The Portuguese pressing being the best sounding.
Brilliant first side but tapers off a little on side two, still worth a listen from time to time.
The Portuguese pressing being the best sounding.
Brilliant first side but tapers off a little on side two, still worth a listen from time to time.
I should revisit this one. I never cared for it (although I love every other Genesis member's debut solo LP), and I really tried. It suffers from "not enough personality" disorder, which is one attribute a solo album really needs: Some personality! The 7" B-side is the best track (IMO), but thanks for the reminder; ill dig out the vinyl today.
Best he ever did on his own.
I've never heard this album but I know Mike deprecated it because he felt he could not sing well enough. Are the vocals that bad?
He doesn't sing on Smallcreep's Day, the vocals are by Noel McCalla. And they're pretty decent.Originally Posted by bob_32_116
The one he DOES sing on is Acting Very Strange, and yes. Oh God, yes. My GOD, yes. Worse.
"Arf." -- Frank Zappa, "Beauty Knows No Pain" (live version)
I really loved it when it came out. The whole "Smallcreep" section is great and I love the beautiful ballad that it ends with. Simon Phillips on drums, Ant on keys, great singing from Noel McCalla, a lot to like here.
Not a perfect album, but I love almost all of it, and have done since it came out. I still listen to it regularly. Side 2 of the vinyl isn't quite as strong as side 1, but still very good. 1979 & 1980 was such a brilliant time for Genesis fans, with Duke (the last great Genesis album IMO), plus excellent solo output from all the classic lineup - Gabriel 3, Spectral Mornings, Defector and A Curious Feeling, finally culminating in Face Value being released early in 81 (little did we know....).
I liked Noel McCalla's vocals too - I don't think he ever got the breaks he deserved, although I enjoyed his work with MMEB, and the short-lived Partners In Crime.
.... But Acting Very Strange was horrible. I recall Mike saying in interviews at the time that someone told him to have a brandy before he recorded his vocals. He struggled so much with them that he was on a bottle a day. Nowadays I'd need to down a bottle of brandy just to listen to the thing.
I agree here..."Compression" is a good track. I've never been able to get into this album overall. Parts of the main suite are okay, but there's not much that makes me want to ever revisit it.
Yeah, a stinker for sure, if that wasn't obvious by the cover.Oddly enough, the first thing I ever bought on E-bay, since it was cheap and long out of print (probably only ever printed once!)
Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk and former scribe at Classic Rock Society. Only vaguely aware of anything other than music.
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It's been so long since I've had the vinyl... the suite was side 2, right?
Ah, OK, Acting Very Strange would be the one I am thinking of.
Side 1 was the Smallcreep's Day suite
Side 1
"Smallcreep's Day" I. Between the Tick & the Tock II. Working in Line III. After Hours IV. Cats and Rats (In This Neighbourhood) V. Smallcreep Alone VI. Out into the Daylight VII. At the End of the Day
Side 2
Moonshine
Time and Time Again
Romani
Every Road
Overnight Job
Good timing. I just listened to this one recently, something I don't do often but every time I do I'm reminded how strong a record it is. Much of it easily stands up to what Genesis were doing at the time (ATTWT - Duke).
I don't know if others hear it but to my ears McCalla sounds pretty similar to the guy Tony got to sing on A Curious Feeling, Kim Beacon. Clearly he and Mike both had the same style vocalist in mind for their albums.
I'm holding out for the Wilson-mixed 5.1 super-duper walletbuster special anniversary extra adjectives edition.
Why did Rutherford decide to sing on Acting Very Strange? Ego? Tone deaf about his own voice?
Mongrel dog soils actor's feet
I don't know but it begat an even WORSE crime - Tony singing on The Fugitive!
I've always thought they had similar styles too, and I did think that when Collins left Genesis, McCalla would have been someone they might consider. I had heard that Kim Beacon was actually on the radar of Genesis when Pete left, but have not seen any evidence of it. Kim Beacon had a great voice, and was briefly in String Driven Thing, another former Charisma band, although Kim came along late in the day, well after the touring with Genesis.
I was active on the Scottish gig circuit in the 80's early 90's and The Kim Beacon Band were regulars then, playing great music in small bars & clubs. Kim had seemingly been a bit of a rock "casualty" with rumours of substances & booze, but I never saw that, although he was tightly marshalled by his father, Norrie. Sadly, Kim died around 2001. Thanks to the Genesis connection, he lives on in the minds of many people.
You can count me as one of the people who always enjoyed Smallcreep's Day. I've only got a vinyl recording, and pray one day there's another CD reissue.
Don't know, maybe since Tony actually sounded kind of decent (would have been much better with someone else though) on 'The Fugitive', maybe he thought he'd give it a whirl. Big mistake. Tony sounds WAY better, and that isn't saying a whole lot. He should have gotten Steve Howe to sing, would have been better
I like 'Smallcreep's Day' though, not quite the composition level of 'Curious Feeling' of course, but I wouldn't expect it to be. Still a nice album, good feeling throughout. I think Ant Phillips helped this album a lot.
The two sides were reversed for some reason on the US Passport version.
Love this album!!!
Is the CD now out of print?
OOP for years...'Acting Very Strange' unavailable for even longer.
Love the suite. 'Out Into The Daylight' is absolutely immense, really thunderous and soul-stirring stuff- as good as anything Genesis did in this period. I adore the climactic 'At The End Of The Day' too.
The other half is a bit bland apart from 'Moonshine', which is great and has a particularly strong lead vocal performance.
I heard that too.
Anyway, I liked the album quite a lot and hoped for a decent re-release, especially after Tony's 5.1 treatment of A Curious Feeling. When that didn't happen I bought the 2007-version, which was sold at the Genesis-concerts.
Simon rules!
Yep, that's what I remember. And it seemed to make more sense than the other way, which I think the cd was.
There are currently 140 copies of this LP (and 3 cassettes!) on Discogs, beginning around two bucks. No CD copies however.
31 LP copies (and 1 8-track!) on E-bay, and one CD for $55.00.
11 CD copies on amazon marketplace (U.S.), mostly in "VG" shape, and a couple of high-priced copies that claim to be "New".
Mike should probably re-release this in a special edition (with at least "Compression" as a bonus track), as there seems to be a market for it. Hell, Banks did it with A Curious Feeling and that sold well.
Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk and former scribe at Classic Rock Society. Only vaguely aware of anything other than music.
*** Join me in the Garden of Delights for 3 hours of tune-spinning... every Saturday at 5pm EST on Deep Nuggets radio! www.deepnuggets.com ***
Noel did some backing vocals on this one too: http://www.sniffnthetears.com/Fickle%20Heart.html
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