Mediocre and even little boring album.
Mediocre and even little boring album.
I like Hentschel's production on ATTWT and DUKE.
No its nothing like 'Geese..' It's closer to the Duke era musically, but even not quite like that. Good stuff though.Originally Posted by chalkpie
Been a while since I've listened to this one.. as I recall the side with the long song has some nice moments..
I remember hearing an outtake from these sessions. Can someone remind me what it's called?
"Compression", and it's the best track from the sessions IMO. Based on some music originally rehearsed during the Selling England sessions.
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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Thanks.
Smallcreep's Day was definitely a dud. There's *maybe* two partially-decent tracks on the whole thing. And, to make things worse, the production is way too slick and safe for me.
The worst of the Genesis solo debuts, easily...
No, this is easily the worst: Rutherford's "Acting Very Strangely."
the worst of the genesis solo debutsUmmm,,, "debut" means first, as in first release, or first performance. Hence an artist can only make one solo debut, and in Rutherford's case that was Smallcreep's Day.
Love it to death, the most Genesis-y album atmospherically outside their catalogue. How Mike followed this with AVS I'll never understand.
I don't know... Voyage Of The Acolyte and A Curious Feeling are right up there IMO.
Now that I agree with instantly!
The Acting Very Strange CD was actually the first thing I ever bought on E-bay, many years ago. I remember borrowing the LP from the library when it was new!
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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I love this album. Simon Phillips playing is on fire.
Esoteric needs to step up on this one!!!!!
Last edited by ProgUK; 03-22-2015 at 09:57 PM.
I really dig the suite. The other side, not so much; the songs sound rather like songs Mike wrote that weren’t good enough for his parent band (i.e.: like lesser Genesis songs). Alternating with songs that sound like Toto. I guess that’s because Noel McCalla sounds a bit like Bobby Kimball at times. I think he’s an all right vocalist, technically quite good, but he has kind of an anonymous quality to his singing. It’s like one of those cases where the regular vocalist was too strung-out to perform, so they promoted the backing vocalist at the last second to replace him.
Confirmed Bachelors: the dramedy hit of 1883...
Simon's the best part of the album, if you ask me. The fills on "Working in Line" in particular are absolutely effortless -- lots going on, but never too overpowering. Reminds me of a certain drummer Mike worked with for a few years beforehand...
Unfortunately, I've got to agree with everyone that the album sounds awful. What should be rich, lush, and enveloping is hollow, tinny, and harsh. Desperately in need of a remaster.
It left me completely indifferent upon release. Has some good moments but it never clicked to be a keeper.
Overall I really like this album. The annoying thing to me is the overuse of the snydrum/snare combo.
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What, that was like one song and only on the fills...
This album was my introduction to Simon Phillips and to this day, he remains in my top 5 favorite drummers. I still would've liked the album without him, but not as much.
This thread inspired me to get out my vinyl copies of SMALLCREEP and ACTING STRANGLY and give them a close listen.
S'sD has a stellar lineup of musicians. But I found that the singer, though a perfectly fine singer, didn't pull me into the songs. He seems like the wrong singer for this album. It made me appreciate even more the ability of Phil Collins to really bring the music to life. If he had been singing this material it would have been much more immediate and catchy. I found it very bland, although here and there some flashes of brilliance.
"Supergroup" lineups often seem to fall short, don't they? It's usually more preferable to have a real group that really works together on a regular basis.
AVS is a strange listen. I don't think his voice is as bad as most say, he just seems to lack confidence and his phrasing/diction sounds stiff. It was a bold move to sing his own songs but doesn't really work.
Rutherford did better when working with the two Pauls in Mike and the Mechanics. They are gifted singers who can interpret/put a song across.
Although I'd argue that solo albums from active genesis members didn't set a particularly high bar (well, for me at least), this is my favorite of the lot.
Its weird, i love everything about this album. The compositions, the production, the performances, the material...all first rate! I loved it the moment it was originally released. A remaster with "Compression" added back in would be a god send. The many differences of opinion here are very interesting.
I've always liked a lot of this---but still prefer Hackett solo---Banks A Curious Feeling and PG car to this.
I loved (and still do) the production/sound of this album. Things were changing in music when this came out...but this album clearly intends to remain in the symphonic camp, and of the Genesis family. Being a kid from the south it just amazed me that recordings could sound like this. I had a couple of synths,... but I had no idea how these guys made their productions sound this way (and was captivated). This has the bag of Genesis (Hentschel) sound tricks, but cleaner. And if you love bass synth (Taurus type)... it's like a tutorial. The album hails from a very special time in my life... and albums like this were like a passport (pun?) into a world I wanted to live in permanently (and I went there often).
It's also partly a concept album (with an interesting premise). And I very much enjoy the vocalist. It's kinda like Michael McDonald doing prog... and I think it's a fun alternative to the tried and true same old, same old. I also find the music to be adventure-ish.
You could make a fairly strong correlation between this album and Renaissance's Azure D'or (same producer). Rich (and updated for the time) symphonic synth use superimposed on a classic band/sound that, while classic,... was headed into a new era. I regret that it faded so quickly afterwards. I truly miss going into the "vinyl" record store and discovering gems like this... seemingly imported from the 4 corners of the world and beyond. Gem / Passport - yeah man!
I have been listening to the album as I write (hence my wistfulness perhaps). One more comment that I would make is that many of the lyrics are lonely... just as a washed up factory worker might feel. Someone who never even knew what it was he was helping to make. Love that premise. Incidentally, though understated... I think the cover is very artful. Splattering the photo negatives with developer solution to get that effect was brilliant !
Last edited by ProgMusician; 03-24-2015 at 01:41 AM.
Genuine prog album from back in the day! - *free download* : masquepremiere.bandcamp.com
There's a bizarre cover of this song that extends it to seventeen minutes by the Italian band Moongarden. It used to be on Youtube, but I can't find it now.
Desert island disc for me....loved it from the beginning and still play it on a fairly regular basis.
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