Introduction
On October 25, 1999, 25 years ago, the Genesis compilation Turn It On Again: The Hits was released. A great occasion for my personal Genesis top 10, despite my deeply rooted dislike of symphonic rock, a genre Genesis is sometimes linked to.
At the bottom of this article the top 10 is available as a Spotify playlist.
Genesis
My childhood years were drenched in Genesis, the main reason that The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway is one my favorite albums of all time. That album in particular played a huge part in my (musical) youth. My father loved Genesis and even witnessed the famous The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway Tour at the Ahoy in Rotterdam, The Netherlands (which must have been on April 11, 1975), five months before Peter Gabriel announced he had left the band.
Following Peter Gabriel’s departure my father was done with Genesis. I liked watching Follow You Follow Me on Dutch tv music program Toppop in 1978. Ik was 11 (almost 12) years old and had never seen moving images showing the individual band members. In my teens (15, 16?) I bought the live album Seconds Out, maybe out of loyalty (?).I really loved the live album by the way. I have always hated the pop music that came after, with the exception of the 1983 Genesis album. Therefore, my list doesn’t contain a single song after 1983.
The big divide between the ‘good’ and the ‘bad’ Genesis is always pinpointed at September 6, 1975, the day Peter Gabriel officially announced he had left Genesis. As fan Twan recently told me, and I agreed, the divide is somewhat more subtle. Guitarist Steve Hackett played with Genesis from 1971 to 1977. Following his departure the pop element gained momentum considerably. So, Steve Hackett’s leaving was far more influential on the band’s change of course than Peter Gabriel’s.
Nonetheless, I prefer the period where Peter Gabriel was still the singer. I love his voice, which is warmer and more intense that the voice of Phil Collins. It’s a personal preference, but then again, Phil Collins’ contributions to the band can not be underestimated. His phenomenal drumming, especially during those early years, provided the band with dynamics, odd time signatures and swing.
Top 10
So, now I give you my personal top 10 Genesis songs. The years mentioned below the song titles correspond with the year the single and/or album the song stems from was released.
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The Musical Box1971 Stemming from the Nursery Cryme album, whose cover really intrigued me as a child. Were they really playing croquet with heads? The song’s climax gets me time and time again: Why don’t you touch me, touch me? |
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Supper’s Ready1972 Stemming from the Foxtrot album. A central piece during many 1970s shows, a song the band was genuinely proud of. The song consisted of 7 different sections: Lover’s Leap, The Guaranteed Eternal Sanctuary Man, Ikhnaton And Its-A-Con And Their Band Of Merry Men, How Dare I Be So Beautiful?, Willow Farm, Apocalypse In 9/8 (Co-starring The Delicious Talents Of Gabble Ratchet) and As Sure As Eggs Is Eggs (Aching Men’s Feet). Pretentious? Yes. Beautiful? Yes. |
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I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)1973 Coming off the Selling England By The Pound album and released as a single in 1974. A song about a useless teenager, named Jacob. The intro is typically British and typically Peter Gabriel. It’s one o’clock and time for lunch, bum-dee-dum-dee-dum |
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Firth Of Fifth1973 Also coming from the Selling England By The Pound album and probably Genesis’ best known symphonic song. Superb melodic music containing some truly amazing drumming by Phil Collins. One of the Genesis songs I can listen to on repeat. |
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Back In N.Y.C.1974 Back In N.Y.C. is one of my favorite songs stemming from masterpiece The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway. The menacing sound the song opens with is outstanding. Peter Gabriel’s vocals sound almost aggressive. The way the synthesizer bursts into the song at 04:15 minutes (headphones please!) is a genuine goose bumps moment, each and every time. |
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The Carpet Crawlers1974 My favorite Genesis song. As long as I (consciously) know myself this song has been with me, and every time I hear it pop up, I want to hear it all the way to the end. Written and composed by Peter Gabriel. On the The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway album the song is called Carpet Crawl. I know the lyrics by heart but don’t really understand them (also see the supplement in the comment section below this article), yet they move me to my core. The carpet crawlers heed their callers |
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Dance On A Volcano1976 Opening track of the first Genesis album without Peter Gabriel, A Trick Of The Tail. And, on Dance On A Volcano no one could tell the difference. Great song that harks back at the Selling England By The Pound album. |
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Follow You Follow Me1978 Single, stemming from the album …And Then There Were Three…, the first album without Steve Hackett since 1971. It’s a love song, simple, melodic and following a standard verse/chorus blueprint. As a young boy I loved the song. |
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Mama1983 Single, coming off the Genesis album. Great song with the drum machine opening, the creepy synthesizer sounds, followed by Phil Collins’s passionate vocals, and the pounding drums blasting halfway through. The song is about a young man’s fascination with a prostitute who resembles his mother. Phil Collins came up with the Haha, heh, haha, heh, oh after listening to Grandmaster Flash’s The Message. |
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Home By The Sea/Second Home By The Sea1983 Single, also stemming from the Genesis album. Compelling song with great vocals by Phil Collins. The B-side, Second Home By The Sea, is the more symphonic version of the single’s A-side. For me personally this marks the last time I liked new music by Genesis. The diptych is an impressive musical journey, which can not be seperated (essentially making the top 10 a top 11). |
In closing
What’s your opinion on Genesis? Do you miss any songs in this list, and if so, which ones? Let me know!
Video/Spotify
This story contains an accompanying video. Click on the following link to see it: Video: My 10 best Genesis songs. The A Pop Life playlist on Spotify has been updated as well.
24 comments
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Author
Supplement to The Carpet Crawlers:
The song tells of Rael, The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway‘s lead character, who ends up in a red carpeted corridor surrounded by kneeling people crawling towards a wooden door. Rael goes through the door and finds a table with a candlelit feast on it, and a staircase that leads to something out of sight. The lyrics are interpreted as:
(source: wikipedia)
I’m a huge Genesis fan, and just the other day I listened to the Lamb, to celebrate the golden anniversary release of that epic masterpiece. Needless to say, it was special. But It would probably take me an eternity to compile a solid top 10 favorite songs. That band put out so many high quality tunes, that I’m not even sure where to start. So, I can easily appreciate your efforts in assembling a top 10. That’s a tall task for a band as great as Genesis was.
Author
Steve, I agree, it isn’t an easy task, but, thene again, I did do it to myself. No one was asking for it 😉
How about “Ripples” or “Mad Man Moon” ??
In the cage/ Afterglow one of my favorites!!
Author
Also: great songs!
Great songs. But you canNOT discount Phil’s contribution to signing. He is an amazingly gifted music and to throw him by the wayside is a tragedy. That said, Genesis along with Yes and Rush provide the best in prog imaginable.
Author
Thanks for your reply. I don’t discount his singing, but I really do appreciate Gabriel’s voice more.
I can only assume you’ve never listened to Mad Man Moon.
Author
I must say I have listened to Mad Man Moon, sorry…
The biggest change to Genesis happened when Hackett left the group, not Gabriel. I saw them on the Wind and Wuthering tour and the Duke tour. Like night and day.
Author
Agreed on Hackett leaving!
I love the early years, however, Duke is one of my favorite albums of all time. I also like Abacab. Your time and place in your life, linked with a song or album can influence you quite a bit. Duke is one of those albums that I put on to take me back there.
Author
Thanks for your reply!
It’s always interesting to see someone’s favorite list from Genesis. I enjoy every song on your list, even though my top 10 would be somewhat different. Thank you for sharing.
Author
You’re (more than) welcome!
It’s hard to argue with anyone’s top 10 and yours is certainly admirable. I would find it impossible to do it myself and if I did, I’d want to change it 5 minutes later. I would definitely make room for a song from Trespass, with Stagnation being the most likely, but the whole album is terrific and is the first one with the Gabriel era signature sound.
Author
Thanks for your addition!
I love Squonk
Author
Me too
Pretty great list but I’d have to add The Knife, Watcher of the Skies, In The Cage and Afterglow and yes it’s over 10.
Author
Ha ha, great reply. Thanks!
Always happy to see someone bring up Genesis I’m 67 so I was around watching bands like yes Genesis Pink Floyd King crimson me personally it’s hard to pick songs but being a yes fan to see Genesis play trick of the tail tour with Bill Buford on drums in a small arena beacon theater NYC is one of my best concerts and listen to a band that can play the album to me almost exactly live as the album they opened with Los endos which is a collage of almost all of the songs from the album The only thing better I could think of would be if Peter Gabriel would have still been with them. To see both drummers playing and the band having a great night squonk and ripples would have been on my list as best songs and the lamb lies down on Broadway as you can tell Genesis was one of my favorite bands
Author
Thank you for your great reply. I truly appreciate it!