First Love

[bill g]

ATTWT is a classic case in point - ignored by the many and almost disowned by the band, but as my first Genesis listen it is an album I revisit regularly (forsaking others).

Anyone else?

Being that I was already very into Genesis when 'Three' came out, it doesn't have the special place for me as, say Selling England, but I've always enjoyed it. 'Burning Rope' is my favorite, but there is a strong mood through most of it, especially in 'Say It's Alright Joe' and 'The Lady Lies'. But FYFM could have been much better, even magical potentially, with more chords and prog complexities. For first loves, I remember being blown away by 'God Only Knows' when I was about 10, and '21st Century Schizoid Man' the first time I heard it when I was about 14, quickly elevating KC to favorite band status.

[Phil Perry]

Sometimes that's unsurprising, as a friend will play you what is usually considered their "best" album in order to win you over - eg, in my case Caravan's Land of Grey & Pink, which remains by far my favourite by them. On the other hand, the first Genesis I heard was "Lamb", which put me off Genesis for years until the Collins albums won my over … nowadays SEBTP is my favourite, but I still don't much care for "Lamb".

[ronmac]

A lot of my intros are still may favorites, but not just for sentimental reasons..

Black Sabbath Master of Reality

Mountain Flowers of Evil (a Desert Island disc)

Steppenwolf Live (a Desert Island disc)

[StevegSr]

My response within the "Best 3 Album Stretch" thread got me thinking about how many of my most highly rated albums are so, simply because they happened to be my first exposure to a particular band.

In many respects the albums fall well short of what most would regard as being anywhere near the bands greatest work but the personal fond memories of that first listen seem to protect the legacy.

ATTWT is a classic case in point - ignored by the many and almost disowned by the band, but as my first Genesis listen it is an album I revisit regularly (forsaking others).

Anyone else?

I'm not interested in trying to recall the first album I ever purchased, or attracted me to prog, as it's too hard to recall at 69 years old.

I'm just surprised to still see that ATTWT is still being treated some kind of an awkward stepchild. It's a great album given the circumstances. Many still bemoan the sound of album as early mastering rendered it shrill. Subsequent reissues have cleaned that up. Another point of contention is the loss of Steve Hackett who left the band. He was not cast out. Another is the bemoaning of the "pop" hit "Follow You, Follow Me" by the same people who cherish future hits like "That's All" and "Mama".

It's 2020 and looking back, ATTWT was still very much a prog rock album and arguably the last, given the pop flavorings of "Duke". It doesn't have a closing jam like "Los Endos" or "Duke's Travels" but that doesn't make it less prog. Only that there were more songs to record and the band didn't have to return to musical themes already on the album and expand on them to fill it. ATTWT needs an objective re-evaluation by Genesis fans as they're missing out on some great old school prog by looking down at this album.

[Yodelgoat]

I dont know if this counts, but when I was really young I remember my older brother went to a rock concert featuring Spirit and Sweat hog. I was so impressed that he was doing that! and then, I found out that the concert was being broadcast on KISW FM. I broke out the family cassette recorder and recorded the concert off the airwaves. I played that tape for years and years - it was probably my first foray into music that might remotely be considered rock - or perhaps even "prog". It opened with about a 10 minute jam kind of thing, slow and then building... I think Spirit was the opening band. Anyway - that was at least a year before I had money to ever consider buying an actual record. I was probably 11. I would kill to have that concert back. It probably sucked by my current standards, but since it was the only thing I had to listen to, it was the coolest thing. Ive never actually listened to either a Spririt or Sweathog album. Maybe its time.

[nosebone]

Love my intros!

Alice Cooper - Schools Out
Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust

[ronmac]

I would kill to have that concert back.

Any idea when and where it was?

[bill g]

I'm not interested in trying to recall the first album I ever purchased, or attracted me to prog, as it's too hard to recall at 69 years old.

I'm just surprised to still see that ATTWT is still being treated some kind of an awkward stepchild. It's a great album given the circumstances. Many still bemoan the sound of album as early mastering rendered it shrill. Subsequent reissues have cleaned that up. Another point of contention is the loss of Steve Hackett who left the band. He was not cast out. Another is the bemoaning of the "pop" hit "Follow You, Follow Me" by the same people who cherish future hits like "That's All" and "Mama".

It's 2020 and looking back, ATTWT was still very much a prog rock album and arguably the last, given the pop flavorings of "Duke". It doesn't have a closing jam like "Los Endos" or "Duke's Travels" but that doesn't make it less prog. Only that there were more songs to record and the band didn't have to return to musical themes already on the album and expand on them to fill it. ATTWT needs an objective re-evaluation by Genesis fans as they're missing out on some great old school prog by looking down at this album.

AATW3 is definitely a good album, with its own unique mood. After losing Hackett however, Genesis took a downturn for me personally, becoming more vocal heavy when I wanted them to go more instrumental. I still enjoyed them a lot though, and I said I think 'Burning Rope' is excellent (though not quite as good as 'One For The Vine') and there is a mood throughout that is strong. I personally rank it higher than anything after Duke in spite of scattered gems like 'Me And Sarah Jane' (one of my favorite things they've ever done). It's hard to compare 'Follow You Follow Me' with 'Mama' or 'That's All', as they are quite different. FYFM and Mama I enjoy but always felt with more chords they could have been better. 'That's All' I actually enjoy, kind of a quirky little song, but nothing brilliant. That entire album I always felt suffered from being merely good, but not great.

[mozo-pg]

When "Follow You Follow Me" was just released, I liked it. It's been played a 1,000,000 times since so I no longer like it. As for the rest of Three, pretty decent.

[StevegSr]

AATW3 is definitely a good album, with its own unique mood. After losing Hackett however, Genesis took a downturn for me personally, becoming more vocal heavy when I wanted them to go more instrumental. I still enjoyed them a lot though, and I said I think 'Burning Rope' is excellent (though not quite as good as 'One For The Vine') and there is a mood throughout that is strong. I personally rank it higher than anything after Duke in spite of scattered gems like 'Me And Sarah Jane' (one of my favorite things they've ever done). It's hard to compare 'Follow You Follow Me' with 'Mama' or 'That's All', as they are quite different. FYFM and Mama I enjoy but always felt with more chords they could have been better. 'That's All' I actually enjoy, kind of a quirky little song, but nothing brilliant. That entire album I always felt suffered from being merely good, but not great.

That's absolutely a good point that I often overlook. ATTWT is definitely not on par with classic albums like SEBTP, The lamb, Trick of the Tail or even Duke that followed it. But I still love it.

[Trane]

AATW3 is definitely a good album, with its own unique mood. After losing Hackett however, Genesis took a downturn for me personally, becoming more vocal heavy when I wanted them to go more instrumental. I still enjoyed them a lot though, and I said I think 'Burning Rope' is excellent (though not quite as good as 'One For The Vine') and there is a mood throughout that is strong. I personally rank it higher than anything after Duke in spite of scattered gems like 'Me And Sarah Jane' (one of my favorite things they've ever done). It's hard to compare 'Follow You Follow Me' with 'Mama' or 'That's All', as they are quite different. FYFM and Mama I enjoy but always felt with more chords they could have been better. 'That's All' I actually enjoy, kind of a quirky little song, but nothing brilliant. That entire album I always felt suffered from being merely good, but not great.

Yeah, I still spinned it a fair mount at the time, but TBH, I was playing their previous ones dozens more often and if memory serves, I wasn't finished buying them all (Tresspass and FGTR come to mind).


I even kind of enjoyed some of their "hits-singles" for a while, but didn't like the rest of their albums (except for the A-side of Shapes)

Didn't hate: FYFM (but it had nothing to do on that otherwise OK album), Misunderstanding (I know most hate it, but I didn't think it was that bad and didn't diserved the OK album), Abacab (the best thing on Abacrap, by light years), Mama (weird, but enjoyable) That's All (nifty pop tune) and Land Of Confusion (helped by the spitting image MTV videoclip, but on a loathable album)

Hated-loathed the rest, like Turn It Off Again (don't care if it's in 13/8), No Reply AA & KI Dark, Illegal Alien (the most atrocious thing they'd done until then), IT (that topped IA), anything from WCD that made the airwaves

[the winter tree]

"Elton John Greatest Hits" was a big album for me when a young lad. It was my gateway to more serious music.

[Steve983]

"Elton John Greatest Hits" was a big album for me when a young lad. It was my gateway to more serious music.

Me too, the first proper album i bought aged 12!

Sent from my GT-I8200N using Tapatalk

[bill g]

Abacab (the best thing on Abacrap, by light years), Mama (weird, but enjoyable) That's All (nifty pop tune) and Land Of Confusion (helped by the spitting image MTV videoclip, but on a loathable album)

That's funny, I always felt 'Me & Sarah Jane' was the best thing on Abacab by light years! I hated Abacab (the song) at first, but I like it now, especially toward the fade, and I like Keep It Dark, thought the chorus was pretty killer. I would have liked 'Whodunnit' if it was instrumental, it's quirky stuff, but the vocals are ghastly and completely ruin it from what could have been kind of cutting edge.

[infandous]

Funny, most of my first albums by bands, at least by my college years, were live albums. Genesis Live, Yessongs, Two For the Show. Those are honestly still my favorites by those bands.

If I go back to my earliest days of buying albums, we'd be talking Cheap Trick, Scorpions, Boston, (embarrasingly) the Outfield. Crap like that, lol. Though I did have the good sense to buy Sabbath's Paranoid, which I guess would actually still be my favorite by them, though I can't say I've listened to a Sabbath album in probably 30 years.

As for ATTW3, I've only heard it a couple times and didn't like it at all. I should probably give it another chance, now that I'm a bit more open minded musically. My first Genesis studio album I heard all the way through was Nursery Cryme and it's probably still my favorite of their studio albums.

So for me it's hard to say, as I don't even listen to any of the stuff from my formative years. Stuff from later, in college and in my 20's, it's kind of a mix. Some I still think the first one I heard is the best, others that's not the case.

[Trane]

Funny, most of my first albums by bands, at least by my college years, were live albums. Genesis Live, Yessongs, Two For the Show. Those are honestly still my favorites by those bands.

Actually that type of Live album was my perfect introduction to a band in my case, especially when it came to hard rock - and fairly often the only album I ever got from them, most of the times exiting my collection after a couple of years. Bands like UFO, REO Speedwagon, GFR, Journey (ended up buying their first two studio albums later on), Thin Lizzy, Frampton, Kiss, and many more I probably forget. This doesn't necessarily mean that I never listened to the band's other albums, but I wasn't buying them

Others live album that proved to be an entry point (as opposed to an exit point): Kansas, Judas Priest, Purple (MIJ), ELP (both Pictures and Welcome), Argent, Clapton's JON, etc...

[the winter tree]

Funny, most of my first albums by bands, at least by my college years, were live albums. Genesis Live, Yessongs, Two For the Show. Those are honestly still my favorites by those bands.

If I go back to my earliest days of buying albums, we'd be talking Cheap Trick, Scorpions, Boston, (embarrasingly) the Outfield. Crap like that, lol. Though I did have the good sense to buy Sabbath's Paranoid, which I guess would actually still be my favorite by them, though I can't say I've listened to a Sabbath album in probably 30 years.

As for ATTW3, I've only heard it a couple times and didn't like it at all. I should probably give it another chance, now that I'm a bit more open minded musically. My first Genesis studio album I heard all the way through was Nursery Cryme and it's probably still my favorite of their studio albums.

So for me it's hard to say, as I don't even listen to any of the stuff from my formative years. Stuff from later, in college and in my 20's, it's kind of a mix. Some I still think the first one I heard is the best, others that's not the case.

No need to feel embarrassed about The Outfield, they were a great pop band. R.I.P John Spinks.

[Avenger]

since I did the 3 albums stretch post...I should return the courtesy of posting on this one! :-)

I only listened to the Beatles in high school(thought I was a music snob)....and I was an artistic nerd....so one day at a used record store I ran across
TALES FROM TOPO-OCEANS...since it was used I could open it up and read the lyrics etc...the art and strange lyrical approach caught my attention.
when I sampled it at the record store(the OLD way we used to shop music)...the first section of RSoG struck me like the BEATLES...harmonies galore.
SO I bought my first YES album, and that is a big chunk to chew not knowing about them and knowing about prog yet....

but to this very day I get that same feeling I got when discovering Tales, it is so emotional that I have a very very emotional spot for this album. I usually focus on sides one and two, but they take me back, and I forgive any excess or overindulgence...I just LOVE it for sentimental reasons.

HONORABLE MENTION: the song that got me in to Genesis(knowing nothing about them) was MAN ON A CORNER....due to MTV.
watching that strange live video, with Phil swaying back and forth to the vocals...and that synth brass under the main synth in the second verse somehow intrigued me so much.
I also get that nostalgia overload when I hear this.

nice thread. peace my friends.

[infandous]

since I did the 3 albums stretch post...I should return the courtesy of posting on this one! :-)

I only listened to the Beatles in high school(thought I was a music snob)....and I was an artistic nerd....so one day at a used record store I ran across
TALES FROM TOPO-OCEANS...since it was used I could open it up and read the lyrics etc...the art and strange lyrical approach caught my attention.
when I sampled it at the record store(the OLD way we used to shop music)...the first section of RSoG struck me like the BEATLES...harmonies galore.
SO I bought my first YES album, and that is a big chunk to chew not knowing about them and knowing about prog yet....

but to this very day I get that same feeling I got when discovering Tales, it is so emotional that I have a very very emotional spot for this album. I usually focus on sides one and two, but they take me back, and I forgive any excess or overindulgence...I just LOVE it for sentimental reasons.

HONORABLE MENTION: the song that got me in to Genesis(knowing nothing about them) was MAN ON A CORNER....due to MTV.
watching that strange live video, with Phil swaying back and forth to the vocals...and that synth brass under the main synth in the second verse somehow intrigued me so much.
I also get that nostalgia overload when I hear this.

nice thread. peace my friends.

Tales is still my favorite Yes studio album. I love everything about it. It was far from my first Yes album though, and I bought it well into my 70's prog obsession in my 20's. I actually didn't get it right away, and it took 3 or 4 full plays to sink in, but to this day I can still get that warm, goose bump's feeling from it. I couldn't really pick a favorite "side" at this point, as I love them all for different reasons.

[John Wilkinson]

Brilliant choice... The most underrated Genesis album

[Farpoint Kevin]

My first exposure to Yes was 90125, and to Genesis was INVISIBLE TOUCH. And I loved them! Imagine my surprise when I went backwards and found out where they had come from!