Genesis | Artist

Genesis was an English progressive rock band formed 1967 at Charterhouse School, Godalming, Surrey. The original line-up was Peter Gabriel (vocals, flute), Tony Banks (keyboards), Mike Rutherford (bass), Anthony Phillips (guitar) and Chris Stewart (drums). The band went through a succession of drummers until settling on Phil Collins in 1970. Also in 1970 Steve Hackett replaced Anthony Phillips on guitar. Genesis emerged from Britain's prog-rock scene of the early 1970s fronted by Peter Gabriel, a singer with a flair for eccentric theatricality and a gift for melody that helped separate his band from the likes of King Crimson and Gentle Giant. The roots of Genesis go back to 1965 when a pair of rival groups, the Garden Wall and the Anon, formed by students at the Charterhouse School merged, with the result that 15-year-olds Peter Gabriel, Tony Banks, and Michael Rutherford joined with 14-year-old Anthony Phillips, calling themselves the New Anon. Charterhouse alumnus, recording artist, and producer Jonathan King heard their demo tape and arranged for the group to continue working in the studio, and it was also King who renamed the band Genesis. In December of 1967 they cut their debut single, "The Silent Sun," a very deliberate Bee Gees-style pastiche, which was released without attracting much notice from the public, and a second single, "A Winter's Tale," followed with similar neglect. At this time, the group's music was a form of lyrical folk-based progressive pop, built on lush melodies primarily carried on acoustic guitar and piano, with lyrics that tended toward florid and trippy psychedelia, and Genesis showed an exceptional facility with poetic content as well as gorgeous melodies. Their debut album, From Genesis to Revelation, which the group has all but disowned in the decades since, was released in March of 1969, and passed without fanfare. The debut was very much a "Prentice Piece" with the band not yet finding its characteristic sound. Between 1970-75 Genesis as a band gelled and recorded six English progressive rock masterpieces in a row: Trespass, Nursery Cryme, Foxtrot, Selling England by the Pound, Lamb Lies Down on Broadway and A Trick of the Tail. Gabriel left to go solo in 1975 after completing Lamb Lies Down on Broadway and with drummer Phil Collins taking over singing and songwriting duties, they took a more mainstream rock direction. However the first two post-Gabriel albums: A Trick of the Tail and Wind & Wuthering, are both excellent. From the early '80s Genesis achieved huge commercial success in the USA and worldwide delivering well crafted pop-rock, but it lacked the creativity of their early work. Outstanding albums include Trespass (1970), Nursery Cryme (1971), Foxtrot (1972), Live (1973), Selling England by the Pound (1973), The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (1974), A Trick of the Tail (1976), Wind & Wuthering (1976), Seconds Out (1977), and Duke (1980). The 2008 compilation 1970-1975 is also highly recommended. By the early 1980s, it was evident that Collins possessed pop instincts that could thrive on mainstream radio and on the emerging MTV. Both platforms embraced Collins, both as a solo act and as a member of Genesis, helping the band become dominant on both sides of the Atlantic until he left the group in the early 1990s. Banks and Rutherford soldiered on through one final record before pulling the plug on Genesis in 2000.

Artist Website: worldofgenesis.com

Featured Albums: Genesis

Related Artists: Peter Gabriel, Steve Hackett, Phil Collins, Anthony Phillips