The Album Review Club - Week #139 - (page 1815) - Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War Of The Worlds

Saddleworth2 said:
I like it because it still has Gary O'toole on drums. Sadly he left a couple of years ago. He is a very talented and subtle drummer. Perfect for this type of music. The new one is a bit too bish, bash bosh for me. There is much more material on You Tube - a couple of full concerts last time I looked all in HD sound and vision.
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Fucking hell - Jamie Oliver's on tour!?!
 
journolud said:
Not got round to te listening to Foxtrot yet as two 12 hour days at work. I have warmed myself up by listening to random Genesis tracks though and it does remind me what a fucking great band they were at their best, Phil Collins and all.
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I think Collins gets a lot of grief but I actually quite enjoy the group's music from when he was lead singer. One of the first albums I bought was Genesis (1983) and I still play it regularly, but I remember them not being trendy at the time (I don't think I ever admitted to buying the album back then) and to add to that you had the Pete Gabriel fans dissing them at the same time, although their albums were going platinum in the UK and USA so they were winning over new fans.

I find it interesting how their albums move from the prog-rock era to the pop-rock era, it's a gradual change and I understand why some hated it but they couldn't keep on just trying to be like they were. In my view they were good at both genres.
 
Citizen of Legoland said:
I think Collins gets a lot of grief but I actually quite enjoy the group's music from when he was lead singer. One of the first albums I bought was Genesis (1983) and I still play it regularly, but I remember them not being trendy at the time (I don't think I ever admitted to buying the album back then) and to add to that you had the Pete Gabriel fans dissing them at the same time, although their albums were going platinum in the UK and USA so they were winning over new fans.

I find it interesting how their albums move from the prog-rock era to the pop-rock era, it's a gradual change and I understand why some hated it but they couldn't keep on just trying to be like they were. In my view they were good at both genres.
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Yeah, it was really the "Genesis" that converted me to the cause.
 
chesterbells said:
The highlights of the first side, Watcher and Friday, are better served on the 73 Genesis Live album (what a back cover that album had btw, the picture and the story); the other tracks on side 1 I can happily leave.
I’m also not a big fan of Horizons, just a filler for me, and I say that as a great admirer of Hackett’s playing both solo and whilst in the band.
It’s all about Supper isn’t it tbh. A bit like Yes with the Going For The One album, everything else cowers in the shadow of Awaken. As time goes on, I’m a lot more critical of albums I used to say I really rated, and when I go back to them now, it’s often about individual songs (except maybe for certain concept or themed albums like the Lamb or The Final Cut).
Supper’s Ready, Awaken, 2112 are all tracks that stand head and shoulders above the rest of their host albums.
As such, as I love Supper so much my heart says it’s a 10/10 - more rationally playing the whole thing now with more critical ears, it gets a 9 maybe.
While it could be criticised for not cohering, certainly musically, I find that variety, difference and sudden shifts to be a strength in this case, and it keeps the piece busy and engaging and exiting to listen to, especially as you build towards the climatic release of the conclusion.

Gabriel and rest of the band on top form, and it’s a measure of the power of the track that it has equal impact on the studio version as on Seconds Out for me; adore both.

As an aside, I can recall being beyond excited to get my first listen to the King Biscuit Flower Hour FM radio bootleg tape of the LA show at the start of the Invisible Touch tour to hear the In The Cage medley now concluded with the 9/8 section and end of Supper in all its glory …. only to be completely crestfallen by the time i got to Roundhay Park in Leeds and Wembley to discover they’d dropped it in favour of the over-played and over-familiar dirge that was Afterglow. Such a disappointment at the time, though the rest of the show was fabulous.
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Yeah, I think the sudden shifts and changes in tempo are a strength. It never gets stagnant.
 
Citizen of Legoland said:
I think Collins gets a lot of grief but I actually quite enjoy the group's music from when he was lead singer. One of the first albums I bought was Genesis (1983) and I still play it regularly, but I remember them not being trendy at the time (I don't think I ever admitted to buying the album back then) and to add to that you had the Pete Gabriel fans dissing them at the same time, although their albums were going platinum in the UK and USA so they were winning over new fans.

I find it interesting how their albums move from the prog-rock era to the pop-rock era, it's a gradual change and I understand why some hated it but they couldn't keep on just trying to be like they were. In my view they were good at both genres.
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I think that’s fair.
I hadn’t listened to this for yonks.
I was wondering would I get as much out of them as I used to, as back then, I only actually had the two 70’s live albums, of which I really adored Seconds Out, and also Trick of the Tail and LLDOB.

I loved the live versions, with Phil singing, of the older material. I also loved Trick of the Tail and think after PG left they got the perfect mix of song length and melody with their unique style. It was the start of something more accessible for those that didn’t take to the 22 minute ramblings.
I also bought And then there were three, and although it was heading more commercial and had a hit single from it, I really liked it.

So for those asking would I take them or leave them, I would say I would 100% take pre-Duke Genesis and leave anything after, where I lost interest.

So having largely preferred the Seconds Out versions of the Foxtrot era stuff what was I expecting on a relisten?
Well I really wasn’t sure. The way I remembered those early albums, I was never overly happy with what perceived as a tinny production at times although there was no doubting their musicianship and arrangements. Selling England by the pound was probably the earliest where I thought they got it completely right.
But playing the remastered version of Foxtrot was a very rewarding experience for me.
I found myself back in the 70’s with my eyes closed in our front room being swept up in the emotion of Supper’s Ready once again. I doubt the lyrics are anything to do with whatever PG reported. I would go with the bad trip theory although it really doesn’t matter. I always imagined it as that time of the evening when they are drifting off in front of the tv and the mind wanders in and out of consciousness picking up snippets of whatever is on screen.
Still suits me.

I really enjoyed hearing the whole album again as back then they really were an album band. You don’t really pick one song out of them onto a playlist. Well I don’t anyway.

I’ll give it a 7/10.
But LLDOB is still my only real go to album by Genesis. A true masterpiece in my book.
 
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OB1 said:
Yeah, it was really the "Genesis" that converted me to the cause.
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Is that the one with Mama? I bought that one too...I thought they were going in the right direction, but the next few "hits" put me off.
 



A different version of WOTS...without the melotron intro. Sounds quite raw, which i like. That drumming and bass!
 
Thanks Mark for your choice, I really enjoyed listening to this after 30 plus years.
I liked both incarnations of Genesis back in the day, the last album I bought was
WInd and Wuthering.I saw them live on that tour and PGs first solo tour at the Apollo where Robert Fripp played hidden behind a curtain for the whole set!
Always preferred PGs solo stuff though.

Anyways , Foxtrot I thought it was a good album I liked most of the songs and
and ’Suppers ready’ the ultimate closer.So much so I can’t stop singing the intro and outro to the Mrs which is irritating the hell out of her!

a solid 7/1O for me.
 
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