Let's hear your thoughts on: Genesis- No Reply At All

[2ndsout]

Interesting……”Duke” is probably my favorite post Hackett Genesis album. “ABACAB” was the first tour that I saw them on (the show was fantastic), but as mentioned before, the album just ok to my ears. I agree that "Dodo/Lurker" is the album's highlight.

Steve Sly

I will admit too that, for the longest time ATTW3 was an album that I didn't listen to very much either; but over the years that album has aged for me like a fine wine with some really good highlights on it including for me some of my favorite post 1970s Genesis: Undertow, Ballad of Big, Burning Rope, Deep in the Motherlode, Many too many, Scenes from a Night's Dream, and The Lady Lies.

[bill g]

I rather like this song too. There's something to it for sure. Not what I normal listen to, but they pull this off well. Although, for my taste 'Me & Sarah Jane' blows it out of the water. I tend to quite like the first 5 songs on Abacab, and the summery 'Like It Or Not'. I've always wished Naminanu would have closed the album instead of Another Record, and You Might Recall and Me & Virgil were on there instead of 'Who Dunnit' and 'Man On A Corner' but that's neither here nor there at this point. But I like Tony's playing in this song, and the minor chords.

[ThomasKDye]

Oh, here we go...

I love it. I love the first 6 tracks of Abacab, including this one and Who Dunnit?

I feel the same, only I like "Who Dunnit?" in an Ed Wood way: um, I like your enthusiasm but don't do that again.

Abacab, for about thirty minutes, indicated that they really could make their own interesting stamp on the new wave sound. Then suddenly they just said, "Hey, why are we trying so hard?" and came up with the last three songs. ("Like It Or Not" sounds big and pompous, but not in a good way. The half-assed lyrics turn it into a lot of bluster over nothing.)

It's interesting; I think the handclap is lame, but it doesn't ruin the song for me. I actually sort of groove on the horns, actually, and the bass/keyboard syncopation is quite sweet. Plus the sudden piano break ("Maybe deep down inside…") is quite artfully integrated in a way they never tried since. It's a fun song, and despite their attempts to strip down, it feels like they actually put effort into it.

However, you'll remember that Phil himself slagged this song when Genesis was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Phish went to all the trouble of learning it and Phil said something to the effect of "Really? THAT thing?"

[JJ88]

Agree totally. Whilst I have my reservations about this, it is still a good song. The album really falls off a cliff on the 2nd side, after 'Dodo/Lurker'. 'Who Dunnit', 'Man On The Corner', 'Like It Or Not' and 'Another Record' I've always found well below par for them. In particular, leaving off 'You Might Recall' was a mistake, and would have improved the quality somewhat.

I remember Phil's offhand comments about this track in that Rock Hall interview as well. It was along the lines of, it was never any good to begin with, as I recall.

[PeterG]

I was not pleased when Genesis morphed into a pop band,

Well, as suspected, that didn't take long, only 4 replies.

[3RDegree_Robert]

I love this song but this is where you wondered where Genesis ended and Phil Collins began mostly because of the horns. As for ABACAB, "Me & Sarah Jane" is the strongest cut on the album but it's sort of a schizophrenic album-pushing out in all different unrelated directions.

[Nov]

This is one of the songs that was booed at the famous concert in Leiden in 1981 (I was there).

Order was soon restored when they played Firth of Fifth straight after.

[Vic2012]

It's not a bad song, it's ok. I hate the horns though. They sound synthetic, cheesie, and cornball. It was the precursor to the faux horn blasts of the early 80s. And that's one reason I HATE Owner Of A Lonely Heart with the instensity of a thousand suns. I'll take Duke and ABACAB over 90120 everyday of the week.

[flowerking]

I also like this song but as I like most Genesis liking this song isn't out of the ordinary. I won't listen to this song very often though just because its one that I think could get old fast.

Regarding Rutherford's bass, he was an excellent bass player and when given the opportunity, he could provide some great bass lines. He was a far far far better bassist than he was a guitar player and I wish after Hackett left that they would have let Steurmer (or someone else) come in and write and record the guitar parts instead of Rutherford.

[Progatron]

However, you'll remember that Phil himself slagged this song when Genesis was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Phish went to all the trouble of learning it and Phil said something to the effect of "Really? THAT thing?"

Really? I've forgotten that I guess. I mean, I thought it was an odd choice for Phish to perform as well, but you'd think Phil would like that track. I wonder what Steve thought of it! :P

[Yodelgoat]

Great bass playing on this song. Nothing wrong here afaic. I dont hear the Tenor sax in the mix though.

[Scott Bails]

I feel the same, only I like "Who Dunnit?" in an Ed Wood way: um, I like your enthusiasm but don't do that again.

Love that!

However, you'll remember that Phil himself slagged this song when Genesis was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Phish went to all the trouble of learning it and Phil said something to the effect of "Really? THAT thing?"

I remember Phil's offhand comments about this track in that Rock Hall interview as well. It was along the lines of, it was never any good to begin with, as I recall.

Was there anything about Genesis that Phil liked?

Regarding Rutherford's bass, he was an excellent bass player and when given the opportunity, he could provide some great bass lines. He was a far far far better bassist than he was a guitar player and I wish after Hackett left that they would have let Steurmer (or someone else) come in and write and record the guitar parts instead of Rutherford.

Totally agree, and always felt the same way.

[trurl]

Was there anything about Genesis that Phil liked?

The paycheck from the tours.

[martiprog]

Regarding Rutherford's bass, he was an excellent bass player and when given the opportunity, he could provide some great bass lines. He was a far far far better bassist than he was a guitar player

Too True ! I like NRAA as a song, but like others on here, I don't like the horns on this (or on Paperlate). I know they were challenging peoples preconceptions, but Abacab as an album already had a much bigger, sparser sound than any predecessor, and I think the horns were just a step too far. Interestingly, it's something they did not repeat, which I think tells it's own story.

I would have preferred to have heard more of Mike & Tony's playing shining through this song. The song may not have been "prog" but the playing was class. The only song I skip on Abacab is Whodunnit, but You Might Recall really should have made the cut.

[JJ88]

'Who Dunnit' starts off quite intriguingly off-the-wall, I think. It's the embarrassing lyric/vocal that unfortunately kills it. I've no idea why they played it live, nor why Phil wore that diving gear whilst singing it!

The fairly sparse production was definitely a shock for me. But over time I've warmed to it and feel it's one of the best sounding albums in their catalogue. But I think much of it sounds better live...the 3SL versions of this material are more energetic I think.

[3LockBox]

Was that and "Paperlate" the only tunes they did with horns? Both are okay in my book, maybe because I like Earth, Wind and Fire, who seemed to be the influence on those.

It was the EWF horn section playing on those tunes, as well as one of Phil's solo albums from that era (Missed Again and maybe one other). Phil even guested and produced on one of EWF singer's (Philip Bailey) solo rekkids. Given Collins' infatuation with Motown at the time, the inclusion of EWF horns made sense.

[Patelena396]

The paycheck from the tours.

I have never heard that Phil made that comment at the R&R HOF induction. I would like to see the actual quote before having an opinion on it. The truth though is that Phil is probably the most complimentary member of Genesis as it relates to their overall output. Yes, he has made criticisms from time to time, but he has also spoken very proudly of the music they produced in each era. The comments above made me laugh a bit though. Admist all the Phil ruined Genesis comments on this site, it is actually interesting to see people insulted that Phil would be critical about 'No Reply at All'. A song that to some classic Genesis fans is among the most loathed. That said, to say that Phil only liked Genesis as a payday is really pretty silly. The guy has proven on many occasions that he is proud of the band's music and let's face it, from a monetary perspective, he could have left Genesis right after 'Face Value' hit it big time. His solo career generated enough for anyone to live comfortably. I brace myself for the paying for the divorces comments, but the bottom line is that Phil is an advocate of a Genesis and to imply anything else is just incorrect.

[SteveSly]

'Who Dunnit' starts off quite intriguingly off-the-wall, I think. It's the embarrassing lyric/vocal that unfortunately kills it. I've no idea why they played it live, nor why Phil wore that diving gear whilst singing it!
.

Although "Who Dunnit" is my least favorite track on the album, I actually thought it worked pretty well live. I have a disctinct memory of that song from the tour and that was a long time ago.

Steve Sly

[arise_shine]

I like "No Reply". An example of how I felt Genesis did pop music well. Other stuff from the pop era is (for me) very hit or miss.

I think the Yes comparison is a bit of an "apples to oranges" kinda thing. Genesis gradually evolved into a pop band over the course of a decade, while still remaining a band. Yes broke up after Drama, and then two members formed a new band with (and led by) Rabin, who later brought in more former Yes-members, and took on the Yes name. No real continuity between the two bands, unlike Genesis.

And yeah, Rutherford became a pretty great bass player as evidenced by this song. His playing in the 70s wasn't the greatest, but he definitely got better as time went on. I often say that Hackett leaving the band was the best thing that happened to Rutherford as a musician. Rutherford's guitar playing improved by leaps and bounds from ATTWT through Abacab and beyond. Additionally, it feels like he learned how to play (and write) to his strengths and not to do too much with his limited skillset.