Neverwednesday Nights

You know who's a band I really, really hate? Genesis. "We Can't Dance"? Well you sure can suck. And what the fuck does "Invisible Touch" mean, anyway? They're two completely different senses, you twits. Phil Collins is a shitty frontman and who the fuck told Mike Rutherford he could play guitar, anyway?


No, you want to talk about a really good band, you should try listening to Genesis. Peter Gabriel is a fucking genius. And their drummer, Phil Collins? Phenomenal on the skins, really is, and a solid harmony voice. You throw in some mind-blowing shit from Tony Banks on the keys, solidly backed by Steve Hackett on guitar and Mike Rutherford on bass and rhythm, and you've got yourself one of the most interesting bands of the prog era. Be a shame if something happened, somebody ever left, say, allowing the remaining members to limp on in a totally sucktacular fashion.


Yes. Yes, I am one of those people. I'm sorry. Well, sort of. And by "sort of" I guess I technically mean "not really." The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway is pretty much the last Genesis album you need to own, and I don't really need to hear how Abacab is alright or about how, how, how--oh hell, I just don't even want to hear the band existed after 1975, okay? Because they didn't. Genesis broke up in 1975 and then Peter Gabriel recorded a bunch of really awesome albums with cool people like Kate Bush and Tony Levin and Robert Fripp. There was no such thing as Genesis during the 1980s, I don't have time for your damnable lies. My fingers. In my ears. Nananananana. I. Can't. Hear. You. Alright? We clear about that? I don't care what you think you saw on MTV with the puppets, you're probably thinking of, I don't know, a Sesame Street episode or something. MTV? It was probably a Sifl And Olly episode. (Sifl and Olly rock. Again, I will brook no argument on this point! Shh!)


Meanwhile, here's a bit of live Genesis--the awesome band Genesis, not the craptacular band Genesis--from 1973. Peter Gabriel is not dressed like a flower in this one, but he does appear to be blue. Also, he has that sort of reverse-mohawk thing he was doing at the time. And he mimes pushing a lawnmower. And yet none of that is quite as strange as the fact Phil Collins actually had hair at the time. Anyway, "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)", a bit of mischief from 1973's Selling England By The Pound, an album that I personally think might be the band's masterpiece (tho' I can understand the case for Lamb Lies Down):




Comments

vince said…
Ehmm.

Far be it from me to disagree with you.

But I actually like some of the post-Gabriel Genesis. Although I agree that the Peter Gabriel era is the best, and the album I like best (which does not necessarily mean it's the best, just my favorite) is The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway.
Nathan said…
I agree with everything. Case closed.

Anyone disagree? Fine. Go ahead if you feel like you can live with being wrong.
Robbin said…
david loves phil collins. like, loves him. me, i can take it or leave it.
Tania said…
John is a Phil Collins fan. But, John introduced me to Yaz. Does that redeem him at all?
Eric said…
Awright, awright--it's fun to knock Phil Collins, but the dude is a helluva drummer when he gets around to it, and (yes) Face Value is a decent solo album (tho' you can still pick on it for being a little bit like a watered down Peter Gabriel (1980/"Melt") (on which Collins himself laid down that wickedly thudding, ominous beat on "Intruder").

And yes, there was some good post-Gabriel Genesis (though I'll stand by my claim that Invisible Touch and everything after was pretty terrible, with We Can't Dance marking an utter nadir.

A fair (and less fun) appraisal of Collins is that he's a talented drummer and capable vocalist who can knock good material out of the park but has a lethal obsession with maudlin ballads and sappy banalities (like "No Son Of Mine") that keeps him from consistently doing anything interesting (or sometimes from even consistently being listenable).

So it's fun to pick on Phil, and easy, but no, maybe it isn't fair. And although I idolize Peter Gabriel, I have to admit I've found most of his post-So output a little repetitive and unthrilling--So is the last album I own, though there are a few tracks on Us and Up I like (just not enough to buy the albums so far). ("Blood Of Eden" may even show up as a "Neverwednesday" sometime.) Anyway, it's not like Gabriel's perfect or has been batting consistently, either.

Confession: my musical wanderings have a Yaz-shaped hole in them; I have heard of them but don't remember hearing them. I'll rectify this as soon as I can, Tania!
Jim Wright said…
Sign me up on the "Genesis broke up in 1975" train. If I ever hear "We can't dance" again, it'll be too fucking soon.

But, yeah, Collins on drums, amazing. Especially when he's jamming with other talented musicians like the Knopfler, Clapton, and Sting - and you just know what benefit concert I'm talking about. Now I have go listen to Money for Nothing, right now. Right. Now.

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