The River of Constant Change: The Genesis Album-by-Album Thread

Oldjohnrobertson -- I'm not sure what you meant by "pre-Peter Gabriel era," since he is right there in the thick of it. Maybe you meant pre-Phil Collins era?

Anyway, I couldn't agree more with the rest of your very fine summation of this album. As a life-long Genesis fan, I owned the ABC Impulse vinyl and found it lacking in dynamics, especially in context of Nursery Crime and the later releases.

But, in the recent shoot-out we did in the other thread between the various versions, I fell under the spell that is woven so adroitly here. Goodbye Jonathan King and his sappy strings, hello Mellotrons and epic grandeur.

One thing is most obvious on Trespass -- Genesis was a fully-formed songwriting monster-machine even before the inclusion of Messrs. Hackett and Collins. The sheer musical-ness of Banks, Rutherford, and Gabriel are revealed here, and the spider-web-like guitar parts of Anthony Phillips would remain a part of their style even after his departure. (His Geese & The Ghost album is proof however that he had the goods and if he had stayed with the band, chances are their trajectory would have been much the same) Only the heavy-handed drumming of John Mayhew jars the slightest bit, but still when he's on he's on. My one niggle with him is that he tends to hold the music hostage to his limitations and scant variation. He does a big drum roll very well, but he does it over and over, etc. Later, Phil would be even more busy, but he had a way of climbing inside the melodies, and his fluidness would allow the arrangements to really shine. But, I'm getting ahead of myself.

As noted, I always found the ABC vinyl to be weak, and the V/C cd is very much the same, to my ears. It was only upon the discovery of the Canadian MCA cd that Trespass conquered my previous disinclinations toward it. Perhaps the V/C is better on big systems with tube power, but through my headphones using iTunes, the Canadian MCA has a tonality and richly observed detail that I relish.

4/5

 

Where does it say that in my post? I searched for "pre" and came up dry...

And yes, the ABC/Impulse! AS-9205 pressings sound horrible. The best US vinyl are the ABC Records reissues from the mid-70s (catalog #ABCX-816) with the black or rainbow labels.

 

Trespass is a major step forward for Genesis. It can be argued that this was the band's real debut. The Bee Gees like pop has been replaced by the progressive sound that would be Genesis' stock and trade for the next 7 years. Even though it doesn't measure up to Foxtrot or SEBTP, Trespass is still a solid album.

 

Wow...my bad. And I read it twice!

Guess I need to lay off the egg nog.

 

Visions of Angels is the heart of another Genesis that could have been. I absolutely adore this song and indeed the whole album. Apparently the band listened to Court of the Crimson King while recording Trespass and it's always annoyed me that Crimson King regularly appears in the Top Ten of prog lists while Trespass resides usually somewhere in one of the 'teens. Of course we all know that apart from Schizoid Man, Trespass &$%£& all over Crimson King.

 

I'd like to add that around this time, Peter Gabriel was heavily influenced by "In the Court of the Crimson King"
I liked this LP...its good not great.....I listen to it the least out of the PG Genesis (I don't even count the 1st lp)
Looking for Someone
Visions of Angels

This album does not have Phil Collins or Steve Hackett.

 

I love Trespass...but it is what it is. A giant leap forward from the first album, but still a band in its formative stages. I discovered this one after I had already heard the rest of their catalog at the time (around '74) so I listened to it more in the context of where it fit...and the roll it played in the evolution of their sound. In that context, there's no way I could be disappointed in Trespass (although it's not my favorite Gabriel-era album). I could clearly hear the important foundation that was laid with this album...a foundation that would culminate in the even greater albums that followed.

 

I love the sound and vibe of Trespass. The band spent the winter of 1969/70 holed up in the country cottage owned by Richard MacPhail's parents in the English countryside and, apart from hopping in an old bread van to drive to gigs throughout the land, spent the entire time writing and jamming (and listening to the King Crimson album cited above). Tony and Ant both said that the album basically chronicled their live set at this time, with the exception of 'Going Out to Get You,' which apparently was a mainstay of their set during this period but was left off the album. Given the individual band members privileged English backgrounds and the fact that they often rehearsed at the country homes of their families, and the country atmosphere of the MacPhail cottage months, the pastoral feeling of this album is telling. My favorite tracks have always been 'Dusk' and 'Stagnation' as they are so evocative of this world.

Anthony Phillips contribution to Genesis at this time cannot be underestimated. Besides writing the powerful track 'Visions of Angels' that dated from the immediate post-FGTR period, his gorgeous 12 string acoustic and fierce lead guitar on 'The Knife' are defining. Gabriel thought so much of him that when he, Gabriel, decided to rejoin the music business in 1977, he included Ant along with Phil and Mike in the sessions that produced the demos for Peter Gabriel (car).

 

Indeed - interestingly, the band asked John Mayhew to leave the band and hired Phil in August 1970, two months before 'Trespass' was released. Hackett was hired in January 1971. To get a glimpse of how they sounded playing the material right off, check out the version of 'Stagnation' sourced from the BBC 1971 on disc three of Genesis Archive 1967-1975. Phenomenal.

 

I see that I'm not the only one to have read one of the Genesis biographies.

 

have those demos ever surfaced?

 

I just stumbled on this video of Genesis performing "The Musical Box."
Despite the youtube sound and picture quality, the performance remains absolutely stunning - even with Peter's amusing gesticulations.

Apologies for posting this before the thread has moved on to Nursery Cryme. I didn't want this to escape my memory.
Apologies also if it's been posted before.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=W35wtfcByIY&feature=related

 

Starting with the Armando Gallo books back in the 1980s, Peter's authorized biography, & the band and entourage essays in the Archive book. Highly recommend the encyclopedic new interview book Genesis - Chapter and Verse - it takes 100 pages to get to Trespass
Oh, and always with the music playing while I read.

Which ones?

 

Like most early Genesis albums, I didn't enjoy this one the first time I heard it. But soon it grew on me. Nowadays I believe it's my favorite out of the entire Genesis catalog. For me, there isn't a weak moment on it. An incredibly melodic record that ends up with the astoundingly hard-rocking "The Knife".

Really looking forward to the upcoming 5.1 mix of this.

 

Yes, Chapter and Verse is excellent!

 

Trespass, along with FGTR, were the last two Genesis albums I discovered after becoming a diehard fan. While the latter I found quaint but derivative in places, the former I just love...so many of the defining elements of Genesis 70s style are already here. Stagnation and Dusk are my two favorite tracks as well.

I've been trying to persuade my bandmates to learn a few tunes from this album. We'll get there eventually.

 

I don't really listen to Trespass nearly as much as the rest of the catalog. But, I find it an interesting listen mainly because of Anthony Phillips. His contributions and his playing are quite strong - so much so that it's easy to see why the band members questioned whether or not they could continue without him.

The Knife is an outstanding piece of music - it's got all the elements I like about Nursery Cryme and Foxtrot, as well as Phillips' downright killer guitar work. Ant took it to places that I'd imagine are quite different than where someone like Steve Hackett would've gone with it had he been involved in the writing process.

 

Funny...I've always been amazed at how similar Ant's and Steve's style of playing was. At least, to my ears.

 

I adore this album, it probably ties with SEBTP as my favourite (and shares much of its pastoral nature), its lovely, atmospheric and other-wordly and a more folky Genesis who haven't yet turned as jazzy as they became (probably the Collins influence)

 

Yes, that short lived Charisma/Impulse! distribution agreement in the US lasted long enough to also provide US issues for early van der Graaf Generator and Rare Bird, among others. It also lasted long enough for a track from Trespass to be included on the ABC 2LP promo sampler "Just a Taste", which features the infamous sexy/sexist nudie cover.

I would hardly describe Buddah Records as a small NY indie known primarily for Buzzy Lindhardt and other NYC bands. They had a lot of hits (mostly one-offs/one-shots), and were home to a number of artists of greater note that Lindhardt (Melanie, Steve Goodman, etc.)

 

I'll give you Steve Goodman, but I'd argue that Buzzy Lindhardt was far more notable than Melanie Safka. Maybe not in terms of record sales, but certainly in terms of musical prowess. Then again, maybe I'm biased because Buzzy Lindhardt put down some of my favorite moments ever carved into vinyl.

 

You don't like Melanie?

 

I never said that! I just said Lindhardt was more notable.

 

I consider "The Knife" to be early "heavy metal." Those riffs towards the end are CRUNCHY!

Could you imagine some current rockin' band like say ummm....Godsmack, doing a cover of "The Knife"? OMG...

It's got several "rock-star" moments already built into the song.