Out Time 3:41
1-10 The Carpet Crawlers 5:15
1-11 The Chamber Of 32 Doors 5:45
2-1 Lilywhite Lilith 2:49
2-2 The Waiting Room 5:17
2-3 Anyway 3:17
2-4 The Supernatural Anaesthetist 2:49
2-5 The Lamia 6:58
2-6 Silent Sorrow In Empty Boats 3:01
2-7 The Colony Of Slippermen: (A.The Arrival; B: A Visit To The Doktor; C: The Raven) 8:12
2-8 Ravine 2:06
2-9 The Light Dies Down On Broadway 3:32
2-10 Riding The Scree 4:07
2-11 In The Rapids 2:22
2-12 It 4:19
Credits:
Bass, Twelve-String Guitar – Mike Rutherford
Featuring [Enossification] – Brian Eno (tracks: 1-6)
Guitar – Steve Hackett
Guitar, Keyboards – Tony Banks
Percussion, Backing Vocals [Voicing], Vibraphone – Phil Collins
Vocals, Flute – Peter Gabriel

GENESIS - A Trick of the Tail (1976-1994) RM / FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

After Peter Gabriel departed for a solo career, Genesis embarked on a long journey to find a replacement, only to wind back around to their drummer, Phil Collins, as a replacement. With Collins as their new frontman, the band decided not to pursue the stylish, jagged postmodernism of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway -- a move that Gabriel would do in his solo career -- and instead returned to the English eccentricity of Selling England by the Pound for its next effort, A Trick of the Tail. In almost every respect, this feels like a truer sequel to Selling England by the Pound than Lamb; after all, that double album was obsessed with modernity and nightmare, whereas this album returns the group to the fanciful fairy tale nature of its earlier records. Also, Genesis were moving away from the barbed pop of the first LP and returning to elastic numbers that showcased their instrumental prowess, and they sounded more forceful and unified as a band than they had since Foxtrot. Not that this album is quite as memorable as Foxtrot or Selling England, largely because its songs aren't as immediate or memorable: apart from "Dance on a Volcano," this is about the sound of the band playing, not individual songs, and it succeeds on that level quite wildly -- to the extent that it proved to longtime fans that Genesis could possibly thrive without its former leader in tow. by Stephen Thomas Erlewine   
Tracklist:
1 The Musical Box 10:31
2 For Absent Friends 1:47
3 The Return Of The Giant Hogweed 8:12
4 Seven Stones 5:11
5 Harold The Barrel 3:00
6 Harlequin 2:56
7 The Fountain Of Salmacis 7:54
Credits :
Bass, Electronics [Bass Pedals], Guitar [12 String], Voice – Michael Rutherford
Drums, Voice, Percussion – Phil Collins
Electric Guitar, Guitar [12 String] – Steve Hackett
Lead Vocals, Flute, Bass Drum, Tambourine – Peter Gabriel
Organ, Mellotron, Piano, Electric Piano, Guitar [12 String], Voice – Tony Banks

GENESIS - Wind & Wuthering (1976-1994) RM / FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Wind & Wuthering followed quickly on the heels of A Trick of the Tail and they're very much cut from the same cloth, working the same English eccentric ground that was the group's stock in trade since Trespass. But if A Trick of the Tail played like Genesis' attempt at crafting a great Genesis record without Peter Gabriel, as a way of finding their footing as a quartet, Wind & Wuthering finds Genesis tentatively figuring out what their identity will be in this new phase of their career. The most obvious indication of this is Mike Rutherford's "Your Own Special Way," which is both the poppiest tune the group had cut and also the first that could qualify as a love song. It stands out on a record that is, apart from that, a standard Genesis record, but quite a good one in that regard. by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Tracklist:
1 Eleventh Earl Of Mar 7:44
Written-By – Rutherford, Hackett, Banks
2 One For The Vine 10:00
Written-By – Banks
3 Your Own Special Way 6:18
Written-By – Rutherford
4 Wot Gorilla? 3:19
Written-By – Collins, Banks
5 All In A Mouse's Night 6:38
Written-By – Banks
6 Blood On The Rooftops 5:27
Written-By – Collins, Hackett
7 'Unquiet Slumbers For The Sleepers... 2:23
Written-By – Rutherford, Hackett
8 ...In That Quiet Earth' 4:49
Written-By – Rutherford, Collins, Hackett, Banks
9 Afterglow 4:12
Written-By – Banks
Credits:
Performer, Bass [4 String], Acoustic Guitar, Bass [8 String], Bass [Pedals], Bass [R String], Guitar [12 String], Electric Guitar – Mike Rutherford
Performer, Electric Guitar, Guitar [12 String], Guitar [Nylon Classical], Kalimba, Other [Auto-harp] – Steve Hackett
Performer, Mellotron, Organ [Hammond], Piano, Piano [Fender Rhodes], Piano [Steinway Grand], Synthesizer [Arp 2600], Synthesizer [Pro-soloist], Synthesizer [Roland String], Other [Etc] – Tony Banks
Performer, Vocals, Drums, Percussion, Other [Cymbals] – Phil Collins

GENESIS - ... And Then There Were Three ... (1978-1994) RM / FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

And Then There Were Three, more than either of its immediate predecessors, feels like the beginning of the second phase of Genesis -- in large part because the lineup had indeed dwindled down to Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford, and Phil Collins, a situation alluded to in the title. But it wasn't just a whittling of the lineup; the group's aesthetic was also shifting, moving away from the fantastical, literary landscapes that marked both the early Genesis LPs and the two transitional post-Gabriel outings, as the bandmembers turned their lyrical references to contemporary concerns and slowly worked pop into the mix, as heard on the closing "Follow You Follow Me," the band's first genuine pop hit. Its calm, insistent melody, layered with harmonies, is a perfect soft rock hook, although there's a glassy, almost eerie quality to the production that is also heard throughout the rest of the record. These chilly surfaces are an indication that Genesis don't quite want to abandon prog at this point, but the increasing emphasis on melody and tight song structures points the way toward the group's '80s work.  by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Tracklist:
1 Down And Out 5:25
Written-By – Rutherford, Collins, Banks
2 Undertow 4:45
Written-By – Banks
3 Ballad Of Big 4:43
Written-By – Rutherford, Collins, Banks
4 Snowbound 4:29
Written-By – Rutherford
5 Burning Rope 7:07
Written-By – Banks
6 Deep In The Motherlode 5:14
Written-By – Rutherford
7 Many Too Many 3:29
Written-By – Banks
8 Scenes From A Night's Dream 3:29
Written-By – Collins, Banks
9 Say It's Alright Joe 4:18
Written-By – Rutherford
10 The Lady Lies 6:00
Written-By – Banks
11 Follow You Follow Me 3:55
Written-By – Rutherford, Collins, Banks
Credits:
Drums, Voice – Philip Collins
Guitar, Bass – Mike Rutherford
Keyboards – Tony Banks