When Peter Gabriel quit Genesis In the summer of 1975 a physical shock went through the fans of a group that is unique In the annals of British rock. For Genesis have always exerted a personal magnetism over their admirers that runs beyond the usual group hero worship or fan mania. For Genesis are, and were, essentially an Intellectually appealing as well as a charismatic group of performers.

They seem to work In a tight sphere of their own creation, and their music has taken a path that has few parallels In the recent development of what, for convenience, pundits like to call progressive rock. Today, Genesis are on the verge of a new chapter to their career, as they have elected to continue recording and performing despite the departure of their lead singer. And at the beginning of 1976 the signs were that Genesis would continue to be a powerful and creative force.

But now seems a good time to cast an appreciative eye over a career that combined a struggle at first for survival, then recognition and acclaim, with the desire to present their original music to the best possible advantage.

The battle for Genesis required the faith of many people. Apart from the determination of the musicians they were greatly aided and encouraged by men like Tony Stratton-Smith their manager, who has guided the careers of such great British bands as the Nice and Lindisfarne.

But one of the first to recognise the potential of Genesis was that remarkable one man record Industry, Jonathan King. Genesis began as far back as 1966 when school friends with ambitions as songwriters putdown their Ideas on a demo tape. They were Tony Banks (keyboards), Peter Gabriel (vocals, flute and percussion), Michael Rutherford (guitars, vocals and bass pedals), and Anthony Philips (guitar). The tape was Ignored by a music Industry that was only just recovering from the "psychedelic" era and seemed to develop a built-in resistance to anything that might threaten to be new, or worse still, clever.

Jonathan, famed for his hit "Everyone's Gone To The Moon," and Increasingly Involved in seeking and producing new talent, was sufficiently excited by the tape to produce their first album for Decca, entitled "From Genesis To Revelation" which was released In March 1969.

The author of this piece remembers hearing this album the first time around, whilst reviewing for the Melody Maker, and although belay slightly interested, felt it had absolutely no future. The author felt much the same way about "Jesus Christ Superstar," when Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice humbly brought round their first "white label" copy of their album for inspection.

It Is therefore a good opportunity to hear that pioneering album again, in the light of hindsight and after much muddy water has passed under the bridge.

The music herein contains all of the "From Genesis To Revelation "tracks, plus two single releases Including the B sides. These were "The Silent Sun" coupled with "That's Me", which was released In February '68, and "A Winter's Tale" coupled with "One Eyed Hound", out in May 1968.

What can we learn from this archive material M Well the first impression Is that Genesis were already firmly set upon a course battling against the main current of contemporary pop and rock. Songs they were writing, but they were not exactly in the mould of the Love Affair, which were all the rage in '68, and certainly they sounded nothing like the "heavy" bands of the day.

Listen to "In The Wilderness" and if you blot out the superfluous strings, you can hear that strange mixture of menace and grim humour in Peter's vocals that were to become the mark of Genesis. You can hear their desire to rock on "One Eyed Hound," which almost has a touch of the Lou Reed's, while the lead guitar break doffs a bow towards Hendrix.

The sound established on "The Conqueror" with Its spaced out piano, tambourine off-beat and busy, jangling guitars behind the long, nasal vocal phrases, (apart from sounding oddly like Lee Jackson with the Nice), hasthe flavour of Lou Reed meeting Phil Spector. But remember this is 1968through '69, when British groups weren't supposed to be experimenting with such daring concepts. And dig the vocal harmonies on "In Hiding," and Peter's sensitive lead lines. Note the cunning and intelligent use of different sound textures throughout this remarkable album, the dash of Mellotron here, strings, and brass, bits of acoustic guitar, and general attention to tonal patterns. From the beginning, Genesis were determined not to be just another guitar and drums hot rhythm combo.

Of course In later albums as the band got Into their stride, there were Improvements in production and performance. Genesis never needed to use those well meaning string players again. Tony Banks, the classically trained pianist, could provide all the textures they required with his growing banks of keyboards (If you'll pardon the pun).

Drummers came and went, Chris Stewart, John Sliver and John Mayhew By 1970 they had acquired the brilliant percussionist Phil Collins from Flaming Youth, and Steve Hackett was their new lead guitar player. From'70 onwards Genesis took of' with audiences In clubs and concert halls across the country, and began the struggle for American acceptance with their first visit there at Christmas 1972, when they made their New York debut before wondering, but eventually entranced U.S. fans.

As Genesis developed their sound and writing, they produced such classics of structured rock as "Watcher Of The Skies," "Get 'Em Out By Friday," "The Return Of The Giant Hogweed," "Musical Box" and "The Knife". The elements of fantasy In the Iyrics composed by the group were heightened by their increasingly sophisticated stage act, which evolved around Peter Gabriel's stunning presence as he enacted their musical stories In a variety of increasingly bizarre costumes. Few Genesis fans will forget the sight of Peter In his black cat suit, with batwings looming ominously over his shoulders, his eyes blazing with unnatural fire, as he fixed the stalls with an hypnotic "axe.

The importance of this album Is that It helps place In perspective the development of one of our most consistently creative groups, who In the process of growing to full maturity earned the love and respect of audiences around the world. These early experiments show that the determination to explore fresh paths, and remain true to one's ideals, can be rewarded, however hard the struggle.

CHRIS WELCH 1976.