Product Description

Ever since Genesis was reduced down to the trio of Phil Collins, Tony Banks, and Mike Rutherford, the former prog-rock giants had made a concerted effort to streamline their musicinto more bite-sized pop portions. GENESIS was an importantbridge to this goal. Coupled with frontman/drummer Collins'burgeoning solo career and the emergence of MTV, the band soon gained a higher profile in the eyes of the record buyingpublic. Genesis' prosperity, along with the solo success ofindividual members (particularly Collins) meant that GENESIS became part of a decade-long cycle in which band album releases alternated with those by Phil Collins.
Driven by Banks' simple keyboard lines, "That's All" became the album's first hit and first of three videos shot for MTV. The other two, the ominous "Mama" and the humorous "Illegal Alien" both helped bolster the band's pop visibility. Although the JanHammer-flavoured "Just a Job to Do" wasn't made into a video, this hard-driving song was later incorporated into an episode of the television program Miami Vice. Despite the obvious stylistic changes, art-rock elements still popped up particularly in "Home By the Sea" and the sequel, "Second Home By the Sea".

Track Listing

1. Mama
2. Illegal Alien
3. That's All
4. Taking It All Too Hard
5. Just A Job To Do
6. Home By The Sea
7. Second Home By The Sea
8. It's Gonna Get Better
9. Silver Rainbow

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19747 in Music
• Released on: 1983-11-07
• Number of discs: 1

From Amazon.com
This 1983 effort found the trio of Tony Banks, Phil Collins, and Mike Rutherford settling comfortably into their niche as world-class hit-makers, while exploring ambitious new creative avenues. So, alongside popular--and relatively straightforward--tunes like "That's All," "Illegal Alien," "Taking It All Too Hard," "Just a Job to Do," and the subtly menacing "Mama," the band continues to explore its more complex inclinations on "Second Home by the Sea" and "It's Gonna Get Better." Both accessible and idiosyncratic, Genesis remains one of the group's most durable '80s albums. --Scott Schinder

Customer Reviews

Beyond the Rainbow?
Hard album to say how great or how poor it is. Total stars for this would be 3.5, but we don't do halves.

Of course thinking about this album you have the great tracks Mamma: and Home by the sea: and second home by the sea: Then you have have the pretty good ones Silver Rainbow: and thats all: Depending on what mood you are in is It's gonna get better: which can be there or not. To the not good, the album filler Just a Job To Do: Then the all time sh*te that is Illegal alien: You can not understand what the hell they were thinking at this stage of their Phil Collins lead career? Chasing air play?
This should have been a single, but should not have been on any album apart from a best of. They managed to do it in the past with and without Gabriel in 'charge'. Even Collins managed it with Match of the day: and inside and out: and pigeons: that was released as an ep, 7" and also a blue 12" version to boot.{which I have saved from my earlier troubled life}. I wouldn't mind, but in my opinion these songs are worthy of an album, not just a best of.

I played this yesterday in my wifes car, she wasn't there of course! She is a Morrissey fan, so I took a risk. It was sunny, so shades on, volume up. Hadn't heard it for years, it sounded great. Still skipped the usual tracks, thinking eh? I have played it at home since and sorry to say it is strong and weak. Also it is one of those albums you have to have? But only played when you really want to hear it and that is not often.

All for one song
A mixed album, starting with an excellent tune in Mama. Taking advantage of new technology (drum machines), this song was the first of a different sound - which would come into it's own on Invisible Touch.

However, the real masterpiece on this album is Home By The Sea/2nd Home By The Sea.

Beginning with a creepy tale of people long since passed, it soon ignites into an instrumental of enormous magnitude. Everything mixes together in a way that only Genesis can do. At a point where they were becoming more commercial, this song alone kicks back to the very best, along with Cinema Show and Firth of Fifth. The drum beat is thumping, and is accompanied by breath-taking keyboards from Tony Banks, followed by mezmerizing guitars from Mike Rutherford.

It went on to become one of the real highlights of the live set. It's a shame that Phil Collins lost interest in years to come - but this is a song that maybe would have suited Peter Gabriel even better.

The rest of album has reasonable songs, but after Home By The Sea, the album has long since peaked.

Just a Job to Do? But you could at least try!
What a strange album!!! It begins with the unmatchable psychotic 'Mama', arguably the best Genesis single. It has that haunting vocal shadowing synth riff (a Genesis trait), over a pulsating rhythmic drive, with a fairly simple melody that is flawlessly delivered by Collins. The slow build up is broken up by a passage of Collins' psychotic laughing. As the texture thickens, this climax develops, until the heavy drums eventually enter and Collins performs some of his best vocal work ever (which really is saying something). It is a fantastic opener that confirms that the album is better than its predecessor "Abacab" no matter what the rest of it is like! However, it is disappointing. The second track, 'That's All' a passable funky little number. It doesn't compare to 'Mama' but this is hardly a criticism. 'Home By the Sea' has a hard edge and is also satisfactory i.e., nothing too bad but nothing too special either. 'Second Home By the Sea' is an interesting instrumental interlude with a shuddering electronic drum beat. By 'Illegal Alien', however, things are truly starting to go down hill. The chorus is quite tedious, and the lyric is a poor attempt at humour. It is difficult to decipher whether it is inadequate work from the vocalist or song-writers that make the melody of the verses difficult to define. 'Taking It All Too Hard' is simply monotonous, and 'Just A Job To Do' is not saved by an interesting keyboard figure. 'Silver Rainbow' is a slight improvement but not an outstanding track. By the time we reach the end, we hope that the title of the final track, 'It's Gonna Get Better' is actually a promise from the band. All in all, "Genesis" starts out with more than enough potential to earn full marks, but by the end it is struggling to earn more than one!