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| 02-04-2007 20:39 | 0 reaction(s) | add reply |
The band's origin lies in the late 1960s, when founding members Peter Gabriel and Tony Banks were students at Charterhouse School. The original line-up consisted of Gabriel (vocals), Anthony Phillips (guitar), Banks (keyboards), Mike Rutherford (bass & guitar), and Chris Stewart (drums).
Genesis recorded their first album, 1969's From Genesis to Revelation, after being spotted and named by Jonathan King, an alumnus of their school and a songwriter and record producer who had a hit single at the time called "Everyone's Gone to the Moon". King supposedly named the band Genesis because they were the first serious band he had worked with —the genesis of his career. He later recalled "I named them Genesis because I thought it was a good name...it suggested the beginning of a new sound and a new feeling".
The album was released by Decca Records. During the sessions, drummer Stewart left the band and was replaced by John Silver. The band recorded a series of songs reflecting the light pop style of the Bee Gees, of whom King was very fond. King assembled the tracks as a concept album, and layered string arrangements into the arrangements during production. Genesis's first single, "The Silent Sun", was released in February 1968. The album sold poorly, however, on advice from King, the band decided to make a career out of music. To this day, King claims responsibility for the band's subsequent success. It was he who introduced them to eventual label boss Tony Stratton Smith. King still holds the rights to the songs on the From Genesis to Revelation album, and has re-released the album many times, under a variety of names including In The Beginning, Where the Sour Turns To Sweet, Rock Roots: Genesis, ...And The Word Was, and most recently The Genesis of Genesis, in addition to the original title.
Genesis recruited a new drummer, John Mayhew, and played occasional gigs before securing a new deal with Charisma Records. The band built a following through live performances, and became known for hypnotic melodies that were often dark and haunting. Phillips left the band in 1970 following the release of Trespass, due mainly to ill health and stage fright.The departure of Phillips traumatised both Banks and Rutherford, as Phillips had been a founding member and a primary force behind the band turning professional. There was doubt over whether Genesis could go on without him.
Eventually, the remaining members renewed their commitment to Genesis, and decided to replace drummer John Mayhew. Trespass set the format for Genesis albums throughout the '70s. The album consisted of lengthy, sometimes operatic pieces, as well as occasional very short, humorous numbers that typified the style of such progressive rock acts as King Crimson, Yes, and Gentle Giant. Trespass includes elaborate arrangements and time signature changes —key elements in subsequent albums. A key factor in their songwriting was that they would not write pentatonically, as most bands of their time were doing. This was a conscious decision continued by the band for years to come. Trespass features the nine-minute "The Knife", which Gabriel —a believer in nonviolence having been influenced by a book on Mahatma Gandhi— wrote showing "how all violent revolutions inevitably end up with a dictator in power".
Phil Collins joined Genesis on 4 August 1970, having impressed the other members with his drumming skills during an audition at Gabriel's parents' house. The band continued as a four-piece before playing shows with guitarist Mick Barnard. As the members felt Barnard was not up to their caliber of musicianship, they sought a more suitable replacement for Phillips. Late in 1970, Steve Hackett, formerly of Quiet World, placed an advertisement for a band in Melody Maker. Hackett went to see Genesis in concert and enjoyed the type of music they were playing. The band liked the tone of the advertisement, and after a meeting at his parents' apartment, hired Hackett immediately
Collins and Hackett made their studio debut on the album Nursery Cryme (originally released November 1971), which featured the epic "The Musical Box" and Collins's first lead vocal performance on "For Absent Friends". Foxtrot, released in October 1972, contained what many consider to be one of the group's most accomplished works — the 23-minute "Supper's Ready" and the Arthur C. Clarke-inspired "Watcher of the Skies", that solidified their reputation as songwriters and performers. Gabriel's flamboyant and theatrical stage presence, which involved numerous costume changes and surreal introductions to each song, made the band one of the most talked-about live acts in the early '70s UK rock scene.
Selling England by the Pound followed in November 1973 and was well received by critics and fans. According to one biographical account, Gabriel was very conscious of lyrics and references that might suggest a slant towards American audiences. He was keen to avoid this and insisted that the album carry the title Selling England by the Pound, the title of the Labour Party manifesto at the time. The album contained "Firth of Fifth" and "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)", songs that remained part of Genesis's repertoire in future live performances. During this period, guitarist Hackett became one of the first to use the "tapping" technique (first used in the guitar solo of "The Musical Box"), normally credited to Eddie Van Halen, and "sweep-picking", popularized in the '80s by Yngwie Malmsteen. These techniques were used in the song "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight".
Genesis ventured into a more ambitious project with the double disc concept album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (1974). The album was released November 18, 1974. The story features the spiritual journey of protagonist Rael, a Puerto Rican youth in New York City, and his journey to establish his freedom and identity. During his adventure, Rael encounters several bizarre characters such as The Lamia, borrowed from Greek mythology, and the Slippermen during some satirically twisted circumstances. Interpretation of the Lamb remains a matter of speculation as there is no official explanation of its meaning. All accounts of this album's recording say it was rushed, and that Gabriel did not have time to completely finish his lyrics. There is no known interview in which Gabriel expounds on the obscure story. The entire work was performed live on the tour after it was recorded. At one point, Gabriel appeared across the stage from a mannequin double, apparently illustrating the split personality concept. With Gabriel's immediate departure from the band after that tour, only a few songs from that album were played afterwards. Rather than the lengthy tracks featured on prior albums, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway collected many shorter tracks connected by a variety of segues. The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway strained relations between members of the group, particularly Banks and Gabriel. The other members of Genesis essentially wrote the music to The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway without Gabriel's participation (with the exception of "Counting Out Time" and "The Carpet Crawlers"). Gabriel focused on the story and its lyrics separately from his band mates (with the exception of the song "The Light Dies Down on Broadway", written by Banks & Rutherford). Genesis embarked on a world tour promoting The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway and, since this was a concept album, performed it in its entirety.
Gabriel announced his departure from Genesis in August 1975, following the tour for The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. He felt estranged from the band, and his marriage and birth of his first child added to his personal strain. Gabriel explained his departure in a letter to fans entitled Out, Angels Out: "The vehicle we had built as a co-op to serve our songwriting became our master and had cooped us up inside the success we had wanted. It affected the attitudes and the spirit of the whole band. The music had not dried up and I still respect the other musicians, but our roles had set in hard". Collins later remarked "We were not stunned by Peter's departure because we had known about it for quite a while. We're going to carry on...this hasn't hit us suddenly, we've been talking about it for some time, and I think there will be room for both Genesis and Peter on his own. No - there were no musical differences." Gabriel's first solo album (Peter Gabriel, 1977) featured the hit single "Solsbury Hill", an allegory about his departure from Genesis.
During their live performances Genesis pioneered the use of lasers and other light effects; most of these were custom built by a Dutchman named Theo Botschuijver. A special handhold unit channeled laser light and allowed Gabriel to sweep the audience with various light effects.
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