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Genesis a new beginning...

 

 

If talking of a racehorse one would say it's "looking good in its coat, has been galloping well, and is thoroughly wound up for the big one"; in music something similar can be said of Genesis. There couldn't be a better "buzz" about a Derby favourite.

 

Individually diffident, almost shy, the five men of Genesis Peter Gabriel, Tony Banks, Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford and Steve Hackett collectively raise a profile in performance almost frightening in its attack and intensity. Their music could be said to lie somewhere between that of the Moody Blues and King Crimson, though different from either one. Echoes and evocations, no more: The separateness of Genesis has been preserved through three years of careful development, including longish periods "off the road" to beat writing and line-up problems.

 

Singer Peter Gabriel, bassist 12 string player Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks who presides over Hammond, Mellotron and piano, were together at Charterhouse School, where the group began. After an initial (and highly promising) swing round the clubs and colleges, Genesis paused to take stock a year ago.

 

As a result, Steve Hackett was acquired on guitar, and has proved to be every bit as fluent and inventive as the group had hoped. Phil Collins, a one-time Artful Dodger in the London production of "Oliver" (and as ebullient a person as that might suggest), came in on drums. Since then, Phil has established himself in gigging and recording circles as one of the finest young drummers around, tasteful and able to drive or support the complex writing for which Genesis are noted; listen to his work in such numbers as "Giant Hogweed" or "Musical Box."

 

The group's first Charisma album "Trespass" in the autumn of 1970 had a fine critical success, and began to build for them a solid following. It also, remarkably, had a great success in Belgium and Italy. The second "Nursery Cryme," out last October, broadened and consolidated that European success, extended it to America and, without any great fuss, has settled down in Britain as one of Charisma's "best sellers." Just now, too, the group has released only its second single in two years, "Happy The Man," a number familiar to their following for some time past.

 

An eye-catching feature of Genesis is the powerful, very individual singing of Peter Gabriel. An apparently straight, almost romantic delivery lures you to relax then without warning he garrottes you from behind with a line of incredible savagery, eyes flashing, voice heavily loaded. His timing and quick switching of targets have the flair of a good actor. But he also has an offbeat sense of humor. He leavens the performance with introductory stories of his own writing, stories in the "Mad" magazine dimension.

 

Indeed, there is a cinematic quality to Genesis which few groups have. There is more to them than music, but the music is not less than fine. One senses plot and sub-plot, swift changes of mood; lyric used as honey for what turns out to be a bear-trap, and when silence returns their songs leave a rainbow of euphoria or a ring of menace. Genesis begin a national tour with Lindisfarne late September, release a new album in October, and will be touring the United States from mid-November. Undoubtedly a group arriving at the level or recognition they have long deserved.

 

 


 

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