I like Epping Forest. Mouse's Night on the other hand is too lyrically twee and cute. Musically it's marvellous but I've never been fond of the lyric at all.
I listened to this album on a vacation drive through the Siskiyous last week (hadn't actually heard it in a while)-and 'After The Ordeal' amazed me. Not with any incredible musicianship or complexity, but just in the sheer originality and beauty of it. The first half especially, as you say. I was thinking, 'how did they write this' (I realize this was primarily Steve's composition)-there has never been anything like it before or since, to my knowledge-it is one of the most beautiful pieces of music I've ever heard.
'Firth of Fifth', 'After The Ordeal', and 'Cinema Show' are my favorites, but I also love 'Dancing...' and 'Epping Forest' too. Always wished they'd do another album like this, but they never did. Nor has anyone else.
I'm with you on 'Decomposing Man', although I like 'Carry On Up The Vicarage', which is, to me, musically interesting. Sometimes, even though an artist will disagree, it really helps to have other 'ears' on a project that can edit out stuff that maybe doesn't work, so that with Genesis, they would include Steve's best compositions (After the Ordeal, Entangled, Blood On The Rooftops) and not include tracks that maybe didn't work as well? Although the rest of 'Spectral Mornings' I think is great.
Yes, Hackett has a goofy sense of humor. You can really get an understanding of his humor by reading his book. (When i saw him in PHX back in 1981 or 2, he ended the encore using a prop from the movie biz: he bit down on a fake "blood capsule" and then let the "blood" run out of his mouth and down his chin as he leered/smiled at us. Pretty funny actually and it was clear he loved it.)
So he has "Novelty" songs on many of his albums. Is that so bad? There is a LONG history of Novelty songs in popular music. While i might prefer one more "serious" track instead it is his music, his albums, and his life. When i am not in the mood for them i just don't play them. He has so many glorious tracks so in my book he can do whatever he pleases.
The demeaning element of "Decomposing Man" is not readily apparent to non-British listeners so i cannot comment on that. (But from my love of British literature, film, and comedy, I thought that it was a common thing to slag other groups. But again, I cannot really know...)
Oh, I very much like "Carry On Up the Vicarage." But music is always a funny thing...as this Thread clearly shows, we all get very worked up about our likes and dislikes so there is nothing new there.
Last edited by Gizmotron; 04-27-2015 at 12:36 PM. Reason: spelling
'Decomposing Man' is a very odd song- the lyric in particular. The goofy instrumental finish does raise a smile, but it is still very out of place on what for me is an otherwise exceptional album. Another one I never really got into was 'Little America'.
The others like 'Carry On Up The Vicarage' and 'Sentimental Institution' I like more. The former I've always enjoyed, quite a lot happening musically in that tune. The latter I've come around to, it's quite a cleverly done little pastiche really, I'm now less militant about wanting big prog tunes all the way through! He did a similar dance-band pastiche on 'Wild Orchids' called 'Why'.
Funny, I always liked 'Little America'. And to be honest, there's nothing I really DONT like on any of his albums-Not wild about 'Island Earth' or the Batman theme/Tequila thing, or 'Decomposing Man' as said, but I can live with it. The new albums seems pretty focused and solid and steers away from these type of songs.
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